Stella from Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes visits Chloe from Lying to Meet you in NYC!

 

 

Chloe and Stella Take Manhattan

Chloe from 'Lying to Meet You tells us what happened when she met up with Stella, from 'Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes' in NYC... and if you want to know what happened to Chloe when she visited here, pop over to Baking Hot in Birmingham

 

Oh my god, I had such a fabulous time with Stella!
We met up at Rockefeller Center. I was running late (no surprise there) so I had to skip breakfast, but lucky for me, she handed me a box of four super scrumptious cupcakes—or fairy cakes, as she calls them. Each was decorated with a fondant handbag. Stella said she designed them especially for me, you know, since I work in fashion. Aww. I gave her a big hug and then hustled her into the building. While she was dealing with the security thing, I wolfed down two of the cupcakes (so good. So, so good) and as soon as she was given the necessary clearance, we took the elevator up to the ABC studios.

 

I introduced Stella to everyone on the set of The American Dream, and she had a great time talking shop with the crew. William Shannon showed up, and let me put it this way: Stella and I clearly have the same taste in men! She went all quiet and coquettish when I introduced the two of them. William Shannon had the same effect on me that he always does, but thankfully, Mathieu (my stylist and the only one in the world who knows Ethan and I aren’t really a couple) was there to keep me in line. I guess I was grinning at William Shannon like love-struck fool when Mathieu jerked me away from him under the guise of a little last minute hairstyle tweaking.

After the taping, I took Stella downtown and showed her my boutique. She tried on a few things while I ate another cupcake, and was all set to purchase the pink silk wrap top from my new collection, but naturally, I told her to put that money away. I wanted her to have it as a gift, she refused and neither of us was willing to back down, so she murmured something about buying it from one of the shops in London that carry my line. Little does she know I slipped the top into the side pocket of her tote bag. I wish I could see the look on her face when she discovers it!

We had dinner that night at an upscale Mexican restaurant in SoHo and stayed for another couple of margaritas each… Or was it three? In any case, when we left the restaurant, we were feeling festive. We weren’t far from Ethan’s apartment, so I suggested we stop by there to see what he was up to. He was working. (Shakes head.) He’s as hopeless as I am sometimes. After surprisingly little cajoling, we managed to drag Ethan back out with us. I was dying to take Stella to Magnolia Bakery, and it isn’t far from Ethan’s place, so we headed a couple blocks west to the best little bakery in New York. The three of us, each with a cupcake in hand (mine was the fourth fairy cake courtesy of Stella) went back outside and fed our sugar fixes under the night sky. Old friends, new friends and delectable cupcakes under a New York night sky. Does life get any better than this?

Like to read more about Chloe? Here's an excerpt from ‘Lying to Meet You’...

Mathieu grabs my arm and mutters, “Why did you not tell me about the boyfriend? I will not judge. If you want to seduce William Shannon even though you have a boyfriend, this is fine with me.”

“Ethan isn’t really my boyfriend,” I mutter back.

“What? I do not understand.”

I sigh. “It’s complicated. He and I are in a fake relationship. The idea behind it is that by being a couple, we might seem more attractive to potential love interests. It’s sort of a social experiment. But this is top-secret stuff. Nobody knows. So you can’t tell a soul.”

Mathieu brings a hand to his forehead and utters a dramatic, “Oh mon dieu.”

When we get to the green room, Mathieu shoves me in and says to Johnny, “I must talk to this girl. Two minutes. Yes?”

“Whatever,” Johnny says, leaning against the wall.

Mathieu comes into the room and closes the door firmly.

“Cherie, this changes everything. You must stop acting like a silly schoolgirl around Wily Willy.”

I stare at him, aghast. Was I really being that obvious?

“Use this pretend boyfriend in your mind to stop you from being so silly. When you see Wily Willy, you must send him silent messages that say,” (in the high pitch voice, of course) “‘Oh, I am so fabulous and it is so sad that you cannot have me, Mr. William Shannon, but I already have a lover.’”

I bite my lip to keep from breaking out into a grin, but apparently I have no control over the laughter in my eyes.

Mathieu responds with an icy glare.

“Perhaps you are not serious about seducing Wily Willy, after all.”

“No, no, Mathieu,” I tell him, suddenly feeling very solemn. “I’m sorry. I am serious about this.”

He stares at me for a moment. “D’accord. Now listen very carefully, Chloe. You must be cool around Wily Willy. And I am not talking about Gaultier-wearing-drinking-at-Bungalow-Eight cool. What I mean is that you must be aloof, unavailable. Do you understand?”

I nod, and he goes on.

“You must act casual around him. Not interested. When you see him, keep repeating these things in your mind. Cool, aloof, unavailable, casual, not interested. After a while, it will be easier to act that way around him.”

“You really think so?”

“Yes, I do,” Mathieu says, but after studying my face, he says, “I hope.”

After he leaves, I do something very uncool. I reach into my new Kate Spade bag, take out my planner, and write down Mathieu’s key words to remember. Cool, aloof, unavailable, casual, not interested. I kind of doubt that focusing on these words will do much to help me to relax around William Shannon, but it’s worth a try.

 

Writer Anna Garner (who also writes under the name Libby Mercer) lives in San Francisco where she currently spends her days cranking out stories.

 Does being in a relationship make you a hot commodity in the eyes of would-be suitors?

Chloe Lane is about to find out. When her childhood pal, Ethan Webster, asks her to play the part of his girlfriend in order to test this theory, she reluctantly agrees. As a work-crazed fashion designer, boutique owner and soon-to-be reality show judge, Chloe has no time for a real boyfriend, but being part of a faux pair will do just fine. Not that she has any intention of trying to attract someone else.

However...

Opportunity unexpectedly knocks when Chloe meets fellow reality judge, William Shannon. Super successful and super sexy, this high-powered entrepreneur inspires Chloe to test Ethan's theory herself. Now, on top of keeping her fashion business productive, carving out a new role as a television personality, maintaining a fake relationship and attempting to lay the groundwork for a future relationship, she's lying to William, lying to her friends, lying to her family and quite possibly lying to herself. Will Chloe be able to keep it all together, or are things about to explode?

You can find Lying to Meet You on Amazon UK  Amazon.com  and Barnes and Noble