Today I get to feature Holly Cupala and give away a SIGNED copy of her book Tell Me a Secret. I haven't had a chance to read it, yet. But I'm DYING to! Contest info is at the end of the post


Holly didn't just agree to do an interview, she wrote about a very memorable birthday. This post originally appeared at Sarah's Random Musings, but Holly has revamped it a little for me. Enjoy!

First of all, Happy Birthday to Enna Isilee, and many thanks for inviting me to celebrate your Birthday Bash!

Enna asked for a cool/embarrassing/fictional birthday story to celebrate her Birthday Bash…well, I could share with you one of my most memorable ones…Summer Solstice, the south of France, amazing boy…but wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I saved up my entire senior year of high school for my French teacher’s biannual trip to France—and there we were, in Nice, on my eighteenth birthday. It was the night of the Solstice Festival, a crazy mélange of people from all over the world who had come to party and celebrate summer.

I was a bit nerdy and shy back then, but my friends on the trip had dressed me up and taken me to a club—red lights and smoke and completely packed because of the festival. My friends paired off, and I ended up in the bathroom line.

That’s when a French girl leaned over to me and said, in English, “My brother thinks you’re cute.”

I looked over and there was this…well, he was…brown eyes, very nice smile…I was completely blushing. (And maybe a little of this memory played into a certain scene in TELL ME A SECRET…?)

I said, “I think he’s cute, too.”

And for some goofy reason, I thought he wouldn’t understand me (maybe because it was his sister who had talked to me). But then…he said, “Thank you.” Whoa.

I’ll spare you some of the details of attraction here, but they invited me to sit down with them. Here’s how our conversation went:

Him: Tell me something in French.

Me: No, no. My French is not good.

Him: Something. Anything.

Me: No, I'm embarrassed. I only know a little French.

Him: Please? (Probably with some flirtatious blinking in there.)

Me: What do you want me to say?

Him: Say…say ‘I love you.’

Me: Okay. Je t’aime.

He was quiet for a moment, and said, "Je t’aime aussi.” (Sheesh! French guys!) Then he leaned across the table and kissed me.

So we ended up going for a walk on the beach and looking at the stars. By this time my friends were trashed, but I was in the midst of something entirely magical. I was not American, he was not French. We were not yet in France, and the Cote d'Azur and Nice. We were in our own world. Kisses followed.

He and his friends drove me back to the hotel—he gave me his coat because I was cold. We hugged goodbye. I forgot to get his address and he forgot to get mine, but I’ll pretty much never forget Guilliame. So…yes, it was a memorable birthday.

Enna, my dear, I hope yours is memorable as well.

LINKAGE LOVE:

Holly's Website
Readergirlz Featured Author August
Tell Me a Secret Podcast (Listen to the book for FREE! Click the link in the upper right that says "audiobook")
Tell Me a Secret Trailer


Today I am giving away a copy of Tell Me a Secret (It's coming from Holly, but it may or may not be signed), but rather than ME host the contest, this is my first outsourced contest! In order to enter you must go visit Rebecca's blog Beck's Book Picks. Want a direct link?