I'm not sure I'll read the third one in the series. ( )

The Dark Glamour is the highly anticipated second installment of the young adult (YA) paranormal fiction novel, 666 Park Avenue, by Gabriella Pierce. And while it is the second book in the series, there are enough explanatory tie-backs to the first novel that the book is strong enough to read as a stand-alone work.

The main character, Jane Boyle, returns from escaping the wrath of her mother-in-law and witch heiress, Lynne Doran, into an even more complex plot.

While a few of the original, secondary characters return like Jane Boyle’s close friends: Dee, Maeve, Harris, and Elodie, readers will be pleasantly seduced by the latest addition and love interest to the story: André Dalcasçus, Romanian, wealthy, heart-throb with magical bloodlines.

And as much as second books tend to evolve in series, The Dark Glamour is darker indeed with more lust, more magic, more power, and a hunger for more than just wealth for the Doran Clan.

The historical aspect of the origins of magic and the ancestry of witches is explained along with savvier, magical spells that hone in on the use of blood, vision, and disguise, and is much more than your ordinary parlour trick.

While the story has taken a deeper delve into the darker arts of witchcraft, the thought process and dialogue between the main character and her secondary characters are ever familiar and reminiscent of the original narrative.

And the plot, too, intensifies with a tension that will urge you to turn the page—over and over again.

To read the rest of my review, you're more than welcome to visit my blog, The Bibliotaphe Closet:

http://zaraalexis.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/book-review-the-dark-glamour-by-gabri...

Thanks and happy reading!
Zara ( )

2.5 stars

This is the second book in the "666 Park Avenue" series (book three is scheduled to be January 2, 2013). This one didn't grab me like the first did, and I found some of the themes a little tiring. The good points of the book is that it is a very easy read (took me a day), it is borderline mindless fluff, and it will in no way change your life. It had been a while since I read the first book, and Pierce did a nice job of summarizing characters and events that affected the story here.

The negatives are few, and just as shallow as the positives. Jane is annoyingly promiscuous. She is married to a man still in hiding, sleeping with another man while also wanting to sleep with her best friend's boyfriend. I mean, come on! And I really wanted some sort of mention of condom use. Instead, they rip their clothes off and he "takes her right away". Not good for the teens who are surely reading this.

I also wanted more of the matriarch, Lynne Doran's story. I found her to be the most interesting and complex character in the first book, and the mother/daughter relationship in this book would have provided a very rich and fertile area for exploration. Instead the relationship was restored and written as an assumption, which was completely unbelievable. The fact that it was left to the very end of the book also presented it as more of an afterthought.

The other negative was the abrupt ending. It really leaves you hanging in a way that the first one did not: While you knew there would be a sequel which would take the story farther, it didn't rush to the last page like a train wreck. I didn't consider this an intriguing twist or even a cliff hanger, so much as the author finished in a hurry and did so, in my opinion, a little recklessly. This caused so many loose ends of items that were not fully introduced that, instead of foaming at the mouth for the next book, I have more of an unsatisfied feeling.

Recommended if you need a quick read, but know that you will be left disappointed. ( )

I think this might be the only time I have ever preferred the second installment in a series to the initial novel! How intriguing :) The Dark Glamour is just as much of a fast, fun read as 666 Park Avenue, but the plot and pace seem to have matured (or perhaps, fermented?) since the opening novel in the series. This is a wonderful novel to read on a bus, a train, or perhaps while in a hospital - really anyplace that you would rather not be. The story completely swallows you; it lifts you out of real time and, most likely, you will find that you don't mind a bit. ( )

I was disappointed in this sequel. ( )