Happy Release Day to Jessica Sorensen and her new book THE ILLUSION OF ANNABELLA. The Illusion of Annabella is a Young Adult Contemporary Romance. Enjoy a sneak peek below and make sure to enter the giveaway!

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Annabella Baker has always lived a normal life with a loving family. She had dreams of going to college and becoming a dancer. But the summer before her senior year, the life she knew is ripped away from her, and she’s left wondering if it ever really existed in the first place.

Six months later, Annabella is living an entirely different life. The loving family she had no longer exists, and the girl who dreamed of being a dancer can barely walk. She spends most of her time getting into trouble and living in denial over what happened. One night she takes things one step too far and is left dealing with the consequences.

Put under house arrest, Annabella can no longer run away from her problems. With the help of her cute, sweet neighbor, Luca Benton, she rediscovers the girl she used to be, and finally learns the truth about what really happened that horrible day that changed her life forever.

I swallow hard, pressing my hands to the garage as my legs turn into noodles. “It seems crazy, wanting to help someone when you don’t even know them . . . Your life would be easier if you didn’t.”

“My life’s never been easy, but do you know what’s really easy?” he asks, and I shake my head. With a hint of a smile on his face, he reaches out, and I think he’s going to grab me, but instead he taps the box of sparklers I’m holding. “Lighting sparklers.”

I frown warily at the box. “That’s actually harder than it seems.”

Suddenly the wind gusts dead leaves across grass, and the cloudy sky grumbles, warning us of an impending storm. Clasping the lighter in one hand, I open the box and wiggle two sparklers out.

Can I do this?

I give one to Luca then fumble to light the lighter.

Am I really going to do this?

Blame it on my nerves, but I can’t get the damn thing to work.

Maybe I shouldn’t do this?

Finally, Luca pries my fingers off it, flicks the top, and creates a steady flame. He lights his first then sticks it out in front of him as silvery sparks shoot out like a magic wand.

“Put yours up to mine,” he instructs, stuffing the lighter into his back pocket.

With a deep breath, I kiss the tip of his sparkler with mine. Oh, my God, I’m really doing this. They hiss as the flames aglow.

I move the sparkler in a circle in front of me. “Wow.” I forgot how magical a simple firework could be, and for a moment, I see the world through my old eyes, lit up like fireflies that I swear I could catch if I just stuck out my hand.

For the next few minutes, Luca and I play around in the driveway, going through sparkler after sparkler, giggling like a couple of kids as we clumsily skip around. When it comes down to the last one, he lights it up and hands it to me.

As the sparkler reaches the halfway point, Luca moves up behind me and circles his arms around my waist, covering my hand with his so we’re both holding onto it. His breath tickles my ear as he laughs and traces letters in the air. My hand moves with his, but I can barely focus on what he’s writing. I’m too distracted by his chest pressed against my back, his warm fingers covering mine, how very alive I feel in that moment, and how terrified I am.

“Luca, I think . . .” I trail off as he stretches our arms out to the side and fixes his finger under my chin. Turning my head toward him, his eyes search mine, then slowly, he leans in.

Michel’s Review

Jessica Sorensen released a new series that is going to capture the readers attention.  Her latest New Adult series, The Honeyton Series, is based upon a family of orphaned children ranging from age 21 to age 13.  The unexpected loss of their parents in a car accident has forever changed all of their lives.  Each sibling is going to have their own story to tell.  It all begins with Annabelle, the middle child, the dreamer of the clan.

Annabella Baker has lived in her own magical world that spreads delight and wonder to her family.  She is the one who believes in fairy tales and loves glitter showers beneath the rainbow.  She chases fireflies and delights in sparklers any time of the year.  She is an optimist.  She is the one that will dance through life.

On her seventeenth birthday her parents plan a special celebration just for her.  She is having her first real high school birthday party later that evening.  The day is her special gift from her parents.  That day will forever change Annabelle and her siblings life.

What should of been the most special day of her life has turned into the ultimate nightmare.  Moments before the horrific car accident occurs, Annabelle is exposed to some ugly truths that will forever change her views about her parents, their marriage, and their family.  She knows her mother’s horrible secret.  A secret that her mother and father took to their graves and left Annabelle with the responsibility of keeping.  Not only has she lost her parents physically, she has also lost her faith in family.  She has also been physically injured.  That injury is so severe that it will prevent Annabelle from ever dancing again.  She has lost her dream of becoming a professional dancer.

What occurs in Annabelle’s life after the accident is a collision course of self destruction and lawless behavior.  Her actions will affect every member of her family.  She will put her family in jeopardy of being torn apart even more than they already are.  She cannot get her act together until one night makes her face the horrid truth about her life.

A new neighbor, Lucas, will help her find some of the missing joy she thought she had lost forever.  He will help her realize that her life isn’t over, it is just on a new path.  He will help her find her faith and trust in her family.  He will show her that forgiving her parents will heal the deepest wound she carries.

As this story unfolds the reader will see how this family has lost more than their guiding light.  The oldest brother, age 21, will have to give up his college life and become a responsible adult ,parenting four siblings between the ages of 17 and 13.  The second eldest sibling will escape the horrors of her home life through her culinary schooling in Europe.  She may not be present in their home but her life is just as affected as her siblings.  Each of these siblings will experience their own kind of pain and change in very different ways.

In the end they only have each other.  The one thing their parents taught them was how to love each other completely.  It is the greatest gift they could give their children.

This family will survive but the scars will remain on their souls.

I have always been partial to stories about orphaned children raising themselves since I was a little girl.  I went from reading the Box Car Children in elementary school to reading V.C. Andrews Dollanganger series in high school.  No matter what age I am, I will always hold a special fascination for these kind of books.  I love the dynamics of siblings pulling together to survive life.

The Honeyton series has definitely captured my attention.  I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

 

Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author from the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.