As soon as I heard about the sequel to The Vine Witch I was so excited and I couldn't wait to read it! I was not disappointed, I loved The Glamourist just as much, and am now even more excited for book 3. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this magical romp through turn-of-the-century Paris. The beautiful writing style and the stunningly well-crafted world that Smith has created is absolutely mesmerising. I was hooked from the very start. 

The Glamourist has a split POV between Elena, a winemaker with a gift for poisons, and Yvette, a savvy orphan with unknown magical heritage. I love having the two points of view between the two women who are so different, yet whose fates are intertwined and whose stories are in some ways quite similar. Both have unknown mothers and are going back to their roots on a journey of magical discovery, while also dodging police and navigating both ends of Parisian society. 

Yvette is a great character, who we met in Vine Witch, and I was very excited to learn more about her and her magic, as well as what led to her being wanted for murder. She is savvy, street smart, and bold but has trouble trusting people after being abandoned by her parents. Despite her failure with magic, she is fearless and independent and I love that about her.

The magic is taken to a new level, beyond wine-making and hexes, to magical cats, enchanted knickknacks, strange symbols and of course Yvette’s mysterious powers (I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s really cool and not what I expected).  We also see a bit more of witch politics and Jean-Paul sinks his teeth into witch law.

I was delighted with the new characters in this sequel. I found Marion very entertaining, Jean-Paul’s mother, a high society lady and mortal, who is very much into the up and coming craze of ‘witchcraft’, attending seances and frequenting a club calls Hell's Mouth. As well as the sweet and brave thief-turned-artist Henri, a childhood friend of Yvette’s who gets in on the action. And of course, Monsieur Whiskers, I can’t help but love a book featuring a magical cat. 

All in all, this is a beautiful historical fantasy with great characters, and is a fantastic sequel to The Vine Witch.

Fairies and witches and jinnis, oh my!! You want em? This book's got em!

So, I love Elena, she's my fave character in this series. And the magic system in this world is so unique! But this book centers on Yvette, who I really don't like, and she really rubs me the wrong way. She's just so careless and selfish, I just can't empathize with her or her unfortunate plight. And her always saying "oh, la la" is beyond annoying.

Anyhoo, the start of this book was a bit slow for me, but it picked up over the second half.  The ending was nice, but everything fell into place just a little too neatly. And, and this is just me, but I really would have liked to have seen more spark to the romance...any of the romance!

Overall, it was an enjoyable read. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

The Glamorist is a wonderful follow-up to The Vine Witch. Abandoned as a child, Yvette Lenior is determined to unravel the secret behind her strange magic and her past, but her status as a fugitive complicates things. When she inherits a strange book from her long-lost mother, Yvette enlists the help of Elena Bourenau, the vine witch of Chatau Renard. Elena helps Yvette unravel the secrets of her past, even though it could threaten her own standing as a vine witch. Together, these two women uncover a secret past full of love and betrayal that spans across the realms. These secrets, however, come with a price, and the question becomes just how far will these witches go to uncover the truth, and what those who would keep them from the truth do to see them fail. 
I enjoyed The Glamorist, especially the latter half of it. Although it starts off a bit slow, a series of discoveries and reveals made it pick up towards the end. I still really like Elena as much as I did in the first book, and I loved how both women had similarities in their character arcs while having their distinctions. I also adored Mr. Whiskers the cat. He was so stinking precious and I love when authors give me cat characters to love. The twist at the end, when Yvette discovers who she truly is and the connection to the Fair Folk was also pretty satisfying. The Glamorist is a story about women supporting women, lost family, and self-discovery, all written in the elegant tone I enjoyed so much in The Vine Witch.

WOW, what a great find this series has been. This is book 2 in The Vine Witch series and let me say it was great to go back to this world. This book takes place in Paris. This book mostly focuses on Yvette figuring out who she is as a person/witch. She was abandoned as a child, lived in a cabaret/brothel and basically survived off the street with no magical abilities besides some lock charms a friend taught her along the way. She enlists the help of our Vine Witch Elena to help her discover her magical heritage. I love all the characters old and new and I think the addition of Mr. Whiskers and his part in the story was a welcome addition. All in all, this book is an enjoyable and evenly paced read. 

**Disclaimer: I was given a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the book.

In this sequel of The Vine Witch we meet some characters from the first book, one is Yvette Lenoir an orphan witch
and fugitive who is persecuted for the murder of a man when she was 16 years old. Yvette is trapped in Paris and tries with Elena's help  to clean her  name, search for her ancestors and discover the magic inside of her.
This second book to me was more entertaining  than the first one. The plot was a little predictable but still well written. Overall it was a good sequel and im excited to read the next one next year. 
3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐💫
thanks to netgalley and 47 north for this arc copy in exchange for a honest review

This book was not the book I thought it was supposed to be. I have not read the first book and I cannot read this without it.  It sounds wonderful and if I get a chance to read the first book, I will come back to this one. I apologize.

The Glamourist picks up where The Vine Witch leaves off and is even more enjoyable than its predecessor (and that is saying a lot).  More magic, more mayhem, and endearing characters make this story the perfect escape.

What I loved

Elena is always a treat of a character. I loved her in The Vine Witch and loved getting to learn more about her in this story.  Raised by her grandparents, they taught her the art of being a Vine Witch.  In The Vine Witch, she learns that her parents specialized in poisons.  As the story opens, the witch board has changed her registration from Vine Witch to Poison Witch, which starts her on a self-discovery path that she did not anticipate.  She is more sympathetic to Yvette, who doesn't even know what kind of witch she is because a non-magical friend of her mothers raised her.  The journey that they go on together is harrowing, suspenseful, and will keep you on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what will happen next.

I love the creation of a much broader magical world in this story.  Jean-Paul and Elena head to Paris, where witches and humans live in harmony, albeit separately.  There are specialty stores for witches and the governing board's building – all of the city's features that are designed for humans to overlook.  Also, the world of the fae is introduced in this story. 
King Oberon and the fairy world are a fun addition to an already exciting story.

I loved the suspense and never-ending action.  There is so much going on starting on page one and not letting up to the very end that I did not want to put it down.  I would never expect this journey of self-discovery would be so fraught with peril, but it is.  I also enjoy the historical aspects.  The story is set around the turn of the century, and just little things, like Elena not knowing how to use a telephone, are so unexpected and so valid for the setting. It adds a bit of humor at surprising times.

To Read or Not to Read

A great summer read full of action, suspense, and magic that will keep you on the edge of your seat with your book in hand.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was fun to revisit the world of The Vine Witch, with just the right amount of witchcraft woven around with Luanne G. Smith's stunning and earthy imagery. Another light, quick read and the new magic elements were fun. Nice beach read to start the summer.

This book is such a fun ride!

I love the fact that each book in this series is it's own story. The series as a whole are just consecutive stories, each one showing one of the three women we meet in The Vine Witch finding their own way. Each story stands on it's own, but the knowledge from each books supports the following books.

I loved Yvette and getting to see in her head and seeing where and how she grew up. I loved seeing her find her way and learn about who she is and where her parents went. I love that we still get to see Elena and Jean-Paul in this one, with the addition of Jean-Paul's mother Marion. She is such a hoot, honestly. She is up for anything, ride or die, loves the adventure and I love HER. The people they meet along the way, and the ways that things work out the way they do is so enjoyable to read.

I can't wait to learn about Sidra and see how she finds her way in the third book in the series!

A good continuation of a wonderful story! The author's writing style can be wordy and makes it slow to read (at least for me), but the direction and excitement of the characters made me want to keep picking the book back up! I wish I had more to say other than this was good and I enjoyed it, but I have no major complaints!

Loved reading the spellbinding and exciting paranormal story.  Even though Elena, a vine witch, is being blackmailed to turn in Yvette, a witch wanted for murder, Elena wants to help Yvette figure out the hidden messages in a magical book Yvette recently received.  Read the highly recommended, wonderfully written, and a riveting story capturing the reader's attention from the first page of the story until the last page of the story.
I reviewed a copy of the story through NetGalley.

I haven't read the first book yet, however rather enjoyed this book as it kept me hooked and entertained the whole time; also I really loved the characters Elena and Jean-Paul and I'm looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I didn't read the previous book but I found this one entertaining and engrossing.
It's well plotted, it kept me hooked and I liked the world building and the characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I found The Glamourist so much better than The Vine Witch, book 1 in the series. It focuses on Yvette Lenoir, an orphan, and an untrained witch. Currently, Yvette is a running fugitive for a murder she committed when she was younger. I love Yvette even in book 1 when Elena, book one's protagonist, met her in prison. And this time, Elena is helping Yvette to know more about her past.

The plot is more cohesive. The tension is always present. I find that the characters' drive is stronger. Especially Yvette's. Yvette, in the first place, is a very interesting character. It's easy to relate to her.

I also think the whole book wrapped up neatly. I was very satisfied at the end but even more excited for book 3.

The themes and plot twists definitely felt similar to The Vine Witch, which I had read earlier. I wasn't sure from this title whether this story was a continuation or an offshoot of that story. All in all, quite charming and had a similar author voice to The Vine Witch: self discovery, bittersweet choices and the magical world..

So, I liked this one just fine. It was entertaining and I liked the characters. I liked reading about Elena and Jean-Paul again. For a book that focuses more on Yvette, a character we meet in the first book, it still talked about our couple a whole lot. So if you enjoyed reading about them, there’s still plenty of Elena at least in this book.

This second installment of The Vine Witch did feel different than the first one. The plot was kind of a straightforward mystery plot line. It starts off a bit slow, but after a couple of chapters you’re definitely hooked. But I felt it lacked a little of the uniqueness that the first one had. There’s some whimsy in it, if you like reading about that type of magic, but I didn’t get that feeling of originality that I felt The Vine Witch had.

I have some mixed feelings about how the ending of this book played out, but of course I don’t want to say too much about that. But let’s just say that I liked Yvette’s decision at the end. The thing I didn’t like about it was the neat revelation we got about Yvette’s reason for being in prison in the first book.

A last little note: this book is basically an adult novel. But I still felt like it read like YA. Not meaning anything bad by that, but I felt like younger people can read it because it’s about self discovery and it doesn’t have anything explicit in it as far as I can remember.

All in all, a very entertaining read! Highly recommend for people who love reading about witches and don’t mind some whimsy magic while also reading about a mystery.

I really enjoyed The Vine Witch, the first book in this series, and I was excited to receive an advance copy of The Glamourist. Unfortunately, this second book fell far short of the first one.

Pacing is maddeningly slow throughout, with occasional bursts of activity. Content is repetitive, to the point where the voice in my head was yelling, "We get it already! Move on." I spaced off a lot because I was bored.

The last 15% of the book ramps up in pace, throwing everything at us at once. I enjoyed this final part much more than the rest, though I do wish the revelations had been spread more evenly through the book rather than one major dump. I loved the ending, but again I wish more of that  intensity and magic had been sprinkled throughout.

The writing has the feel of a light mystery, though there is some dark content. For me, there's a disconnect with emotion, and I just didn't care about the characters the way I did with the first book.

Here is my confession: I absolutely loved the VIne Witch.

What I liked most about the predecessor of this book was the mesmerising opening and the novelty of its fantasy world. That's perhaps why I placed too high expectations on this book.

Enough about the Vine Witch. Let's talk about the Glamourist. 
The book copies the opening of the Vine Witch (oops! I did it again.) Which made me like  HUH!!! Don't get me wrong; the writing is nice. It just wasn't novel anymore. And the plot, well, the magic flew all over the place a tad too conveniently to give rise to expectations. Everything was explained by means of magic whenever an explanation was due. It was still nice, but not amazing. And the pace dragged on at times but I soldiered on because I wanted our heroines to succeed. And that stands for something, right?

Smith's novel(s) open up a rich world of magic, romance, and daring adventure. Smith is very detailed in the way she creates these atmospheric settings.  That was one of the reasons why I fell in love with her novels so quickly. This book has a balanced blend of romance and adventure, is a perfect read for any historical fiction lover. 

I enjoyed the fact that Smith decided to write further upon the characters in which she introduced in "The Vine Witch" and makes her characters, even though they seem like villains, redeemable. This is a nice, organically written story about how powerful and healing friendship can be.

My expectations for this book were undoubtedly placed too high. I absolutely adored the Vine Witch but I had a hard time getting through this book. The pacing definitely made it hard to get through. I felt like it left me wanting for more. It may have been that I expected too much but it is still a great book.