Review: Born of Illusion by Teri Brown

Title: Born of Illusion (Born of Illusion #1)
Author: Teri Brown
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release date: June 11th 2013

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

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'm not a big fan of historical fiction books, because it takes me to long to read them, I usually check online the historical facts mentioned in book; but this time I rarely check the historical facts, because to my surprise the plot is very absorbing and interesting, because it takes place in 1920's in New York, amid the alcohol  prohibition, magicians, mentalists and spiritualists.

Anna has not had an easy life, because since childhood she has lived with her mother in showbiz, always living in the uncertainty of having enough to eat, a place to sleep, enough money and her mother being arrested more than once for charlatanism, but now her luck seems to be changing since her mother got a big contract, to interpret her mentalist act and seances for private events, while Anna is her assistant on the show and she´s allowed to perform acts of magic/illusions, but she longs for a normal life without dangers and especially stability. But normal isn´t something that is easy for Anna because she has "gifts" that she has kept secret all her life, since she can tell what people are feeling just by touching them, besides having visions of the future .. .. but when she has a vision where she and her mother are in danger, Anna will do everything in her power to stop that event of ever happen. And amid all that she meets Cole, a young Englishman that might know more about what´s going on with her ​​than she expected.

I really liked this book, is very interesting and I liked that Anna is a magician/escapist and is very good at it, also something I liked is how she wants a normal and stable life, but she feels a great attraction to the world of entertainment and she can not stay away from it. The romance is very subtle and is not the central part of the plot. There are certain parts that are predictable but it is a very good book. I highly recommended!

Waiting On Wednesday (133): A Wicked Thing

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is

A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

Release date: February 24th 2015

A spinning wheel. A prick of a finger. A terrible curse.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairytale.

Her family is long dead. Her “true love” is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept. Everyone expects Aurora to marry her betrothed and restore magic and peace to the kingdom before revolution tears it apart. But after a lifetime spent locked in a tower for her own safety, Aurora longs for the freedom to make her own choices. When she meets a handsome rebel, he tempts her to abandon everything for a different kind of life.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her.

With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

What book are you waiting this week?

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Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway:

July New Release Giveaway Hop (INTL) - HERE  

Review: On the Fence by Kasie West

Title: On the Fence
Author: Kasie West
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: July 1st 2014
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high.

Fun, original, and endearing, On the Fence is a romantic comedy about finding yourself and finding love where you least expect.

On the Fence is an excellent summer read, it´s a light, funny, with likable characters and a cute romance.

The story is told from the point of view of Charlie, a 16-year-old, that has three older brothers or four, if you count Braden her next door neighbor; the five have been inseparable forever, playing all kinds of sports together, watching sports on television together, daring each other constantly and having a dynamic of friends / brothers that´s great and I liked to see the interaction of Charlie and her brothers, they treat her like one more of the guys. Something I really liked of this book is that there isn´t an absent parent as commonly happens in YA books, we see her father more than once; but only the father appears as the mother died when she was young, something that Charlie thinks now at 16 years old somehow influenced her to be a tomboy, because she doesn´t dress fashionably, and her clothing is comfortable and baggy.

And this summer she was fined (again) for driving at excessive speed, so her father decided that enough was enough and that Charlie must to pay her own  fines from now, that´s why she must find a job to pay the fine and she found it where she least expect it, in a boutique where she should dress different than the usual and there she makes new friends. And for different reasons Charlie begins to wake up at night and ends up having nightly talks with Braden, her next door neighbor and best friend through the fence, and those talks are different and a little bit personal that begin to confuse her a little in regarding of her feelings towards Braden.

Overall, I loved On the Fence! it was a fun and romantic read, just what I needed to read at that time. It ´s a book that I recommend to fans of light romantic contemporary novels.

Waiting On Wednesday (132): The Last Time We Say Goodbye

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Release date:  February 10th 2015

There's death all around us.
We just don't pay attention.
Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.
Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

What book are you waiting this week?

Leave your WOW links

Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway:

July New Release Giveaway Hop (INTL) - HERE 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.

Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading

Both books are really good but I definitely LOVED Archtyphe! is a great read.

Currently reading

What I´m going to read next?

What are you reading today? 

Leave me your links!

Have a great week!

Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway:

July New Release Giveaway Hop (INTL) - HERE 

Review: Coin Heist by Elisa Ludwig

Title: Coin Heist
Author: Elisa Ludwig
Publisher: Adaptive Studios
Release date: June 10th 2014
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 3/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

The last place you’d expect to find a team of criminals is at a prestigious Philadelphia prep school. But on a class trip to the U.S. Mint – which prints a million new coins every 30 minutes – an overlooked security flaw becomes far too tempting for a small group of students to ignore.

United by dire circumstances, these unlikely allies – the slacker, the nerd, the athlete, and the "perfect" student – band together to attempt the impossible: rob the U.S. Mint. The diverse crew is forced to confront their true beliefs about each other and themselves as they do the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Elisa Ludwig's Coin Heist is a fun, suspenseful, and compelling thriller, told from the revolving perspectives of four teens, each with their own motive for committing a crime that could change all of their lives for the better—if they can pull it off.

Coin Heist is a  fast-paced book that has its funny moments and with an interesting plot.

This book is told from the four main characters POVs : among them is Alice, she´s the nerdy girl, has the best grades in her grade and is a great hacker, Jason is a musician and a slacker, the son of the principal of the school, there is also Dakota, she´s the popular girl at school, is in almost every club at school, has a popular boyfriend (approved by her parents), has excellent grades (for which she occupies tutoring constantly), but apparently she doesn´t meet her parents expectations. And to complete the quartet is Benny, the athlete and the scholarship boy. They all go to a prestigious school in Philadelphia, which might go to bankrupt and thereby alter their future, so that why this group of people with nothing in common ends up together to plan a robbery that could save their school ... the place they´re planning to rob is no other than the US mint.

It's fun reading about their plans, the obstacles they encounter and little by little they start to change their opinion of each other; at first they didn´t like each other, but they end up being supportive and something might develop between them.

Overall, I had fun with this story, is very entertaining, a quick read and although I didn´t feel identified with the main characters, I end up liking some of them. One thing that bother me is the abrupt ending, I would have liked a more elaborate ending.

Review: The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst

Title: The Lost (The Lost #1)
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Release date: May 27th 2014
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

It was only meant to be a brief detour. But then Lauren finds herself trapped in a town called Lost on the edge of a desert, filled with things abandoned, broken and thrown away. And when she tries to escape, impassible dust storms and something unexplainable lead her back to Lost again and again. The residents she meets there tell her she's going to have to figure out just what she's missing—and what she's running from—before she can leave. So now Lauren's on a new search for a purpose and a destiny. And maybe, just maybe, she'll be found….

Against the backdrop of this desolate and mystical town, Sarah Beth Durst writes an arresting, fantastical novel of one woman's impossible journey…and her quest to find her fate. 

The Lost is an adult book that´s a little peculiar, bizarre and sometimes a little disorienting and the first part of the book is somewhat confusing and didn´t know to where the story was going, but once I get used to what happens in the town of Lost, I  really enjoyed this book.

Lauren is a woman in her late twenties, she´s lost because she fears the diagnosis of her mother, since apparently her illness may have returned and instead of facing it, she decides to drive out of town aimlessly for hours until she gets to the town of Lost, once there she can´t leave no matter what she does. The people living there is very strange and they tell her that she must wait for "the missing man", because he will explain everything she needs to know, but when she meet him things doesn´t go as expected and she is trapped in The Lost and several of the residents are somewhat hostile toward her but she finds help in the enigmatic and handsome Peter and little Claire.

The story is told from the point of view of Lauren, she is a woman that´s not happy with her life at the time, and having a job she hates and her mother might be sick, which terrifies her, so while she´s trying to escape her life she ends up in Lost. Peter is her love interest, he is the "finder" of the town and usually speaks citing books and he doesn´t gives a direct answer, but he´s a great help to her and help her to adjust to her new reality. Claire is another important character, she´s a 6 year old girl that carries a knife all the time and is something like a guide and friend of Lauren.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Lost, but it took me a while to understand the plot, because that world is very strange, weird , creepy and sometimes it feels a little bit like Wonderland, but it did catch my interest and I can not wait to read the next book in the trilogy.

Review: The Art of Lainey by Paula Stokes

Title: The Art of Lainey
Author: Paula Stokes
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: May 20th 2014
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 4/5

Buy on: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Soccer star Lainey Mitchell is gearing up to spend an epic summer with her amazing boyfriend, Jason, when he suddenly breaks up with her—no reasons, no warning, and in public no less! Lainey is more than crushed, but with help from her friend Bianca, she resolves to do whatever it takes to get Jason back.

And that’s when the girls stumble across a copy of The Art of War. With just one glance, they're sure they can use the book to lure Jason back into Lainey’s arms. So Lainey channels her inner warlord, recruiting spies to gather intel and persuading her coworker Micah to pose as her new boyfriend to make Jason jealous. After a few "dates", it looks like her plan is going to work! But now her relationship with Micah is starting to feel like more than just a game.

What's a girl to do when what she wants is totally different from what she needs? How do you figure out the person you're meant to be with if you're still figuring out the person you're meant to be?

This book was a pleasant surprise to me, I didn´t expect to much of it. The Art of Lainey is a very funny, entertaining book with a cute romance and although the idea is not original, since I have seen the same story several times in different ways (especially in movies), I really enjoyed it.

The story begins in the summer before Lainey´s senior year, she´s looking forward to a wonderful summer with her amazing boyfriend and working at her family´s cafe, when her boyfriend breaks up with her at her work, she´s at first a little disoriented because Jason never gave any indication that something wasn´t working between them. But once she overcomes her shock and humiliation, she decides she has to get him back because all her future plans and her senior year will be disastrous if she doesn´t gets her boyfriend back, so with the help of her best friend which then is reading the book The Art of War, decides to take the book as a guide on how to confront, overtake and conquer the "enemy" aka Jason, so they make a list of things Lainey should and shouldn´t do in her attempt to get him back. Besides that she "recruits" Micah, a coworker to be her pretend boyfriend to make her ex-boyfriend jealous and from there she and Micah begin to spend more time together and something change between them.

I really liked the character of Micah, he isn´t the typical guy Lainey would date, but the more time they spend together they start to like and know each other (despite being classmates for years), although the original deal was to try to win back their exes.

The Art of Lainey is a fun, light, fresh contemporary novel with a cute romance with likable characters.

Waiting On Wednesday (131): Illusions of Fate

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White 

Release date: September 9th 2014

“I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Kiersten White captured readers’ hearts with her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy and its effortless mix of magic and real-world teenage humor. She returns to that winning combination of wit, charm, and enchantment in Illusions of Fate, a sparkling and romantic new novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, The Madman’s Daughter, and Libba Bray.

What book are you waiting this week?

Leave your WOW links

Don´t forget to enter my current giveaway:

July New Release Giveaway Hop (INTL) - HERE 

July New Release Giveaway Hop - Intl

July New Release Giveaway Hop

Hosted by Book Nerd

July 15 - 31, 2014

The giveaway is International.

Win a book of your choice from the new releases below or one July New Release book of your choice up to 20 Dlls from TBD.

On the Fence by Kasie West

The Vanishing Season by Jodi Lynn Anderson

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) by Mary E. Pearson

Prototype (Archetype #2) by M.D. Waters

Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5) by Richelle Mead

Details

• There will be one winner.
• Win one July New Release book of your choice up to 20 US Dlls from TBD (must have been published in July 2014).
• You must be a follower via GFC.
• You must be 13 or older to enter for the YA books. 
• You must be 18 or older to enter for the NA or Adult book.
• International as long as Book Depository delivers to your country, check here.
• Giveaway ends on July 31.
• Winner will be announced on August 4th in this post, twitter and facebook.

WINNER: Jamie J.
Congratulations!

The winner have been notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Journey.

Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading

Coin Heist was an entertaining book about 4 teens with nothing in common but they join forces to plan a robbery to the US mint in order to save their school from going bankrupt. 

I really liked On the Fence, is a perfect book to read this summer! Charlie is a tomboy, she grew up with three older brothers (very overprotective), and her neighbor (another overprotective guy) she had know him most of her life, he´s her best friend and another brother to her.....until now; it´s a coming to age story about a girl that is starting to have confused feelings for her best friend. 

In Born of Illusion, Anna is working with her mother in the world of entertainment in the 20's, she is a magician and illusionist and the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini. Anna has a secret that nobody knows, she has the gift to feel the emotions of the people she touch and also when she has visions and in her last vision she "sees" that she and her mother are in danger ... and she knows that she shouldn´t trust anyone.

Currently reading

What I´m going to read next?

What are you reading today? 

Leave me your links!

Have a great week!

Stacking the Shelves (37): June

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga´s Reviews, which showcases the books we've purchased, won, borrowed and received in the mail. 

These are the books I got last month. 

FOR REVIEW

The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E. Smith

Falling into Place by Amy Zhang

Burning Kingdoms (The Internment Chronicles #2) by Lauren DeStefano 

Exquisite Captive (Dark Caravan Cycle #1) by Heather Demetrios

The Beautiful Ashes (Broken Destiny #1) by Jeaniene Frost

The Hit (The Unknown Assassin #1) by Allen Zadoff

Thank you very much to Hachette Children's Books, Harlequin, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Balzer + Bray, Greenwillow Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Netgalley and Edelweiss for the eARCs.

WON

The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) by Mary E. Pearson  (ARC)

Boomerang (Boomerang #1) by Noelle August (ARC)

BOUGHT

Invincible (Chronicles of Nick #2) by Sherrilyn Kenyon 

Infamous (Chronicles of Nick #3) by Sherrilyn Kenyon 

Ruby Red (The Ruby Red Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier

Sapphire Blue (The Ruby Red Trilogy #2) by Kerstin Gier

The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil #1) by Soman Chainani

Shug by Jenny Han

Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur

FOR MY KINDLE

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

Pretties (Uglies #2) by Scott Westerfeld

This is Not a Test (This is Not a Test #1) by Courtney Summers

Forbidden (Otherworld Stories #10.1) by Kelley Armstrong

Amityville Horrible (Otherworld Stories #10.7) by Kelley Armstrong

Brazen (Otherworld Stories #13.1) by Kelley Armstrong

The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas

The Bronze Horseman (The Bronze Horseman #1) by Paullina Simons

Pathfinder (Pathfinder #1) by Orson Scott Card

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

What books did you get?

Leave me your link in the comments.