The Glamourist

Abandoned as a child in turn-of-the-century Paris, Yvette Lenoir has longed to uncover the secrets of her magical heritage and tap her suppressed powers. But what brave and resourceful Yvette has done to survive the streets has made her a fugitive. With a price on her head, she clings to a memento from her past—what she believes to be a grimoire inherited from the mother she never knew. To unlock the secrets of her past, Yvette trusts in one woman to help solve the arcane riddles among its charmed pages. Elena Boureanu is the vine witch of Château Renard, noted for its renowned wines. Even as she struggles with her own bloodline—and its poisonous threat to her future—Elena can’t ignore a friend on the run. Joined by a cunning thief, the proprietor of an enchanted-curio shop, and a bewitching black cat, Elena and Yvette are determined to decode Yvette’s mysterious keepsake. But what restless magic will be unleashed? And what are Yvette and Elena willing to risk to become the witches they were destined to be? The book is written in a 3rd person narrative, with mostly Elena and Yvette being the primary focus of the chapters. The chapters are quite short: most being about 10 pages long. The book is written in an easy manner, with a few french words thrown in. The book deals with various issues, murder, abandonment and poverty, but its fitted into the purpose of the story. I enjoyed this book. I liked the character of Yvette in the Vine Witch and was eager to find out more about her. I liked her story and mystery surrounding her powers and her parents. Yvette's story was set in Paris and it was interesting reading about the magical world the author had created there. There were also a few new characters in this book and I think they all completed the story very well. The only thing I didn't like about this book was that it wasn't very magical. Yvette doesn't know who is, where she is from or what her magic is. It was very much a coming of age story rather than a witch story I felt. But that being said, i did enjoy the book and can't wait to read the next one all about Sidra.

The Glamourist picks up where The Vine Witch left off, following the magical stories of Elena, Yvette and Sidra. Who would have thought that there was such a variety of magic among witches, genies and fairies? Not only that, but within each group there are conflicts that would rival many mortal societies. Yvette and Sidra find themselves trapped in the city, which is obviously Paris although never named as such. Sidra is furious as she blames Yvette for their entrapment because it is her curiosity and desire that has drawn them to the city. It takes most of the rest of the book to discover exactly why and how they became trapped. Elena is there with her mortal husband, Jean-Paul, to meet her mother-in-law to be, Marion. The legislators of the witching world, the Ministry of Lineages and Licences, block Elena’s right to practice as a vine witch and insist that revert to what they see as her birth line, potions and poisons, unless and until such time as she turns in Yvette, who they believe to be a convicted murderer. Although Elena is desperate to return with J-P to their vineyard in the south of France to continue with the production of fine wines, she has other ideas and wants to support Yvette in her quest to discover her true family and magical powers. In the meantime, J-P, a qualified and experienced lawyer determines to learn the laws of the witching world so that he can fight his fiancé’s corner. Until you read this book, you can only just begin to imagine the storylines that evolve from that point and the endings are far from predictable. The imagination and creativity of the author amazes me. There is more than an element of magic in her writing and I am convinced that she is either a witch or a genie or a fairy. She has cast a spell on me and I demand to be released! I recommend this book. It kept me gripped from beginning to end and was thoroughly entertaining. I can’t wait to read the third book in the trilogy: The Conjurer .

This is the second book in The Vine Witch series which I adore! We get the same mystery, intrigue, love, friendships and twists I loved in The Vine Witch. The Glamourist is primarily Yvette's story as she tries figure out her magical heritage. Meanwhile Elena is trying not to lose her Vine Witch license after we learned she is a venefica (potions witch who specializes in poison) at the end of book one. Who would buy wine from a Venefica? Somehow Elena, Yvette and Sidra become in-twinned again and Elena must now make a choice. Help a friend (murderer) in need or turn her in for personalgain. Tough choices! I love Luanne's writing. It's easy to get whisked away in this world and feel connected to everything happening. Yvette was my favourite side character in The Vine Witch, so I was glad to see we got to see her story and I enjoyed getting to know her more. She reminds me of myself at times. While reading I thought i figured out one of the plot twits but it wasn't even one. At another point I kicked myself for not realising something sooner. Luanne certainly kept me on my toes. I think my new favourite character is Jean-Pauls mum, Marion. She is delightful and her enthusiasm is rather contagious at times - especially when she does the complete opposite of what you expect her to do. I can't wait to read The Conjurer and find out more about Sidra the jinni!

ok

Well written and captivating. It is an excellent sequel to the vine witch. I'm very excited to see where Elena's journey takes her next.

Once again a great story moves along well , great characters and as brilliant as the first novel I this series

I loved the poetry of The Vine Witch, so I was very happy when I found out that a second book existed! I really enjoyed it, I got stuck in this world so easily again! I really recommend it to anyone who grew up wanting to discover magic and real life fairy tales. Please start with the first book though!

Do you love art? Have you ever been to Paris? If you haven’t then you will enjoy a magical journey to places in Paris during an era that was bursting with art and fresh ideas that have been cleverly disguised but actually exist. The story is beautifully written, the characters are well developed, the plot twists are frequent and often surprising, and the magic seems so real I can’t believe I haven’t learned how to do it too. I recognized many of the places this book describes. The era is the romantic Art Nouveau period (1890 -1910) so the metal architecture pointing to the sky is the recently built (1887) Eiffel Tower the mention of the statue of the man thinking is The Thinker by Rodin (1904) and the artist Tulane was probably modeled after Degas who painted Ballet dancers while the reference to the painting of water lilies was Monet. Of course the Cabaret was Le Moulin Rouge while the perfume magic witch was a word play on Guerlain and on and on. Then there is the story itself: Intricate, enticing, intriguing, page turning. Oh my, I love this author and her amazing books, they are simply magical.