The Artist's Apprentice had moments of promise, but it didn’t fully meet my expectations. While Alice’s journey toward independence was interesting, it felt underdeveloped at times, and Edmund remained a bit too distant for me to truly connect with their romance. The chemistry between them felt somewhat forced, which made their relationship less compelling than it could have been.

The pacing was slow in parts, and I found myself wanting more depth to the characters and story. The abrupt ending left several threads unresolved, which was frustrating. That said, the focus on stained-glass artistry was a unique element, and I appreciated the historical backdrop. There’s potential in the sequel, but I’m unsure if I’ll continue with it.

This book was just okay for me. I tried to enjoy it. Listened to the first few hours and just couldn’t hold my interest. I really wanted it to but it was a no go for me.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This took me a bit to really get into and while I didn't totally love the main characters I did end up pretty invested in what happens! I would read more in this series. The narrator did a good job.

An arranged marriage, a brother with a secret, and personal tragedy kick things off. Both Alice and Edmund are caught up in their own affairs, which take them far from each other. Both separate from their families - one seeking distance from a cruel, overbearing father, the other wanting to direct their own life and opinions for once.

I tried to stay open to the characters, and I did gravitate more toward Alice, though it took some time to warm up to both of them. Dora was nearly unbearable, creating misery and dripping selfishness in her wake.

When Alice and Edmund meet again years later, I was more than ready for it. Boy did it pay off though, and I was pleased on how it was dealt with by both parties. I found the ending a bit abrupt - I wanted more and wasn't ready for it. I wanted everything to work out in their lives, for all the broken pieces to be mended, and we weren't quite given that. (I just noticed that this is in fact a duology, and I'm very excited to see how things turn out in the second book!)

While it was a bit slow in parts, I found myself caring for both Alice and Edmund in the end. And more than a little drawn to the art of stained glass, something I'd paid little attention to in the past.

The audiobook was well read, and kept my interest. It was also easy to discern between the Alice and Edmund chapters with a slight change in tone, which is always appreciated.

TW: Suicide, sexual harassment, abusive relationships

1) I am sorry, but if your wife doesn't have sex with you and you still 'force' her even though she doesn't protest it's still rape. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

2) If you simply stop talking to your child because you broke off with your dad and now he supports her financially, hmm you are also a shitty person.

Alice and Edmund are kind of thrown together because of their families interest. They both refuse to get married, break off with their families and many years later they meet again and end up falling in love. In an unbelievable story, turns out all of the city kind of accepts that they are in love and living together even though he has a family in another city. I will definitely not be reading the next one in this series.

I received a digital copy from NetGalley for review. All opinions are my own

I don't know how to rate this one, nor how to review it without revealing important parts of the story - So there will be spoilers.

I liked this book, but I hated that the author chose to address that whole cheating thing like it wasn’t a big deal. I simply cannot root for characters that show so little remorse.
Edmund's mentality seemed humm anachronistic, with him being the champion of feminism.

The way the author described that whole time period was, in my opinion, the most compelling aspect of this book. One very quickly understands the different dynamics within the society and what is at stake.

The book ended rather abruptly, but I sure want to know what will be happening in the next one.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for giving me access to this audiobook for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Wonderful narration and a story of love, inner strength, and self expression set against pre WWs England that left me breathless. I love the cover, love the rebellion against the strictures of culture and society.

I was not a fan of this book. It went from homophobic language and believes which were never properly addressed and ended with adultery and Edmond being encouraged to just start fresh. As much as I hated Dora, I felt we needed more conclusion there. Also, are Lotti and Dora even safe right now living with Edmond's father? No conclusion there. The book felt incomplete, and troubling to me.

Alice and Edmund are both the products of a society in which one's life is not truly one's own. Children are used as pawns to further business achievements and enhance social standing. So when the two each took a stand and abandoned their homes rather than being forced to marry one another, it's hard not to cheer for them.

But as fate would have it, their paths cross again many years later when they realize that perhaps a union between them would not have been loveless after all. Unfortunately, Edmund is already in a loveless marriage, so there's that to contend with...

There were plenty of secondary characters to dislike in this story, and a few circumstances I wasn't a fan of either. So, while the story was well-written, I didn't find it as enjoyable as I had hoped to.

Thank you, though, to Clare Flynn, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

I have listened to this as a review copy for a honest review.

This really does show the whole suffragette movement in England and that slight time between Boer War and WW1. Lucy Dalton may have her sights set on art but also meets due to her father’s dealings with the Cutler household.

It was slow and dragged out in many of the sections. It’s does bring Pankhurst and suffragette history in but otherwise the Cutlers feature more than the Daltons and really could be better with a cut edit and maybe shortened a few chapters

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. It was a great story with many believable, lively characters. I was excited how Alice and Edmund found each other once again but what I truly appreciated about was how both characters went out on their own, experienced their own trials and tribulations, lived life. My heart does go out to poor Lottie and I am curious to see what becomes of the father/daughter relationship has the series progresses.

The way this was written was well done. It didn’t focus primarily on love and was certainly not a romance novel. It incorporated history and it gave the reader a real feel on daily life during that time period.

I also appreciated the way the author wrote. She had clever quips and displayed throughout the book that she is a master dialogue writer. It can be difficult for authors to incorporate believable and interesting dialogue, but Flynn did a great job of it.

I definitely recommend this story and would love to hear more. I am excited to discover what the next book in the series has to offer.

Book Title: The Artist’s Apprentice
Author: Clare Flynn
Series: Hearts of Glass #1
Narrator: Annette Chown
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dreamscape Select, Storm Publishing
Pub Date was: February 13, 2024
My Rating: 3.6 rounded up
Pages: 334

Story takes place in England, 1908:
Alice Dalton has been slated for an arranged marriage to Edmund Cutter. Edmund however wants no part of an arranged marriage. Alice is so humiliated she leaves home and decides to become an independent woman.

Five years later, Edmund is getting established as a designer of stained glass windows and needs an assistant and our now independent woman Alice who is an artist applies for the job.

Story turned out more complicated than this.
As they work together, mixing paints and composing the design for their stained-glass window designs, Edmund and Alice’s toxic relationship does smooth as they recognize the talents of the other.

This is Book #1 and it ends in 1914. We know WWII starts July 29. 1941 so feel it will play a role in, "The Artist’s Wife" Book #2 in the ‘Hearts of Glass’ series,
Narrator Annette Chown does a great job performing the characters.

The Artist’s Apprentice was previously published as The Colour of Glass.


Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Select, Storm Publishing for this early Audiobook.
Publishing Release Date was February 13, 2024.

Be wary of the description, as this book is not as advertised.
It takes place in London, shortly before WW1, but spends minimal time establishing the world in which the characters live, beyond a few mentions of social norms. We are led to feel like so many social standards are unjust, and archaic, but with the scope of what feels like a naive, American, POV. The nuances of English society around this time are really pushed out of the way to accommodate the storyline. And, to be fair, since it’s fiction, why should it matter? It simply happens so often that it made me eye roll, rather than enjoy.
The book also spans years, which gave me the impression that the author was trying to create an epic, grand sweeping love story but fell very very short. I kept thinking, “ugh it’s trying to be Atonement”. In reality, it’s just plain boring. Our characters make knee-jerk reactions and have to live in their own mistakes for 70% of the book with little to no plot advancement. Honestly no one is so like-able that I even cared. And the romance? What romance?! The MCs finally circle back to each other and instantly love each other. What. *bangs head into wall*
The book wasn’t written poorly, and there are worse things out there, but it really could have been so much better. 2 ⭐️

Audiobook note- the narrator, while not awful, struggled with distinct differences in class tone, which at times confused me. I would recommend not listening above 2x speed.

Lastly, trigger warnings were not listed on the audiobook. Be aware of suicide.

Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook, in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Thank you to Clare Flynn, Dreamscape Select, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spoilers---beware

The summary for the book is misleading. Alice doesn't leave her parents' house until 45%. She doesn't become Edmund's assistant until 73%. Four or five YEARS pass between the broken engagement and their working together. Surprised? I was, too.

What actually happens is you spend almost the first half of the book watching the Cutlers and Daltons attempt to play marriage chess with their children, who at first capitulate before, psych, completely ruining the plan. First Gilbert and Alice are matched, but Alice finds him in a passionate embrace with her brother and cries off. Gilbert kills himself and her brother is sent to America. The ol' rents try to match Alice with Edmund, but Edmund outmaneuvers them by marrying an art school classmate he's been lusting after---and he quickly finds out he effed up biiiiig time. Alice wants to wash her hands of all of it and runs away to live with her estranged aunt and join the suffrage efforts.

The next 30% is just watching Edmund flounder in the misery of his mistake and Alice live quite peacefully with her aunt. Then he gets a job making windows in the same town where she lives; he needs an assistant and she needs a job. Boom, reunited by fate. They fall in instalove and live in sin, happily ever after.

I thought they'd defy being matched by their parents then very quickly stumble into working with each other. It'd be an enemies to lovers deal where he'd grump at her and she'd put up with it because she could see the vulnerability underneath. Witty banter would morph into genuine affection and they'd end up doing what their parents wanted them to do to begin with. Hilarity ensues.

No no no. That is not this book.

This book is about a man making a hasty, selfish decision in his youth and spending his life paying for it. It's about a woman sick of being a pawn, a possession, a bargaining chip, and taking control of her own life. And for shits and ironic giggles, they end up together. It's not a romance like the clever summary would have you believe; it's more like two women's fiction storylines running parallel before intertwining in the end.

Alice was an okay character. Sympathetic and relatable in her limited choices, in her being subject to the patriarchy. She wasn't particularly endearing, nor did she have much personality, but she wasn't a bad character.

I didn't like Edmund much but I also don't have much against him. He's not the first man to rush into marriage with the object of his lust. He's also not the first artsy-fartsy kid who doesn't want to go corporate like his parents want. I did respect his efforts to make his marriage better, despite a complete lack of encouragement from his wife.

Omg his wife....I know she's a product of her time and class, but I despised her. So much. I wanted Edmund's father to kill her and free Edmund, I sincerely thought that would happen, but apparently the ol' guy drew a line at murder. I'm not sure how Dora came to be such an entitled brat, but she acted like she deserved a rich lady simply because she paid her dues growing up lower class, taking care of her dad and marrying some schmuck like women were supposed to. Entirely self-centered.

Overall, others make like this novel, but it was not for me. The romance isn't there, the characters are only meh, the story meanders---takes forever to accomplish anything, and I'm seldom a fan of alternating POVs.

A historical romance set in the first World War with quite a fast burning story line. Great narration on the audiobook.

Truly loved this book. It was very interesting and I couldn't put it down. I loved hearing about the stained window work. The characters stories were also very touching. I enjoyed all the couples and their relationships.

I especially loved how it was written. Clare Flynn’s beautifully penned and descriptive passages create wonderful imagery for the reader/listener. There are a lot of subjects areas/topics covered in this historical fiction:
social/societal norms, interpersonal relationships, women’s rights and politics. The Artist’s Apprentice has a little bit of everything.
I enjoyed listening to the story. The narration, by Annette Chown, is well paced and easy to listen to.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the opportunity to enjoy the audiobook version of this ARC.

I really loved this book. It's not a typical simple romance. It's complicated. It's messy. It's human. Mistakes are made. Choices very untraditional to the day are made. It's beautiful in its realness.

The book ending definitely leaves you hanging, so have that second book ready to jump to!

I'm off to start it now...

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a historical fiction that follows Alice in 1908 as she tries and fails to meet her families expectations and then finally decides to set off on her own after a traumatic event happens that leaves her with no other options. We also follow Edmund, who equally struggles with family expectations, as he wants to be an artist but his demanding father wants him to join his finance business. The two characters’ stories intersect closely, but their actual interactions don’t begin until about 70% of the way into the story. Although realistic as far as feelings and circumstances can go, the overall happy acceptance of the situation seemed a bit too unbelievable for me, and not very historically accurate. However, the ending seemed very much to set up the story for the continuation, so I’m assuming that part of the hardship comes later if you continue reading. I’m invested enough to want to do that, so hopefully that audio is available soon! And hopefully it’s the same narrator, as she did a great job, and ups the rating from 3.5 to 4. Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

🎧4.25⭐️

Historical fiction a story looking at artistic ambition and love which starts in England 1908

I had the audiobook read by Annette Chown. I didn’t feel that she had the correct accent for the aristocrats, but that wasn’t the biggest section of the book. She had a good range of distinctive voices and accents for the other characters. I enjoyed her narration, which added to the storytelling for me.

This has previous been published as the Colour of glass.
Alice is the daughter of an aristocrat who has fallen into financial hardship her father is looking to marry her off to American new money, as her coming out season failed to find a suitable husband. After being humiliated Alice fleas from her home. Alice desperately wants to be true to herself and independent, finding a job as a stain glass artists apprentice. It’s good to see women striking out against societal expectations, the reader sees Edmund also bucking family pressure.

It covers some real events of the time which adds authenticity.
The characters are interesting with good depth. The plot is layered giving a good level of interest. It’s an easy listening entertaining book which I enjoyed. I really liked the strong women characters, of whom Alice is my favourite.

One I’d recommend if you fancy an easy entertaining listen.