• Blog

    Joanne Dannon joins us for this week’s Musical Monday blog post

    1/27/2019

    Musical Monday
    Musical Monday with Australian author Joanne Dannon
    Thanks to Monique for inviting me to her Musical Monday blog.

    I love music and dancing but my favourite music is jazz and swing. I’ve always had a thing for songs by Gershwin and Berlin. It must be the romantic in me.

    As an author, I’ve always written the books I want to read, rather than “writing to market”. I don’t write a book and use a trope simply because it’s popular and everyone else is doing it.

    I love the “opposites attract” tropes for my books, because it happens with love. When you fall for the person you don’t expect to. Often we have preconceived notions of who we want to be with, and sometimes the person that makes us believe in love is the person we least expect it to be.

    At the time of writing Kissing under the Spotlight, Michael Bublé was in Melbourne and I went to his concert (of course!!) and it made me think…what would happen if I met him? I’d probably dissolve in to a pool of giggles and act like a complete tosser around him because I’m a huge fan.

    I used that as the basis for my book. What would my heroine do if she came face to face with the world famous singer she has a major crush on? And ta-da, I wrote the book which has a fairy-tale ending.

    And because all awesome women need a fab BFF, I gave my heroine a friend. But at the end of the book, I couldn’t let my characters go…so I wrote another book, and then more after.

    I have book one of my Kissing Down Under series for free, and I hope you download and enjoy this romance between a superstar and an ordinary gal (like you and me).

    If you like handsome crooners, then Kissing under the Spotlight is for you. Here’s an excerpt –

    “Yes. We agreed our kiss was a mistake—”
    He snorted. “I never said it was a mistake.”
    The speech continued, with rapid vagueness. “Well, whatever. You’re Alex Jackson and I’m Violet McKenzie. You’re a somebody and I’m a nobody. You’ve got gazillions of women falling over themselves to be with you.” She paused. “Which I get, who wouldn’t? Plus you’re a great kisser. But we come from different worlds and we should keep it that way.”
    His brow arched. “You think I’m a great kisser?”
    Her eyes widened to the size of a small planet. “Um.” She cleared her throat a couple of times. “Well, yes.”

    Kissing under the Spotlight is free for a limited time, and the second book in the series, Kissing like she means it, is on sale at $0.99 (instead of $3.99).
    Note – these books are not sweet and have a 3/5 heat rating.

    Joanne Dannon
    ​About Joanne Dannon

    Best selling, award-winning Australian author, Joanne Dannon, writes to give her readers the experience she loves to savor–indulging in a sigh-worthy-happily-ever-after, being swept away from the everyday by diving into a delicious romance novel.

    Joanne is a happily married mother of two heroes-in-training who loves spending time with friends and family. She can be found on Facebook and her website www.joannedannon.com chatting about reading, writing, cooking, vintage-inspired dresses and all things romantic.

     

  • Blog

    Romancing the Holidays with Joanne Dannon

    11/20/2017

    Joanne Dannon
    1. What made you decide to write Christmas Kiss, New Year’s Wish?

    Initially, I was going to write a New Year’s Eve romance but then changed it to a holiday romance. I had recently attended (and loved) the “Elvis, The Wonder of You” concert with my husband and desperately wanted to included Elvis in the storyline. It took a bit work but I created Luca, a super-smart scientist who has a secret obsession with Elvis. I paired him up with Taylor, his best friend. Why did they fall in love? Well that’s because I adore “friends to lovers” stories. One of my favourites movies is, “When Harry Met Sally”.
    2. What is your favourite part of Christmas?

    Family. I’m fortunate to be a part of a loving and happy family, and I truly value the importance of family and friends. Coming together at the holiday season is just so special and it’s an opportunity to let them know how much you truly value them.
    3. Have you been naughty or nice this year?

    Nice 🙂
    4. If you could have 6 people to Christmas dinner (living or dead) who would they be?

    Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jnr – because I’m a big fan of both of them and love their voices, and songs
    Humphrey Bogart – because I love his movies
    Sam Heughan – because I have a fan-girl crush on him…er, sorry!!!! I meant to say, I’d like to talk to Sam about his acting career and how he’s able to successfully fundraise whilst meeting his work commitments.
    Jane Austen and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – so I could speak to them about their writing, and the positive impacts their books had on me.

    Buy Romancing the Holidays Boxset
    Romancing the Holidays Box Set
    Buy Romancing the Holidays on Amazon with this link!

    Comment

    Kara Vaughan Marks
    12/18/2017 09:37:09 am

    I’d love to read this anthology.

  • Blog

    Today’s Musical Monday features Joanne Dannon, Author of Kisses Under The Spotlight

    3/24/2017

    Musical Monday
    Kisses Under the Spotlight - Cover
    ​Thanks to Monique for inviting me to her Musical Monday blog.

    I love music and I love dancing but my favourite music is jazz and swing. I’ve always had a thing for songs by Gershwin and Berlin. It must be the romantic in me.

    I started writing in 2005 and aspired to write for Mills and Boon, but my books weren’t good enough. First, I was still learning my craft and second, I was trying to fit my “voice” into a line that really didn’t suit me. Just because I loved reading it, didn’t mean I could write for it.

    After years of writing and rejections, I decided to write what I wanted, not what I thought the publishers wanted. And so I created a sexy crooner who sang all the songs I love, and could tap dance. Ta da! Meet Alex Jackson who has millions of fans, is hugely talented, handsome (of course!) but is broken inside.

    All my love for handsome and talented singers/artists – Michael Bublé, Harry Connick Jnr and Michael Feinstein, has been poured in to my hero Alex.

    Most of the books featuring musicians feature bad boy rockers but Alex is clean cut, no tattoos and can tap dance upside down.

    I wrote from the heart and so far, my readers have loved Kisses under the Spotlight with Alex. Hooray! They’ve told me they like the book because it’s different.

    I never intended to write a series, the book was supposed to be a standalone but when I wrote the final scene, I couldn’t let my characters go and wrote more, so now I have a 4-book series.

    If you like handsome crooners, then Kisses under the Spotlight is for you. Here’s an excerpt –

    In her twenty-eight years, Violet McKenzie had been presented with a few surreal moments. The most recent seeing a naked photo of herself plastered all over the Internet. But nothing, seriously nothing, could compare to meeting Alex Jackson.
    The Alex Jackson.
    The unassuming, jazz singing, jazz dancing, jazz superstar.
    All six foot plus of virile, extraordinarily handsome, muscle-bound him.
    And she was a fan.
    Okay, a big fan. She’d been to his concerts and had all his albums on her iPod and his calendar hanging on the kitchen wall.
    Yeah, she was a big fan.
    He looked up, his aquamarine eyes noticing her standing there. “You’re the physio?” Alex Jackson’s gaze met hers.
    Oh God. Even his voice was divine in real life as she imagined it would be. Its smoothness floated across her skin making the tiny hairs sway like palm trees in a gentle breeze.
    His arm waved in front of her face. “Hello?” His divine voice interrupted visions of her and him sipping fruity cocktails under the shade of coconut trees.
    Her skin warmed or perhaps the heating had been cranked up? The room was as hot as the desert during the day. Wiping her damp palms against the dark cargo pants she favoured for work gave her an excuse to hide any awkwardness. Clearing her throat she said, “Yes.”
    “My physio is…unavailable, so I had the hotel doctor look at my ankle, he thinks it’s fractured. But he seems used to dealing with sniffles, tummy bugs, and other traveller’s misfortunes. Not this.” His teeth gritted as he pointed to his foot. He blew out air from his lungs in exasperation. His usually impeccably straight hair was tussled and a lock of dark hair flopped over his forehead. He pushed it to the side before it fell back again. “You need to look at it.”

    I’ve currently got Kisses under the Spotlight on sale for US $0.99. Amazon, other e-retailers.
    And if you read and love it, let me know. I’d love to hear from you!