Read an Ebook Week 2021

Happy Read an Ebook Week!

I love ebooks. At least three-quarters of the books I read are ebooks. I still buy, read, and love physical books, and while nothing will ever compare to the feel (or smell) of a physical book or that feeling you get when you step into a bookstore (something many of us haven’t done in more than a year now *cries*), I love ebooks. They’re convenient, I love that I can have as many books as I want without taking up space, and take as many books as I want with me without weighing down my bag.

My mum - who’s eighty - is an ebook-exclusive reader these days. I’m sure she never, ever thought she’d say that, but it’s true and has been for the last couple of years. She downloads books from the Ontario Library Consortium, plus I buy her ebooks for her Kindle app. Besides the convenience factor - especially this last year during isolation from the pandemic - she also has some problems with her eyesight, so she loves that she can change the font size and have a light built into her tablet. 

To celebrate Read an Ebook Week, my last four contemporary standalone romances are half price on Smashwords! You can get Hung Up on You, Maybe You, and Only You for just $1.99 each and A Very Perry Christmas for only $1.49. This discount is exclusive to Smashwords until this Saturday, the 13th. When you buy the books, you can download them in any format for any device. Be sure to check out the hundreds of other ebooks on sale at Smashwords ranging from 25% to 100% off this week only!

♥Only You

♥Maybe You

♥Hung Up on You 

♥A Very Perry Christmas

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Book News: A Very Perry Christmas is Coming This November!

Surprise! I have a new book coming out next month!

I love reading and writing Christmas books. I have two Christmas novellas, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Mistletoe Kiss, and my contemporary romance Only You has a sprinkling of Christmas magic.

Late last year I had an idea for a new Christmas romance, but I didn't have time to write it. I hoped to write it this year, but as 2020 went on in all its bizarre, stressful glory, I thought I'd have to push it off another year. Then one day I was looking at stock photos when I should have been writing my current WIP and I found the absolute perfect illustration for the idea I had last year. Suddenly the characters started talking to me and insisting I write their story. So I did. I didn't know if I'd be able to write it in time to publish it this year, but I tried, and I succeeded. Writing has often felt like pulling teeth since the pandemic began, so it felt like a huge accomplishment.

A Very Perry Christmas - a sweet, steamy, funny novella full of the holiday spirit and the chaos that comes with family gatherings - will be coming out on November 16th. It's a lighthearted and feel-good story; those are the types of books I've been drawn to this year, and I hope it will leave people smiling and feeling festive.

Gwen's Christmas with the Perrys is turning into a holiday to remember...for all the wrong reasons.

 

Hot chocolate by the fire. Christmas carols. Stolen kisses in the snow. When Gwen's boyfriend Evan invites her to spend Christmas with his family, she pictures a perfect Hallmark holiday scene, complete with all the happy sighs and swoons.

 

But between Evan's brother who schedules the family’s every move, his sister who’s never met a mirror she didn’t like, and the amorous newlyweds who flaunt their sexcapades, Gwen finds herself dodging the Perrys like it's her job. The more Evan's family brings their own brand of chaos to Christmas, the more Gwen wonders if she's in over her head, and if the Christmas of her dreams is going to turn into a nightmare.

*****

Pre-order A Very Perry Christmas now for just $2.99:

Amazon Canada

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Kobo

iBooks

Nook

Add A Very Perry Christmas to Goodreads

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!

 

Stuff Your E-Reader With Free Romance Reads (Including MAYBE YOU in Honour of Mental Health Awareness Month)

Today my standalone contemporary romance, Maybe You, is one of over 200 books that are available for free!

This is the first time I’ve ever offered one of my books for free outside of giveaways. It took me awhile to decide which book to offer but I decided on Maybe You for two reasons:

1) This book was originally supposed to be published last May, but then I landed in the hospital for a week and a half and had to push back the publication to June. My recovery was slow and I had major post-surgery brain fog, so when the book finally released, I didn’t promote it as much as I normally would, and I feel like Meredith and Kieran's story never got the attention it deserved.

2) May is Mental Health Awareness Month; throughout the course of the book, Meredith struggles with her mental health. Circumstances have led her to think she’s lost her spark and her lust for life because of grief, but she eventually has to acknowledge the fact she’s struggling with something more: depression.

I love this book so much and I’m incredibly proud of it. Meredith’s struggles with both grief and depression were drawn from real-life experience, and they’re things I think are so important to see in books.

If you enjoy sweet, sexy, funny, heartfelt, and hopeful slow-burn romances that mix a bit of friends-to-lovers with the forbidden (Kieran starts out as one of Meredith’s clients and she has a rule about not dating clients), plus have strong elements of friendship and self-discovery, I hope you’ll download your free copy of Maybe You on Kindle today or tomorrow. And be sure to check out the dozens of other romance freebies at www.romancefreereads.com

♥ Amazon US

♥ Amazon Canada

♥ Amazon UK 

Keep reading for a short excerpt from Maybe You

♥♥♥♥♥

A memory pops into my head from the spring before my mom took a turn for the worst. It had rained for days, and as soon as the sun peeked through the clouds, we ventured out to sit in the backyard of the house I grew up in. The daffodils that sprouted every year had popped up seemingly overnight, and my mom gazed at them for ages in silence, wearing what I always called her Mona Lisa smile. Whenever I saw that enigmatic curve to her lips, I knew she was about to dole out some Mom Wisdom.

“I always liked daffodils, but it wasn’t until after you were born that I truly appreciated them,” she’d said.

“Let me guess. It’s because their sunshiny color reminds you of me?”

Her smile had become wistful as she turned her attention to me. “That...and because of how strong daffodils are. They’re always the first flowers to bloom in the spring, no matter how long or dark or cold the winter was. They stand tall and strong even after taking a beating from the rain. There’s something so hopeful about them.

She’d reached for my hand, clutching it in both of hers. I remember wondering if she suspected things were about to get worse for her and she wanted to plant seeds of a different sort—the kind that would sprout when I needed to remember not only our good times together, but also that I was strong enough to get through anything. “Daffodils are resilient, and so are you, Meredith Cormier. Never forget that.” 

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!  

Celebrating Bookish Friendships on Galentine's Day: Why I Write Stories Where Female Friendships Are as Important as the Romance

Every single one of my books has some element of friendship in it, but my last four books have had themes of friendship that are arguably as important as the story’s romance. Mistletoe Kiss, Only You, and Maybe You are interconnected standalones featuring a group of friends; it was so much fun to write about Bridget, Ivy, Meredith, Celia, and Piper. When I wrote Mistletoe Kiss, I expected it to be a standalone - a sweet, super fluffy Christmas novella to get people in the holiday spirit. I can’t remember at what point Bridget’s best friend Ivy appeared in my mind, but she kind of took over and became a bigger part of the story than I anticipated. I had countless readers tell me they wanted a best friend like Ivy...and they also wanted more of Ivy.  

And so Only You was born. With this being a full-length novel, I got to play around with the friendships a bit more. You get to see more of Bridget and Ivy, but you also get to experience a budding new friendship between Ivy and Meredith. I worked hard to make the friendships realistic and relatable; Bridget and Ivy were still best friends, but things were changing between them as Bridget became busier with her promotion at work, plus a lot of her free time was spent with her new boyfriend. I’ve gone through this myself and I have many friends who have experienced it too. Even when you’re happy for your friend, it can be hard not to feel like you’re being left behind or even forgotten. I think a lot of people assume that as you get older you’ve finished ‘growing up’, but part of the human experience is dealing with growing pains and learning hard lessons, no matter how old you get. It’s also difficult to make new friends the older you get, as Ivy points out when she meets Meredith. 

One of the weird lessons I’ve learned since my college days is how hard it is to make friends as an adult. Other than Bridget, I haven’t made any close friends in years. Some of that is my own fault, between being an introvert and feeling fulfilled by my close bond with Bridget. The other part of it is trying to find things in others to connect with, especially since a lot of people my age are already married and starting families. Meredith seems different, though. I’m cautiously optimistic I’m in the process of making a new friend. ~ Ivy in Only You

I loved getting to play with friendships both old and new in Only You, as well as the ups and downs, misunderstandings and miscommunications, and the deep love and affection between friends.

I continued exploring friendships in Meredith’s book, Maybe You. She and Ivy became even closer, and she also befriended Bridget and another of Ivy’s friends. There’s also a platonic male-female friendship in Maybe You that I loved writing. I tend to write about ride-or-die female friendships, but I absolutely loved the relationship between Meredith and Hugh. They loved each other deeply and always had each other’s backs. I’d love to see more platonic opposite-sex friendships in books.

And finally, there’s my newest release, Hung Up on You. Julia and Dee became friends in college and have been inseparable since. Neither of them has much family, so they became each other’s family, and I loved exploring that dynamic. 

Getting Dee as a roommate was like winning the lottery; she drives me crazy sometimes and can exasperate me beyond belief, but I love her like a sister and she’s always made me feel like part of her family. ~ Julia in Hung Up on You

Dee knows how to push every last one of Julia’s buttons, and although Julia gets frustrated at times, she knows Dee does everything from a place of love. To be completely honest, Dee is the type of person who would drive me bonkers in real life - overbearing, outspoken, meddlesome - but she sure was fun to write about and I feel like she and Julia made an amazing duo.

There’s so much to explore when it comes to friendships, and I love writing about the different dynamics. I weave in things I’ve observed over the years, as well as my own friendships. This was especially true in Only You which, in a way, was like a love letter to my best friend of thirty years. A lot of our (mis)adventures, conversations, and inside jokes got worked into that book, which is why I dedicated it to her.

“Now I feel weird around him. We cleared the air last night at the bar, but when he dropped me off, we had a…I wouldn’t call it a moment, but close enough.” 

I expect her to ask me to elaborate, but she probably thinks we’re running out of time before Hugh arrives. Instead, she nods and says, “So now you’re all awkward penguin.” 

I scoff. I don’t remember the origin of the term ‘awkward penguin’, but it’s been one of our many inside jokes for years. When I start to like a guy—whether it’s a new attraction or a sudden crush on someone I’ve known for awhile—I have a tendency to become awkward. I try not to let it happen, but I can’t seem to control it. “Doesn’t apply in this case, Bridge. I only go awkward penguin on guys I have a crush on. I don’t even know Hugh.” ~ Ivy and Bridget in Only You

I think it’s safe to say I’ll always include friendships in my books. I love romantic relationships and watching characters falling in love, but there’s nothing quite like friendship. Not everyone has the opportunity to fall in love or experience grand romance like we read about in books, but friendship is something that's more universal, something most people can relate to. It's important to see all kinds of friendships reflected in books - strong ones, casual ones, online ones, forever ones, broken ones.

If you’d like to read about the fictional friends I’ve mentioned, all four of these books are available on Kindle, Kobo, iBooks, and Nook. Only You and Maybe You are currently on sale for just 99 cents each in honour of Galentine’s Day. The price will return to $2.99 on February 19th, so hurry if you want to snag these deals!  

★Buy Mistletoe Kiss (99 cents) 
★Buy Only You ( currently 99 cents, regularly $2.99) 
★Buy Maybe You ( currently 99 cents, regularly $2.99)
★Buy Hung Up on You ($2.99)

Who are some of your favourite fictional friend duos or groups?

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!  

Hung Up on You Release Day!

Hung Up on You is now officially out in the world!

I can't believe this day is finally here. I started writing this book three years ago, finished two years ago, and then set it aside to work on other projects. Late last summer, I knew it was time to finally pull it out again and see if it was worth publishing, and I immediately fell back in love with Julia, Zack, and the other characters. With help from two amazing author friends, I came up with a title and synopsis, and my wonderful team of beta readers helped me make the story itself much better. Writing is such a solitary thing, but all the rest of it involves so many moving pieces and people behind the scenes.

Now on to the book! Hung Up on You is a sweet and sexy slow-burn, friends-to-lovers, fake-dating romance. It's set in Canada and features Canadian characters. Friendship is an important aspect of the story, and you can expect plenty of giggles and swoons. Sound like your kind of thing? The ebook will be 99 cents for a day or two longer and then the price will go up to $2.99 so be sure to snag a copy soon!

Julia and Zack aren’t really dating. Their ‘relationship’ is fake. Julia’s heart did not get the memo. 

Julia is single and happy, thank you very much. Try telling that to her happily-coupled bestie, though. She’s so determined to pair Julia off, she brings an extra guy friend along on a weekend getaway, in what’s clearly a set-up attempt. Julia’s interest is immediately piqued by sweet, sexy, nerdy Zack. There’s just one problem: he’s still hung up on his ex. Big time.

Despite knowing that - and despite her attraction to him - it doesn’t stop her friends from throwing them together every other second, insisting they’d make the perfect couple. But Julia is determined to friend zone him...at least until he suggests they pretend to date to get their respective friends off their backs.

At first, their fake “dating” is more friendship than fireworks. But as they get closer, the lines begin to blur between them, and Julia realizes she has to either shut down her developing feelings for Zack or let him in. The question is: can she fully trust him with her heart? Or does his heart still belong to his ex?

★Amazon US

★Amazon Canada

★Amazon UK

★Kobo

★iBooks

★Nook

★Smashwords

Hung Up on You is making the rounds of the blogosphere as well as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter this week thanks to Xpresso Book Tours, so be sure to keep an eye out for posts featuring reviews, excerpts, teasers, and more! There's also a tour-wide giveaway, which you can enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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It's My Birthday! Want to Help Me Celebrate?

It’s my birthday! *cue the confetti*

Today I turn 36. I had a lot of plans for 35; a whole list, in fact. The top item on my list: go to Scotland. I was so sure 35/2019 would finally be my year to visit Scotland. It didn’t happen and while I’m disappointed, I feel like I know why it didn’t happen (it’s a whole big internal, personal thing that gets a bit woowoo...maybe a topic for another day?).

There were a few other things on my list I didn’t do (like get another tattoo - I just can’t find any local artists whose work I’m interested in/trust), but there were many I did accomplish, and that’s what I want to focus on. I’m also focusing on the now and what 36 and 2020 will bring. With that being said, I’ve been working hard at getting back on track with my writing career. One of the goals I accomplished this year was writing and publishing my contemporary romance, Maybe You, in June. I also revised an old shelved manuscript, Hung Up on You, which will be coming out on January 14th (four weeks from tomorrow, aah!). I’m already working on my next project, and have several others lined up. My goal is to end 2019 strong and start the new year even stronger.

But...truth time here: my book sales are abysmal. I’m basically an unknown author, even after eight years of publishing. I’m incredibly grateful for every sale, for the people who spread the word about my books, and for the people who have been so supportive. In a way, my crappy sales numbers this year are my own fault because I slacked big time when it came to actually marketing my books until recently. I was inconsistent, but I’m working hard to change that. I want people to find my books and read them, I want to build a following of loyal fans, I want people to recommend my books to their friends, and I know I need to put in the work in order for any of that to happen. I feel like the people who do know me in the book community know me more as a bookstagrammer and someone who recommends other people’s books. Every time I post about my own books on bookstagram, I inevitably get people - even people who have been following me for awhile - saying they had no idea I was an author.

So for my birthday, I’m asking for a bit of help. If you’ve been curious about my books but haven’t read any of them, maybe you could buy one today? You can find the complete list of them here - they’re all $2.99 or less, and all of them are available on Kindle, Kobo, iBooks, and Nook. Or if you have read them and enjoyed them, maybe you’d consider gifting one to a friend? If you can’t spare the money (believe me, I get that!), maybe you could share one of my book-related tweets or Facebook posts? Or one of the Instagram posts I’ve shared about my books? There are so many things you can do to help, and not just me, but for all other authors too.

If you’d really like to make my day, the thing that’d make me happiest is pre-ordering my upcoming contemporary romance, Hung Up on You. I have a goal in mind (a modest number that some people would probably laugh at, but that would mean a lot to me), and it would be incredible to meet that goal today. Think you could help me out? Hung Up on You is just 99 cents to pre-order!   

Amazon US

Amazon Canada

Amazon UK

Kobo

iBooks

Nook

If you're reading this, thank you for sticking around and thank you for your support. Here's to an amazing year ahead for all of us.

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Cover Reveal: Hung Up on You by Marie Landry

Today is the cover reveal for my upcoming contemporary romance, Hung Up on You!

I'm so excited to share the cover for Julia and Zack's story, and even more excited for you to meet this pair on January 14th, 2020!

This standalone romance features:

✅A sassy heroine who's not interested in giving up the single life

✅A sexy, sweet nerdy hero

✅Friends to lovers

✅Fake dating

✅Strong friendships and unbreakable bonds

✅Winter fun, s'mores, karaoke, and so much more!

Julia and Zack aren’t really dating. Their relationship is fake. Julia’s heart did not get the memo.

Julia is single and happy, thank you very much. Try telling that to her happily-coupled bestie, though. She’s so determined to pair Julia off, she brings an extra guy friend along on a weekend getaway, in what’s clearly a set-up attempt. Julia’s interest is immediately piqued by sweet, sexy, nerdy Zack. There’s just one problem: he’s still hung up on his ex. Big time.

Despite knowing that - and despite her attraction to him - it doesn’t stop her friends from throwing them together every other second, insisting they’d make the perfect couple. But Julia is determined to friend zone him. At least until he suggests they pretend to date to get their respective friends off their backs.

At first, their fake “dating” is more friendship than fireworks. But as they get closer, the lines begin to blur between them, and Julia realizes she has to either shut down her developing feelings for Zack or let him in. The question is: can she fully trust him with her heart? Or does his heart still belong to his ex?

Pre-order Hung Up on You now for just 99 cents! After release day the price will go up to $2.99

Amazon US

Amazon Canada

Amazon UK

Kobo

iBooks

Nook

Add Hung Up on You to your Goodreads TBR

Check out the Hung Up on You Pinterest board and Spotify playlist

Want to participate in the release week blitz (January 14th-18th, 2020) hosted by Xpresso Tours? Sign up here. 

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