Announcing A Season for Serenity - a new Christmas romance

I'd like to announce my first adult romance--A Season for Serenity. This contemporary Christmas-themed romance will release on September 15 and should appeal to anyone who enjoys holiday movies on Hallmark and Netflix.

A Season for Serenity

by Julia Day

A toymaker with a dilemma, twelve hours to make it right, and a special ops paramedic at her side? Not exactly the Christmas Eve Serenity planned…

Serenity Yates is an hour away from closing her toy shop for the holidays and starting a much-needed break. But first, she'll hand over a handmade dollhouse to her final customer of the year. At least, that’s the hope—until the plan goes terribly wrong.

Jeremy Park hasn't visited his sister in two years, and he can’t wait to see her face when he shows up with the gift at the top of his niece's wish list. But when he arrives at the toy shop on Christmas Eve, he learns he won’t be giving Lilah her dream dollhouse after all.

Serenity promises Jeremy to do whatever she must to make this right, no matter how long it takes. When Jeremy offers to help, Serenity reluctantly agrees. As they work through the night, a sweet bond grows, and Serenity begins to fear that, when morning comes, she'll find it hard to say good-bye.

Jeremy feels the tug of attraction, too, but pursuing a relationship makes no sense. Serenity has deep roots in her hometown. And in a week, he'll return to Italy and his job rescuing others in the most dangerous places on earth. He isn’t ready to let Serenity go, but he can see no way for their lives to fit.

Pre-order on:

Amazon

B&N

Apple

Kobo

You can also add A Season for Serenity on Goodreads.

Fun facts about A Season for Serenity:

• Although I always include a military character in my books, this is the first time the main character is military. Jeremy is a pararescueman, an Air Force special ops paramedic. Also called PJs, they are warriors who can rescue and give emergency medical care to downed pilots, civilians in natural disasters, and even NASA astronauts!
• Serenity is a toymaker who has a "terribly wrong" dilemma happen in the first chapter. This premise is loosely-based on a true story, told to me by a toymaker who made rocking chairs for my daughters when they were toddlers.
• The book is set in Azalea Springs, North Carolina--the same fictional small town as Fade to Us. The heroine, Brooke, makes a cameo appearance in A Season for Serenity.
• If this book were rated like a movie, it would be PG-13. The "heat level" for this book is simmering (level 2).

Counting down to 21 days or maybe not

One week ago, I would've predicted that my next post would be about counting down 21 days to release. I would've been wrong.

The paperback version of Whisper Falls has already been released. Amazon began shipping it this weekend. B&N and BAM have the paperback version listed as "in stock," which means they're willing to ship now as well.

E-books of Whisper Falls remain in pre-order status. If you want a digital version, you'll have to wait until the official release date, which is November 19th.

Exciting times. It took me a day or two to absorb this change in plans. I had scheduled myself to not be nervous for two more weeks, so it crashed in on me unexpectedly. But I'm over it (I think) and I'm just ready for people to read and love the book!

So here are the cool things about the past week:

• My author-friend Katie McGarry included me on a giveaway of her last ARC of Crash Into You.  Check here for details on how to enter (offer ends on Wednesday, Oct 30.)
• Behold the power of Katie. Since she kicked off her promo, my twitter followers have increased 80% and my FB fans have increased 150%. In six days! (I really hope that one day I'll be able to pay this forward.)
• I am giving away 2 ARCs of Whisper Falls on goodreads. Check for details on my Oct 22 blog post.
• Amazon ran out of stock on my book Sunday. That was fun.

All right, back to the rest of my life...

Support your local bookstore!

Quail Ridge Books & Music, one of my all-time favorite independent bookstores, will be hosting a book-signing event for me.

Here are the details:

Where: Quail Ridge Books
Date: 24 November 2013
Day: Sunday
Time: 3:00pm

If you love to support indie bookstores as much as I do, please consider ordering Whisper Falls from Quail Ridge!

Buying the book

I'm often asked if Whisper Falls will release in paperback or digital.

The answer is: both.

You can pre-order the paperback on Amazon right now, and I'll update as more retailers include it.

Eventually, you'll be able to pre-order the digital version, but that likely won't happen until September.¹  Trust me, I'll make that information available as soon as I get it.

Thanks for being interested!


¹ The e-book will be available from Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and iBookstore. 

Now available for preorder

I don't create a playlist for a book while I'm writing it. I prefer to wait until the book is done, and I can think back through the characters and how their stories unfolded. For my exclusive content, I've created this playlist of songs that remind me of the heroine, Lacey, and the relationships that change her in I Wish.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole : At the beginning of the book, Lacey feels exhausted, scared, and isolated (not unlike many of us are experiencing around the world today). This is a song I would prescribe for her so she can remember not to give up hope.

“Rather Be” by Clean Bandit : Lacey adores her 8-year-old brother, and he adores her back. Unfortunately (in her opinion) he plays soccer, which she doesn't adore. But even though the costs for him to play are straining the family budget, she shows up at every game--his biggest fan.

"Reasons I Drink" by Alanis Morrisette : Crystal, mother to Lacey and Henry, has fallen into a period of deep sadness and depression. Her inability to function forces Lacey to be the adult and to miss out on the best parts of her senior year. Crystal knows it's not fair to her daughter, but she can't simply think her way out of depression. (Although Crystal is not an alcoholic,) "Reasons I Drink" nails the pain and despair of her mental illness.

It's Nice to Have a Friend by Taylor Swift : Lacey no longer has the time to spare for friends. But the new girl at the high school, Kimberley, is too persistent to accept the word no. It's Nice to Have a Friend is a sweet song to describe how much Lacey needs her new friend.

The Bones by Maren Morris : Lacey and Eli have gone to the same high school for years, and they’ve always been friendly. But now that he's her brother's soccer coach, they're bonding over vintage Mustangs and Shakespearean sonnets and Henry.

“Break In” by Halestorm: When Grant (the "genie") arrives, he's shocked by how desperately Lacey and her family need their month of wishes. He begins the book a bit overly focused on rules, so it takes time for him to relax--and for her to trust. But eventually, they're ready to let each other break in.

Silent Night by Pentatonix : On the book's cover is a music box. Since the book ends on Christmas Day, "Silent Night" is the song that plays when the music box is opened. Here's one of my favorite versions.

Let It Be by The Beatles : While life isn't perfect for Lacey by the end of the story, she completely believes that it will get better. With all that's happening right now in the world, I'm going to end the playlist the way it began...with a song about hope.