How To Be Cool
by Johanna Edwards

The national bestselling author of The Next Big Thing and Your Big Break presents her coolest novel yet.

Kylie Chase always thought once she lost weight, life would be perfect. And for the past couple of years, that's proven to be true. After shedding seventy pounds and reinventing herself as a savvy trendsetter, Kylie's enjoyed amazing success. She's even found a new career, working as a "cool instructor," transforming the socially inept from geek to chic. Her classes on How to Be Cool are Chicago's hottest ticket.

But despite her outward image, Kylie's still uncomfortable in her skin—and she's still a dork at heart, who knows more about board games than Balenciaga (she thought the latter was a tropical disease). Kylie would sooner die than let her clients know about her overweight, nerdy past.

But things start to unravel when Kylie's apartment burns down and she's forced to shack up with her parents. (No matter how you slice it, a twenty-nine-year-old living with Mom and Dad is definitely not cool.) Now her father's setting curfews, and her mom's proving she's way cooler than Kylie's ever been. Making matters worse, there's a journalist shadowing her every move. The last thing Kylie needs is someone snooping around and uncovering her dirty little secret...no matter how sexy he may be.

The stress is driving Kylie nuts—and the weight she fought so hard to lose is starting to creep back on. But with the help of her best friend, Ruby, a confident plus-sized model, Kylie's starting to learn that appearances aren't everything. And that morphing from an "ugly duckling" into the queen of cool isn't all it's cracked up to be...

Johanna Edwards' Bio

Johanna Edwards is an award-winning journalist and radio/TV producer. Johanna's debut novel, The Next Big Thing, was released on March 1, 2005 and landed on both the Barnes & Noble bestseller list and the Neilsen BookScan bestseller list its first week out.

Johanna has been featured in USA Today, Us Weekly, The Boston Globe, Writer's Digest, The New York Post, The Detroit Free Press, The Daily Buzz, Figure Magazine, Entertainment Today, Publishers Weekly, The Arizona Daily Star, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis Magazine, The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Memphis Downtowner, San Diego Words Magazine, and The Romantic Times.

Johanna was born in 1978 in Memphis, Tennessee. She has published over 250 articles in both local and national magazines and newspapers. During her two year tenure as Arts and Entertainment Editor for The Daily Helmsman in Memphis, she wrote dozens of reviews and interviewed some of the biggest names in entertainment including 3 Doors Down, 'N Sync, Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Smith, Nick Stahl, Carmen Electra, Seann William Scott, Tori Spelling, Vivica A. Fox, Paul Walker, Jon Lithgow, Ivan Reitman and Steve Zahn (she also managed to weasel a free trip to Los Angeles to interview David Duchovny...but that's another story for another time).

When Johanna is not reading, writing, or working, she's a total travel-addict. She enjoys frequent vacations, especially to England (she's spent close to a year living, working and studying in and around London). Johanna also adores movies and TV, but feels neither can compare to a good book.

Johanna also writes teen books under the name Jo Edwards.