{Review/Excerpt/Giveaway} THE INFAMOUS FRANKIE LORDE Series by Brittany Geragotelis


I am a long-time fan of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series. When I saw a new-to-me series appear comping itself to the Girls, I was immediately intrigued! Upon reading all three books out so far in The Infamous Frankie Lorde, I would liken it more to Carter's Heist Society series and think it will appeal greatly to fans of heist novels.

Yes, Frankie Lorde IS the daughter of the most notorious international thief now behind bars. Yes, her dad's arrest DID throw her life into disarray. And, sure, Frankie now lives with her uncle, who is a really good detective able to sniff out the truth. But is Frankie on the straight-and-narrow now that she's on her own? No way!

Frankie's dad taught her everything she knows, and it's hard to give up a good con when you see one. Frankie has a bit of a Robin Hood complex. Now that she's on her own, she's no longer swindling others to add to her own wealth. Instead, she's determined to help others. She'll gladly take millions from a slumlord's safe and re-distribute it to the renters he's forcing to live in squalor, or use money from a crooked admissions counselor to send dozens of kids to college. She'll save helpless animals being trafficked in smuggling rings and protect students whose futures are at stake when their inventions are stolen. She's become selfless and is determined to make the world a better place alongside her new best friend and now sidekick Ollie. But they have to do it all underneath the nose of her uncle, a detective trying to keep her on the up and up and get her out of the con life she grew up in....

Each book can be read on its own. While it's helpful to read STEALING GREENWICH first and grounding yourself in the world and the characters, Frankie does a good job catching readers up on her life with each new book through journal entries (Though girl, you know better than to be keeping an account of your cons like this, lol!) and reminiscing about past cons. Many readers will relate to the fact that she's enrolled at a new school where she knows nobody and has to learn to fit in when she feels like she doesn't belong. Frankie must also navigate school bullies and making new friends. They may also relate to the fact that she has a new legal guardian, her uncle, and must learn how to become a new type of family together with him. With the third book, NEW ADMISSIONS, their tenuously formed bond is tested when her uncle begins dating without asking Frankie for permission or approval, which is a major plot point in the novel. While the heart of each book is the heist and the way Frankie plots and runs each con, there is still family and friendship at its heart as well, which will keep readers invested. With the third book, interesting new characters are introduced that will hopefully make re-appearances as the series moves forward.

It's easy to root for Frankie to pull off seemingly impossible heists since her reasons are so good. She grew up in this lifestyle and is fantastic at what she does. I keep forgetting, however, that she is only in middle school until the book reminds me. I keep thinking of her as a high school student. For all of the disguises Frankie pulls off, it's hard to see adults acknowledging a costumed middle school student as an adult, or even thinking they look attractive and date-worthy, since they still haven't lost the look of youth yet. A high schooler at least can pull off being balanced between the two worlds a little easier, but oftentimes, middle schoolers haven't even hit their adult height yet. Frankie, maybe -- she did grow up in this environment, after all! But Frankie AND Ollie? Two youthful faces to trick the mind at once? It's a harder seller. We never find out exactly how old Frankie and Ollie are or what grade they're in. So la la la, I'll pretend they're in eighth grade and it's close to the end of the school year. I can, however, see this being a really successful Disney Channel movie, and these kids would have the cutest disguises! If you can suspend your disbelief over the ages when Frankie and Ollie are disguising themselves as adults and fooling all the billionaires around them, it's easy to get swept up in their adventures.

The Infamous Frankie Lorde is one of those series that walks the line between middle grade and high school level readers, but will appeal to both groups and have readers of all ages rooting for Frankie to succeed in her quests and stick it to the corrupt, a true Robin Hood for today's teens!


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EXCERPT



Excerpt from 
NO ADMISSION
by Brittany Geragotelis



The Inafmous Frankie Lorde 3: No Admissions

By Brittany Geragotelis

 

Excerpt for Rockstar Book Tours

 

Entry One


Of all our plans, this was by far the craziest.


And it’s my own fault. I never should’ve agreed in the first place. But Ollie had guilted me into it, insisting that I never let him take the lead in our schemes.


Which was true.


But there was a good reason why. . . . I was simply better at it than he was.


This wasn’t an ego thing. It was irrefutable fact.


Fact: I was the daughter of the most notorious international thief the past decade had seen.


Fact: I had been the only real partner-in-crime my dad had had since my mom.


Fact: Dad had taught me everything he’d known.


Fact: Now that Dad was in prison for our past heists, I was the only one left to carry on his legacy—minus the whole getting caught part.


True, it was also fact that since coming to live in Greenwich, Connecticut, months ago, I’d taken my now best friend, Ollie, under my wing and begun to teach him the art of thievery.


And while it was also true that we’d already planned and carried out two big jobs together—successfully, I might add—Ollie was nowhere near my level of expertise yet.


But that was ultimately why I’d agreed to his plan in the end. It was low-stakes stuff. Sure, we could get in trouble if we were caught, but we wouldn’t end up in prison or anything.


Well, it was unlikely that we would, anyway.


Still, I felt the need to say something before we got in too deep.


“This isn’t going to work,” I whispered to Ollie through the dark.


“Shhhh!” Ollie hissed back. “You’re going to jinx it, Frankie.”


I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me do it. Ollie was the kind of guy who believed wholeheartedly in jinxes. And bad omens. And lucky charms. And everything else that I thought was complete hooey.


Yet, he was my best friend.


“Fine,” I said between gritted teeth. “I won’t . . . jinx it. But can I ask just one thing?”


“What?” he asked.


“Why are we doing this again?” I asked.


Ollie stopped what he was doing and looked at me, exasperated. “Seriously?” he asked me like the answer was obvious. “Go big or go home, Frankie.”




Excerpt from The Infamous Frankie Lorde 3: No Admissions 

Text copyright © 2022 by Brittany Geragotelis

Reproduced by permission from Pixel+Ink / Holiday House. 

All rights reserved.






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C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: --
Language: G  ( Suck, crap, freaking, pissed off )
Violence: G  ( Bloody noses, knock outs, etc)
Other:  G ( Bullying at school; father in jail for theft; focus on a legal guardian dating and getting back into the swing of things; breaking and entering and various misdeameanors; illegal exotic pet rings; billionaires doing shady things and getting away with it such as forcing renters to live in squalor; talk about deportation; school admission scandals, etc. )
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O F F I C I A    I N F O:

Title:  NO ADMISSIONS
Author: Brittany Geragotelis
Release Date: Oct. 18, 2022
Publisher: Pixel + Ink / Holiday House
FIND IT:  GoodreadsAmazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBDBookshop.org
SUMMARY:
 

A group of parents looking to buy their less-deserving children into elite schools is about to learn a thing or two from a criminal mastermind in the third book in the Infamous Frankie Lorde series, perfect for fans of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls and Heist Society.

When Frankie discovers that a classmate’s invention has been stolen the day before a school-wide competition, the once-renowned international thief figures she might as well flex her skills to steal it back. But just when Frankie’s about to call her mission a success, she learns there’s more to the story than she’d originally thought.

A group of wealthy Greenwich parents are using their influence -- and wallets -- to guarantee that their kids get into the most exclusive institutions on the East coast, no matter how undeserving their kids are, or how far they have to go to ensure success. 

Easy peasy for Frankie to crack.  Until she gets to know these classmates of hers...and their parents...and everyone's real motivations and issues.  Frankie sets the bar higher, to take the scam down from the top.  The guy who's been hired to get the kids into their desired schools: "Mr. Admissions." 

Reviews:

"The action sequences are fun. . . ."—Kirkus Reviews


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR




Brittany Geragotelis, a former Olympic-bound gymnast and magazine editor, is a self-professed pop culture junkie turned author. Her paranormal action book Life’s a Witch received 18 million reads on the writing site Wattpad.com. What the Spell is the first published book in the series, followed by Life’s a Witch and The Witch Is Back. The Infamous Frankie Lorde is her first series with Pixel+Ink. Brittany lives in Los Angeles with her awesome husband, two clever boys, one scaredy-cat, and a crazy dog.




  
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****Giveaway*****

You could win...


-   1 winner will receive a finished copy of THE INFAMOUS FRANKIE LORDE: NO ADMISSIONS.

Ends October 25th, midnight EST.

(US Only)



You must be at least 13 years old to enter or have a parent's permission!

Enter now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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TOUR SCHEDULE




Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/10/2022

Mom with a Reading Problem

Review/IG Post

10/10/2022

Nerdophiles

Review 

10/11/2022

GryffindorBookishNerd 

IG Review

10/11/2022

Lifestyle of Me

Review/IG Post

10/12/2022

Forthenovellovers 

Review/IG Post

10/12/2022

BookHounds YA 

Review/IG Post

10/13/2022

@hodophile_z

IG Review

10/13/2022

hauntedbybooks

Review/IG Post

10/14/2022

Ya Books Central

Excerpt

10/14/2022

Books and Zebras 

IG Review


Week Two:

10/17/2022

Brandi Danielle Davis 

IG Review/TikTok Post

10/17/2022

A Dream Within A Dream

Excerpt/IG Post

10/18/2022

The Momma Spot

Review/IG Post

10/18/2022

Kait Plus Books

Excerpt/IG Post

10/19/2022

A Backwards Story 

Review/IG Post

10/19/2022

@coffeesipsandreads

IG Spotlight

10/20/2022

Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Review/IG Post

10/20/2022

Two Chicks on Books

Excerpt/IG Post

10/21/2022

@jacleomik33 

IG Review

10/21/2022

Two Points of Interest

Review 






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