Review: The Gilded City of Dreams: A Novel by Luanne G. Smith

The Gilded City of Dreams: A Novel by Luanne G. Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This is the second book in the Golden Age of Magic series, and while I do think you could get away with reading this as a standalone, I do think readers would benefit from reading book 1 first.  The first book sets up things in this book and the Fée Gardienne aka Fairy Godmothers that main characters Celeste and Anaïs are members is explained.  I think parts of this would be confusing if you haven't read the first book.

Celesete and Anaïs have found themselves in NYC on their way to Paris to return the elder staff to the new head of their order.  The staff is stolen shortly after their arrival in the busy city and the pair is split up when their ideas on how to get it back differ.  Celeste finds herself in the center of yet another magical mystery using her magical abilities and new acquaintances to help not only find the staff but Anaïs  as well.  Anaïs on the other hand has her own ideas as to how to get the staff back from the darker side of the city's magic users.  

I really enjoyed this audiobook.  I loved the first book, and while Celeste does maintain a level of innocence and naivety in this she shows a level of confidence and capability that was missing in the previous installment.  Now that she has proven herself she has really come into her magic and abilities.  She is much more sure of herself.  Anaïs being the much older mentor, is very confident almost to a fault, and always has a plan for every situation.  I enjoyed watching these two women work together and separately to find the staff and figure out what was going on.  I also liked that while there was a romance element to the book, it wasn't the main focus.  

View all my reviews