Title: The Witches of Vegas
Author: Mark Rosendorf
Genre: YA Fantasy
Book Blurb:
Where can Witches and their vampire mentor practice their powers without being discovered or persecuted?
By using their magic, the Witches of Vegas become the number one act performing on the Las Vegas Strip—a great achievement for them, but not so much for the magicians—who can't possibly keep pace.
Isis Rivera is the adopted fifteen-year-old daughter of The Witches of Vegas. Zack Galloway is the teenage nephew and assistant to the last magician left in the city. Although they should be rivals, when Valeria, a four-hundred-year-old witch with a long-seeded grudge against humanity arrives in Sin-City, both teens act to bring their families together to stop the evil hag in her tracks.
But can the combined witches' powers and the ingenuity of the magicians be enough to stop Valeria from taking over the city and possibly the world?
Excerpt:
Sebastian’s voice boomed through the theater. “Ladies and gentlemen, for the last five and a half years, you have had the opportunity to experience The Witches of Vegas four nights and three afternoons a week right here at the Sapphire Resort and Casino’s main theater. But today, you will be the very first audience to witness something truly spectacular!”
Isis’ shoulders tensed. A knot formed in the pit of her stomach. She had levitated many times, but never in front of more than four people. This time, it would be in front of over four thousand strangers. Wow, goosebumps popped out all over her arms and legs. She took deep breaths, just as they taught her, in through the nose and out through the mouth. It always helped calm her nerves. Right now, they really needed calming.
“We are about to bring out a new, young witch to the stage,” Sebastian explained. “She will have you believing that a young girl can become lighter than air!”
“Lighter than air.” Isis closed her eyes and chanted under her breath. “Lighter than air.” Her hands and feet tingled with each step toward the stage. The magic flowed through her veins like a steady leak from a faucet.
“Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together for the future goddess of magic, Isis!”
The crowd applauded. A slow, soothing music played through the speakers. Isis took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the curtain. She could hear the audience but couldn’t see them behind the blinding spotlights. “Lighter than air,” she whispered a few more times.
Isis raised her right foot as if resting it on the first step of a long staircase. She placed her left foot next to the right. A few inches separated the soles of her bare feet from the stage floor. The crowd let out an “ooh.”
Time to make them “ahh.”
Isis reached up with both hands, then, like a swimmer at the bottom of a pool, pulled her body straight up. She floated until her hands touched the ceiling. Way too high. Isis pushed against the ceiling so she’d float down ever so slightly. She let her body go horizontal, then breast-stroked past the spotlights and directly over the audience. Astonished faces pointed her way.
“Lighter than air,” she said once again as a reminder to herself not to lose concentration.
Several feet ahead, a metal hoop hung from a rope attached to the ceiling. It had been placed there specifically for Isis’ benefit. Isis through the air until she passed through the hoop.
The crowd applauded.
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What’s the first binge-worthy book you read and why was it a must-read?
Stephen Baxter’s “Time Ships” is a sequel to HG Wells’ Time Machine. It is written in the same style and is a perfect sequel. Both books should be binged together. I certainly enjoyed doing so multiple times.
What makes your featured book a binge-worthy read?
The Witches of Vegas includes everything, from witches to vampires to magicians to teen relationships, and the true meaning of family. This story is guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings while also keeping you at the edge of your seat. Except a few laughs as well.
Giveaway – One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon gift card https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db7750227
Open internationally. Runs August 1 – 31, 2023. Drawing will be held on September 1, 2023.
Mark Rosendorf is your typical average all-American guy with an overactive imagination. By day, he is a high school guidance counselor for the New York City Department of Education’s special education district. By night, he is the writer of The Witches of Vegas series. There have been four books in the series with the fifth slated for release in November, 2023. The Witches of Vegas has won the prestigious RONE award for Young Adult Fiction.
Mark has moonlighted as a professional magician, an experience that is prevalent in pages of The Witches of Vegas.
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