Black Love Day Celebration

  February is a strange little month. Accent on the word little. Twenty-eight days, except when it’s twenty-nine, and either way it remains the shortest of the twelve. Yet those few days are choc full of special days. In addition to being Black History Month, February also contains the birthdays for both Presidents Lincoln and Washington, Groundhog day is one of my a personal favorites even when the little critter hands out bad news. There is Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday, and surely everyone knows and loves Valentine's Day as an excuse for hearts, flowers and chocolates.

 

There is one additional holiday that is growing in popularity. Black Love Day was created in 1993 by Ayo Handy-Kendi, the founder of the African American Holiday Association. Black Love Day is an African-American “wholyday” in the tradition of Juneteenth and Kwanza. The holiday was created to demonstrate love, forgiveness, and acceptance. 

While February 13 is not a federal holiday, it is a deeply meaningful celebration rooted in the Black community based on 5 Tenets (specific acts) of love - 

love for the Creator, 

love of self, 

love of family, 

love for the black community, 

and love for each other.

This is the perfect time of year to show the love by reading a Black romance or watching a Black rom-com.  Let me offer up two of my favorites. 

What a Match is a delightful book by Mimi Grace.  Gwen Gilmore is newly single and out to find the perfect man with a list of what she wants and the assistance of a matchmaker. Anthony Woods has a long-standing crush on his best friend's sister, made worse when circumstances force him to crash in her apartment. She thinks he's grumpy, and way outside her dating list. He thinks she's perfect. Will she stick with the matchmaker's plans for her, or or take a second look at the Mr. Right who is right under her nose? 

Love Jones is one of the best Rom Coms ever to hit a screen, and perfect for celebrating Black Love Day. In this classic, Nina Mosley, a photographer, and Darius Lovehall an aspiring writer,fight their romantic addiction to each other. But, fear not, they are a perfect couple and end up together at the end.

A Holiday Romance Anthology to gift yourself and the romance reader on our Shopping list! By Peggy Jaeger

 I love holiday Romance books. RomComs, fairytales come true, secret babies...I don't care what the trope is as long as the story takes place at Christmas-time.

This year I was honored to be included in a brand new Holiday Romance Anthology called CHRISTMAS COMES TO DICKENS. 10 Bestselling and Award winning authors, all with a small town romance centered around the fictional New England town of Dickens ( Yes, think Charles!) and taking place in the weeks just before the holiday rings in.

 Dickens is a quaint New England town bustling with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming Christmas holiday. From the annual tree lighting in the town square, a snowman building competition, ice skating on Grosvenor’s Pond, and horse-drawn sleigh rides, you can take advantage of all the festivities. You’re even welcome to cut down your own Christmas tree at Gridley Meadows, or join in the caroling on the Common.

Dickens offers an abundance of heartfelt wishes and a few much needed miracles. Families reunite, new friends are made, and old flames take a second chance at happiness. All while celebrating this most joyful time of the year.

Included in the Anthology are the following stories:

Millie’s Awesome Holiday Miracle by Top 100 Author Nancy Fraser ~ She’s an overworked single mom struggling to make ends meet. He’s the handsome CEO who’s come to Dickens to save—or close—the toy factory. Can one precocious little girl bring a couple of much-needed miracles to the people she cares about most?

Miracle At Holly Hill Inn by Top 100 Author Maddie James ~ Ariana is looking for the perfect Christmas village. Instead, she finds the town Scrooge. Will two days snowbound together at Holly Hill Inn bring them closer together, or send them each on their merry way?

Holiday Hearts by Top 100 Author Caroline Clemmons ~ Laura Jordan’s beauty and sense of humor are more apparent than her sharp mind, soft heart, and strict code of right and wrong. Ward Callahan has avoided romantic complications to throw himself into building his ad agency. Once he meets Laura, he falls hard but must convince her that dating her boss is not inappropriate. Can he convince her he doesn’t want her heart only for the holidays, but forever?

The Tinsel Tango by Best Selling Author Bonnie Edwards ~ Brenna needs some R&R over Christmas in Dickens. Tango lessons from mysterious Jett…Smith? may bring her everything her heart desires, but his secrets may kill the love they find.

Wisdom of the Heart by USA Today Best Selling Author Liz Flaherty ~ They were best friends who fell in love, but that was high school. Life and families and other loves had happened since that dear and distant time. They're friends again, comfortable with each other and having so much fun at Christmas time in Dickens. They're not still in love, but...wait...could it be happening again?

Operation Snowball by Best Selling Author Kathryn Hills ~ Returning to small town life is hard for Army veteran John Gridley. The last thing he expects to find is love with the beautiful widow, Heather Murphy. Can the perfect Christmas tree and a missing cat named Snowball bring them together despite meddling townsfolk?

Angel Kisses and Holiday Wishes by Best Selling Author Peggy Jaeger  (That's me, hee hee!)

 ~ When Sage left town 18 years ago, she left Keith's heart in tatters. Now she's back, and he's wondering if they can put the past behind them and rekindle the love they lost.

Holly’s Wish by Top 100 Author Kathleen Lawless ~ What if the girl who got away is actually standing right in front of you? Years earlier, Nico and Holly shared one magical Christmas Eve. She never stopped wishing he’d find where she left her number.
When he does, is it too late?

Holiday Heart Wishes by Award Winning Author Lucinda Race ~ On her way into Dickens to visit family, Vera picks up Tony, a stranded motorist. Rather than part ways when they arrive, they discover their loved ones are intent on getting married. Can they slow down the older couple's rush to the altar? Or, will holiday heart wishes come true for everyone?

Santa’s Wish by Best Selling Author Jan Scarbrough ~ Will Christmas magic help them overcome Roz’s career ambitions and Cooper’s grief, and bring them together for a second chance at love?

The authors have even complied a Cookie Recipe Companion for the book featuring 20 cookie recipes for your holiday baking this year. CHRISTMAS COMES TO DICKENS lists for only 99cents and the Cookie Companion is the authors' gift to you for free!

If you need to buy an ebook as a gift for someone on your list this year, I really recommend gifting them this one. Hours of reading pleasure filled with second chance romance, reunited lovers, and HEA's to fill anyone's holiday fix. Forget Hallmark, Netflix, and Lifetime movies - they are all basically the same plot with different actors! The book is always better than the movie, anyway, hee hee.

En joy, and happy reading!
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A Holiday Rom Com about family, food, and finding a dead body in the freezer

 I know...not the way you were expecting that title to go, right? Hee Hee

I love a good Holiday romance book. I'd much rather read than watch the never ending holiday movies on Hallmark, and now Lifetime and Netflix. Those are all pretty generic and look and sound the same to me. I much prefer losing myself in a good holiday romcom or a women's fiction story about the holidays and family.

So, because I love to read Holiday RomComs so much, I tend to pen a new one every year or so. Scheduling and contracts prevent me from doing one a year - which is what I'd love to do. This year's entry, MISTLETOE, MOBSTERS, & MOZZARELLA,  is another San Valentino family Christmas story concerning the Gracie and Louie branch of the family tree. These two lovebirds have been together over 40 years, have weathered medical and financial crises together and still look at one another as if the other hung the moon.

Don't you just love that?? I know I do.

They have 6 kids - 5 obnoxious boys and 1 daughter, the eldest child, Madonna. Donna, as everyone calls her, is her father's rock in so many ways. She manages the deli he owns, she's a calming influence for her mother's sometimes crazy behavior, and she practically raised all her younger brothers.

Donna has dreams and aspirations that, unfortunately, don't fit into her family's needs or desires. But a girl can dream...and dream Donna does.

One morning a few weeks before Christmas, she opens the store for the day and finds the dead body of one the employees stored in the freezer. This starts a string of events, not the least of which is the arrival on the scene of the one guy Donna has never been able to get out of her mind. Tony Roma is the investigating detective in the murder case and the moment she sees him she's transported back to the time they were teenagers.

Tony is assigned to work undercover in the deli to ferret out the killer and Madonna is quickly losing her mind - and heart. The story evolves into a tale about forgiveness, moving forward, and clinging to family when you need them the most, but breaking free to be your own person.

Now, some of that may sound like a heavy read, but believe me - MISTLETOE, MOBSTERS, & MOZZARELLA is anything but heavy!!! 

I released the book in October because I wanted to get a jump on holiday sales - and reading. There's nothing better than opening your ereader after a day of working or frantic holiday shopping, making a cup of tea, and taking a break for an hour to lose yourself in a witty, charming and satisfying book.

I've got another post on 11/27 about Holiday romance books I like to recommend ( not, necessarily my own, Heehee) so check back then and see what I'm reading this year.

Toodles for now and happy reading - Holiday and otherwise.

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Creative life and mojo at 40 plus

By Cassandra O'Leary

Author's Note: I first wrote this blog in 2016 when my debut novel was released. Now I have a few more draft books under my belt, but I'm still working on juggling work/life/health and getting more work completed. The current quarantine and home school situation just makes everything more complicated!

Creative life and mojo at 40 plus by Cassandra O’Leary

Have you found your creative mojo? I got back into creative writing about three years ago, and the impetus for me was the looming Big 4-0 deadline. I don’t know what it is about a significant birthday to light a fire under my butt, but it worked. I wanted to try writing a novel. A romance novel, since I had an idea revolving around relationships.

I did it, and I’ve kept writing and have already found some success. But you know what? I did it with very little support from people around me, apart from my fabulous husband.

As a woman ‘of a certain age’ i.e. forty one and three quarters, I loathe the assumptions that go with being a woman at this stage of life, let alone one who wants to tackle a creative project or a career change.

Here’s a few crazy assumptions, just for starters:

- If you’re over about 30, you can’t start a brand new career because you’re probably ‘past it’.

- If you’re a woman, you’ll only be worried about ‘settling down’ and being married/having babies/buying shoes/raising cats/collecting kitchen accessories.

- If you’re interested in writing, you’ll only want to write (or read) ‘mummy blogs’ or ‘mummy porn’* (insert dismissive comment and raised eyebrows here).

- If you like to read, you’re probably 'only' reading romance novels, which as everyone knows are problematic or sexist or unrealistic or… (insert unfair assumption here).

- If you are a mum, a wife, and a part-time worker, a woman who enjoys fashion, or cooking, or wine, whatever, you can’t be anything else.

That’s it, done and dusted, get back in your box, woman. As Alicia Silverstone would say in the movie Clueless, “As if!”.

As someone who decided at the age of thirty eight to tackle creative writing in a serious way, and who has gone at it with the tenacity of a multitasking mummy-ninja, I can tell you all of the above are such clichés they’re not even funny.

I believe I can achieve things. I’ve already had three distinct ‘careers’ and will probably have a couple more. I work hard and I’m always interested in learning something new. I am ‘settled’, married with kids, living a suburban life, but that’s not all I am. I like to read everything — news, think pieces, literary fiction, romance, science fiction, blogs, non-fiction. I enjoy reading light-hearted and romantic books, for entertainment.

I can be lots of things, and I will be, probably all at once. I’ve always believed, strangely enough, that I am a person. I am me. I’m good at writing, I love reading and thinking of creative ideas. Always have done, probably always will do. My age and my gender have nothing to do with it. It’s other people who have weird, narrow-minded opinions.

Just do it – time waits for no woman

Sure, I’m busy. Sure, I have young children. Sure, there’s never enough hours in the day to do all the things I need to do, let alone the things I want to do. But that’s life. It rushes by at supersonic speed while you’re busy doing the washing or cleaning the kitchen, until all of a sudden it’s getting hard to remember the things you always wanted to do, but never found time for.

The good news is those things you never had time for are still there in your head. At least the potential things are. I realised that nobody has time, that you have to make time to write if it’s important to you. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather look back and think that I’m proud to have worked hard and written a book, rather than spent all of that time vacuuming the rug.

All I needed to do was block out the negative voices and get started. For me, that internal decision was all it took. It was time. Time to start, time to get going, time to write.

If you’re thinking about writing — perhaps characters have whole conversations in your head over your morning coffee, or you overhear conversations in a cafe and you have to jot them down in a notebook, or you keep a journal — my advice is, just start.

Write something. Anything. Maybe it will be a poem, or a short story, or a romance novel. Maybe you’ll dive straight into the madness of writing a novel in a month during NaNoWriMo or enter a writing contest like I did. Whatever you write, you’ll have something that never existed before in the world. Your work, your thoughts.

Here’s the thing about starting — it’s exciting. It opens up your mind to possibilities you may not have considered before. You may find that you have a whole pile of ideas waiting, based on your life experiences and the stories of people around you. There are benefits to having a few years under your belt!

Creative work can keep you sane

An unexpected by-product of getting creative, for me, is staying sane in an increasingly crazy world. Connecting to inner thoughts and writing them down, taking quiet time-out to read away from television and other distractions or simply taking a walk and letting your mind unwind can all be helpful for your creativity. They can also help reduce stress and keep you mentally well.

As a mother of two young children, I’ve found this surprising and most welcome. Carving time out for myself and my creative work has made me calmer, more mentally present and aware. And my kids love giving me crazy story ideas! I still need to write that book about an undercover, secret brick…

Define your own success

Success doesn’t have to be defined by bestseller status or winning writing awards. Although if some awards were thrown in my general direction, I’d probably reach out and try to catch them.

But success can be defined in many ways, such as finishing a first draft of a book or a new piece of art. That’s something a lot of people will never achieve. Or the goal could be to get that book polished and submit it to a publisher. Maybe it could simply be showing a short story to some readers and having them enjoy your work.

And you never know what might happen. One day, someone might read your work (or see your art, whatever medium you work in) and absolutely love it. Seriously, it could happen.

Here I am, having written (almost) three novels and a few shorter works, taking a leap and jumping in head first to the world of book publishing and being an author. Wish me luck!

P.S. My kids didn’t starve and my husband didn’t leave me. But thanks for all the unsolicited comments and predictions of doom, naysayers and busybodies! #sarcasm

*P.P.S. I hate the term ‘mummy porn’ and believe it was invented by male book reviewers to belittle women writers who dare to write about sexual content…use that term in my presence at your peril!

ABOUT CASSANDRA O’LEARY

Cassandra O'Leary is a romance and romcom author, recovering corporate wordsmith and TV and film fangirl. She was the winner of the We Heart New Talent contest run by HarperCollins UK and her debut contemporary romance/romantic comedy novel, Girl on a Plane, released in 2016. She's also indie published shorter works including Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella and Chocolate Truffle Kiss: A romcom novelette (now in Kindle Unlimited).  

Cassandra is a mother of two gorgeous, high-energy mini ninjas and wife to a spunky superhero. Living in Melbourne, Australia, she’s also travelled the world. If you want to send her to Italy or Spain on any food or wine tasting ‘research’ trips, that would be splendiferous.

Proud member of Romance Writers of Australia and the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild.

Read more at cassandraolearyauthor.com

Top Three Things I've Learned from Writing RomCom by Melia Alexander

I love writing romantic comedy, especially those laugh-out-loud moments in a book that remind me how special this genre is. But in writing romcom, I’ve learned a few things about life, too. Patience, for one. Well, okay, that’s an on-going lesson. LOL. But read on for the top three things I’ve learned from writing romantic comedy.

Lesson #1 A sense of humor takes the edge off life. Let’s face it, life’s intense enough, especially when your day’s jam-packed with fun stuff like laundry, scooping up dog poop, and finding a kid’s lost shoe so you can get him to school on time. (Fortunately, I’ve not had to do two of those three things!)

If you’re not careful, stuff like that can get to you—so much so that you’d be willing to trade a kid for an hour of peace and quiet. But learning to take a deep breath, chill, and LAUGH at the absurdity of life can make your day flow better. Go ahead, give it a try!

 

Lesson #2 Life’s all about perspective. Ah, that age-old question: potayto or potahto? Tomayto or tomahto? Which is the correct pronunciation? I say both!

Two people can look at the same scenario and walk away with completely different views on the subject. As can two romcom characters. That doesn’t necessarily mean one side is right and the other wrong—in fact, I dare say that both sides have ideas worth exploring. And if you’re lucky, you might learn a thing or two that will help you grow your perspective!

Lesson #3 Romantic love is a worthy option, not a goal. This is perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned from writing romcoms.

Both the hero and heroine are fine on their own—independent, doing their own laundry, cooking, and cleaning. Both can finance their own lives. Neither needs to be saved. I mean, the fact that the hero and heroine end up together by the end of the story means that each ENHANCES the other’s life, not that they MUST be together. At least, that makes sense to me!

So, there you have it. My top three take-aways from writing romantic comedies. Have you learned a lesson or two from your romance genre of choice? Please share!

SEDUCED BY THE SOLDIER

Zandra York just got her big break, photographing a major project for a travel magazine. So what if she’s never traveled out of the country before? Or that she’s more adept at deciphering fraudulent financial statements than reading German train schedules? Her brother Jackson is on his way to act as her guide, and she can’t wait to experience Europe with him. But when Jackson’s overprotective best friend gets off the plane instead, Zandra knows this will not end well.

There isn't a damned thing Special Forces instructor Blake Monroe wouldn't do for his best friend, but babysit Zandra when Jackson is unexpectedly called away on a mission? Nope. Not on the list. Especially not when she proves to be more trouble than he can handle—and far too tempting.

Between accidentally hiring a hearse as their rideshare, an unprovoked goat attack, and photographing erotic-shaped chocolates, Blake and Zandra can’t keep their hands off each other. But Zandra’s new career is about to send her all over the world and Blake is finally ready to settle down after his next deployment.

He’ll never ask her to give up her dreams. And she’ll never ask him to give up his.

Love sassy, sexy, fun romcoms? Pick up your copy of SEDUCED BY THE SOLDIER at one of the following e-tailers now!

Amazon à https://amzn.to/2PyjZaj

Barnes and Noble à http://bit.ly/2No3efn

Google Books à http://bit.ly/2O2tcFt

Apple Books à https://apple.co/38HMysl

Melia Alexander is the author of sassy, sexy, fun contemporary romances, but is also fortunate to spend her week days at The Male Observation Lab (a.k.a. her job at a construction company) where she gets to observe guys in their natural habitat. Though they often behave like typical alpha males, she's often seen through their personas to the heart of who they really are - the heroes of their own stories. A native of Guam, Melia traded in warm, tropical breezes for the rainy Pacific Northwest. She's an avid reader who also loves romantic comedies - preferably with a glass of Cab Sauv and a box of dark chocolates nearby. In her free time, she's busy conquering her CrossFit fears: ring dips, power cleans, and the dreaded 800-meter run.

You can stalk her at the following (go ahead, she loves it!):

Website:

Https://www.meliaalexander.com

Newsletter:

          http://bit.ly/2DQYp7L

Facebook:

          https://www.facebook.com/meliaalexanderauthor

Twitter:

          https://twitter.com/meliaalexander1

Instagram:

          https://www.instagram.com/melia.alexander

Goodreads:

          http://bit.ly/2PxIuoa 

USA Today bestselling rom-com author Tawna Fenske invites you to laugh at her

A few years ago, I toured a fancy hotel with colleagues from my day job in tourism marketing. Maybe 30 of us filed into a luxury suite, eager to hear about the high-end linens and room service offerings.

I made a beeline for the bed, gripped the edge of the headboard, and gave it a discreet shake.

I thought it was discreet.

At the rhythmic “thud thud thud,” all eyes swiveled to me.

“Uh, isn’t that the first thing you do when you check into a hotel room?” I asked feebly. “Make sure the headboard doesn’t bang the wall?”

Apparently not.

My colleagues love reminding me of this incident, as well as the time I attended a formal luncheon where I spit gristle into my napkin, accidentally dropped it into the purse of the woman seated beside me, and got busted trying to retrieve it.

Or the time I arrived at a black-tie charity event and jokingly asked to be seated on a famous actor’s lap—only to learn I was talking to his niece.

You get the idea.

I’m not sure if I’m a magnet for absurdity, or if I bring it on myself. Probably the latter, but let’s not judge.

The end result is that when readers ask me, “Why do you write romantic comedy?” I can point to these examples and say, “Have you seen my life?”

In other words—quite literally—I live to amuse you.

Er, you’re welcome?

***

Tawna Fenske is a RITA Award finalist, USA Today bestselling author of sexy romantic comedies. Her new release, Snowbound Squeeze, is a standalone novella that’s part of her popular Ponderosa Resort series. Tawna lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband, step-kids, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets.

Learn more about Tawna  http://www.tawnafenske.com 

Steamy Christmas in Australia

By Cassandra O'Leary

Potpourri Post

This month the Genre-istas are re-posting a mixed bag of popular posts from the past. So here's my Christmas post from last year. 

Author's note: today is almost 100 degrees F and we're inside playing on the new X Box and also Harry Potter Scrabble. We hope to visit the beach when it's not so hot!

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…

Well, one day I might see a white Christmas if I travel to the other side of the planet during the holiday season. But as an Aussie, my experience of Christmas is quite different to many of my American and European friends and readers.

I’ve been thinking about Christmas in Australia lately, since I’ve just written and released a Christmas-themed novella set in my home city of Melbourne, Australia. There’s shopping and mayhem, plus a little romance. Also, steamy weather changing from thunderstorms with lightning to hot sunny days over 35 degrees C (95 degrees F), maximum strength sunscreen and hat required. This is Christmas to me!

As I write, we’re experiencing a spring heatwave with temperatures over 30 degrees C already. I can tell you I don’t feel like doing any Christmas shopping. Or writing. I must admit my brain turns to mush in the heat, so it's just as well the holidays are coming.

Christmas as an Aussie kid

Leading up to Christmas, we often made our own paper chains and Advent calendars at school and then decorated our lounge room with them. My favourite decoration was the pretty angel doll that went on the top of the tree. It was always exciting to decorate our Christmas tree in December. When I was younger we had a massive pine tree in our backyard, so Mum and Dad would cut off a good sized branch to be our tree. The whole house would be filled with the scent of fresh pine.

Our family usually went to Catholic Mass on Christmas Eve. I’ll admit it wasn’t much fun – too hot, too crowded and too many hymns and long-winded readings were boring to a child. But some years we went to the children’s service when kids would dress up as Bible characters like shepherds and angels, and that was fun.

As a kid, we’d often have a barbeque lunch for Christmas dinner or Boxing Day, when we’d see a few more members of our extended family. Lots of sausages (snags) in bread, hamburgers and salads, seafood platters and cold ham.

My favourite Christmas desserts were always Pavlova (fruit and cream-topped meringue dessert) and cheesecake, maybe ice-cream too. I never did care for hot Christmas pudding or fruit cake.

Despite being from England, my mother doesn’t like the traditional English hot dinner in the Australian heat. I don’t blame her – I wouldn’t want to cook roast beef and Yorkshire pudding in stifling hot weather with no air-conditioning either. My cousins and I would sometimes play a backyard cricket match after lunch. None of us were very good players but it was still fun.

Later, after Christmas dinner, we’d relax and eat leftovers, play with our new toys and then go to the beach over the next few days. I loved when we’d go to our family holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula, a gorgeous spot close to the ocean beach. Since it was also school holidays, we’d sometimes stay there for a week or two.

Christmas Eve – making our own traditions

As an adult, my boyfriend (now husband) and I started our own tradition of hosting Christmas Eve parties at home. We have lots of food and wine, catch up with old friends and family and the kids run around outside until late. The Christmas Carols in the Domain (a Melbourne live concert) is usually playing on TV. We do a Kris Kringle exchange of presents for all the kids. Last year we gave everyone water pistols, so they all got soaked but it was hot weather and good fun.

My two little boys love laying out their Christmas pillowcases ready for Santa Claus to come after our party winds down. We also leave out a few snacks for Santa and his reindeer near our Christmas tree. We’ve found Santa likes red wine and chocolate cake, while Rudolph prefers a carrot.

Last year my boys received BMX style bikes (still with training wheels at the time). This year it might be skateboards as well as Lego and other fun bigger kid things. Exciting! I'm sure we'll be riding and skating at the local park on Christmas day.

Getting ready for summer holidays

The kids will be on summer holidays for six long weeks from the end of December, so it will probably mean a slow-down in my writing. It will probably also be hideously hot and sticky, so I’m hoping to take off to the beach somewhere for a while.

I won’t be travelling anywhere white or snowy this year, but I’ll watch a couple of Northern Hemisphere Christmas movies and live vicariously through them…while I sip white wine or eat gelati by a beach somewhere!

What are your Christmas traditions and favourite holiday treats? I'd love to hear from you all.

Christmas novella - Heart Note

My holiday release is titled Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella. It's out now at all major ebook retail sites and already has some wonderful reviews. The story is about Lily, a perfume counter manager at a major Australian department store. In the lead-up to Christmas, it's all about gift sets, keeping the grumpy customers happy and maybe...finding romance and catching some criminals!

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?

Heart Note is on sale for a few more days! Only 99 cents at Amazon or free in Kindle Unlimited. 

Buy links 

Amazon US - https://amzn.to/2LCfwj4
Universal link - mybook.to/HeartNote

About Cassandra O'Leary

Winner of the global We Heart New Talent contest. Nominated for Best New Author in the 2016 AusRomToday Reader's Choice Awards for excellence in Australian romance fiction. 

Cassandra O'Leary is a romance and women's fiction author from Melbourne, Australia. You'll find her drinking coffee, dreaming of Italy and Spain, and raising two mini ninjas with her superhero husband. 

Cassandra loves romantic comedies and is having fun writing her own romcom books. Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella, was released in November 2017. Her debut novel, Girl on a Plane, was released in July 2016. It was also translated into Czech!

In 2015, Cassandra won the global We Heart New Talent contest run by Avon Books/HarperCollins UK. She was also a 2015 finalist in the Lone Star contest, Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America, and a 2014 finalist, First Kiss contest, Romance Writers of Australia. 

Read more or sign-up for Cassandra's newsletter at cassandraolearyauthor.comcassandraolearyauthor.com