Category Archives: Book Covers
COVER REVEAL! 12 Daves of Christmas (plus excerpt)
Ta-Da! Here it is, the sparkling cover for my first ever Christmas story, 12 DAVES OF CHRISTMAS. 🙂
What is the book about? Here’s the blurb:
A beautiful, uplifting holiday story from best-selling author Juliet Madison about a lonely writer, her grandmother’s ghost, a road trip, and 12 different Daves.
Abby Solomon may write happy-ever-afters for a living, but doesn’t believe she’ll have her own. But then a surprise visit from her grandmother’s ghost sets her off on a journey she’ll never forget.
Grandma Charlotte wants to find her first love, Dave, who she mistakenly thought had died in World War II. A quick search yields a list of twelve possibilities, and Abby and Charlotte set off on a Christmas road trip – twelve Daves over twelve days along the sun-drenched East coast of Australia.
With just over a week to make the meeting happen, Abby has to meet a dozen Daves – some sweet, some quirky, some downright dangerous, while trying to honour her book deadline and enduring the awkward challenges of having a ghost as a travelling companion. But when she comes across a young doctor who looks like one of the heroes in her novels, Abby has the chance to discover that true love transcends time and space and that happy endings aren’t only to be found between the pages of a book.
12 DAVES OF CHRISTMAS is a 30,000 word novella and fits into the Romagic Comedy genre – it has romance, comedy, and magical elements, like some of my other books; FAST FORWARD, I DREAM OF JOHNNY, & HAUNTED EVER AFTER.
Release date: 8th December 2014
Publisher: Escape Publishing
>> Be notified when it is released by subscribing to my newsletter HERE.
Here is an excerpt…
‘What about Grandpa?’ I said. ‘Is he, ah…’
‘On the other side? Yes. I’ve touched base with him, and it was good to see him again, it really was, but I’m afraid to say he’s moved on. We loved each other of course and had a great life, but the truth is…’ she took another of those redundant breaths, ‘…we weren’t soulmates.’
‘What do you mean he’s moved on?’
‘He’s spending the afterlife with Lorna. And I’m not angry. I don’t blame him, because when all the obligations and responsibilities of physical life are down the pooper, all that matters is being true to your heart and soul.’
I frowned, from disappointment at Grandpa’s choice of afterlife companion or confusion as to how this all worked, I didn’t know.
‘Sorry, darling, it must be hard to comprehend all this. But the fact is, Harry and Lorna had a…what do you call it? A rendezvous or a fling, if you like, many years ago. I knew about it and of course I was furious, but after a while I forgave him. Because in reality, I knew I still loved and longed for Dave, so who was I to judge?’
‘But Grandma, who is Dave and why didn’t you stay with him back then?’
‘It’s a long story, muffin. But the gist of it is, we were together before the war, well, during the war. But then he went off to fight when he was eighteen and I never saw him again.’ She dropped her gaze to the floor. ‘We promised that when the war was over we’d meet again at our favourite place, and I was to turn up there every Saturday at noon until we were reunited. Months and months passed and I was there every week without fail, but he never showed.’
‘But the letter…he wrote to you, obviously.’
‘Just the once. As you can see in his letter, he promised to keep writing whenever he could, but something must have happened to prevent him from fulfilling that promise.’ She puffed up her short fluffy hair with an upturned palm like she always used to do, and pointed to the watch. ‘He gave that to me before he left, said it was to remind me that in time we’d be together again. I maintained it and kept it working.’
‘But he didn’t die in the war?’
‘Apparently not. I thought he had, everyone did. They said he was missing in action, presumed dead. And then when the war ended and he failed to return after several months, well, after a while I had to decide whether to keep hoping or let go and start living my life.’
‘So what happened to him?’
‘That’s the thing, I don’t know. I’ve tried to find out where he is and what happened, but the wretched administration up there,’ she pointed to the heavens, ‘leaves a bit to be desired.’ She crossed her arms. ‘All they could tell me was that my Dave Smith had not passed through the pearly gates. But to find out more information requires more manpower and paperwork, and they put me on a three month waiting list. Three months! While Harry and Lorna have their happily ever after, I’m left to twiddle my thumbs and wait it out. I’ll be putting in a complaint when I get back, you mark my words.’ She gave a curt nod. ‘But that will probably take another three months to process! They’re utterly swamped up there, what with all the deaths. And the queues, there are more crowds than a Buddy Holly concert, let me tell you.’
I didn’t know whether to laugh at what I was hearing or be frustrated along with her. Grandma wasn’t known for being shy, and if she had something to say about something that was bothering her, she’d say it.
‘How do we know where to look? I mean, do you have any idea where he might be?’
‘I met him when we were living in Berrinda. He was passing through with his soldier friends for a camping trip to celebrate his eighteenth birthday. When he told me he was going off to war, he said that if he returned safe and sound he’d want nothing more than to settle down in a place like Berrinda, or one of the other small towns on the south coast. That’s all I’ve got to go on.’
‘That’s a start, I guess. He might be in the phone book. What did you say his last name was?’
‘Smith.’
I sighed. She had to go fall in love with someone who had an extremely common first and last name!
As if reading my thoughts, Grandma said, ‘Shame his name wasn’t Reginald Liktenblacht or something easier to find.’ She shrugged and grinned.
>> Be notified when 12 DAVES OF CHRISTMAS is released by subscribing to my newsletter HERE. You can also follow me on twitter and Facebook.
COVER REVEAL! Haunted Ever After (plus excerpt)
Drumroll… Ta-Da! 🙂
What do you think?
The design team at Harlequin Australia / Escape Publishing have given me another fabulous cover. It’s always so exciting to see a cover for the first time, and I end up giggling like a little girl. 😀
This is my first cover with a guy on the front! Hello. Oh, except if you count the male nose and mouth on the cover of Starstruck in Seattle. 😉
As soon as it’s up on Goodreads, and on Amazon etc to preorder, I’ll post links. But for now, enjoy the cover and the blurb and excerpt below…
(Unofficial) blurb:
When bride-to-be, Sally Marsh attends a weekend away with her bridesmaids in the small country town of Barron Springs, the last thing she expects is for an uninvited visitor to tag along: the ghost of her fiancé’s ex-girlfriend.
She’s quirky, loud, and hyperactive, and the prim and proper Sally is desperate to find out why she’s being haunted so she can be free of her embarrassing disruptions before the wedding day. Problem is, the ghost is reluctant to share the reason for her presence, but seems intent on tempting her with the hot and charming stripper, Ty, who is always turning up at awkward moments. Is the ghost on a jealousy-fuelled mission to stop the wedding?
By the time the ghost’s secrets are revealed, Sally’s strength will be tested to its limits, and she must go above and beyond anything she’s ever experienced in order to ensure a happy-ever-after for not only herself, but others too.
Exclusive excerpt:
She pushed her finger forwards, and — plop! —the stone fell from my grasp and down my t-shirt through the small valley of my cleavage. I shivered at its cold, smooth surface as it travelled down to my abdomen. ‘Oh no!’ Red laughed as I unbuttoned my jacket and tried to discreetly shove my hand down my top.
‘Can I help at all?’ I spun around to see Ty standing nearby, my hand still lodged between my boobs and my elbow pointing to the heavens, where I wished Red would toddle off to. I yanked my hand out and straightened my jacket.
‘No, I’m fine thanks. Where did you spring from?’
‘I saw you looking at something in your hand so I came to see what it was.’
‘Oh, it’s just a gemstone.’ I brushed a non-existent strand of hair from my face. ‘It sort of, um, fell down my top.’ I could still feel it low against my belly, but I didn’t think my arm could reach down far enough to get it. I could also feel an uncomfortable wave of heat rushing across my face, belying the fact that it was a cold winter’s day.
Ty tried to hold back a grin, but a hint of it twinkled at the sides of his mouth. ‘So, maybe just give your shirt a bit of a shake?’ He grasped his close-fitting black ribbed top at the hem and gave it a shake, and a glimpse of his tanned, hard abs brought back flashes of him last night in his underwear.
The heat on my face intensified. ‘Well, you see, I sort of can’t,’ I replied, touching the spot where the gemstone lay.
‘Why not?’
Oh dear God. Of all the days, why did I have to wear this thing underneath?
‘Because I’m wearing a bodysuit.’
Ty’s eyebrows rose. ‘Oh, one of those all-in-one lycra things?’
I nodded.
‘So you’d need to, um…’
‘Unhook it, below, yes.’ Too much information. Why was I telling him this? Surely a man of his ‘experience’ knew how a woman’s bodysuit was structured.
‘In that case, I’ll let you get on with it.’ He gestured behind and turned away, then turned back briefly. ‘I’ll just wait over here.’
I hid behind a stall and grasped the stone through my clothing with one hand, walking it up my body the way one does with a draw cord lost in the waistband of one’s pants, but it only moved slightly. I plunged my hand down my top again and dug around, but the tight-fit of the bodysuit made it difficult. C’mon gemstone! Where are you? It was like the Bermuda Triangle in here. If this failed I’d have to find the ladies bathrooms and do the unhooking, but if I could just get it…
I grunted, sinking my stomach muscles inwards to make more room for my arm, and stretching poor Mel’s t-shirt piece of art. My fingers came in contact with cold stone which I grasped, and with my other hand I pushed it upwards, until the stone was in my hand and my arm was finally out of a place I didn’t exactly aspire it to be whilst in public, or even private, for that matter. ‘Phew!’ I breathed out, having held my breath for a little while.
I adjusted my top and jacket and returned to where I’d been, feeling as though everyone was looking at me, even though they weren’t. Except Ty.
‘Got it?’ he asked.
I held up the stone in victory.
He clapped. ‘If you were single I would have given you a hand. You know, just to do the helpful gentlemanly thing.’ He winked.
Flirt. ‘Oh, I’m sure.’ I crossed my arms and diverted my gaze from his.
Stay tuned… HAUNTED EVER AFTER releases on 1st Sept 2014. Subscribe to this blog or to my email newsletter HERE to be reminded on release day.
COVER REVEAL! February or Forever
Ta-da! The cover fairies have been at it again! FEBRUARY OR FOREVER will be released on 1st Feb 2014. And you can add it to Goodreads HERE.
This is the second book in my new Tarrin’s Bay series, perfect for those who like romance and women’s fiction set in small towns, especially towns by the beach. February or Forever is one of my faves, and with this and all books in this series I guarantee you a beautiful setting, true to life characters facing compelling issues, gotta-be-together romance, family drama, and friendship. Overall; rich, heartwarming stories with a happy, uplifting ending.
FEBRUARY OR FOREVER
“In this heartwarming coastal romance, Escape bestselling author Juliet Madison asks, what if your favourite celebrity fell in love with you?”
Yoga teacher and single mother, Chrissie Burns has a plan: move into the rundown beach house left to her by her deceased aunt, renovate it, sell it, and move on. The scene of a terrible accident years ago, the house needs to get out of Chrissie’s hands as soon as possible.
But Tarrin’s Bay, where the house stands, has more to offer than bad memories. The town is lovely, the people friendly, and even Chrissie’s young son finds friends and begins coming out of his shell. Employed at Serendipity Retreat as a yoga instructor, Chrissie is shocked to be given the role of private teacher to Drew Williams, Australia’s top singer/songwriter for the month.
Relationships between instructors and clients are strictly forbidden, but Drew draws happiness out of Chrissie with his down-to-earth nature and sense of humour. Days of stretching and bending may bring Chrissie unexpected peace and strength, but she knows that this interlude must end, and there’s no pose or position to aid her when Drew walks away and leaves her broken-hearted.
I just love the colours in this cover, and the image is perfect for the story – you will see in the ending of the book why it is so right!
Add to Goodreads.
COVER REVEAL! The January Wish
Ta da! What do you think? It’s amazing to finally see this story come to life as it’s been a long road to publication for this one. I think the cover really suits the feeling and emotion of the story, and hints at the secrets hiding behind the characters and this small coastal town.
Thanks to the team at Harlequin Australia / Escape Publishing for another fab cover!
The January Wish will release on 1st January 2014 and kickstarts my Tarrin’s Bay Series, and the good news is you won’t have to wait long for the second installment – February or Forever releases a month later, on 1st February! Yep, I’ve been hard at work making sure I could have the second one ready for readers right away 😉
So what is The January Wish about? It’s a sweet, emotional romance about the pleasures of making a wish and seeing it come true. It’s a blend of contemporary romance and women’s fiction, perfect for fans of Susan Wiggs and Sherryl Woods. This story is unique in that it is told in three points of view, one of which belongs to an eighteen-year-old girl whose journey and romance of her own make this a New Adult (NA) and Adult story in one! It’s also a small town romance, a coastal romance, and a medical romance (just to cover all bases, you know?) 😉
When Dr Sylvia Greene makes an impromptu wish at the Tarrin’s Bay Wishing Festival, it’s the most out of character action she can think of. Hers is not a life of wishes. Hers is a controlled life of order, plans and preparation…of science and research and diagnosis and treatment. But her past has been weighing on her mind, and decisions made long ago have far-reaching consequences.
A week later, the daughter she secretly gave up for adoption at sixteen arrives in Sylvia’s small coastal town with secrets that can’t be shared. Between feelings of guilt, gossip, and a growing attraction to an emotionally unavailable colleague, Sylvia’s well-ordered life is soon thrown into chaos. She is no longer alone, and for the first time she feels as if her world is open to possibilities.
They say be careful what you wish for, but, for Sylvia, the unexpected consequences may be just what the doctor ordered.
This book was the second book I ever wrote, and went through lots of revisions to make it the best it could be, and I was thrilled when it was announced one of the six finalists in the Choc Lit Publishing Search for an Australian Star contest in 2012.
The setting of the story, Tarrin’s Bay, is based closely on the town I live in on the South Coast of NSW, Australia, so I hope I’ve captured the heart and soul of this special place on the page for reader’s to enjoy… Tarrin’s Bay is known as The Town of New Beginnings.
If you’d like to see some pictorial inspiration for The January Wish, you can visit my Pinterest board here. And add it to your Goodreads shelf here!
So until January 1st… I hope your wishes come true 🙂
~ Juliet xx
COVER REVEAL! Starstruck in Seattle
I just returned from the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Fremantle WA (post & photos to come soon), and while I was there, I got to see my new cover for the first time! It was such a nice surprise as it appeared on the screen of the Escape Publishing powerpoint presentation during the Awards gala after party. I love it! I think it captures the story perfectly, and I love how they included the skyline of Seattle. What do you think?
Here is the official blurb, and the story is released on 1st October…
Aspiring actress Anna Hilford might only have a small role in a leading television drama, but she longs to be dreamboat Karl Drake’s leading lady. Sick of being loveless and overlooked, Anna seeks the help of intuitive love coach, Lulu, from LuluTheLoveAngel.com to give her the courage and determination to follow her destiny. But fate has different ideas, Lulu has undisclosed power, and Anna is about to realise that life happens while you’re busy making plans…
Cover Reveal! – I Dream of Johnny
And…drumroll….ta da! Here is the cover for my contemporary romantic comedy with a magical twist – I Dream of Johnny!
I Dream of Johnny is a story about three wishes, a high-tech genie in a lamp, and one very unfortunate typo…
Getting three wishes isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when an unfortunate spelling error in Mandy’s high-tech magic lamp changes her wish for a Greek God to a Geek God. His fashion IQ is in the negatives, he’s clingier than cling wrap, and he has a penchant for breaking into song at inappropriate moments. Before Mandy can request a replacement wish, she has to put up with him for twenty four hours, and the timing couldn’t be worse — it’s her friend’s wedding day, her ex will be there, and the God of Geeks insists on coming along for the ride!
I Dream of Johnny is a novella, partly inspired by the television shows I Dream of Jeannie and The Big Bang Theory, releasing worldwide on 1st September 2013 from Harlequin Australia’s Escape Publishing. 🙂
>>Add this book to your Goodreads shelf here.
My Book Cover! Fast Forward comes to life…
Thanks to the fabulous design team at Harlequin Australia / Escape Publishing, I now have a cover design for FAST FORWARD, my romantic comedy novel releasing on 1st February 2013! I LOVE it… What do you think?
I love the light, bright colours as I think it suits the fun nature of the book, and I love that it shows a young woman but a 50 year old’s birthday cake! In case you’re new to this blog and are wondering what the book is about, here is the blurb:
Novels with a Food-Theme: Part 2
Nothing beats a good book, or a great meal, or an irresistable treat… so it’s even better when these are combined! Here is a selection of some novels with a food-theme. This is part two, so if you missed part one, you can see it here.
Sugar and Spice – Jules Stanbridge
A rich, indulgent treat of a novel – love, life… and chocolate cake
When Maddy loses her high-paying city job, her instant reaction is blind panic.
But after the ‘drowning her sorrows’ hangover has cleared, she realises that this is an opportunity to change her life and do what she loves best: baking cakes. And so she sets up her own cake company, embracing the highs and lows of getting a new business off the ground, while looking for love along the way.
Chocolat – Joanne Harris
In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free gift: Vianne’s uncanny perception of its buyer’s private discontents and a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a chocolate festival. Chocolat’s every page offers a description of chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere. It’s a must for anyone who craves an escapist read, and is a bewitching gift for any holiday.
Chocolat was also made into a movie with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.
The Saturday Supper Club – Amy Bratley
Wanted: four amateur cooks to compete in a supper club contest Rules: four strangers, four weeks, four houses, four dinner parties
You might win: a cash prize You might lose: your heart.
Eve had her world torn apart three years ago, when the love of her life Ethan disappeared, and she never found out why. But now, her life is rosy. With a lovely new boyfriend, Joe, and a café opening on the cards, things finally seem to be falling into place. … until she agrees to take part in a supper club competition for a local newspaper. Eve is cooking the first dinner and who should turn up on her doorstep expecting a three-course meal, but her long lost love Ethan?
Eat. Pray. Love. – Elizabeth Gilbert
This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers.
Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali.
By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.
This was also made into a movie with Julia Roberts.
Have you read any of the books I’ve featured today? What do you like about books with a food-theme?
Novels with a Food-Theme: Part 1
Nothing beats a good book, or a great meal, or an irresistable treat… so it’s even better when these are combined! Here is a selection of some novels with a food-theme. And just so you don’t overindulge, I’ll share more next week:
The Way to a Woman’s Heart – Christina Jones:
Cooking the perfect menu for the perfect date always seems simple at the time…
Escaping from corporate city life into the heart of the Berkshire countryside, Ella Maloney had been expecting to find rural tranquillity and a chance to indulge in her favourite pastime – cooking. So when she meets a devastatingly delicious chef by the name of Ash Lawrence, Ella knows she’s died and gone to food heaven.
Things go from divine to celestial for Ella, however, when her favourite top-rated TV cookery programme – Midnight Feast – comes looking for a venue to film their latest show. But while Ella is pulling out all the culinary stops to become their most successful contestant ever, Ash is busy cooking up the ultimate recipe for winning Ella’s heart – or should that be a recipe for disaster…?
The Christmas Cookie Club – Ann Pearlman:
Every year at Christmastime, Marnie and her closest girlfriends mark their calendars for a cookie exchange. Everyone brings homemade cookies and a bottle of wine to share, but this year, it’s their stories that are especially important—the passion and hopefulness of new romance, the betrayal and disillusionment some relationships bring, the joys and fears of motherhood, the stress of financial troubles. On this evening, at least, the sisterly love they have for one another rises above it all. Celebrating courage and joy in spite of hard times and honoring the importance of woman’s friendships as well as the embracing bonds of community, the delightful novel speaks to us all.
In addition to laughter and tears, the book is sprinkled with delicious cookie recipes. The Christmas Cookie Club has been translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Croatian becoming both an international and national bestseller.
Good Enought to Eat – Stacey Ballis:
She learned how to eat right….living right is the hard part. Former lawyer Melanie Hoffman lost half her body weight and opened a gourmet take-out café specializing in healthy and delicious food. But the first healthy morning muffins are still warm from the oven when her husband announces that he is leaving her…for a woman twice her size.
Reeling from her abandonment, she’s blindsided by a financial crisis. Desperate to relieve some of the money pressures, Melanie reaches out to a quirky roommate with a ton of baggage, moving her into both her home and her business. Things begin to look up when Melanie becomes involved in a budding romance with a local documentary filmmaker, but she’s not so sure she is really ready for love. In this warm and often laugh-out-loud novel, Melanie discovers that she still has a lot to learn about her friends, her relationships with men, and herself…and that her weight loss was just the beginning of an amazing journey that will transform her life from the inside out.
Chocolate Wishes – Trisha Ashley:
Life is sweet for chocolate maker Chloe Lyon! Business is booming at her artisan chocolate-makers ‘Chocolate Wishes’ in the picture-perfect Lancashire village of Sticklepond – not least because all of Chloe’s sweet treats contain an inspirational prediction for each customer. If only her own life was as easy to read in the cards, perhaps Chloe could have foreseen being jilted at the altar!
But Chloe has long put thoughts of love behind her – after all, life is busy enough, especially as she tries to sort out her friends’ tangled love lives and the village welcomes its new vicar, Raffy Sinclair. However, the village rumour mill goes into overdrive when it is revealed that Raffy is the distinctly unorthodox ex-front man of rock band ‘Mortal Ruin’ – and also happens to be Chloe’s first love, who left her broken-hearted.Whilst Chloe tries to ignore this blast from her past, will she discover that wishes can come true when you least expect it? A charming novel for chocoholics everywhere, perfect for fans of Katie Fforde, Jill Mansell and Carole Matthews.
And if you haven’t checked out my previous blog posts about the food-themed books, The Secret Ingredient, and Aftertaste, you can do so here and here.
Stay tuned for part two of this blog post!
Have you read any of the books I’ve featured today? What do you like about books with a food-theme?
My poem made from book titles!
As an avid reader, writer, and creative person in general, (with a slight, okay… a fierce competitive streak), when I saw a contest for making a poem out of book titles I just had to enter!
Thanks to my writer buddy (and collage poet) Diane for sharing the link to the contest, and to Janet Reid for organising it and reading through all the entries.
I had a lot of fun pulling books from my neatly organised shelves and playing around with the titles until I came up with the final result; a romantic comedy complete with a black moment and happy ending 🙂
I didn’t expect to make the top four finalists, so that was a nice surprise!! You can see the results and the winning poem here.
Here is my poem:
So why not give this a go yourself? C’mon, have some fun and show me what you end up with!
JULIET MADISON 