Fictionella Fifteen with Cindy Arora

What is your favorite line from any movie or book? “You look good wearing my future.”  -Some Kind of Wonderful

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Always been a night owl! It’s getting harder every year.

What is your favorite restaurant? It varies on where I am going and with who… If I am going to lunch with my son, I like La Grande Orange in Pasadena, CA. It’s close to the train station (yes, we have public transit in Los Angeles!), across the street from a killer park, and they have wonderful short rib tacos and white sangria. Plus, they give chocolate chip cookies with sea salt as a gift at the end of your meal. Everyone in the family is happy when we leave!

If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go and why? India, so I could explore the country more, meet some of my family, and eat samosas all day long.

What is your motto? Just do it!

What is your favorite quote? “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” - Anaïs Nin

If you could date any celebrity who would it be and why? I have a serious crush on Adam Scott from Parks and Recreation and Friends with Kids. He’s adorable, smart, has great hair, and just seems like the total package of smarts, wit, and sexy!

What is your favorite dessert? Tiramisu and fruit tarts are my favorite.

What is your favorite meal to cook? I’m going through a rice pilaf obsession at the moment. Pilaf with some kind of protein, adding dried fruits and nuts and a fresh dressing, like shallot-lemon vinaigrette. It’s fresh, healthy, and tastes great because of all the different flavors melding together.

What are your favorite pizza toppings? Meat. Meat. Meat. Oh and mushrooms and tomato.

Which punctuation mark best describes your personality? Why? M-Dash because I’m informal and often have a lot of ideas and interests that aren’t essential to one another…

Can you comfortably eat in a restaurant by yourself? Absolutely, yes.

Pen, pencil, or keyboard? Pen, then keyboard.

Favorite ice cream flavor and favorite sundae topping? Peanut butter chocolate ice cream, and I love hot fudge and bananas on my sundae.

If you could be a character in any novel you've read, who would you be and why? There’s been so many inspiring characters… Right now, I will say that being Tilo, the protagonist in The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, would be cool. She can help people with spices she chooses just for them, and she has a lot of wisdom.

Business is sweet for pastry chef Indira Aguilar. Her indie bakery, Cake Pan, is fast becoming the talk of the wedding circuit for its unique take on cakes and homespun creations for the modern bride, garnering national recognition and drawing in celebrity clients. But while her professional life is blossoming, her personal life is crumbling. Indira may have a talent for blending buttercream into bliss, but when it comes to relationships, she’s got a lot to learn. Considering that the love of her life, Josh Oliver, is not only married, but also runs the award-winning pastry department of her fiercest competition, Crystal Cove Resort, Indira puts much more at stake than just her heart when she ends her affair with him. Rumors begin to fly as the small seaside community of Long Beach learns of her secret relationship, and Indira must defend not only her actions, but her wedding business and her reputation while trying to maneuver the choppy heartbreak waters of starting over, finding new love, and facing her past. With the support of friends and family, a fondness for butter, and a determined spirit, Indira may just bake her way back to happiness and possibly into the heart of Crystal Cove’s dishy new chef, Noah. But one thing is certain. Where there’s heartbreak, there must be cake.

About the Author Cindy Arora was a staff writer at The San Gabriel Valley TribuneThe Orange County Register and Sacramento Magazine. She’s been published in SaveurTasting TableOrange Coast Magazine and Fodor’s. She’s also a mother, a feminist, a whiskey enthusiast, and proud to call herself a Chick Lit author. Heartbreak Cake is her debut novel. 

Add Heartbreak Cake to your Goodreads shelf! Follow along with the Heartbreak Cake Tour via Fictionella! Visit publisher Simon & Fig for more information about the book, and connect with Cindy at cindyarora.com!

Released Today in the UK: The Unpredictable Consequences of Love and The Memory Book

The Unpredictable Consequences of Love by Jill Mansell

When Josh Strachan, newly returned to his home in north Cornwall from sunny California, first meets Sophie Wells, he's immediately smitten. Sophie's pretty, she's funny, she has lots of friends and she clearly loves her job as a photographer, despite the sometimes tricky clients. There's just one problem: Sophie has very firmly turned her back on love. It's nothing personal, she tells Josh, but she just doesn't do dates. And no one - even Sophie's scatty best friend Tula - will tell him why. Josh is sure Sophie likes him, though, and he's just got to find out what's put her off romance. And then put things right...

The Memory Book by Rowan Coleman

The name of your first-born. The face of your lover. Your age. Your address... What would happen if your memory of these began to fade? Is it possible to rebuild your life? Raise a family? Fall in love again? When Claire starts to write her Memory Book, she already knows that this scrapbook of mementoes will soon be all her daughters and husband have of her. But how can she hold on to the past when her future is slipping through her fingers...? 

Buy American Honey, Get Cupid On Deck Audiobook FREE!

From today (1/25/14) until Valentine's Day (2/14/14), you will get a FREE copy of the Cupid On Deck audiobook (regular price $6.95) when you purchase an eBook or paperback copy of American Honey. All you have to do is email your receipt of your American Honey purchase to Nancy at editor@fictionella.com and you'll receive instructions on how to retrieve your copy of Cupid On Deck from www.audible.com

After graduating high school, Olivia “Ollie” McKenna leaves her small town roots in Summerville, Georgia, to pursue her dream of becoming a professional singer. With her best friend and older sister in tow, wholesome Ollie travels to the big city to compete in singing contest Atlanta Idol. There she meets nineteen-year-old Jack Bradley, a fellow country singer who quickly becomes a close friend. The connection between them is magnetic and an opportunity to sing together could change their lives forever. But what about Ollie's mama's fear of the music business? She's been burned by the lures of the bright lights before and doesn't want Ollie anywhere near that world. And Ollie's growing feelings for Jack as more than just a pal could ruin everything. Despite her own doubts, Ollie is determined to win. Can she make her dream come true or will she return to her hometown empty-handed and brokenhearted?

Louise "Lou" Riley agrees to tag along with her friends on a Valentine's Day cruise around Seattle's Lake Union. Donning their best 1920s attire, they board the old-fashioned paddle wheeler steamboat for an evening that's expected to be the bee's knees. Lou plans to shed her third wheel status onboard when she joins Nate, who she's been sweet on for months. But when a mishap sends the dashing (and single!) Landon Harper to her aid, Lou discovers that cupid may have other plans for her love life, and she and Landon share an unforgettable few hours together. Then, a surprise announcement sends everyone into a frenzy. Will Lou and Landon live happily ever after? Or maybe Lou and Nate are meant to be? Find out where the cherub's arrow lands in Cupid on Deck, a roaring good time aboard a love boat reminiscent of the jazz age.

Book to TV Show: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Actress Lauren Graham's debut novel, Someday, Someday, Maybe, was adapted for television, and the pilot episode is under consideration at the CW. The working title of the show is Unfamous, and it is executive produced by Lauren Graham and Ellen DeGeneres

Do you think the CW will order Unfamous to series? Did you read Someday, Someday, Maybe? Do you think it will make a good TV show?

It’s January 1995, and Franny Banks has just six months left of the three-year deadline she set for herself when she came to New York, dreaming of Broadway and doing “important” work. But all she has to show for her efforts so far is a part in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters, and a gig waiting tables at a comedy club. Her roommates―her best friend Jane, and Dan, an aspiring sci-fi writer―are supportive, yet Franny knows a two-person fan club doesn’t exactly count as success. Everyone tells her she needs a backup plan, and though she can almost picture moving back home and settling down with her perfectly nice ex-boyfriend, she’s not ready to give up on her goal of having a career like her idols Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. Not just yet. But while she dreams of filling their shoes, in the meantime, she’d happily settle for a speaking part in almost anything—and finding a hair product combination that works. 

Everything is riding on the upcoming showcase for her acting class, where she’ll finally have a chance to perform for people who could actually hire her. And she can’t let herself be distracted by James Franklin, a notorious flirt and the most successful actor in her class, even though he’s suddenly started paying attention. Meanwhile, her bank account is rapidly dwindling, her father wants her to come home, and her agent doesn’t return her calls. But for some reason, she keeps believing that she just might get what she came for.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a story about hopes and dreams, being young in a city, and wanting something deeply, madly, desperately. It’s about finding love, finding yourself, and perhaps most difficult of all in New York City, finding an acting job.

Coming Soon: Must Love Dogs: New Leash on Life

Must Love Dogs: New Leash on Life is the sequel to Must Love Dogs, the USA Today bestselling novel and movie adaptation starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. It is the second book in the new Must Love Dogs series.
 
Life after divorce for Sarah Hurlihy used to consist of juggling her job as a preschool teacher with the demands of her interfering family. But after a rocky start, Sarah and John Anderson have shared six months of dating bliss. Now their relationship is basically on hold because Sarah's brother, Michael, and his dog, Mother Teresa, are staying with her. And John's new puppy, Horatio, hates Sarah. With a passion.
 
Michael hopes absence will, in fact, make his wife Phoebe's heart grow fonder. Sarah hopes she can do her sisterly duty and send Michael on his merry way before she ends up single again herself. John hopes Sarah and his puppy can work things out before it's too late. Sarah's bossy big sister, Carol, hopes both Michael and their father will start dating again. 
 
When Phoebe packs up their daughters and heads home to Savannah, Georgia, Michael follows her from Marshbury, Massachusetts, and the Hurlihy clan tags along for reinforcement. Including Dad, who has finally upgraded his Smith Corona to a laptop and already has a date with a woman named Sugar Butt.

Expected publication date: February 10, 2014

Goodreads giveaway hosted by Claire Cook! Enter to win an autographed copy of Must Love Dogs: New Leash on Life! Winner will be chosen on February 2, 2014. Good luck!