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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Blog Tour: THE LAST MAGICIAN by Lisa Maxwell A Deleted Scene & A Giveaway!


Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for THE LAST MAGICIAN by Lisa Maxwell! I freaking love this book!!!

I have a deleted scene to share with you today! And make sure to enter the giveaway below!


Haven't heard of THE LAST MAGICIAN? Check it out!



Title: THE LAST MAGICIAN
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Release Date: July 18, 2017
Pages: 512
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Formats: Hardcover & eBook
Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks
Stop the Magician.
Steal the book.
Save the future.

In modern day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Esta is a talented thief, and she's been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta's training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future.

But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.




Now on to the deleted scene!


Note to the reader: I wrote this scene in an early draft and it was one of the darlings I had to kill. Still, I love it, and I love just how badass Esta is here, and in the rest of the book.

The ginger-haired Mooch gave a sharp nod of his chin, directing Esta to follow him toward the back of the saloon, where a dark, scarred wooden door led up a narrow flight of steps. “Ladies first,” he said with a bow that felt to Esta more like a taunt than actual courtesy.
Esta narrowed her eyes at the boy, but without a reason to refuse, she started to mount the narrow steps. They were poorly made, with their risers all slightly different sizes and the treads made from warped or knotted wood. She hadn’t even reached the first landing when she felt the boy close behind her. Too close. But she ignored it, continuing on as though she hadn’t noticed anything inappropriate in the way his hand brushed against the edges of her skirts.
When they made it to the landing, a narrow strip of stairway that turned sharply to climb higher into the building, he made his move, and Esta found herself pinned face-first to the corner, the boy’s stale breath hot against her neck. His body pressed into her back.
“You’re a pretty one, ain’t you?” he said, his breath smelling of ale and onions as he laughed at her. “Fine clothes like yours don’t usually show up at Dolph’s door. Not unless they’ve done something to deserve it,” he said, his mouth close to her neck.
She stayed still, calm. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, not letting her voice waver.
“Of course you don’t.”” He leaned into her again. “They never do. You’re a good girl, ain’t you? You wouldn’t never do nothin’ wrong would you? But you had to do something. Good girls don’t end up begging Dolph Saunders to keep them.”
“I didn’t beg.”
“I s’pose you’re right,” he said, mock surprise lighting his voice. “But we can change that easy enough.” He pressed himself into her.
She didn’t move her head even an inch back. She’d bite the nose off his face before she gave him the satisfaction of knowing he’d affected her. “Please, Mooch she started to say.
“Please, is it?” he leaned more of his weight against her, his leg pressing between hers so he could get even closer. “I like the sound of that, I do. Say it again, proper like: Please, Morris he taunted her, his breath heavy with too much ale and the sickly-sweet scent of teeth on the verge of rot. Thats my name, you know. Only my friends call me Mooch. You want to be my friend, beautiful?”
Esta cursed inwardly as she felt his hand pulling her back into his chest, climbing higher up her torso, like he was trying to find something beneath her corset worth groping.
She really shouldn’t she was so close. It would be idiotic to sacrifice the progress she’d made with Dolph Sunders for some stupid boy who thought anything in a skirt was his for the taking. But then his hand closed over her breast, and she reacted the way she’d been trained to. She grabbed him by the wrist, and before he could even laugh again at her attempt to stop him, she pulled his forearm down and back, twisting it around, leveraging his own weight against him, until she had him turned, pinned against the wall. His face contorted in pain as she pressed his arm into an unnatural angle.
“Let’s be clear, Mooch,” she said, bringing her face close to his cheek. She was about his height, and he wasn’t as broad as some of the other boys had been. It was easy enough to use her size to keep him in place once she had him at a disadvantage. “I’m not an easy mark. I’m not here for you to look at or touch or even think about.” She twisted his wrist harder, felt the bones beneath her grip grind and start to pop as he whimpered and cursed her. “I’ll forgive your lack of manners this once, since you don’t seem smart enough to know any better. I won’t break your wrist. This time. But if you so much as look sideways at me again, I can’t promise I’ll be so nice.”
She let him go, and he turned viciouslyrubbing at his sore wrist. “You bloody bitch,” he snarled, cornering her again. “You think you can get away with putting your claws on me?”
“I think I just did,” she said calmly.
His face hadn’t quite regained its color, despite his rage. She wasn’t worried, though. His hand wouldn’t be good for much until the blood started flowing in it again. But Esta understood Mooch and his like. If she didn’t draw a line in the sand now, under her own terms, he’d keep wasting her time. 
As though to prove she was right about him, Mooch started to take a step toward her. Before he could, Esta slipped through time, around and behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned, his eyes wide with confusion and fury, she smiled sweetly. Then she grabbed him between the legs, twisted and pulled, hard. Just like Dakari had taught her.
It worked like a charm. Mooch’s breath seemed to stop in his lungs as he made a surprised, incoherent gurgling sound and then dropped to his knees on the floor. He writhed there for a moment, moaning incoherently as he tried to breathe through the pain of her attack. Esta watched for a second, not at all impressed at how easy he’d been. Then stepped closer to him and crouched down to give a couple of sharp slaps on the cheek.

When he opened his eyes to glare at her, she made her voice as pleasant as her smile. “I trust we understand each other now. Tell your friends, would you?” She gave him a less-than-friendly pat on the cheek.





About Lisa:
Lisa Maxwell is the author of Sweet Unrest, Gathering Deep, Unhooked, & The Last Magician (Simon Pulse, Spring 2017). When she's not writing books, she's an English professor at a local college. She lives near DC with her very patient husband and two not-so patient boys.













Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a signed finished copy THE LAST MAGICIAN & swag, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway




Tour Schedule:

Week One:
7/10/2017- YA and WineInterview
7/11/2017- Here's to Happy EndingsReview
7/12/2017- Novel NoviceGuest Post
7/13/2017- What the Cat ReadReview
7/14/2017- Stories & SweetiesExcerpt

Week Two:
7/17/2017- NovelKnightReview
7/18/2017- Two Chicks on BooksGuest Post
7/19/2017- Forever 17 BooksReview
7/20/2017- Wishful EndingsInterview
7/21/2017- Ohana ReadsReview

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