Blog Tour Review & Giveaway: The Fortune Cafe by Julie Wright, Melanie Jacobson, & Heather B. Moore


Fortune CafeThe Fortune Cafe: A Novel in Three Parts
(A Tangerine Street Romance #1)
by Julie Wright, Melanie Jacobson, & Heather B. Moore
Adult Romance Novella
March 13th 2014 by Mirror Press

Summary

Welcome to Tangerine Street

Tangerine Street is a must-see tourist stop with a colorful mix of one-of-a-kind boutiques, unique restaurants, eclectic museums, quaint bookstores, and exclusive bed-and-breakfasts. The Fortune Café, situated in the middle of this charming collection of shops and cafés on Tangerine Street, is a Chinese restaurant unlike any other because, well, to be honest, the fortunes found in the cookies all come true…

MIS-FORTUNE: Emma, a waitress at The Fortune Café will do anything to avoid opening a fortune cookie. Each fortune is rumored to somehow magically come true. Being a girl grounded in reality, she doesn’t have time for that kind of nonsense. But when trying to prevent a food fight at the café, Emma accidently cracks open a fortune cookie: “Look around, love is trying to catch you.” If there is one thing that Harrison, her former best friend in high school is good at, it’s catching her unaware.

LOVE, NOT LUCK: Lucy has always been lucky . . . until her parents meet her fiancé’s parents at a disastrous lunch at The Fortune Café, and she breaks her lucky jade necklace. Even worse, her fortune cookie reveals that “True love is for the brave, not the lucky.” How is she supposed to read that? She’s always considered it lucky how she met her fiancé. But after breaking her necklace, Lucy’s luck takes a dive. And when her fiancé dumps her, the only person she can turn to is Carter, the unluckiest guy she knows.

TAKEOUT: Stella is content in her new life of taking over her mom’s jewelry shop. No more boyfriend to worry about, and as long as she stays busy, she doesn’t have to dwell on her non-existent love life. When Evan comes into the shop with his young daughter, Stella is charmed. But she is reluctant to complicate her straightforward life, so when she reads her fortune after ordering takeout from The Fortune Café, she completely ignores it. After all, how can a fortune as vague as “Do the thing you fear and love is certain,” apply to her?

    


My Review

I've been reading some great and fun chick-lit lately, and The Fortune Cafe was no exception. I really enjoyed reading these three short stories that all have The Fortune Cafe (a Chinese restaurant located on Tangerine Street) interwoven through each story in some way. In these stories at least one of the main characters opens a fortune cookie from the Cafe and has that fortune come true by the end of their story.

My favorite of the three was Mis-Fortune, which is also the first book. It just grabbed me from the beginning with its humor and characters. Then later it pulled me in with its heartbreak that almost made me tear up. I was really, really cheering on these characters. I especially loved their chemistry and dialogue and just the sweet moments they shared.

Here's one part that just cracked me up that I just have to share:

     "Do you know what time it is?" he asked out of nowhere.
     She pulled out her phone to check the time, but he held out his hand. "Mind if I see?"
     She handed her phone off and felt confused as he tapped the screen. She jumped when his phone rang from inside its clip at his belt. He checked his phone while handing hers back to her. "Oh look?" he said. "You sent me a text. Must mean you want me to have your phone number."
     She laughed. "Well played, Harrison. Do you do that to all the girls?"
     "Honestly, that was a first. But worth it, I think."

Then here's another snippet that I loved, but was also a little sad:

     He stared hard at her. "Are you okay?" he asked.
     "I'm good." She moved forward again, grateful that movement made it harder for him to look at her that way. She hadn't dated anyone since before her dad died. She'd forgotten how intense a simple look could be. She'd forgotten how her heart could pump blood so fast through her veins that it left her dizzy. She'd forgotten how to feel.

Then next we have Love, Not Luck. I could definitely see where this one was headed, but I also really enjoyed the ride. I did want to push one of the MC's in a specific direction at one point when she'd decided to hold off. It definitely created that great tension and climax that I love in the romance genre. Carter was probably my favorite guy out of all three stories. I just loved him!

The final novella was Takeout and it was such a sweet story. I was completely surprised by a few of the actions and choices these characters made, specifically Stella at one part (the second time she sees love-interest Evan) because both characters have somewhat reserved personalities. These moments really mixed things up, in a great way. It was another really fun and sweet read.

I really enjoyed this compilation of three short stories. Each story was fun, sweet, heartfelt, and romantic with great characters and story-lines. I'd definitely recommend The Fortune Cafe to those who enjoy romance or chick-lit.

I'm definitely planning on reading the next book in this series, Boardwalk Antiques Shop.

Content: Clean (there is one mild swear word in Love, Not Luck and there are also a few instances of social drinking, but I would consider this clean).

Source: From the tour host, which did not affect my review in any way.


About the Authors

JulieWJulie Wright started her first book when she was fifteen. She’s written over a dozen books since then, is a Whitney Award winner, and feels she’s finally getting the hang of this writing gig. She enjoys speaking to writing groups, youth groups, and schools. She loves reading, eating writing, hiking, playing on the beach with her kids, and snuggling with her husband to watch movies. Julie’s favorite thing to do is watch her husband make dinner. She hates mayonnaise, but has a healthy respect for ice cream.


MelanieJ


Melanie Bennett Jacobson is an avid reader, amateur cook, and champion shopper. She consumes astonishing amounts of chocolate, chick flicks, and romance novels. After meeting her husband online, she is now living happily married in Southern California with her growing family and a series of doomed houseplants. Melanie is a former English teacher and a sometime blogger who loves to laugh and make others laugh. In her down time (ha!), she writes romantic comedies and pines after beautiful shoes.


HeatherM


Heather B. Moore is a USA Today bestselling author. She writes historical thrillers under the pen name H.B. Moore, her latest is Finding Sheba. Under Heather B. Moore she writes romance and women’s fiction. She’s the co-author of The Newport Ladies Book Club series. Other women’s novels include Heart of the Ocean, The Fortune Café, the Aliso Creek Series, and the Amazon bestselling Timeless Romance Anthology Series.



Tour-Wide Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 4/30/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

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17 comments

  1. I like the black and white!

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  2. I love Melanie's work!! I just got her book Twitterpatted for my birthday and am so excited to read it!


    Thanks for the great giveaway!

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  3. Marilyn Almodovar4/17/14, 10:26 AM

    Thanks for participating in the reveal, Tressa!

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  4. So it's three short stories in one book and they all have the cafe in them? Sounds cute. I loved the snippets you shared. The cell phone one made me smile. :)

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  5. You're welcome. Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. It looks like she's stepping out of a void or something, which fits the whole time bender/traveler premise.

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  7. Twitterpated is really great! My favorite is Not My Type though. :)

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  8. Yep. You got it. The cell phone part was just hilarious. What a great way to get a gal's number, huh? ;)

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  9. See... Now this cover caught my attention. I can't say that it is a great cover, but I definitely wanted to pause for a minute, and see if I could figure out what was going on. And I do like that it is in B & W. Maybe it would have been better without the chick, but it ain't that bad with her. Ramble, ramble, ramble on!

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  10. Michelle Fidler4/18/14, 1:11 PM

    I like the fortune cookie on the cover of the book and the name Tangerine Street sounds warm and tropical.

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  11. Lol! I did the same thing - tried to figure out what the cover was trying to portray. Ramble on...

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  12. It's a touristy town and that it's main touristy street, so it fits. It was a very fun read!

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  13. Did you happen to figure it out so that you can let me in?!

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  14. I think she's time traveling and that oval space behind her is where she stepped through. It kind of looks like she's stepping out of time.

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  15. I would agree with that assessment. Time sure has an interesting appearance, huh?!

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  16. This looks really good! I think the cover is unique. Most covers are a plethora of colors, so this is nice!

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  17. You are right about that. There are very few all in b&w.

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I love comments! I try to read and reply to them all. Feel free to agree or disagree and generally share your thoughts with me.