 Popsugar Writing Challenge category: A book written for National Novel Writing Month.
Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal This story, the start of a series, is billed as "Pride and Prejudice with magic." There are a lot of familiar tropes from Regency romance and Austen: parents scouting for husbands for their daughters, titled nobility trying to hide how broke they are, social climbers, and the occasional scoundrel. But this version of England also has "glamour," the ability to magically create illusions, including images, sounds, and even smells. The heroine is a literal plain Jane, skilled at art, music, and glamour. Her sister, Melody, is less talented, but sought after for her beauty. At first they're interested in the same man. But then another man comes on the scene, and another - and, inevitably, one of them is a scoundrel. One realistic touch: when Jane and another woman try to expose the scoundrel, people are quick to believe his denials, even when Jane offers tangible proof. Jane's magical abilities are essential to the resolution, but the core of the story is always the characters' emotional lives, not just the magic. This being a romance, Jane winds up with the right man, and other characters' storylines get tied up in a satisfying way. As for the scoundrel, I think it's possible he may show up in future books.
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