Glamorous Illusions

I was weary about this one. It's a great storyline, the author is good at spinning those up. However, I had a problem with the authors last books the 'river of time' series. Because the writing was super cheesy and silly sometimes. It's like the skeleton of the plot as a whole is great, but what's inside is mush. This one, sadly, follows those lines half the time.Glamorous Illusions starts out super polite, the writing is almost over explanatory. Everything is explained, even when it doesn't nee [...]

Similar Books: Wentworth Hall by Abby Grahame, Bright Young Things by Anna GodbersenIf you guys haven't noticed this yet, I'm sort of in love with Lisa T. Bergren's novels. I devoured the River of Time series, and I'm getting into her adult books now. So when this pretty title appeared on NetGalley, I snatched it up. And to no surprise, I wasn't disappointed.Although this book is technically an adult novel, I think it falls into that new and nebulous category of "new adult," the stories that fol [...]

I LOVED this story, and couldn't put it down. We start off with Cora and her family in 1913 Montana on a little dry farm trying to mill out an existence. Events transpire that lead to a mysteries man arriving on her front door step clamming to be her father. He wishes to get to know her and for her to get to know her siblings. He has arranged for her and her siblings to go on a Grand Tour, ( Okay I want to come too, well I guess I did in a way lol). The tour for this book takes place in England [...]

I grew up reading Lisa Tawn Bergren's work, lots of her contemporary romances passed through my hands when I was a teenager, but I honestly haven't picked up one of her books in years. This one I just happened to stumble over this last week, one I'd planned to read for awhile, but never got around to. Kindle had a deal, I bought Glamorous Illusions, and then proceeded to read it in about 2 days. I just enjoyed it and myself so much. This book is a transporting and diverting read and I loved losi [...]

Glamorous Illusions by Lisa T. Bergren (#1)Pages: 416Release Date: June 1st, 2012Date Read: 2012, May 8th-13thReceived: ARC via NetGalleyRating: 4/5 starsRecommended to: 13+SUMMARY -Cora's life may not be grand or full of wealth, but there's one thing she's sure of: who she is. Even when tragedy strikes her father's farm and her education to be a teacher is in jeopardy, Cora works hard to do what needs to be done.But when her true parentage is revealed, everything falls apart. She is whisked awa [...]

This series has been on my to-read list for a couple years. This is an interesting series about a poor young woman in a small town is suddenly thrust into the aristocratic would when at age 20 the truth of her parentage is revealed and she finds out her biological father is a copper magnate with wealth and power beyond her wildest dreams. Within a matter on days she is on a Grand Tour of Europe with 3 siblings she barely knows, leaving everything familiar behind. The story is intriguing, the loc [...]

On the positive side, this book's (main) characters had depth to them and were multidimensional. I especially liked Cora's thoughts during the first few chapters when she is faced with the truth of her past and the unwelcome opportunities it presents to her. For the most part, Cora's emotional struggles seem very realistic. However, as the book wore on, I felt like Cora kept going through the same thought processes- I can't recall how many times she says she's had some great revelation about how [...]

Glamorous Illusions is an interesting novel about Cora Diehl, a pain, young farm girl who loves her parents dearly. When she finds out that her real father is Mr. Kensington, a rich copper miner, she is mortified and does not want anything to do with him. But the ailing health of the father who raised her and Mr. Kensington's offer to provide him healthcare pulls Cora into excepting his invitation to the Grand Tour with her three half siblings and their three friends, the Morgans. This book deta [...]

I tried so hard to read this book! I tried reading it several times. And then I tried listening to it when I discovered my library had the audio version. But I just could not get into it! I'm so disappointed because I'd heard good things about this series but I'm giving up now and taking the rest of the series off of my to-read list. :(

Glamorous Illusions follows the journey of a young woman as she tries to discover who she is, and what she can become. At the beginning, she learns about a secret her parents kept from her her whole life. She feels betrayed by what happened, and that they never told her. Then she is offered a chance to go on the Grand Tour of Europe with her new found siblings, who may just hate her for who she is. She goes a little grudgingly, wary of the man who she knows now as her blood father. But she finds [...]

This book has me torn in two.What I loved about it was the characters and the added historical detail. Cora, was not only an unusual name, but also an unusual heroine. She wasn't a county bumpkin, and she wasn't spoiled. So, she was a wonderful relief! I can't say I liked her all the time, but for most of the book I did.William, (our love interest and supposed hero), one of the tour guides, had some problems. Most of which where with himself and his lot in life. He was on the bitter side of thin [...]

Lisa Tawn Bergren is one of those authors that writes across several genres and she is good at it as well. I initially discovered her writing in Christian Historical Fiction and while I love her Non Fiction and Children's Books, her Christian Historical Fiction enters my dreams at night. Glamorous Illusions is the first in her new Grand Tour Series and it is one to make you think. Starting on the fields of Montana and coming to a close in a mansion of Paris with a promise of more to come in the [...]

This book surprised me in many ways. I went into it thinking that Cora would be a spoiled, rich girl setting out on her Grand Tour with misconceptions--and that those misconceptions would be dashed.Wrong. Cora is a small-town girl (woot!) who has dreams and plans and disappointments. In other words, she is the very opposite of spoiled and rich at the beginning of Glamorous Illusions.But things get glamorous very, very quickly. She's plunged into a new life she must reconcile with her former one [...]

This book is way Glamorous. And Gorgeous. And Incredible. I was SO excited to get an ARC of this book through Netgalley! I loved it! I LOVE Lisa's Waterfall trilogy and so once I heard the news about this I couldn't wait to get on it. Oh the cover, the premise, the book! Eeep! I totally think Lisa has created yet another master-piece. I was just FABULOUS. But she left me hanging at quite an interesting point in the story. I must get the next book! Let me get over this euphoria and I shall post a [...]

Review originally posted on The Book Babe. Click to go the original post.First of all, before going into my review let's take a moment to talk about the cover. Look at that girl's face. She looks like she stepped on a rodent or a Parisian flasher just showed her the goods. I think what's supposed to be a look of wariness turned into a look of disgust lol. Oh well, it's still pretty when viewed from afar. But, I don't imagine Cora having such a snobby face, this actually looks more like Vivian to [...]

I’ve been looking forward to this for quite some time and was really excited to see it available on NetGalley. I just have to say, I love the cover. It’s just so pretty and inviting. Anyway, I thought this was enjoyable. I admit, I think the last 30% was probably the best part of the whole story. The story almost has a Cinderella feel to it. Cora’s life is turned upside down early in the story. She goes from living a poor life with her parents, to that of an heiress with an unwelcoming fam [...]

This book was truly glamorous and like nothing I have read before. I enjoyed the ride it took me on. All the talk about travel and such was so exciting. And makes me wish I could have a Grand Tour of my own. I really liked the switch up of main characters in the chapters (for instance from William to Cora) I felt so connected to the main character Cora. When she was sad, happy, hurt or whatever emotion she was feeling, I felt it right along with her. I so enjoyed this pauper to princess kind of [...]

I eagerly went into this book thinking I would love it as much as the River of Time series, but unfortunately, it didn't really meet my expectations. I'm not really sure why I'm not fangirling over this novel, but I think it has to do with the pacing of the book and the romance. After all, the real action didn't really begin until the last few chapters, so the majority of this novel was just exposition. But the biggest problem was the romance, hands down. I mean the writing is good. The characte [...]

Love this storytalk about rags to riches! Cora Deihl comes home from Normal School to find her Dad collapsed from a stroke. She ends up doing all the chores on the farmcluding carrying water to water the wheat. Which in the end dying, after all the hard work, there is no return and they are going to loose the farm.Enter a complete stranger and her world is turned upside. She is no longer the poor farm girle is now a member of the Ultra Rich!!!So begins her new journey of meeting unknown relative [...]

Once again Lisa Tawn Bergren has introduced a new series that will keep us waiting til the next book appears. Based upon the early 1900's idea, of the European Grand Tour for young adults, we are introduced to two connected families of young people who are thrown for a loop when Cora Diehl becomes part of their entourage as the illegitimate daughter of one of the families. This adventure turns into a journey of discovery for all seven of the young people as well as one of their tour guides. I lo [...]

I believe this is a book I should have read and not listened to. The audio was not good. It could have been my device, (at least I hope it was), otherwise their were some issues with the production. I did not enjoy the narrator's voice and her mispronunciations drove me insane. The story itself, is probably typical for the genre, that said, for my taste, the characters were a bit "preachy" and I thought Cora was a bit of a whiner (oh and I'm sure the Duke of Richelieu was a perfect gentleman and [...]

Lisa Bergren is a new to me author but I’ll certainly be looking into reading more from her. Although I don’t normally choose to read books from years ago I gotta say I really enjoyed this story. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Book 1 of 3**Audio book

I really enjoyed the book. I read River of Time books by Lisa T Bergren as well. She will definitely be added to my list of favorite authors. I'm excited to read the next in this series.

Thank you Netgalley and David C. Cook Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this novelI requested this book on Netgalley for the sheer fact that it has a gorgeous cover. So, I guess judging a book by its cover does work because I really enjoyed Glamorous Illusions by Lisa Bergren. Glamorous Illusions is a member of the New Adult genre, and while I have heard a ton about the genre (good and bad) this is actually my first New Adult novel. I really loved reading about a character t [...]

I'm a big fan of Lisa T. Bergren's work after reading/devouring her River of Time series (though I have yet to read Torrent), and instantly jumped on the chance to get a copy of her new adult historical novel, Glamorous Illusions. While I wasn't entirely crazy about it as I was when I was hanging out with Gabi and Lia, Glamorous Illusions was solid enough for me to like it and addicting enough for me to never want to put it down. The story is fairly simple, and essentially revolves around Cora, [...]

It was just an ordinary day but it ended with tremendous consequences. When Cora Diehl arrives home from Normal school she suspects something is amiss but she never dreams her father has suffered a stroke. While her father recovers Cora and her mother put their heads together to save their failing farm and see to the crops. But it's obvious they're fighting a losing battle. Then one day politician Wallace Kensington arrives on their doorstep and it seems things went from bad to worse (in a way, [...]

4.5 stars, but 5 will do!Let me first start out by saying, “I HEART LTB!” I recently read her River of Time series and it fast became one of my favorite series ever.When I had first read the synopsis to “Glamorous Illusions” I had a pretty good feeling I wanted to read it, but was still unsure. I’m a huge fan of historical fiction, but the early 1900s period has never really appealed to me. However, when this book became available on Netgalley I knew I had to snatch it up. And boy, am [...]

5 of 5 stars!First off, let me say how I love Lisa's books. I was fortunate to stumble on a kindle version of Waterfall last August and found a read a long group for the book. I had never thought about blogging, writing a review, being in a book club, conversing personally with an author or much less, even knew what an ARC was before reading Lisa's work. I flew through her YA series and found myself wanting more. When she announced her adult novel, Glamorous Illusions, I was absolutely thrilled [...]

Cora has been living a fairly good life. She's been given the chance to get off her parents' farm and go to teaching college. When her dad suffers a stroke, Cora realizes going back to finish her teaching certificate may not be possible. All her time and money is going in to keeping the farm afloat. Her dad needs more help than anyone in town can give him though. All this leads to the biggest surprise of Cora's life. The only father she has ever know has turned out to not be her biological fathe [...]