Another Little Piece of My Heart

I was asked to write a blog on the theme, ‘What touches my heart?’ and it’s a tricky one, because the answer is many things, many people, books, movies, music… There isn’t only one answer. There isn’t only one thing to feel or to love. This post is dedicated to all the little things that add up to something joyful and touching in our everyday lives.

A quiet sunset

My last little family getaway was to Lakes Entrance, a few hours away from where I live in Melbourne, Australia. One of the highlights of the trip was staying across the road from a lake with a pier, just right for fishing with the kids. Watching the sunset over the lake was so relaxing, it made me want to go for sunset walks more often.

A funny movie

Is there anything better than snort-laughing along to a funny movie? I think not! This week I watched Pitch Perfect, a film about the exploits of competing Acapella singing groups at a university campus. It stars the wonderful Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson (Aussie and funny, yeah!) and is chock full of silliness and great songs. Yes, I was singing along to the Ladies of the 80s songs in the riff-off scene. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s great fun.

A great piece of music

I’m remembering the concert I went to last year, sitting in the front row at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival. The great sax player and composer, Branford Marsalis, was on tour all the way from New Orleans. One of the songs he played was an original composition with multiple layers and a few classical bits and pieces thrown in…amazing! His quartet absolutely killed it too.

This YouTube clip of In The Crease is an example of the type of tune, or more like an immersive experience. When you’re right up close to musicians in this league, it’s emotional and intense. This piece is not quite the same as the show I saw, but I hope you enjoy it.

My kids laughing

Honestly, sometimes my boys behave like little monsters, but other times they are completely adorable and hilarious. Is there anything cuter than kids laughing so hard, they’re in hysterics with tears running down their faces? Lately I’ve been thrilled to see my kids reading funny books to themselves, and then just busting out laughing. Latest #kidlit recommendations are Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, anything by Tom Gates, and of course we’re re-reading Harry Potter.

A good book and time to think

The time after everyone else goes to sleep and I read a good book, just because I can and it gives me pleasure. Lately I’ve enjoyed reading these fabulously fun romantic comedies:

The Austen Playbook by Lucy Parker

On The Same Page by (fellow Aussie) Penelope Janu

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Grab one of these books for a few laughs and some happy sighs!

And a puppy?

Yes, my family have decided unanimously to become a dog family. We already have quite the menagerie, with a cat named Tom Sword, a parrot named Storm, many fish, and eight chickens of various sizes and stages of cluckiness.

My kids adore animals and we thought…why not? It’s good for kids to learn about looking after a pet, the responsibility it entails, but also having a new friend to love. This could be an absolutely manic and crazy choice. Will the dog attack the cat? Or vice versa? We shall see.

Please enjoy our first photo of our puppy, coming to live with us in a few more weeks. We’re thinking of calling him Archie.

Another little piece of my heart…

All of these things are little pieces that make up a whole lot when added together. What makes your heart fuller, more capable of love, or reminds you to live life to the fullest?

Note: This blog was originally published by Romancing The Genres on 28 February 2019. Copyright remains with the author, Cassandra O’Leary. Amazon affiliate links are used on this page.

Holly Jolly Hop!

The holidays are just around the corner, which means it’s time for Chick Lit Chat HQ’s annual Holly Jolly Chick Lit Hop and this year it’s bigger and better than ever! 63 bestselling and award-winning authors in the Chick Lit and Romantic Comedy genres are participating in this fun-filled event and each one is doing a fantastic giveaway. Books, author swag, gift cards, and other assorted holiday treats are all up for grabs. This event runs from 3-9 December 2018.

My prize giveaway…

I’m giving away a holiday reads prize including:

1 x paperback copy of Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (to be mailed to the winner from Book Depository UK)
1 x ebook gift copy of my holiday romcom, Heart Note.

I thought, why not give away one of my all time favourite chick lit books? It’s full of holiday fun and terrible Christmas jumpers too. I’m sure Bridget and my heroine, Lily Lucas, would be great friends.

Heart Note is based at the perfume counter manager at one of Australia’s largest department stores, where Lily is the counter manager. In the lead-up to Christmas, Lily has to wrap approximately eleventy billion gift sets and pander to some very odd customers. But all she really wants is to unwrap Christos, the smokin’ hot ex-cop security guard, and maybe have him cuff her to a Christmas tree…

By the way – my holiday romcom novella, Heart Note, is on sale for 99 cents or FREE in Kindle Unlimited. Go to Amazon to check it out!

See the post on my Facebook author page for details of how to enter my giveaway.

Note: my giveaway is open internationally but is not endorsed by or associated with Facebook. The winner will need to provide a postal address to receive the paperback book prize, and an email address to receive the ebook prize.

More prizes…

But wait! There’s much, much more. On the hop’s Facebook group page, you can enter to win our Grand Prize—a large holiday gift box filled to the brim with a fabulous variety of holiday and winter-themed goodies (the darling, KitschNStyle gingerbread house apron, Snoozies! sherpa socks, Calvin Klein cashmere pom-pom beanie in petal pink, Too Faced sugar cookie eye shadow purse palette, Sally Snowflakes mug by Bella Pilar, Well Read Women: A Reader’s Journal, and handmade chocolate soaps shown in the graphic below are just a few of the items included in the box!).

We’ll also be handing out four Runner-Up Prizes. Each one is a pair of Fitz & Floyd holiday mugs that will be accompanied by a canister of Williams-Sonoma classic hot chocolate as well as a tin of The Republic of Tea’s Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas Tea. So, you’ll have delicious, warm beverages to keep you cozy all winter long!

The celebration runs from Monday, Dec. 3rd through Sunday, Dec. 9th, so head on over to the Holly Jolly Chick Lit Hop Facebook group for some lively conversation with both authors and readers, incredible prizes, and lots of holiday fun! You’ll find each day’s featured authors, along with the links to their pages/giveaways, in the pinned post at the top of the group. We look forward to seeing you there!

*The Grand Prize giveaway is open to US residents only. However, all of the individual author giveaways and the Runner-Up Prize giveaway are open internationally.

Lazy Days of Summer sale – 45+ free and 99 cent reads!

Lazy Days of Summer promotional image

Summer? What’s that? As I write, I’m sitting here in Australia in my fluffy cardigan and Ugg boots, but of course it’s summer for my northern hemisphere readers.

Want to laze poolside or on the sand with books that’ll heat you up, sizzle your skin, and melt your heart? Why not steam up your Kindle this summer with romance e-books from some top Aussie and New Zealand authors? Grab a cocktail and pull up a chair!

Lazy Days of Summer Sale

We’ve got 45+ FREE and bargain 99 cent romances to get you through the rest of summer. From sexy or sweet contemporaries to romantic comedy, historical, paranormal, romantic suspense, erotica, women’s fiction, and urban fantasy/sci-fi/fantasy – we’ve got you covered. Full list of Lazy Days of Summer sale books available here.

My romcom novelette, Chocolate Truffle Kiss, is included. Still only 99 cents and a five-star swoony read according to Amazon reviewers. But it’s also FREE at the moment to my newsletter subscribers!

Chocolate Truffle Kiss 5 star promo graphic

Free novelette for newsletter subscribers!

Check out the books on sale!

There’s a whole lot of fabulous authors participating in this sale, including Tracey Alvarez, Nicola Marsh, Louise Cusack, Joanne Dannon, Cheryl Phipps and many more.

Visit the sale webpage hosted by Tracey Alvarez today.

Holly Jolly holiday giveaway!

*UPDATED* — This giveaway is now closed. I drew a prize winner at random from all eligible entrants at 7.30 pm my time (in Melbourne, Australia), Friday 16 December 2016. The winner is Denise Austin. I’ll email Denise shortly. Congratulations! Thanks to everyone who entered.

Since it’s December and the holiday season is already upon us (Argh! Where did 2016 go?) I’m joining in the fun with a giveaway as part of the Holly Jolly Chick Lit Hop. The group is running the promotion from 5-16 December 2016, with Amazon gift vouchers, books and other prizes up for grabs.

So, confession time… I’ve actually done NO Christmas shopping or decorating around my house yet. I’m madly trying to write and finish off some important admin tasks (overdue taxes *cough*) before the end of the year. But I have taken the time to organise what I think is a fabulous giveaway prize!

Giveaway prize details

Photo of giveaway prize – Sweet and Spicy print book, silver angel wings necklace and Hoppy ornament

Sweet and Spicy – A celebration of romance (print edition)

A lovely shiny copy of my first-ever print edition of a story I’ve written! My romantic comedy novelette, Chocolate Truffle Kiss, is included in Sweet and Spicy – A celebration of romance, an anthology of over 100,000 words of love stories, published by my amazing writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild. I’ll sign it for you!

Silver angel wings pendant necklace

A sterling silver plated angel wing pendant on a snake chain. It’s a little bit Christmassy and similar to the pendant my heroine, Sinead, receives from the hero, Gabriel, in my romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane. But without the black pearls, because I’m not a millionaire CEO!

‘Hoppy’ Christmas tree ornament

Since I’m an Aussie, I thought I’d throw in a cute ceramic kangaroo Christmas tree ornament. Let’s call her Hoppy. She has a little baby Joey and is wearing a Santa hat!

How to enter*

Here’s what you need to do:

Add a comment here on my blog page or on my Cassandra O’Leary Author Facebook Page, telling me your number one Christmas shopping tip! (Because I need all the help I can get) AND
Sign-up to my email newsletter list (add your name and email address to the Newsletter form on this web page). My newsletter has exclusive content such as sneak peeks at my upcoming stories, more giveaways and promotions. My December newsletter is coming out next week.

P.S. – my current newsletter subscribers are eligible to enter.

P.P.S – everyone who signs-up for my newsletter in December will receive a free e-book download copy of Chocolate Truffle Kiss! That’s right, everyone!

Thanks to the fabulous group of authors at Chick Lit Chat HQ for organising the Holly Jolly Chick Lit Hop group promotion on Facebook, especially Tracie Banister and Laura Chapman. If you haven’t already checked out their books, hop to it!

Happy holidays!

*Entry is open internationally. I’ll select one winner on Friday 16th December 2016 and post the winner’s name on my blog page and Facebook page. The winner must provide their postal address to me by email or personal message to claim the prize. I am responsible for running this giveaway in association with Chick Lit Chat HQ and it is not affiliated with Facebook.