Blog Tour / Giveaway: Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard

Today I'm excited to be part of the blog tour for Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard. Read on for a synopsis and review, and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Phantom's Dance by Lesa Howard
Publication Date: March 1st 2014

Synopsis
Christine Dadey’s family uprooted their lives and moved to Houston for her to attend the prestigious Rousseau Academy of Dance. Now, two years later, Christine struggles to compete among the Academy’s finest dancers, her parents are on the brink of divorce, and she’s told no one about her debilitating performance anxiety and what she’s willing to do to cope with it.

Erik was a ballet prodigy, a savant, destined to be a star on the world’s stage, but a suspicious fire left Erik’s face horribly disfigured. Now, a lonely phantom forced to keep his scars hidden, he spends his nights haunting the theater halls, mourning all he’s lost. Then, from behind the curtain he sees the lovely Christine. The moldable, malleable Christine.

Drawn in by Erik’s unwavering confidence, Christine allows herself to believe Erik’s declarations that he can transform her into the dancer she longs to be. But Christine’s hope of achieving her dreams may be her undoing when she learns Erik is not everything he claims. And before long, Erik’s shadowy past jeopardizes Christine’s unstable present as his obsession with her becomes hopelessly entangled with his plans for revenge.

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Review
As a huge fan of all things Phantom of the Opera based, I jumped at the chance to read and review this book! Modernising such a classic story and making it realistic must have been a difficult task, but it works surprisingly well. The idea of setting it in a dance school is just genius! As a reader who knows nothing about dancing, I found the insight into the world of ballet really interesting and a great spin on the original opera house plot. The characters are well written and all bring something to the plot. I also liked how the characters were aware of the original Phantom story, it always amuses me when re-tellings reference the originals. I found the plot a little slow to start with, but it soon picked up and I couldn't wait to find out what happened in the end! I won't give anything away but it's gripping stuff. You don't have to know anything about the original Phantom of the Opera, or indeed ballet, to enjoy this book; it stands alone as a great story!

4/5 stars: A very clever re-imagining of a classic story.

About the Author
I'm not the typical author. I didn't always enjoy reading or writing. While in school, I found it to be a chore I'd just as soon skip. I would rather have been daydreaming, my favorite past time. It wasn’t until I grew up and didn’t have to, that I realized reading was fun. I soon discovered that reading fueled my daydreaming. So, remembering a short story I'd written in high school, I began imagining expanding that story into a book. Before long I found I had loads of ideas for not just the short story but other books and stories as well. Fast forward a few years, a lot of studying about writing, practicing my writing, studying some more, taking classes from people who knew what they were doing, studying and practicing yet more, and ta-dah, author! In the same way I had learned I loved reading, I learned I loved writing, too. It’s just that writing is a lot harder than reading.

Author Goodreads

Giveaway

Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win:

• A signed copy of Phantom's Dance
• A Phantom mask
• A Dahlia from the Phantom
• A $20 gift card to a bookseller of your choice

a Rafflecopter giveaway