***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: born of illusion

Showing posts with label born of illusion. Show all posts

Friday, October 11, 2013

Official Cover Reveal: Born of Deception by Teri Brown + Giveaway

Friday, October 11, 2013 with 2 comments

I absolutely adored the first book in Teri Brown's BORN OF ILLUSION series, and as soon as I finished that book, I immediately added the sequel to my TBR wishlist. And now it's time to reveal the cover for the sequel, and I get to help, courtesy of Book Nerd Tours!

To preorder: Amazon

Here's the blurb:

Budding illusionist Anna Van Housen is on top of the world: after scoring a spot on a prestigious European vaudeville tour, she has moved to London to chase her dream and to join an underground society for people like her with psychic abilities. Along with her handsome beau, Cole Archer, Anna is prepared to take the city by storm.

But when Anna arrives in London, she finds the group in turmoil. Sensitives are disappearing and, without a suspect, the group’s members are turning on one another. Could the kidnapper be someone within the society itself—or has the nefarious Dr. Boyle followed them to London?

As Cole and Anna begin to unravel the case and secrets about the society are revealed, they find themselves at odds, their plans for romance in London having vanished. Her life in danger and her relationship fizzling, can Anna find a way to track down the killer before he makes her his next victim—or will she have to pay the ultimate price for her powers?

Set in Jazz-Age London, this alluring sequel to Born of Illusion comes alive with sparkling romance, deadly intrigue, and daring magic.

BORN OF DECEPTION is due to be released on June 10, 2014.

Born of Deception (Born of Illusion, #2)

About the author:

I’m not sure who to tell you about here because I’m actually two people rolled into one. As a responsible mother of teens, I show one persona to the world. That person is driven, conservative and level headed. But the other part of me just never grew up. She is rebellious, impulsive and curious.

It’s hard being both these people. They’re often at odds.

The mother part of me knows I should put a cap on how many animals we take in. The teen part of me wants to save them all. We have five cats and two dogs. Who do you think is winning?

Even now. The mother part wants to make a meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and a tossed salad. The teen part wants to order a pizza, work on my website and check my Facebook.

Luckily, though my two halves don’t always agree, both of us live happily in Portland, Oregon, with a husband and too many animals. And we both love to write and write and write...

Find Teri:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway is open to US Only. | Must be 13+ to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm so excited for this book! And I love that this cover matches the first! Gah, and that font...I can be such a font nerd. :)

What do you think of the cover and the summary? Have you started this series yet?

Labels: beautiful covers, born of illusion, harper-collins, official cover reveals, teri brown

Friday, June 7, 2013

{Blog Tour} Born of Illusion by Teri Brown: Review + Giveaway

Friday, June 7, 2013 with 34 comments

Guys, I am so pleased to be included on the Born of Illusion Blog Tour. That gorgeous cover initially drew me, but the story and concept are equally good! The awesome ladies at Rockstar Book Tours have put together another great tour, complete with some lovely giveaway prizes. So check out my review of Born of Illusion and then enter to win a vintage spoon bracelet and an eyeshadow trio inspired by the book.

Title: Born of Illusion
Author: Teri Brown
Series: Born of Illusion, book #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: June 11, 2013
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Anna Van Housen has a secret. A gifted illusionist, Anna assists her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums, and mentalists in 1920’s New York. As the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini—or so Marguerite claims—sleight of hand illusions have never been a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her own gifts secret from her opportunistic mother. Because while Marguerite’s own powers may be a sham, Anna possesses a true ability to sense people’s feelings and foretell the future.

But as Anna’s powers intensify, she begins to experience frightening visions of her mother in peril, which leads her to explore the powers she’s tried so long to hide. And when a mysterious young man named Cole moves into the flat downstairs, introducing Anna to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, she is forced to confront her past and rethink everything she’s ever known. Is her mother truly in danger, or are Anna’s visions merely illusion? And could the great Houdini really be her father, or is it just another of Marguerite’s tricks?

From Teri Brown comes a world bursting with magic, with romance, and the temptations of Jazz Age New York—and the story of a girl about to become the mistress of her own destiny.

"I recognize in Dr. Finneas Bennett a snake-oil salesman of the highest caliber. Of course, it takes one to know one."

I love a good historical fiction, especially one set in the Roaring Twenties. I still maintain that I was a flapper in a previous life. =) This particular time period was so rife with change, so imbued with culture, and it makes for some of the more intriguing historical fiction I've had the pleasure of reading.

Inevitably, I couldn't help but compare this novel to Libba Bray's The Diviners. Both books are set in New York during the 1920s and both involve séances, spirits, and the like. But I can honestly say that Born of Illusion holds its own against the work of one of my favorite authors, and it does so in measurably fewer pages. I'm in no way complaining about the length of The Diviners; I just know that some readers found the sheer number of pages in that book rather daunting. But that book had so much ground to cover and so many characters on which to focus, that its length was necessary to build the complete picture. Not so with Born of Illusion.

Anna's story is magical, literally and figuratively speaking. She might be the illegitimate daughter of Houdini, but she's also a magician in her own right, and a damn fine one at that. Yet, her mother refuses to share the spotlight with her. Their rocky relationship made it hard to like Marguerite, especially when she was forcing her daughter to take advantage of innocent people, but I eventually came to understand their dynamic and even understood Marguerite's position on a lot of decisions.

"She's a terrible snob for someone who swindles people out of money for a living."

That includes Anna's love life. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the romance in this book takes on a bit of a triangular edge, but the way it was presented made it essential to the story line. It wasn't simply a ploy used by the author to create unnecessary drama; the love triangle actually serves a purpose in this novel. And it's resolved by the end of the book...no waiting until the next installment to see who Anna chooses, though for me, I don't think there was ever any question.

"And Cole is the only one who can teach me. Cole, who vacillates between aloof and caring faster than a magician can say, 'Abracadabra.'"

"Owen sighs, his eyes remorseful. "I'm sorry, I'm just so jealous I can't see straight. I've been trying to let you know how I feel about you, but I'm such a klutz it never comes out right."

The book is a tad predictable, obviously, if I was able to figure out who Anna would end up with from the get-go. I also determined the identity of the villain pretty early on, but neither of these facts detracted from my enjoyment of the novel. In fact, knowing these things actually made it easier to appreciate the rest of the novel and focus on other aspects I might have paid less attention to, including that Houdini fellow. ;0)

All in all, I consider Born of Illusion to be a commendable entry in the YA historical fiction genre. The author captured the essence of the 20s beautifully, and made the allure of magic and illusion even more so before setting the stage for an engaging sequel. And this time, the story will focus on Rasputin. Color me intrigued...

Rating:

About the author:

Teri Brown is proud of her two children but coming in a close second is the fact that she parachuted out of a plane and beat the original Legend of Zelda video game.

She is a word scribbler, head banger, math hater, book reader, rule breaker, food fixer, novel writer, kitty keeper, and city slicker. Teri lives with her husband and way too many pets in Portland, Oregon.

Find Teri:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

To celebrate the launch of BORN OF ILLUSION, Teri is giving away 10 sets of BORN OF ILLUSION earth mineral eye shadow available for a limited time only from Glamour Doll Eyes. You, too, can get the glam look of the twenties!

Teri will also be giving away not, one but THREE grand prizes that Cari Cucksey, (of HGTV’s Cash and Cari), picked out from her RePurpose shop especially for the BORN OF ILLUSION launch!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway is US/Canada.

Follow the rest of the Born of Illusion Blog Tour:

--Week One--

June 3rd - Tales of the Ravenous Reader - Guest Post
June 4th - Mostly YA Books Obsessed - Review
June 5th - Hobbitsies - Interview
June 6th - YA Bibliophile - Guest Post
June 7th - The Starry-Eyed Revue - Review

--Week Two--

June 10th - Supernatural Snark - Interview
June 11th - Between the Pages - Review
June 12th - Icey Books - Guest Post
June 13th - Larissa & Friends' Bookish Life - Guest Post
June 14th - The Irish Banana - Review

Thanks for stopping by & happy reading!

Labels: blog tour, born of illusion, giveaways, harper-collins, historical fiction, magic, reviews, teri brown, the 20s

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Teaser Tuesday #60: Born of Illusion by Teri Brown & Dance of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Tuesday, June 4, 2013 with 7 comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here are the books we're teasing this week:

Title: Born of Illusion
Author: Teri Brown
Series: Born of Illusion, book #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: June 11, 2013
Source: received from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Anna Van Housen is thirteen the first time she breaks her mother out of jail. By sixteen she’s street smart and savvy, assisting her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, and easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums and mentalists in 1920’s New York City. Handcuffs and sleight of hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts secret from her opportunistic mother, who will stop at nothing to gain her ambition of becoming the most famous medium who ever lived. But when a strange, serious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing her to a secret society that studies people with gifts like hers, he threatens to reveal the secrets Anna has fought so hard to keep, forcing her to face the truth about her past. Could the stories her mother has told her really be true? Could she really be the illegitimate daughter of the greatest magician of all?

Born of Illusion is the first book in a new series. Each book in the series will introduce a new historical figure, whose legend is shrouded in magic, along with the young woman whose fate is irrevocably tied to his. The through line in each of the books will be The Ghost Club, the real life secret society that was founded in 1862 by the likes of Charles Dickens, Sir Conan Doyle, and W. B. Yeats to advance mankind’s knowledge of the paranormal. The first three books in the series will deal with Houdini, Aleister Crowley and Rasputin.

"There's my girl!"
He falls down on his knees in front of me and holds out a rose. "I would have been here sooner, but I didn't want to show up empty-handed. Not after I let them take you like that."

-- Loc 2920, 64% of galley

Isn't that cover simply gorgeous?!? I love books about magic, especially set in the practical world. And I absolutely adore books set in the 1920s. I think I should have been born a flapper. Goodness knows I've dressed up as one enough times over the years for Halloween! :) When I first discovered this book, I didn't know it was going to be a series, and I had no idea how it would evolve, but I am so delighted with this news!

Title: Dance of the Red Death
Author: Bethany Griffin
Series: Red Death, book #2
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: June 11, 2013
Source: from publisher via Edelweiss
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Bethany Griffin continues the journey of Araby Worth in Dance of the Red Death—the sequel to her teen novel Masque of the Red Death.

In Dance of the Red Death, Araby’s world is in shambles—betrayal, death, disease, and evil forces surround her. She has no one to trust. But she finds herself and discovers that she will fight for the people she loves, and for her city.

Her revenge will take place at the menacing masked ball, though it could destroy her and everyone she loves…or it could turn her into a hero.

With a nod to Edgar Allan Poe, Bethany Griffin concludes her tragic and mysterious Red Death series with a heroine that young adult readers will never forget.

I never meant to keep this secret from him. Never wished to know more than he did about the enemy who foiled all of his carefully laid plans.

-- Loc 1857, 48% of galley

I have a weird soft spot for duologies. And this one most of all. I love the throwback to Poe but I also love that this is a post-apocalylptic story that brings something different to the table. Maybe not entirely new but definitely different.

Mendy didn't get a chance to send me her teaser this week, so I'm sharing two. The blog tours for both of these books are stopping by this week. Be sure to stop back by for awesome posts and giveaways!