Cover Reveal – Girl on an Island

Exciting news, people! I have a new book cover to reveal for my planned release, Girl on an Island. This is fabulous and cool and all the good things. . . but it means I have to actually write the book. Like, the whole thing. I may have hit a tiny snag in my plans. As an indie author I can set my own deadlines, but sometimes I get a little ahead of myself.

Due to some ongoing health issues my writing has been slower than I would like, but I need to be realistic in what I can achieve at the moment. I have also committed to writing two novellas for multi-author anthologies for release later in 2024 and the drafts of these stories need to be completed first.

I can confirm that my Girl on a Plane series will have a third book soon and although I have had Girl on an Island up for ebook pre-orders for a few months, I may have to delay the planned mid-year release. The release date is to be confirmed – please keep an eye out for updates.

Cover Reveal

Here she is:

The cover was designed by the fabulous Deborah Bradseth who also designed the covers for books 1 and 2, Girl on a Plane (ebook and paperback) and Girl on a Layover.

I love the way this cover evokes the tropical feel of the setting, which is the Whitsunday Islands off the coast of Australia. This story will feature Bridie, the redheaded little sister of Sinead from Girl on a Plane, and her love story centres on her taking a new job as marketing manager for a resort on a tropical island. When she arrives on the island, she runs into Aidan, her brother’s best friend from back home in Ireland. What are the chances? 😉

Please keep a lookout for updates about this story, and of course the anthologies I’ll be posting about in coming months.

For now join my newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter/X for updates.

Girl on a Plane – new cover reveal!

I’m so excited to share the brand new cover of the second edition of my debut contemporary romance novel, Girl on a Plane. I recently regained my publishing rights from the former publisher, so now it’s indie time! I’ve been working myself a little ragged getting this book ready to independently publish. I’ll be releasing a new edition of the ebook, along with print — a paperback and hardcover — for the first time.

Cover reveal

Girl on a Plane will be re-released on 29 March 2023 and features a gorgeous cover design from Deborah Bradseth at dbcoverdesign.com with a softer colour scheme and a modern romcom feel. Exactly what I was looking for!

For the contemporary romance and romcom fans out there who haven’t read this one yet, I do hope you’ll enjoy it. The updated book blurb is below.

Blurb

Perfect for fans of The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren and The Layover by Laci Waldon, Girl on a Plane is an entertaining summer read for grumpy-sunshine romcom lovers.

Sparks fly in mid-air when Sinead, a fun and feisty Irish flight attendant, meets Gabriel, a gorgeous but grumpy Aussie CEO in First Class.

When a storm hits during their flight from Melbourne to London, they are unexpectedly grounded in Singapore. No-one could predict Sinead and Gabriel would be locked-in together in the same hotel suite…with only one bed! One steamy night could lead to more as they chase each other across the world.

Sinead doesn’t know if she can follow her heart after her disastrous relationship with her stalker ex-boyfriend. He shook her so much, shattered her confidence in men, and made it hard to trust. Her connection with Gabriel is powerful, a call to throw caution to the wind. Maybe it’s time to find love, a man to call her own. To heal her broken heart.

But Gabriel isn’t exactly an open book. He wants Sinead with an intensity that scares him but he can’t afford to let a woman in, to pursue anything besides a hook-up. What if Sinead doesn’t understand the limits he has to place on relationships? What if she cracks him wide open and disturbs the careful balance of his life? He may never recover.

Follow Sinead and Gabriel as they navigate a new relationship while dealing with the excess baggage of their pasts. Will love take flight?

Where to buy

The ebook version of Girl on a Plane is ready to preorder from major online sites including Apple Books, Amazon, Kobo, Google Play Books, Barnes & Noble and Booktopia. The hardcover design and paperback links are coming soon . . . Check my Books page for updates.

Preorder the ebook now!

#GirlOnAPlane #CoverReveal #romcombooks #romancenovels #grumpysunshine

Dating Little Miss Perfect – Cover Reveal!

Exciting news, book lovers! My next full-length contemporary romance novel is nearly ready to fling into the world, or in other words, release it wide!

Many thanks go to my fabulous Australian book cover designer and illustrator, Kylie Sek, who was an absolute star and totally got what I was looking for. I said, 90s romcom movie vibes, bright colours, a scientist heroine who rides a Vesper scooter, and an Aussie hero who looks like a Hemsworth brother. Nailed it!

Without further ado, here is the gorgeous cover:

Dating Little Miss Perfect by Cassandra O’Leary. Cover design by Kylie Sek.

Blurb

The perfect romcom read for fans of The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren and The Hating Game by Sally Thorne . . .

On an anonymous online dating app, LittleMissPerfect meets HotAussie007 and it’s love at first click. In real life, a smart but spiky woman in STEM, research scientist, Dr Eden, meets a laid-back Aussie marketing manager, Finn, at the big pharma company where they both work in California. They’re forced to compete for special projects funding, and both their jobs are on the line.

Eden just wants to win at science and in life. It’s not happening! She can’t stand Finn’s too-cool-for-school, nice guy act, or his delectable forearms that keep invading her space. While Finn is stupidly attracted to Eden, when she’s not telling him off, he isn’t free to pursue her. He’s stuck in the worst position in his professional life, and doesn’t see a clear way out. He can’t tell her the whole truth about what’s going on at work or in his personal life. . . or it could all blow up in his face.

When they realise the truth about their online alter egos, dating is off the table. Can they ignore their inconvenient attraction, and work together to take down their unethical boss? Or will intense rivalry cause their IRL work lives and online love lives to collide and explode like a science experiment gone wrong?

Note: Dating Little Miss Perfect is an updated take on You’ve Got Mail for lovers of online dating romcoms, with added science, cupcakes and old movie references! This new novel from award-winning author Cassandra O’Leary is a stand-alone contemporary romance of approximately 95,000 words.

I have put it up for ebook preorders (paperback links coming soon) and I do hope you’ll all enjoy reading it when it’s released on 24 May 2023.

Preorder Dating Little Miss Perfect now!

Heart Note cover reveal excitement!

I’m so excited to show-off the cover for my new romantic comedy Christmas novella, Heart Note.

So, without further shenanigans, here it is!

Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella cover

Cover reveal – Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella

I wanted an image that was fun, flirty, a little bit sexy and very Christmassy. I think the cover designer, the fabulously talented Lana Pecherczek from Author Zoo, did an amazing job.

This novella is the first in my planned Spritzer Chicks series, set in and around a perfume counter in a major department store. So of course it also had to feature perfume as part of the theme.

Thanks also to Rachel’s Random Resources for hosting a cover reveal across social media. Rachel is super efficient and ace!

I hope everyone thinks this cover is as gorgeous as I do. As an author, it’s made me even more excited to finish writing this story and to get it out there into the world for readers to enjoy.

Details

Title: Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella

Author: Cassandra O’Leary

List price: $2.99 (US)

Release date: 6 November 2017

Pre-order now: Amazon, iBooks, Kobo and Barnes & Noble (Nook)

books2read.com/HeartNote

Blurb

A funny, romantic comedy Christmas novella, perfect for fans of Love Actually . . . from the award-winning author of Girl on a Plane.

Love is like a fine perfume. The top note draws you in, an instant attraction, but the Heart Note is the true essence. Like true love – a great perfume should be a woman’s perfect match.

At least, that’s what perfume counter manager, Lily Lucas, tells her customers in one of Australia’s largest department stores.

It’s almost Christmas, the store is bedecked with baubles and Lily has about eleventy billion gifts to wrap and sell. She and her team of spritzer chicks are glamorous, professional and hoping they don’t have to wear the hideous red onesies and reindeer antlers the store manager has in mind.

The high point of Lily’s work life is Christos Cyriakos, ex-cop, security guard, possible Greek god. He’s a mystery box she’d love to unwrap. But can she trust him?

All Lily wants for Christmas is to kiss Christos (and more), catch a band of thieves running amok in the store, and live happily ever after. Is that too much to wish for?

***

I hope you’re all looking forward to reading Heart Note!

Cover reveal – Chocolate Truffle Kiss

Cover reveal time! It is with a little too much excitement that I show-off my very first cover for my very first self-published novelette (which is a kind of long short story). Chocolate Truffle Kiss is a 9500 story, originally published in 2015 in the Sweet and Spicy anthology from my writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild.

But now I’m letting it go, into the world, with its own, fresh cover. I actually designed it myself! It may not win any design awards, but I’m happy with it. I think the woman on the cover is gorgeous and it suits the genre of romantic comedy.

Let me know what you think!

P.S. if you sign-up to my newsletter here on my website before 10 October 2016, I’ll give you a FREE copy of this story! Sign-up with your name and email address, that’s it. Easy-peasy!

Chocolate Truffle Kiss cover design

Blurb

Your eyes meet mine, then retreat
Softness behind glass
Let me break your barriers

The poem on the blackboard enticed her to enter. Just like everyday…

Writer, Beth, visits the same café every afternoon, enjoying her latte and a chocolate truffle while scribbling in her notebook. The delicious treats keep her coming back day after day, not to mention the inspiration she finds there – Samuel. The barista is tall, dark and delicious, and his stare could melt chocolate from a hundred paces.

Since her divorce, Beth’s love life has been close to extinct, but the sight of Samuel, his dark, brooding good looks and amazing dragon tattoo, kick it into overdrive. A smouldering volcano waiting to erupt in flames of passion. But Beth knows it’s unlikely he’d go for her, an older woman, when he could have anyone.

Over the course of a week, the tension between them rises almost to boiling point. When Beth’s friend lets it slip that Beth fancies Samuel, in fact she has a mega crush on him, their customer/barista relationship is tested…but could it be more than one-sided? Is Samuel writing the blackboard poems especially for Beth? Could he be watching and wanting her too?

Pre-order links are live on my Books page!

Girl on a Plane – social media cover reveal wrap-up

A few weeks ago, the team at my publisher, Avon Maze, digital first imprint of HarperCollins UK, organised a coordinated book cover reveal on social media. There was a great response, and here’s a snapshot from Twitter. I’m playing around with the Storify site, so check out a summary below.

More book news to come soon and the count down to release day is on! 22 more sleeps until 18th July launch date… but you can pre-order now!

Make sure to follow me on Twitter or follow Avon Books UK for more news and cool contests.

Future shock! Seeing my book on the HarperCollins website

As cover reveals go, this one was pretty fun, because it was a complete surprise to the author. In other words, me. I had a severe case of future shock when I suddenly stumbled across my book cover online, a few weeks ago.

I was sitting in my writers group meeting at the Melbourne Romance Writers Group secret HQ, when my writer friend, P.J. Vye, googled me. Cheeky as that sounds, we’ve been friends for over a year now, so I was okay with it. The googling.

She was looking for my blog when what should appear in the search results? My brand spanking new book cover and synopsis on the HarperCollins UK website! I didn’t know it would be live online yet, considering I’d been asked to keep the cover under wraps.

Well, to say I was stunned would be an understatement. I’d have to grab my thesaurus and say I was staggered, shocked, confounded, dazed, amazed and stupified. Or to use Aussie slang talk, I was a stunned mullet. Strewth! But at the same time I was thinking…you little ripper!

Seeing my gorgeous book cover and MY NAME listed under ‘Authors’ on the HarperCollins site is basically a dream come true. I’ve been writing fiction seriously (as serious as I can be, anyway) for about three years, but it’s been a dream of mine to write a novel for many years before that. I’d say it harks back to when I was in Grade 2, when I wrote a story about time travel, dinosaurs, centaurs and a princess. Hmmm, I may have to revive that story idea.

And the other amazing shock…on the first day of pre-orders on Kobo, my book somehow made it up to number 3 on the Contemporary Women bestseller list! Check out my book, hob-nobbing with JoJo Moyes and Danielle Steel!

Screenshot of Girl on a Plane at number 3 on the Kobo Contemporary Women bestseller list, 18 April 2016.

I can’t wait to see how the book goes on Amazon and other sites. Exciting times!