New Author Spotlight: Mary Robinette Kowal

New Author Spotlight is a series designed to introduce authors with 3 books or less in the different SF/F subgenres.

Today's spotlight shines on Mary Robinette Kowal!

Mary's debut novel is: Shades of Milk and Honey published by Tor. She also edited The Hugo Award Showcase: 2010 by Prime Books

Here's the cover copy for Shades of Milk and Honey:

Shades of Milk and Honey is an intimate portrait of Jane Ellsworth, a woman ahead of her time in a world where the manipulation of glamour is considered an essential skill for a lady of quality. But despite the prevalence of magic in everyday life, other aspects of Dorchester's society are not that different: Jane and her sister Melody's lives still revolve around vying for the attentions of eligible men.

Jane resists this fate, and rightly so: while her skill with glamour is remarkable, it is her sister who is fair of face, and therefore wins the lion's share of the attention. At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, Jane has resigned herself to being invisible forever. But when her family's honor is threatened, she finds that she must push her skills to the limit in order to set things right--and, in the process, accidentally wanders into a love story of her own.

If you enjoy a touch of magic in a Regency or Victorian inspired fantasy setting, check out these other books:

 

• The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett (Spectra)
   
• A Matter of Magic by Patricia Wrede (Orb Books)
   
• The Twelfth Enchantment by David Liss (Random House)