Spotlight & Giveaway: 99% Faking It by Chris Cannon

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Chris Cannon to HJ!

Hi Chris and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, 99% Faking It!

 
Hello fellow booknerdigans,
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

99% Faking It is a fake relationship book with a twist. Man-Candy Matt friend zoned Nerdgirl Lisa when they first met. At first that had sucked for her, but he made a good friend. They had fun together. Besides, he’s stuck crushing on his little sister’s best friend and Lisa is interested in the new guy who moved to town. Matt hatches a scheme to act out a fake relationship hoping to show the true objects of their attraction that they are relationship worthy. When Matt changes his mind and wants their relationship to be real, Lisa balks. She isn’t willing to be anyone’s second choice.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

At one time, I may have held out hope that he would turn to me and say, “Lisa, I was wrong. You’re exactly the short, nerdy girl I’ve been looking for.” But it had been a few months and now I was over it. At this point in my life I wasn’t sure any guy was worth the trouble. Until some new guy showed up and took my breath away, I was declaring my life a drama-free, date-free zone.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

Lisa is a full on nerdgirl. She loves all things Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Doctor Who.
Matt is a guy who takes the path of least resistance. He studies for the first few months of school and then slowly lets his grades slide into the C range. Lisa describes his plan as self- sabotage. Her mom is a relationship therapist so she enjoys analyzing Matt, which annoys the crap out of him.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Lisa like Matt because he’s easy to talk to. With him, what you see is what you get. He enjoys working outside in his family landscaping business and doesn’t really give a crap what anyone thinks about him.
At first Matt thought Lisa’s nerdgirl ways were strange, but now he thinks her Harry Potter socks are cute. She makes him laugh. They have fun together.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

I’ve always had bizarre stress induced nightmares so I decided to create one for Matt. It made me laugh. Hopefully it will make the readers laugh too.

Friday morning, I woke up with a start when the alarm on my cell went off. I reached up to rub the back of my neck. Why did I feel like crap?
And then it came back to me. I’d had weird dreams all night. I was trying to pick Lisa up for a date. When I went to start the truck, the key broke off in the ignition. After I finally dug the half-key out with some needle nose pliers, I couldn’t find another set of keys because Charlie had them. I tracked him down at Clarissa’s house. He gave me the keys and I was able to start the truck except I only made it to the end of the driveway before it sputtered and died because the gas gauge was on empty. When I tried to fill the tank with gas we kept on hand for the lawn mower, I somehow set the truck on fire. My dad and Charlie stood off to the side, watching as the truck burned. My dad said, “You did this to yourself. No point in regretting it now.”
I’d grabbed a hose and tried to put out the fire, but wherever the water hit, the flames grew brighter, like I was spraying kerosene instead of water. The flames crawled toward the house. And then Trey showed up with Lisa. With a flip of his magic hair, he put out the fire and then he rode off into the sunset with Lisa on a freaking horse.
What in the hell was my brain trying to do to me? Magic hair? A horse? I would have called in sick and stayed home to sleep if I wasn’t scared about what my brain would throw at me next.
“What’s your problem?” Charlie asked at breakfast.
I relayed the dream to him, including all the weird details.
He laughed. “Dude, that’s funny.”
It hadn’t felt funny at the time. “What do you think it means?”
“It means you should ask Lisa out for real before she breaks up with you and moves on to the dude with the magic hair.”
Maybe he wasn’t wrong. I poured more Cap’n Crunch into my cereal bowl. “I’m thinking about it.”
“What do you mean ask Lisa out for real?” our sister Haley said as she walked into the kitchen.
Shit. I needed to say something but my brain wasn’t up to speed. I sighed and rubbed my temples. “It means we’re kind of dating to see if it works.”
“Isn’t that how everyone dates?” Haley asked.
“Smart. Ass. When I asked her out, we talked about how we wanted to stay friends if it didn’t work. So we agreed to date for a while and then if it didn’t work we’d go back to
the friend zone.”
“That makes sense,” Haley said. “It doesn’t have a chance in hell of working, but it makes sense.”
“Why wouldn’t it work?”
“If only one of you wants to go back to being friends, how do you think the other person is going to feel?”

Readers should read this book….

Too much reality is bad for you. Everyone needs a sweet, snarky romance to take their mind off of their real world issues.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m working on a new shape-shifting dragon book, a prequel to my Going Down In Flames series featuring Bryn’s parents who ran away to escape arranged marriages.

I’m also working on a Crossroads Demon Book.
All Meena wanted was a summer job that didn’t involve the words “do you want fries with that?” She never planned on working for a demon with a hair fetish. Now she collects payments from people who have sold their souls. Not the summer job she hoped for.
When Jake’s mom shoved him off on his crazy Aunt Zelda for the summer, he thought Crossroads Illinois would be boring. But nothing in this town is what it seems. His aunt isn’t some crazy eccentric who does woo woo seances, she fights crossroads demons. At least she did until a summoning went wrong and now the demon owns her. Jake should get the hell out of dodge and he would have except for Meena. A girl who looks at him like he matters and like she needs his help. He never counted on sticking around but spending the summer with Meena and helping her and his aunt deal with demons, ghosts, and other creatures that go bump in the night should be interesting.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: An ebook of The Dating Debate, Book 1 in the Dating Dilemma series.

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Excerpt from 99% Faking It:

When I went to meet Lisa at her locker, the same way I did every morning, I did a double-take. Instead of her normal clothes, she wore some sort of green shirt and tight jeans tucked into her boots. The fact that she was a girl was way more obvious. And her lips sparkled and her eyes stood out, and wait a minute…she was looking right at me.
“Earth to Matt,” she said. “How do you like the new me?”
What the hell do I say to that? My knee-jerk response was to tell her she didn’t look like herself, but I had a sister and I knew that answer would land me on Lisa’s shit list. “You look good. A little much for school, but good.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I think.”
I wasn’t the only guy noticing that my short, book- loving friend suddenly seemed datable. Guys were checking her out. Soon she wouldn’t be available to hang out with, because someone was going to ask her on a date. Why does that thought annoy me?
“Did someone not have enough Cap’n Crunch this morning?” Lisa asked.
“No. I had my normal two bowls.”
“Then why are you out of it?”
I wanted to tell her she’d thrown what I thought of her out of whack. But before I’d friend-zoned her, she’d had a crush on me, and I wouldn’t want to make it sound like I was interested in her, because I wasn’t. “It’s Tuesday. We’re at school. You’re dressed like a pirate. Take your pick.”
“Do you see any ruffles on this shirt?” she asked.
“Is that a trick question?” ’Cause there were definitely some curves there but I didn’t think that was what she was talking about.
“Everyone knows pirates wear ruffled shirts. This shirt has no ruffles. Therefore I couldn’t possibly be a pirate.”
Who did Lisa remind me of? Jane. That was weird. Her pirate comment was just the type of thing Jane would say.
The bell rang so we headed for homeroom. Mine was next to hers so we walked together. And damn it if Trey didn’t come walking toward us. He spotted Lisa and said, “Hey, soul mate.”
She laughed and kept on walking.
Lisa ducked into her homeroom before I could ask what the hell that had been about.
Lisa and I didn’t have any classes together since she was Miss Overachiever and I didn’t see the point in working that hard. What had Trey meant with that soul mate line? Lisa had laughed. Must be an inside joke. When had they become so damn chummy?
By lunch I was on a slow burn. When I went to sit down at our normal table with her, Nina, and West, the happy expression Lisa had worn this morning was gone.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing.” She frowned and pulled a piece of string cheese apart, but didn’t bother eating it.
“Uh-huh.” I opened my lunch and took a bite of my ham sandwich. Might as well eat while I waited for her to start talking. Eventually, she’d share. Another thing I’d learned from my sister: girls weren’t the type to suffer in silence.
“Can you explain guy logic to me?” she asked.
“Maybe.” I wiped my mouth with a napkin. “Depends on the guy.”
“You heard Trey this morning. I thought he was flirting with me.”
“What was that comment about?”
“He heard me gripe about how much I hated Mondays. He joked we might be soul mates. We talked on the way into school.”
Now I got it. “He probably was flirting with you this morning, but he might be the kind of guy who flirts with every pretty girl he meets.”
Lisa tilted her head and looked at me funny. “You think I’m pretty?”
Son of a…why did I say that? “You’re cute. You know that.” I took a drink of my soda like it was no big deal.
“Okay…back to the topic at hand. This morning he went out of his way to talk to me. I’ve seen him twice since then and I didn’t even get that weird head nod of recognition you guys do. What does that mean?”
How honest should I be? “Not trying to be a jerk, but the guy just moved here. He has options. He’s probably not looking for a steady girlfriend.”
“Is any guy ever looking for a girlfriend?” Lisa asked. “Because most of the time, guys seem to resist the idea of dating one person.”
“Maybe they resist it until they find the right person,” Nina said from my other side. “And once they find that person life is full of unicorns and rainbows. Right, West?”
“Yes.” West nodded in an exaggerated way, clearly not meaning what he was saying. “That’s exactly how it works.”
I laughed. Lisa didn’t. One of the things I liked about Lisa was that she didn’t fly off the handle like most girls I knew.
“Listen. This Trey guy might like you. He might like everyone. Why focus on him?”
She took a Twinkie out of her bag and broke it in half before taking a bite. “I don’t know. I liked the idea of starting fresh with someone. I can be whoever I want to be.”
“You can do that without him,” I said.
“How?” She gestured around the cafeteria. “I’ve been going to school with everyone here for years. They all have this idea of who I am.”
“That annoying girl in class who knows all the answers?” I teased.
She poked me in the ribs. “I am not annoying.”
“Fine.” I grinned. “You’re not that annoying. You’re just a nerd-girl who knows almost all of the answers.”
“Better than a guy who skates by making C’s when he’s smart enough to do better.”
“I told you. I have a system. Make A’s for the first half of the semester and then stop studying so I can glide down into the C range.”
“That is not a plan,” Lisa said. “It’s self-sabotage.”
I pointed at her. “Not a therapist.”
She pointed back at me. “Maybe I’ll become a therapist just like my mom to spite you. I’ll track you down after college and tell you all the things you’re compensating for.”
I snorted.
“Allow me to tell you your future,” Lisa continued. “You’ll graduate from high school and continue working with your dad in your family landscaping business. He’ll badger you into taking some business classes to help you learn how to run the company. You’ll be at your happiest when you’re outside planting things in the sunshine.”
“Sounds about right,” I said. “Now I’m going to tell you your future. You’ll get some sort of degree and become a writer or a librarian. One day you’ll call me and ask me to landscape your house with books.”
She laughed. “I’d never disrespect books like that. Although I did see this thing on Pinterest where they painted bricks to look like the spines of books and decorated someone’s garden with them.”
“That could be kind of cool,” I said, and then I grinned. “Wait…that’s probably the opposite of cool.”
“Nerd-girls rule.” Lisa sat up straighter. “And we’ll probably end up ruling the world.”
“You probably will. It’s a good thing we’re on friendly terms.”
After school I headed out to the parking lot with West and Nina.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Nina asked.
“Sure.” I followed her to West’s car. “What’s up?”
“Don’t mess with Lisa’s head.”
What was she talking about? “You lost me.”
“Seriously,” Nina said. “Pick a lane.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You told her she was pretty. You don’t tell a girl that
unless you like her.”
I backed away from her. “You’re way off base.”
“Or you’re delusional,” Nina shot back as I headed off to my ride.
Yeah. Right. Like I wanted to date Lisa.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Lisa is a card-carrying, book-loving Gryffindor. Solid. And that’s why everyone knows she’s awesome. Well, except for her crush, Matt. He only ever sees her as a friend. Plus, he’s got his eye on another girl. Oh well, plenty of fish and all that.

Good thing Lisa just read a book on the “wedding ring phenomenon”—you get more attention when you’re already taken. What if Lisa pretends to be Matt’s plus one? Maybe it’ll help Matt get his girl and Lisa can hook her own fish.

After the plan works, Matt suddenly claims he doesn’t like the view from the friend-zone and wants her instead… But she isn’t interested in being anyone’s second choice. If this guy wants to earn her attention, he’ll need more than some silly “phenomenon.”

He’ll need to go all out…

Disclaimer: This book contains multiple nerd-girl references, cute puppies, and snarky humor that will make you LOL!
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Chris Cannon is the award-winning author of the Going Down In Flames series and the Boyfriend Chronicles. She lives in Southern Illinois with her husband and several furry beasts.
She believes coffee is the Elixir of Life. Most evenings after work, you can find her sucking down caffeine and writing fire-breathing paranormal adventures or romantic comedies. You can find her online at www.chriscannonauthor.com.
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