On the eve of the new year, Rostislav is summoned to a museum to examine a legendary the glass coffin from a notorious legend about a vampire who fell in love with a human—a legend as false as Rostislav knows the coffin to be, because everyone knows that vampires don't fall in love with their prey.
Megan is a long time resident of queer romance and keeps herself busy reading and writing it. She is often accused of fluff and nonsense. When she’s not involved in writing, she likes to cook, harass her wife and cats, or watch movies. She loves to hear from readers and can be found all over the internet.
There is a downside of this being a prequel to Johnnie's first case in Dance in the Dark; those who have read that book know that . In addition, the way this short story begins, readers are immediately dropped in the middle -- there is no story how Rostislav and Jesse first met or how the fall in love.
Having said that, it's nice to return to the world of "Dance". Such a pleasure to have Johnnie as cameo (since I love him and Grim so much). I also enjoy the recreation of the magical fairy tale similar to that of Sleeping Beauty -- with the glass coffin to trap human/witch and can only be opened by the vampire who loves him/her.
Still, I'd love it better if I know the beginning of Rostislav and Jesse; they are sweet couple.
3.75* Why? Why are all the good ones so short? This is the backstory for Jesse the Vampire and Rostislav a human, that appear in Dance In The Dark. Rostislav is investigating a mysterious Glass Coffin and brooding over his unrequited love to the Vampire Jesse, since everyone knows that Vampires can't love humans and even if they could it is not allowed. But things aren't quite like they seem.
This is a story about Rostilav and Jesse, friends of Johnnie in Dance in the Dark. The story took place before that book, so in a way this is an indirect prequel to that book.
Rostilav, a witch that was known to be a spell breaker, was in middle of a personal struggle that started when he hooked up with Jesse, a handsome vampire who owned bar and restaurant in the area. You see, vampire saw human as lower creatures whose existence was to be food supply for them. So, there's no chance that a powerful vampire like Jesse had anything more than one night stand with Rostilav.
One day he was asked to investigate a glass coffin by the museum of the abnormal. Right away, Rostilav realized that the coffin was fake, but the spell was real and powerful. Who put the spell? Why did the museum insist that the coffin was genuine, when Rostilav knew for a fact that his mentor had already destroyed the real one?
I like reading this series, especially about Johnnie and his friends, because it often draws elements from well-known fairy tales and gives a twist to them. This time, Ms. Derr makes a reference to Sleeping Beauty. The MCs are likeable. Too bad it's too short so we don't get to see them much. Fortunately, they appear in the other book.
This one's a nice in-between short story in the Dance with the Devil series, with Rostislav as MC. It's just complex enough to satisfy despite knowing how it would end (aside from the HEA).
This is a prequel to Dance in the Dark with the story of Rostislav get tangled with the infamous glass coffin.
The story began and we got dropped right into the middle. Rostislav who had a tryst with Jesse was called to check out the glass coffin and to break the curse. The way the glass coffin was described was magical to say the least.
We learned what happened that eventually lead to the first chapter of Dance in the Dark.
It was a nice fun read even if it is very short. I would love for it to be beefier and have more content so to speak. The climax ended rather quick which leave me feel anti-climatic.
This is a must read for fans of Derr's Dance with the Devil series, and takes us back to a group of characters that we haven't seen in a while, the characters from Dance in the Dark, Johnnie, the Dracula Ontoniel, and Johnnie's friends Jesse Alucard and Rostislav the sorcerer. Though Johnnie shows up only in a small part in this story, it is enough to recognize that this story is at a unique place in the series, a direct prequel to that book, before Johnnie's own story. Told from Rostiya's point of view, we're also introduced to a very important character. I only recognize him because I'm currently gobbling up every since chapter as soon as I can, the newest novel release in this series, Dance Only for Me, currently in serial production at the Less Than Three Press website and about an Old West style sorcerer named Jackie.
Taking us back to see some old lovable characters and getting to know some new ones that will crop up later is certainly a major draw to this story. I know, at least from my own conversations with other readers on the subject, that this is one of Derr's most popular series all around. But, it's a nice little story on it's own. Rostiya is in love with Jesse, of the vampire Alucard family, a rather influential family. We get to know Jesse's story quite well in Dance in the Dark, he's a rather progressive vampire. Vampires in general are a rather conservative group in this series, holding very firmly to old tradition, which includes their views of potential mates and their genders. Because of this, Rostiya believes that Jesse could never love him back.
In fact, the idea of a vampire loving a human is a well known one. Many centuries past a glass coffin was made, which ultimately trapped a human that was in love with a vampire. When Rostislav's sorcery services are called up on at the abnormal museum to investigate a recent acquisition -- a glass coffin believed to be the very one from the fable -- Rostiya knows that something sneaky is going on and has to get to the bottom of it. His findings, however, lead him down a dangerous road that shadows his view of his doomed relationship with Jesse, and only reconciling the two together and finding a reserve of faith will solve the case.
This is a very short story, and if it hadn't been supported by the already built series around it I might have had a hard time. However, knowing that I already love this series and already know and love the characters meant that this story really didn't need to focus on character building. You have to be familiar with this series to read this story, or at least have read Dance in the Dark. I thought that the plot was nicely set up as well. While we know both of these main characters -- Jesse Alucard and Rostislav -- we don't know them from reading their point of view. We don't know them intimately like some other characters in the series. The way the plot is structured secures the knowledge of a Happily Ever After without necessary in depth character growth within this story. I can't really tell you how that happens, you'll have to see for yourself, but I thought it was rather ingenious and worked quite well for the story.
So, I definitely recommend this story for fans of this series. Other readers need to beware, and be familiar with the series before reading this story. But, by all means, I urge you to read the other books and stories in this series, they're very enjoyable and also one of my favorite Derr series :)
Interesting paranormal variation on Sleeping Beauty. We have the sorcerer who is supposed to lift a curse form the glass coffin, and the vampire who is supposed not to love a human. Combine the two, add a villain after the sorcerer's power, and you get quite a fun tale about the power of true love.
Rostislav, the sorcerer, is the kind of man who will not easily change his mind. He believes certain things, and the fact that vampires do not love humans is one of them, and he will not be swayed. Even with evidence right in front of his nose he has a hard time...
Jesse is a tough vampire, and he knows he will face consequences (which ones we, regretfully, never find out) if he deviates from accepted vampire etiquette and falls for a human. Being who he is, though, he couldn't care less. He is used to getting what he wants, and to people and lesser vampires obeying him, and falling for Rostislav and wanting more with him is no exception.
If you like fairy tales retold in a different, well-developed world, if you enjoy supernatural stories, and if you're looking for a quick read with a bit of mystery and a twist, you will probably enjoy this short book.
Maybe he should move to a new territory, one far, far away from vampires.
This Snow White-esque short story was a sweet slip back into the Dance with the D between vampire Jesse and cursebreaker Rostiya. I also look forward to seeing more of Johnnie in Dance in the Dark!
It doesn’t really cover in this book the backstory behind the why a vampire can’t love a human, why it’s so troublesome, but it definitely is. I haven’t read any of the other stories in this world so all the characters were new to me. It’s a short story and I really wish it had been longer because I liked them all very much.
Rostislav is a human, one who was unfortunate enough to sleep with and fall in love with a vampire, Jesse. Jesse is the good friend of a powerful Dracula, who also happens to be the father of Rostislav’s best friend, Johnnie. When he is called in to check out a glass coffin, purported to be THE glass coffin that kept a witch prisoner waiting for a vampire’s true love to set her free, he is confused as to the purpose of it.
He meets up with Johnnie, his dad and Jesse. Of course Rostislav is definitely not pining for Jesse, or thinking of him every few seconds, or lusting after him, etc. The vampire did him, marked him and moved on. Poor Rosty. Or?
I liked the writing of this very much. I wish I had more of the backstory (how did Jesse and Rostislav get together in the first place? It mentions they were drunk but…) Why is loving a human not condoned? Very sweet story.
Because I don't have the first book in this series, I had a difficult time deciding which book to begin with. In the end, after going through lots of reviews, I decided to go for The Glass Coffin, before continuing with Dance in the Dark.
Maybe two stars is a bit too harsh, I may be biased. I just expect so much more from Derr, her novellas are normally so much better. This one was kinda lame. The concept was great but there was neither spark, nor charm. Meh.
This short is about bringing Rostislav and Jesse together through the difficult social expectations with their standings. There is not a backstory for them and it lands right in the middle of their relationship, with the full build and release being skipped past and now the regret as Rostislav doubts everything that has occurred. The work of breaking an insidious curse brings them together in the most simple and pure of ways affirming all that has been stated as occurring off page. It was a simple sweet story meant to build and establish the relationship between side characters in the larger world that is this series.
Oh Rostislav you are quite the oblivious one aren't you. It's pretty clear how Jesse really feels about Rostiya even if he can't see it. And well when one is in emotional turmoil it's easy to see how they can get pulled into a plot where they thought they knew what was going on. I thoroughly enjoy the fairy tale references in this series and the idea of the glass coffin here was fun. I like Rostiya and his best friend in Johnnie. They may both be human but with Rostiya's sorcery and well Johnnie is more a vampire in attitude than some vampire's having been raised by them, they understand and fit in this abnormal world.
I enjoy this series so much. This was a great read.
MM paranormal romance and adventure. A human in love with a vampire is bitter that his love is not reciprocated, or so he thinks. He is asked to investigate a cursed glass coffin, knowing that it's a fake. This doesn't prevent him from falling into the trap of the bad guys, but in the end he's rescued, and also finds out that his love is also felt by the vampire. Typos: "at worse" should be "at worst." Two "lay" that should be "lie."
I like these little extras, questions answered after the main story. Nice to see two of the main characters make appearances. Short, plenty of magic and a misunderstanding between a witch and a vampire.
Another short story of how Rostilav the witch and Jesse the vampire get together. It involves a minor mystery, a glass coffin, and an very naughty imp.
Cute short story. Not much to it but a bit of angst and a story to get Jesse and Rostislav together. Have to admit that I'd like to get the backstory and to the hot night it led which produces the angst we saw in this story.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Kelly Martin's Shattered Fairy Tale Series. The third installment, The Glass Coffin, is another wonderful addition. The story of Trudy Dodsworth and William Haddington is a sad and woeful tale. As with the previous books in the series, it's not a typical happily ever after story.
Unbeknownst to her, Trudy has lived her life in a bubble - she's believed her life to be a fairy tale that simply doesn't exist and reality is unceremoniously thrust upon her. Not only has her once beloved father sent her and her mother away to Everdale, but the man she loves has essentially disappeared, she's practically engaged to a man she fears, her mother falls fatally ill, and then finds out her beloved father isn't the man she thought he was.
Likewise, William Haddington - the man whose friends praise him for his near saintly reputation - must accept his fall from grace. He isn't the virtuous man his friends and family believe him to be. If he's completely honest he'll admit he never really was. William has found that actions have consequences - some that you don't anticipate and some unavoidable. His fall needn't have been as complete, but William was weak. He allowed himself to wallow in his misery and began a downward spiral. He still loved Trudy more than life itself, but how could he be so selfish as to pursue a relationship with Trudy, even to protect her from the abusive Lawson Stockwell, when he's unworthy of her hand and he knows his death is imminent?
A tale of love, lies, revenge, forgiveness, and redemption The Glass Coffin is a story you won't want to miss!
FYI ~ clean-ish read. Some intimate scenes, but closed door or fade-to-black. Honest Disclosure ~ a review copy was provided
Really, 3.5 stars. The Glass Coffin is a pleasant short story about Rostislav, a human being who is gifted with abnormal powers - sorcery - and his quest to figure out the mystery of the glass coffin, which allegedly holds a human woman who was trapped inside after falling in love with a vampire. According to legend, only a vampire who loved her could release her. Part of the reason that the story takes on the quality of legend is because of the widespread belief that vampires can't love humans. Rostiya's quest is paralleled by the fledgling relationship he is having with the beautiful vampire, Jesse, and the impact that will have on solving the riddle of the glass coffin. The narrative jumps into the middle/end of their story, but surprisingly, it still kind of works. Enjoyable read, though I would have appreciated seeing Rostiya's and Jesse's entire story in a complete novel. Ultimately, it's a cute update to Sleeping Beauty.
This book cannot be read as a standalone. If you've never read other books in the series, you will get confused with the worldbuilding. I read Book 1 Dance with the Devil, but not Book 2 Dance in the Dark. Although this is book 1.5, I feel that I might enjoy the book more if I read book 2 first. It's a prequel to book 2. Anyway, I like the story.
It's a mix of dark fantasy and fairly tales, with vampires and beautiful glass coffin. The romance is friends to lovers type. The story is quick and sweet, but with enough character built-up and background.
Of course I liked this. I love this world Megan Derr created. Rostislav is lovely and I really like that in the end, he . And I absolutely, without a doubt, lovelove Johnny (I've been rereading dance in the dark and dance with the devil for the 100th time), and I love seeing him again in this book. But I really wanted this story to be a little longer and the ending is of course an open ending. It's going to take until the first case of dance in the dark, before they'll get their .
Still a lovely read if you love the dance with the devil series~