• Blog

    Happy Valentine’s Day – new look, new release and a new attitude.

    2/13/2019

    Notice some changes here on the blog?
    Monique McDonell BrandingI’ve been running this blog since 2012 if you can believe that. That’s a long time and during that time not much has changed. Same banner, same style, same look but the truth is, I’ve changed since 2012 so I thought it was time to update my site to reflect that.

    I love my old look and banner but it was reflective of the books I used to write and the covers I had then. It’s funny because people tell me they love the illustrated stand alone covers but those books just don’t sell in 2019. I wanted the blog and the site to show readers who stop by now, most of whom find me from my more recent books, to find a site that matches the books they’ve read. So I’ve had a new logo made and I’m doing a little revamp. I’m still tweaking a few things but let me know what you think in the comments below.

    It’s also release week for Flight Bound, A Sweet Valentine’s Romance. I got the idea for this book when I was on a plane one day and I was in the very front row opposite two flight attendants who were discussing their personal lives. It was fascinating. I had to pretend to read a magazine because they were right there and otherwise all I could do was stare at them and listen. It got me thinking how weird it would be if I recognised one of them but they didn’t recognise me and from that idea Flight Bound was born.

    Here’s the blurb for Flight Bound, A Sweet Valentine’s Novella
    He was her first kiss, she was his first love – a decade later and she’s a broken-hearted flight attendant who has sworn off men and he’s the guy determined not to be relegated to to the friend-zone again.

    A chance encounter on a commuter flight brings Mel back into Tucker’s life again and while he’s excited to see her it’s clear she has other things on her mind, like the ex who just dumped her.

    Mel needs a break from men and anyway, Tucker is everything Mel doesn’t usually go for in a man – he’s smart, he’s kind and he’s fun – but he’s Tucker the boy the next door. He’s totally not her type or is he?

    Can Tucker convince Mel to take a chance on him this Valentine’s Day or will this relationship be grounded before it even takes flight?

    Get your copy today

    Flight Bound - Amazon Promo
    If you follow me on Facebook or get my newsletter you’ll know I’m involved in a couple of Valentine’s Hops with some great prizes. You should definitely ​pop over there and get involved.

    I’m also part of a multi-author Instagram promo (click here or the image below to enter) and Any Way You Want It is free until Feb 15th 2019 as are the books in the February Free For all promo (click here or the image to discover new authors)

    Feburary Free For All Promo

    February Insta-Follow Giveaway Promo
    I hope you enter some competitions, download some books and revisit my revamped blog often.

  • Blog

    Taste of Romance releases on Valentine’s Day – pre-order now

    2/10/2017

    Valentine's Day Anthologies - Sweet and Spicy + Taste of Romance Promo

    Love is a box of chocolates – treat yourself to a delicious assortment of sixteen romance flavours from new and established authors.

    Firefighter Ryan Harper is a dark chocolate-coated orange cream. His rich, bitter shell hides a sweet and sumptuous centre that satisfies long after the final bite.

    Detective Colt Callaghan is chilli-cherry swirl in decadent milk chocolate. He hides behind a gruff exterior, but underneath he’s sexy and sweet, with a shock of spice when you least expect it.

    Space Engineer Simon Dubois is a handmade truffle. Decadent and Indulgent. Dark chocolate caressing a ganache infused with earthy, sensuous Armagnac, and sweet succulent smoked pimento. A fusion of flavor, a frission of pleasure.

    Taste of Romance is a collection of love stories and romance fiction from members of the Melbourne Romance Writers Guild. The anthology spans many facets of romance, from contemporary to historical, romcom to suspense, with heat levels ranging from sweet to erotic. These works are a celebration of the past 26 years of encouragement and support the Guild has given to romance authors as they journey toward publication and beyond.

    Get your copy here today.

    16 Short Romance Stories Valentine's Day Anthologies Promo

  • Blog

    #ChickLitLove and the Fairytale synopsis

    2/11/2015

    #ChickLitLove 2015 promo
    The gorgeous gals that run #Chicklitchat a Facebook group and twitter hashtag I follow (although beware the hashtag now does have lots of ads for teenage phone sex like the rest of the twittersphere) are running a fairytale themed week for Valentine’s Day.

    Now if you follow my Facebook page you know my week has been utterly craptastic but last night I lay in bed and planned my blog post for the #ChicklitChat only to wake up and realise I GOT IT WRONG (it is that kind of week). I was supposed to re-fashion a fairy tale as a chicklit book synopsis, instead I wrote the synopsis of my most recent book as a fairy tale – so here it is.

    A Fairytale Synopsis for Any Way You Slice It, An Upper Crust Novella
    Piper, a lowly baker, follows an unworthy cad to a new Kingdom, for love but instead builds a life for herself selling pies. However, she cannot stay in the Kingdom and enjoy good fortune with her business without a husband, such are the rules of the land. Without a husband she must return home.

    She confides in her friend, Cherie, a part-time matchmaker, that she needs a suitor and Cherie suggests her own cousin, Aaron, a wealthy and respected law-maker who needs a partner to advance his station in life.

    They meet and sparks fly. Why must her suitor be so prince-like and gallant? His flirting and his attempts to win her affections make it hard to remember that this is to be just a contract, nothing more. While resisting his advances she must convince all their colleagues, her future mother-in-law and his persistent ex-girlfriend that this is a true love match.

    When he takes her on an opulent journey, to a glamorous city showing her a life the likes of which she could never have imagined, she must decide what she is willing to risk for love. Will Piper and Aaron get their happily ever after or will theirs merely be a contract of marriage.

    Read Any Way You Slice It, An Upper Crust Novella to find out.
    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MXFOMD6

    Any Way You Slice It - Upper Crust Novel - Monique McDonell - Original Cover

  • Blog

    Happy Galentines Day – #chicklitlove post…or the importance of friends

    2/12/2014

    ChickLitLove Promo Banner
    Today for #chicklitlove the theme is Galentines Day…what is this Galentines Day you ask? Ok, I’ll be honest I had no idea either but I’m totally loving it. Let’s get the fabtabulous Lesly Nope (aka Amy Poehler) to explain it to us.

     

     

     


    (For the record if Amy Poehler needs a new BFF I would be very happy to help her out.)

    So the idea is for me to talk about the gal-pals and BFF in my novel (s). This posed a problem for me because I love the female friendships in my books and so I really struggled to choose which book to write about.

    In Alphabet Dating Serena’s friends have seen her through heartbreak and through a terrible accident and then decide to set her up on 26 dates in a month in the hope she’ll find someone special based on the theory our friends know us better than anyone else. I really love her friends who all met at college and were part of an all-girl acapella group. (for the record I wrote that book long before the fabulous Pitch Perfect movie was released).

    In Mr Right and Other Mongrels Allegra’s friends are like a surrogate family for her. They’ve supported her through the difficulties of her relationship with her mother and the loss of her grandmother. These are friends who show up for each other no matter what. And the fact that they may have had a few drinks at some of my own favourite haunts just makes me love them more.

    Likewise both Holly (Building Attraction) and Cassie (Hearts Afire) have a best friend who is always there for them.

    I’d love to have a Galentine’s breakfast with all my female characters and their best friends. That would be quite the morning. I think we’d probably start with mimosas and breakfast would turn in to a very long lunch.

    In fact we’d probably end up here – a bar that features in Mr Right and Other Mongrels and that would be a fantastic day.
    Manly Wharf Night
    I try and create female friendships in my books that are real. Real friends do hang in there for each other through the highs and the lows. Real friends are your bridesmaids, your drinking companions, your shoulder during a break-up and the person you ring when you meet a new guy.

    I’m lucky to have had a great many friends like that through my life and I can’t imagine how empty my life would be without my gal pals. I don’t want to read or write about characters with empty lives and that’s why my books are full of wonderful female characters that you absolutely would want to split a frittata or a bottle of bubbly with!

    #ChickLitLove Monique McDonell Promo

  • Blog

    This and that and musical Monday…

    2/9/2014

    #ChickLitLove Monique McDonell PromoI have a few things to tell you about this week so I thought I’d start the day with a post…and in what may be a first I’ll be back later today with another post…I hope the earth doesn’t spin of it’s axis.

    First off I’m participating in a Valentine’s event called #ChickLitLove this week. Lots of wonderful authors are involved…look for the hashtag on twitter to find their posts.

    I’ll be doing lots of fun stuff here for that this week.

    Secondly I have put Hearts Afire down to just a 99c for a few days so it’s the perfect time to get a copy. For 99c it would also make a cute Valentine for a girlfriend who could use a little love and escapist romance in her life (and who couldn’t?)

    Thirdly you can find me here at J’aimee Brookers website talking about Building Attraction as part of the #Ozromance Valentine’s Showcase.

    http://jaimeebrooker.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/valentines-day-ozromance-showcase-monique-mcdonnell/

    Building Attraction is my newest book and it’s lots of fun. If you haven’t read it, I think you’ll find it a fun read.

    Finally for Musical Monday a song to put some pep in your step….Imagine Dragons – I’m On Top of the World. (Or as my daughter and I call it the happy song you sing when you’re feeling just tad Canadian, eh!) We actually saw them in concert here in Sydney last year with a group of friends…very fun.

    Anyway, I’m not really feeling on top of the world but sometimes you need to act as if and music sure can help.

    I’ll be back later to get my week of #ChickLitLove underway.