• Blog

    Release Week for Any Way You Like It – releasing a book never gets old

    4/17/2018

    Upper Crust Series Floral Banner - Original Covers
    Happy Release Week to me
    This week sees the release of Any Way You Like It the final book in the Upper Crust Series.

    I worked out yesterday that I’d been working on the series since 2014, that’s quite a long time to spend writing a series you never planned to write. I’m pleased to say that I’ve enjoyed writing each and every one of these stories. There is definitely a bittersweet quality to finishing up but I think that it’s time.

    Dave has popped up in most of the books since Any Way You Dream It so it’s fitting that his story helps us close it out.

    If you want a shot at winning some cool unicorn merchandise as unicorns feature in the novel just a bit you should stop by my Facebook page an enter my release week competition.

    It’s important to celebrate a new release and I know lots of my readers have fallen in love with the characters in the Upper Crust Series almost as much as I have, Thank you to those of you who have kept me company on this fun journey.
    Unicorn Box

    Any Way You Like It - Upper Crust Series - Monique McDonell - Original CoverAny Way You Like It, An Upper Crust Novel

    The first time Dave saw Tasha again he thought he’d imagined her, the second time he wished he had. Years ago she’d broken his heart and never looked back, leaving him stuck in his hometown because of a long held promise to his late sister.

    Tasha was back because she needed a place to hide. It was no coincidence she’d picked the only place she’d ever been happy. She hadn’t expected Dave would to be happy to see her, or that he’d still be single. She was wrong on both counts. Still when she needed a safe place to stay and when he offered her one and she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

    The town Dave was itching to escape seemed idyllic to Tasha but she hadn’t wanted to belong before – could she convince him that this time everything was different?

    Will their past be a foundation for a new beginning or the very thing that keeps them apart?

    If you’ve ever wanted a second chance at first love Any Way You Like It is for you. Buy it here today.

  • Blog

    Release time for Any Way You Fight It

    10/14/2015

    Any Way You Fight It - Upper Crust Series - Monique McDonell - Original Cover
    Available on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016LLTVJ2
    Finally it is release day for my latest novel in the Upper Crust Series – Any Way You Fight It.
    I’m so excited that this book is finally out there and available for readers. I really enjoyed writing this novel and I love the character of Cherie who was so supportive of her friends in Any Way You Slice It and Any Way You Dream It.
    This is a story about second chances and letting yourself take them. I hope you take a chance on this novel.

    It is available here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016LLTVJ2
    And to celebrate the release Any Way You Dream It is only 99cents so grab a copy while you’re at it.

    Any Way You Fight It – Blurb
    Matchmaking came easily for Cherie . . . unless she was matching herself. A successful realtor, Cherie could sell a piece of property with ease, she could match up her friends with their perfect mates, but she couldn’t seem to find love for herself. Heck, even her seventy-five-year-old Nona was dating again! Cherie had the perfect love once, or so she had thought. But that was a long time ago, and yet, Luke was the standard by which she measured all potential mates.
    After matching her two best friends and watching them live their happily ever afters, Cherie decides it’s time to make a change and get back in the game. Now all she needs to do is balance what she wants (a Luke-alike) with the demands of her crazy Italian family (a good, Catholic Italian boy).
    Just when she is ready to shake off her past and move forward, her past walks through the door of her favorite local pub with her best friends. Luke is back, looks better than ever, and still has eyes for Cherie. And Cherie can’t control the heat she still has for him. But as with most long-lost loves, he has a past as well, and that past just might prevent Cherie from finding her happiness despite what her Nona’s visions predict.
    Can Cherie and Luke make peace with their pasts and look forward to a new life together? Or will this be the final good-bye?

    Extract from Any Way You Fight It
    “Right—I’m going to give you the abridged version.”
    “I’ll take whatever you offer,” she said.
    “Well, when I was eighteen I had a romance, I suppose you’d call it.”
    “Yeah if this was eighteenth-century England.”
    “Whatever,” I sighed. “And it was a secret. He knew, I knew, and one friend.”
    “No family?”
    “Nope, he wasn’t Italian, and I just didn’t want them stalking me and ruining everything.”
    “Makes sense. I never had that kind of family. I could have dated an axe murderer and my mom would have been happy I had a man, but I can see your situation was different.”
    “Yeah, so we had this lovely summer fling. And then he dumped me.”
    “Ouch.”
    “Yeah, and he just left and didn’t say good-bye.”
    “That’s low.”
    “Yeah, it was. And it hurt and probably more so because no one knew so I had to act all normal and I couldn’t discuss it with anyone.”
    “So, you’ve never talked about it?” Her eyes popped wide.
    “I never have.” I took a fortifying sip of beer. “The thing is I date, I flirt, but I haven’t really met anyone who made me feel like that guy did.”
    “Wow. That’s a long time between boyfriends.”
    “Yeah, I went out with a couple of nice guys in college, one for almost a year, but that spark or whatever wasn’t there. And because of my parents’ whole ‘you can’t end up with someone who isn’t Italian’ attitude and because I haven’t met any Italian guys who lit that flame . . .”
    “You’ve stayed single . . .”
    “Exactly.” I sighed.
    “But now you’re ready to move forward, why is that? I mean I know that was big for you to tell me, but you didn’t tell me anything Piper couldn’t have handled.”
    “There’s more . . .”
    “Oh goody!” She clapped her hands.
    “Calm down, Glinda the Good Witch. This is hard for me.”
    “Sorry, but what’s changed? Is it because Piper and I have found someone?”
    “I think partly, but a couple other triggers have hit as well.”
    “I think we need fries for this part?” she asked, waving down the waiter. “Okay continue.”
    “First, although it didn’t happen first, my mother has waived the Italian rule. Apparently having a single thirty-year-old daughter who isn’t producing offspring means she has to compromise, so I’m allowed to date non-Italians now.”
    “That’s pretty huge for her.”
    “Yeah and for me. The thing is part of me is really resentful about it. I’m happy but I’m also thinking—now, why now? Why not ten years ago, five? All these years . . .”
    “That makes sense.” The fries landed and we each took one and blew it. We had years of experience and neither of us was stupid enough to burn our tongues now. I squirted ketchup in the corner of the basket. We liked to dunk or scrape our fries through not smother them. “On the other hand, better now than never.”
    “I know.”
    “So that’s good news for moving forward.” She snapped her fry and popped half in her mouth. “So, what was the other thing?”
    “I saw him again.”
    “Him? The guy from way back when?”
    I nodded. “The guy.”
    “Wow. Where? When? Who?”
    “Here. Last week. Luke.”

    “Holy shit, Cherie. Luke?” Lucy’s eyes were bugging out of their sockets.
    “Yep, holy shit.”
    “You dated Luke? He dumped you and then he walked in to this very bar years later?”
    “Yes.”
    “And we made you guys hang?”
    “Yes.”
    “And how was that?”
    “It was freaking weird.” That was an understatement.
    “He’s very hot; I can see why you had a fling with him. You have excellent taste.”
    “Thanks, I think.”
    “So, did you find out why he dumped you?”
    “I didn’t ask. It doesn’t matter. It’s old news. Seeing him again just proved to me it is time to get on with my life. It’s time to take a chance again, and now that I can date beyond the Italian-American community, I can find myself a Luke-alike.”
    “A what?”
    “A Luke-alike. A guy like Luke.”
    “Why can’t you just date the real Luke?”
    It did seem like an obvious solution but the real Luke was in love with his dead fiancée. I didn’t need to go into that.
    “The real Luke lives in New York and is emotionally unavailable. But I will admit he is hot, and apparently that kind of hot is my kind of hot.”
    “So you want my help to find you a Luke-alike?” she asked, finally putting the pieces to the puzzle together.
    “Chase must know tons of blond, buff babes who could maybe like me.”
    “Babe, anyone who doesn’t like you is an idiot. Have you seen yourself? You are gorgeous. And now you’re gorgeous and open to possibilities.”
    “I guess.”
    She clapped her hands again. “This is going to be so fun. Now I get to be the matchmaker.”
    I wasn’t sure how Lucy’s matchmaking skills were to be honest, but she was all I had. It did feel better to have told someone.

  • Blog

    Release week for my first novella Any Way You Slice it and Musical Monday

    8/17/2014

    Any Way You Slice It - Upper Crust Novel - Monique McDonell - Original CoverBy this time next week my new release Any Way You Slice It, An Upper Crust Novella will be out.

    This book is the first in a series and so I’ve gone with a new look to distinguish it from my other stand alone titles. I love my illustrated covers but I adore this one too. It’s bright and fresh in a way that I hope reflects the story inside.

    This novel is a little bit like Grease meets The Proposal. Below is the blurb, which I am still tweaking, but I wanted to share it so you can get a feel for what the book is all about.

    ***

    Anyway You Slice It, An Upper Crust Novella

    By Monique McDonell

    Piper has one month to find a husband, and get a green card, or be kicked out of the country just when her chain of Aussie Pie trucks is about to start making some serious money.

    Aaron is an ambitious lawyer keen to make partner but his Boston law firm only promotes lawyers who are married.

    A marriage of convenience could solve both their problems if they keep it strictly business but convincing everyone else that this is true love while trying to convince themselves that it isn’t is a sure recipe for trouble. All the kissing and touching to prove that this is a true love sets the heat rising faster than the pies in Piper’s kitchen.

    While Aaron is happy to be friends with benefits, Piper knows better than to mix business with pleasure, despite the undeniable chemistry. Getting married to save her business is one thing, but falling in love would mean risking her heart. Any way you slice it she’s getting more than she bargained for.

    ***

    Fun right? I’ll tell you more about the book and where the idea came from throughout the week.

    And now for Musical Monday – it is wet, wet, wet here in Sydney. I live in a house with an aluminium roof (and no that’s not a typo that’s how we spell it down under) so I can here every raindrop and there are millions of them. In fact it’s so dark in my glass walled living room right now I almost can’t see the keyboard.

    So here is an 80’s classic from the band Wet, Wet, Wet. Love I is All Around.

     

  • Blog

    Building Attraction – release day – giddy up!

    11/4/2013

    Building Attraction - Monique McDonell - CoverAt last the day has come BUILDING ATTRACTION is live on AMAZON.

    Saddle up and head on over there to get a copy.

    Amazon US
    Amazon UK

    If you don’t have a Kindle you can download the Kindle app from Amazon for your tablet, smartphone or computer!.

    Competition: Take a photo of you and your copy on your Kindle/iPad/device and post it at my Virtual Book Launch on FB and you could win a $10 Amazon GC.

    Book launch is here. Stop on by!

    https://www.facebook.com/events/390588931074795/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

    Building Attraction –Single Tittle Romantic Fiction

    Hers has been a life of too many responsibilities and his has been a life of too few. Could the thing that initially repelled them from each other finally be the ultimate source of attraction?

    Holly Adams has two jobs in the city, two petulant teenage sisters to support, a farm with a big mortgage and a terrible secret that propels her forward. Brad Winchester has a reputation for being a spoilt playboy who has abandoned his family business but he also has a secret that has finally brought him home.

    When they are forced to together at work (Holly works at the cut-throat PR Consultancy that handles his family’s account Winchester Homes – They don’t build homes, they build dreams”) a series of misunderstandings has them
    at odds.

    Still while working together they learn they have more in common than either might have imagined – common friends, family loyalty and dreams of something different. When life keeps pushing them in each other’s paths they must decide whether this is an attraction that might be worth building on after all.

    ***
    If you read it and enjoy it please leave me a review on Amazon US and/or Amazon UK. I am always very grateful when someone does.

  • Blog

    Hearts Afire available today on Amazon

    10/23/2012

    Hearts AfireAt last Hearts Afire is available on Amazon
    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009V2UKWQ

    This book is a contemporary romance, rather than a chick lit and is a little bit flirtier and sexier than Mr Right and Other Mongrels.

    I hope you enjoy it.

     

    Hearts Afire

    A jilted bride, a sexy fireman, a tropical island, a fear of the ocean, a fear of commitment, a new neighbour, an old flame, a secret identity – this is the story of HEARTS AFIRE.

    Cassie Callahan is not having a great day. First her fiancé jilts her hours before the wedding and then her sister sets off the alarm and sprinklers at her catering business, flooding the premises, soaking the wedding banquet and bringing the fire department.

    When Jack Urquhart the cute fireman offers her a shoulder to cry on they both feel an instant attraction but they each know the other is not what they are looking for. She isn’t looking for a player and he is definitely not looking for the marrying kind.

    Hearts Afire takes them on a journey from Sydney’s inner-west to Tropical North Queensland, and back, in search of and avoidance of love.

    Will either of them realise that there is no risk at all in trusting your heart to the right
    person?