Book Blitz - Miss Fortune Cookie Tour!

 

I am so excited to be part of the Book Blitz for Miss Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman hosted by The Bookish Burnette Blog Tours! Hope you enjoy my stop for the tour :)

Miss Fortune Cookie
by Lauren Bjorkman

Published: Nov 13th 2012 by Henry Holt and Co.

Goodreads Synopsis:  Meet Erin. Smart student, great daughter, better friend. Secretly the mastermind behind the popular advice blog Miss Fortune Cookie. Totally unaware that her carefully constructed life is about to get crazy.

It all begins when her ex-best friend sends a letter to her blog—and then acts on her advice. Erin’s efforts to undo the mess will plunge her into adventure, minor felonies, and possibly her very first romance.

What’s a likely fortune for someone no longer completely in control of her fate? Hopefully nothing like: You will become a crispy noodle in the salad of life.

From Goodreads

Also, I have a special surprise! I'm here to give you an excerpt of chapter one to tease you more about this book and hopefully you pick up the book :))

You will have much luck and little hardship.

Or the other way around.

CHAPTER 1

My friends and I were riding home from school on Muni, clinging to an assortment of slippery handholds, when Linny almost blew my secret identity. Intentionally.

“Listen to this one,” she said, reading off her iPhone, a faint but smirky glint in her eyes. “‘Dear Miss Fortune Cookie. My cousin thinks I’m chasing her boyfriend. Her boyfriend and I never flirt, but sometimes we text. What can I do to make her believe me? Just Friends.’”

In fact, I—Erin Kavanagh, alias Miss Fortune Cookie—had posted this very letter on my anonymous advice blog, and Linny happened to be the only person in San Francisco to know that, the only person in the whole world, except for some random administrator at WordPress. She takes every opportunity to harass me about keeping my blog a secret. “What advice would you give, Erin?” she asked, winking this time.

I kept my face as neutral as possible. Luckily Darren and Mei were only paying attention each other. As usual.

Personally speaking, I think nano-deceptions are a good thing. I regularly use them to protect my friends from unpleasant truths. Should I tell Linny that her favorite knit hat makes her head look like a furry meatball? Or nudge Mei whenever Darren winces at her hyena laugh? Should I have cautioned Darren that taking AP physics would wreck his grade-point average? Absolutely not. Sincere lies keep everyone happy.

I blew the hair out of my eyes. “The cousin will never stop suspecting the two of them,” I said to Linny, “so Just Friends has to stop the texting. She could get her own boyfriend. Or move to somewhere far away like Moldavia.”

Muni, a sort of bus powered by electric wires overhead, jerked to a halt. A seat opened up, and Linny took it. “Exactly!” She had the happiest smile ever, so big it barely fit on her face. Metaphorically speaking. “Mei, don’t you think Erin is a natural at giving advice?”

“Hmm?” Mei said. She was somewhat entwined with Darren and therefore distracted.

“Nothing.” I jabbed Linny in the ribs to get her to stop talking. Gently of course. The three of us—Mei, Linny, and me—made an enviable friendship trio. I was the lesser third, maybe because Mei and Linny were gorgeously Chinese-American, while I was just Boring-American. A Person of Irish.

Mei knew nothing about my connection to Miss Fortune Cookie. We used to be best friends, and by best friends I mean we spent every afternoon and weekend together until eighth grade, when things fell apart between us. The truth is, Mei dumped me. Then Linny brought us together again during freshman year, inviting us both to eat lunch with her, forming a little group. A few months later, I mustered the courage to bring up the dumping incident with Mei, except she didn’t want to talk about it. So we became friends again without dealing with the past. Pretty much.

Except I didn’t trust her like I used to.

And she didn’t share as many intimate details about herself with me.

Linny beckoned me closer to whisper in my ear. “I have a question for Miss Fortune Cookie. A very personal one. But you can’t tell Mei.”

“Why not?”

She lowered her voice more. “You just can’t, ’kay?”

I nodded. Linny usually let both of us in on every detail about her life, although lately she’d been secretive about her new boyfriend. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be boring. I turned my back toward Mei and said in my quietest voice, “Go ahead. I’m listening. What is it?”

Linny shook her head. “Not now.”

Just then, the Muni driver made the sharp turn into Chinatown, and three things happened almost simultaneously: a bicyclist veered into the road, the driver slammed on the brakes, and I fell into another passenger. We came to a halt fifty feet from the stop, and the bicyclist escaped unscathed. I could tell by the vigorous way he flipped off the driver. Then I caught sight of Mrs. Liu, bundled against the fog, among the passengers waiting to board.

“Your mom!” I whispered to Mei. “She’s getting on!”

Mei’s eyes widened. “What the what?”

Now that's my stop for the book blitz and be sure to come by the other stops and leave a comment and I'm for sure picking this book up soon :)

 

Waiting On Wednesday (#11) - Etiquette & Espionage

Waiting on Wednesday is Hosted by Jill @ Breaking The Spine

 

 

 

It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to finishing school.

Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is the bane of her mother's existence. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper etiquette at tea--and god forbid anyone see her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. She enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality.

But little do Sophronia or her mother know that this is a school where ingenious young girls learn to finish, all right--but it's a different kind of finishing. Mademoiselle Geraldine's certainly trains young ladies in the finer arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but also in the other kinds of finishing: the fine arts of death, diversion, deceit, espionage, and the modern weaponries. Sophronia and her friends are going to have a rousing first year at school.

 
First in a four book YA series set 25 years before the Parasol Protectorate but in the same universe.

 

Wow! This one sounds so cool and so interesting I need my hands on it! Plus a quirky vintage cover, steampunk elements, and a finishing school? Count me in! And it also comes around my birthday! (:

 

Etiquette and Espionage will be released on Feburary 5, 2013 by Little, Brown Books

 



New To Shelves (#9) - The Belles Touching The Surface Ripper

 

New To Shelves is a way to share all the great book I got this whole week and to add to my TBR Pile! It also includes a roundup of what's going to happen next week on the blog. It's a new name but similar meme.

I'll be linking up to The Sunday Post:

 

This week(s) were amazing! Maybe because it's the last months of the year? I don't know but I was so excited to start reading all these book from my library's book sale and publishers! Thanks so much especially to Simon Pulse for sending me a book! :))

 

Bought At Library Book Sale:

-Ripper by Stefan  Petrucha

-Belles by Jen Calonita (It was a $1 and brand new!!)

 

Thrift Shop:

-Masquerade by Melissa De La Cruz

-The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz

 

Teenreads:

-Enclave by Ann Agiure

 

From Roxanne St. Claire:

-Don't You Wish (SIGNED!!! Ahh! Thanks so much!)

 

Hyperion:

-Time Bewteen Us by Tamara Ireland Stone (Complete surprise!)

 

Simon Pulse:

-Touching The Surface by Kimberly Sabatini



 

Thanks to local library, thrift shop, Teenreads, Roxanne St. Claire, Hyperion, and Simon Pulse!

 

What's New To Your Shelves This Week?

 



 What Was At The Blog This Week:

Author Interview with Katie McGarry
250+ Follower Giveaway Bash!

Also be sure to sign up for 2013 SARC hosted by Britta and IceyBooks!

Author Interview: Katie McGarry - Pushing The Limits



I was so excited for interview Katie McGarry, author of Pushing The Limits! She was so nice and I am really excited to share this interview with you guys!

The Interview:

 

1.) The Bookshelves: What Inspired you to write Pushing The Limits? Any of your personal experiences there?

 

Katie: I was actually writing another book when I stumbled across the voice of Echo. When my character broke out into “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” then later wished she would spontaneously combust, I knew I had found someone new…someone whose wit made me laugh, but whose hurt made me ache.

 

I write love stories so I free wrote for awhile in order to find the perfect guy for Echo—that one person who could help her with her pain. This person was Noah.

When I was in second grade, I was bitten by a dog. I repressed the memory until I was in college. I used my memory loss when writing Echo.

 

2.) TB: What character resembles you the most and why? Who would you cast for Echo and Noah?

 

Katie: I put a piece of myself, no matter how small, into each of my characters. Echo has my sarcasm, Beth encompasses my fears, Isaiah and Lila share my loyalty, and Noah has my passion to love.

I’ve never been able to pick anyone to play Noah and Echo, but I enjoy hearing who my readers think should play them.

3.) TB: What's the best part of writing and the worst?

Katie: The best part of writing is when the words flow easily. The worst is definitely writer’s block.

4.) TB: Any info for an aspiring writer?

Katie: Write. Read. Find a great critique group. Never give up.

I began writing because I have characters alive in my mind and stories they demand for me to tell. I love the rush of my fingers tapping against the keys as I delve into a scene that’s been begging to be released on the page. Try to never lose that joy. 

5.) TB: What is your favorite book and why?

Katie: I absolutely love The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. It was the very first book I ever stayed up all night to read. I connected completely with her characters and how they looked upon their friends as their family.

6.) TB: The world is ending! You can only grab 5 things what would they be? And why?

 

Katie: I’d grab my kids and my husband. They mean everything to me.

 

7.) TB: Any future books you can tell us coming in the near future?

 

Katie:   I’m currently working on revisions for DARE YOU TO, a companion novel to Pushing the Limits. This is scheduled to be released in 2013. DARE YOU TO follows the story of Beth, a secondary charater from Pushing the Limits.

 

Thanks so much Katie for the interview! Be sure to pick up Pushing The Limits as soon as possible.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:  No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

From Goodreads