12 Days of Christmas fun & giveaways

Day 3 – Cassandra O’Leary

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me…a whole lot of festive ebooks! And a $50 Amazon gift card giveaway!

Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas promotion. I’m Cassandra O’Leary, redheaded Melbourne girl, coffee/wine lover and romcom writer extraordinaire (I might have to print that on my business cards).

I’m super excited to be part of this promotion with so many fabulous romance authors from Australia and New Zealand. Jingle my bells!

All the stops on the 12 Days of Christmas promotion are below:

Day 1 – Kris Pearson

Day 2 – Joanne Dannon

Day 3 – Cassandra O’Leary (You Are Here!)

Day 4 – Annie Seaton

Day 5 – Monique McDonell

Day 6 – Kate O’Keeffe

Day 7 – Cathryn Hein

Day 8 – Tracey Alvarez

Day 9 – Leeanna Morgan

Day 10 – Wendy Vella

Day 11 – Charmaine Ross

Day 12 – Aislinn Kearns

Visit them all and you’ll have the chance to win books and you can also enter the $50 Amazon gift card giveaway.

** This giveaway is now closed and winners have been contacted.**

Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella

I have a new release romantic comedy novella, Heart Note, to tell you about today. It’s a little bit festive, a little bit naughty and a little bit nice. It’s getting some great reviews so far.

12 Days of Christmas Heart Note promo image

Heart Note is set in the world of a perfume counter at a department store in the lead-up to Christmas, there’s hijinks and baubles, plenty of sexy Santa costumes and a smouldering hot Greek-Australian god (okay, a security guard/ex-cop, but he’s got that Zeus-like thing going on).

This novella has been rocking the charts since its release on 6 November, hitting the top 50 Humour Fiction bestseller list on Amazon Australia, and the New and Hot Releases Humor Fiction lists on Amazon US, UK and France!

Blurb

A laugh-out-loud 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?

Buy now from Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Barnes & Noble (Nook), Google Play Books and more stores.

Universal link to all stores – books2read.com/HeartNote

Giveaways

** My giveaway is now closed. I have drawn two winners and contacted them by email — Karen Teasdale and Jill Broussard — check your inboxes!**

Because it’s nearly Christmas and I’m feeling generous and stuff, I’m running a giveaway!

I’m giving away:

1 x ebook copy of Heart Note AND
1 x ebook copy of Girl on a Plane (my debut HarperCollins UK romantic comedy/contemporary romance novel).

I’ll select a winner for each prize and contact them individually on or just after 13 December 2017.

To enter:

Sign-up for my newsletter list by completing the form on this website and leave a comment on this blog post. If you’re already on my newsletter list, just comment!

Tell me…have you been naughty or nice and what do you want for Christmas? COMMENT BELOW!

Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway to win a $50 Amazon gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Heart Note Blog Blitz!

It’s almost the festive season and this weekend my new release, Heart Note, is having a party! Well, sort of. It’s a Blog Blitz and everyone is invited.

From 25 to 27 November 2017 a whole host of bloggers are playing home to my Christmas romcom novella and lots of blogs about perfume, Christmas, romantic comedies, working as a ‘spritzer chick’ on a perfume counter and much more. There’s also a giveaway so make sure to check out the blogs to enter.

Thanks so much to the fabulous Rachel’s Random Resources for organising my Blog Blitz!

Visit the Blog Blitz stops

And now just a little note about Heart Note! I enjoyed writing a novella which is a fast-paced romcom with a little heist sub-plot and a great big dash of Christmas festiveness mixed in.

I hope you’ll love the main characters, Lily and Christos, as much as I do and cheer them on towards their happy ending.

Heart Note – 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.

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?

Reviewers love Heart Note!

Buy Links

Barnes & Noble (Nook)

Google Play Books

Universal link – books2read.com/HeartNote

You can also sign-up for my author newsletter for a free novelette, updates on my writing,

giveaways and lots of fun stuff!

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.

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!

Book Boyfriend Blog Hop for #ChickLitMay

Welcome to my stop on the Book Boyfriend Blog Hop for #ChickLitMay. I’m pleased to introduce you to a grumpy but gorgeous romcom hero, Gabriel Anderson, from my debut romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane.

Meet Gabriel Anderson from Girl on a Plane

“I suppose I should tell you something about myself even though I hate giving media interviews. By now I know it goes with the territory of being a CEO of a global travel company. I’m Gabriel Anderson, I’m 32 years old and I live in Melbourne, Australia. Some women tell me I look like a surfer, and it’s probably true. I love to surf and swim. Travel is my other passion. But travelling as often as I do, there’s been no time for anything serious with a woman, that’s for damn sure.”

Image of Gabriel Anderson, hero in Girl on a Plane

“There’s something else you should know about me – I’m in no mood to deal with distractions or time wasters. Everything was going smoothly in my world, even if it was constantly busy. My migraines have been coming on hard and fast and I have my Mum’s illness always at the back of my mind. But I had it all under control. Now, everything is up in the air. Because of her.”

“Let me explain. I met a woman named Sinead, a flight attendant with Mermaid Airlines. She has the sexiest Irish lilt to her voice and that’s what I call her: Irish. She’s tall and stunning with platinum blonde hair and the most amazing breasts…but that’s not what I find most attractive about her. Oh, no. She’s got me thinking about her constantly, with the way she made me laugh, about Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee of all things. When she teased me about Nude Espresso and winked at me as she swayed down the aisle of the plane.”

“After one night together in Singapore, I knew I’d never get enough of her. She’s incredible. A firecracker. The only woman I want. I want her in my bed, I want her with me. If I have to chase her to London, or Dublin, or freaking Japan, I’ll do it.”

“I’m going to make her mine.”

Image of Gabriel Anderson, surfer CEO

About Girl on a Plane

Girl on a Plane is the debut romantic comedy novel by Cassandra O’Leary, released in 2016. Winner of the global We Heart New Talent writing contest run by Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. Cassandra was also nominated for Best New Author in the AusRom Today Reader’s Choice Awards 2016.

Girl on a Plane by Cassandra O’Leary, book cover image

CLIMB ON BOARD . . . WITH THE GIRL ON A PLANE

When feisty Irish flight attendant Sinead Kennealy locks eyes with sexy Australian CEO Gabriel Anderson in First Class, sparks fly. But as they jet across the globe from Melbourne to London, it’s clear that they’re in for a turbulent journey . . .

Stressed-out Gabriel doesn’t do relationships. And Sinead isn’t about to be fooled by another bad boy after escaping her stalker ex. Then a storm hits, causing the plane to land unexpectedly, and Sinead and Gabriel are thrown together in Singapore.

The pressure rises as Sinead’s unhappy past threatens to catch up with her. But might Gabriel be the one to heal her heartbreak? If he could open up about his troubling secrets, maybe a relationship could actually get off the ground. Fasten your seatbelts – this WON’T be a smooth ride . . .

BUY NOW – Girl on a Plane is now available from major e-book retailers

Enter to win the Book Boyfriend Blog Hop GRAND PRIZE

Vote for GABRIEL ANDERSON as your book boyfriend – email traciebanister@gmail.com

Hop to all the stops, collect the candidate’s name at each stop, then submit all 30 names to that same address in order to be entered in our Grand Prize giveaway. This giveaway includes a Kindle Paperwhite + 30 e-books, one from each of the authors participating in the hop. My book, Girl on a Plane, is one of the prizes on offer!

Entries for the hop will be accepted until Sunday 21 May, midnight E.D.T. in the United States. A winner will be chosen on Monday 22 May. This Grand Prize giveaway is open internationally.

Visit all the authors in the Book Boyfriends Hop…

Continue reading→

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.

Best New Author nomination in AusRomToday Awards!

Best New Author nomination – Vote for me in the AusRomToday Reader’s Choice awards now

Earlier this week I was excited to learn that I’ve been nominated in the Best New Author category of the AusRomToday Reader’s Choice Awards, celebrating excellence in Australian romance fiction.

This is such exciting news I could barely breathe when I saw the email come through…actually, I’ve had a bad headcold so I could hardly breathe anyway, but that’s not the point! It’s such an honour to be nominated alongside a bunch of super talented authors who I admire.

What an amazing year 2016 has been for me so far. I’ve gone from publishing one short story last year to winning the We Heart New Talent contest and having my first romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane, published by the wonderful team at Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. And I’ve seen that book fly high in the Amazon and iBooks charts.

I also quit my day job in corporate communications in June to focus on my writing. That was something of a leap of faith, and so far it’s been a good decision (although I’m not raking in the millions yet, and Hollywood hasn’t come knocking to buy any movie rights…come on Hollywood!) as it’s allowed me time to write and focus on promoting my book properly.

Now, with a nomination for a major national award, I’m almost dumbfounded at how much can happen in a year. It makes me wonder what 2017 will bring!

Hopefully, I’ll soon finish editing my next romantic comedy novel, then I’m working on another manuscript that’s at around 30K words. And there’s another anthology of short stories coming soon from my writing group, the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild, which I’m pleased to be a part of again.

Action stations everyone – 2017 looks set to be huge! I’d better buy some more champagne…

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!

Ain’t Love Grand – Romance Australia 2016 conference highlights

For the last four days, I was lucky enough to attend the Romance Australia 2016 conference, Ain’t Love Grand. It was my third conference and probably the most fun!

Below is a Storify wrap-up of my Twitter feed from the weekend, filled with notable quotes, and as someone else told me, lots of impressive cleavage! My writing group pals in the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild (MRWG) were all brilliant as usual, and also looking particularly fabulous…

View the story “Rocking the Romance Writers of Australia 2016 conference #RWAus16” on Storify

Super-dooper highlights

On Friday, the Michael Hague Story Mastery workshop was gold, right from the start. Michael is a Hollywood screenwriting consultant, having worked with the likes of Will Smith on finessing a script. His focus on romantic comedies was right up my alley, and I think I’ll gain a lot of inspiration from that session into the future.

Friday night was the cabaret-themed cocktail party. It was a hoot, and of course it was special to me, as I received my First Sale ribbon, acknowledging that 2016 was the year my first novel was published. My debut novel, Girl on a Plane, was only released about a month ago by Avon Maze/HarperCollins UK, so it’s still exciting and new to be an official author. I found time to chat with other authors and fangirl like a boss!

The morning after the night before was all a bit hard…but once I found real coffee and got going, I enjoyed some fab workshops and also brainstormed some new story ideas with some friends.

Then Saturday night was the big gala awards dinner in the Stamford Grand ballroom. I still can’t quite express how excited I was for my writing group friends who were up for big awards. Samara Parish and Jess Devine were Highly Commended in the Valerie Parv Award, and Chris Weston from the MRWG won! Also Stefanie London was Skyping from Canada, watching the announcement of the short, sexy romance category in which she was a finalist. Well done to all!

The biggest news from the awards was the WIN by MRWG’s own Michelle Somers, in the RuBY Award (Romantic Book of the Year) for her romantic suspense novel, Lethal In Love. Our table erupted into hooting and hollering, even from the ladies phoning it in via Skype. Super-dooper mega congratulations Michelle!

Later we danced the night away, busting out some 80s moves and even a shimmy-shake like my own flight attendant heroine, Sinead. This was on special request from Vanessa Carnevale, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it, because I’m such a shrinking violet on the dance floor… 😉

Sunday was more relaxed, but I have to mention the fantasticly funny and inspirational keynote speech from Fiona McIntosh. She challenged us all to work hard, write like it’s a job (it is), bum in seat and come and get her on the bestseller lists. It’s on!

Now the Ain’t Love Grand conference is over, I feel inspired to finish my manuscript (dubbed the Neverending Story) and get onto something new and fresh. Happy writing everyone!

Blog tour excitement as Girl on a Plane takes flight

A blog tour…what is that, you may ask? Well, it’s like a whistle-stop tour of other people’s blogs, popping in to say ‘hi’ and telling them about yourself and your book. I’ve already been doing a bit of blog-hopping and you can find some of my recent guest posts on my links page.

Blog tour August 2016

Now I’m super excited to share the news that my fabulous publisher, Avon Maze/HarperCollins UK had organised a blog tour for my debut novel, Girl on a Plane.

Some high-profile UK book bloggers are having me as a guest on their sites this week, chatting about writing, creativity, story setting, the inspiration behind my book and more.

The tour schedule so far is:

10 August – This Chick Reads

Excerpt – New day, new blog tour! Today I have the pleasure to kick off Cassandra O’Leary’s blog tour for her debut, GIRL ON A PLANE. It was published last month and is described as a sassy and sexy read perfect for fans of rom com. Of course, this includes me and I will be reviewing it soon, so stay tuned for that. In the mean time, I’d like to welcome lovely Cassandra to This Chick Reads and thank her for the amazing blog post…

11 August – Book-Central Book Shelf

Excerpt – Interview with Cassandra O’Leary, author of Girl on a Plane. So, what have you written?
So far, I’ve written two complete novels and several partials (in the ‘ideas file’) and a few short stories…

12 August – Is This Real Life?

Excerpt – What it’s like to be an author. I know a lot of you who read my blog love books as much as I do and one of the things I love to read is the sort of ‘behind the scences’ of some of my favourite books…

13 August – On My Bookshelf

Excerpt – Hi guys, and happy Saturday! And welcome to the “short and sweet” blog tour for Cassandra O’Leary’s new novel – is it a bird? Is it a plane? – it’s “Girl on a Plane”! Just sit back and join me on board… and check all the other plane… I mean, blog tour, stops!

More news

I also hope to pop-in to see a couple more bloggers later in August…details to be confirmed.

You can also follow me on Twitter and on my Facebook author page to keep up to date with my latest news and guest posts or just say hello and I’m sure to have a chat. I really enjoy procrastinating…I mean, socialising on social media.

And don’t forget to join my newsletter mailing list to keep up to date with my writing and other happenings. Just fill-in the sign-up form on this website!

Hint: I’m planning a special giveaway coming up soon, so don’t forget to subscribe.

More news soon!

Day 3 – Cassandra O’Leary

Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella

Blurb

Giveaways

Visit the Blog Blitz stops

25 November

26 November

27 November

Heart Note – blurb

Details

Blurb

Meet Gabriel Anderson from Girl on a Plane

About Girl on a Plane

Enter to win the Book Boyfriend Blog Hop GRAND PRIZE