Category Archives: Desperately Ever After

June 2, 2014 · 9:40 AM

Blog Tour Kickoff — and a special price!

Desperately Ever After had a phenomenal May — becoming a 2014 NIEA Chick-Lit Finalist, and then making Amazon’s Top 100 lists for both Women’s Fiction Fantasy and Humor :)

I did multiple happy dances over the past few weeks (or, more accurately in my current state, happy waddles). But now it’s time to look toward something new: My month-long Fiction Addiction Blog Tour!!

For those unfamiliar with a blog tour, it basically means you’ll see Desperately Ever After featured on a bevy of wonderful websites throughout the month of June. And not only that. There will be reviews, guest posts, interviews, dream casts, giveaways, and a discounted e-book price of $2.99!
(From its full $4.99. What’s a blog tour without a giant perk, right?)

It kicks off Tuesday with a guest post about the writing life (and why we could all use a muse!) at Chicklit Club Connect. Follow the schedule below to keep up with all the fun.

And don’t forget to feed your beach bag a copy of the book Chick Lit Central called ideal for “Once Upon a Time withdrawal” and anyone who misses Sex and the City or Desperate Housewives. Bestselling author Stephanie Evanovich praised it as “desperately delicious,” and myriad Amazon and Goodreads reviewers said they gobbled the whole thing up in a single day. So a few hours on the beach and you should be golden–in more ways than one. ;)

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Available at AMAZON US and AMAZON UK

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Date	Tour Information
3rd June	Chicklit Club Connect
4th June	Lost in Chick Lit
5th June	Chicklit vs Fantasy
6th June	Trips Down Imagination Road
9th June	Rachel Brimble Romance
12th June	Have Book, Will Read
13th June	M’s Bookshelf
16th June	A Novel Review
17th June	jgrwriter (Janice G. Ross)
19th June	Tea Party Princess
23rd June	Mature Bookworm
24th June	Fiction Dreams
	Inheritance Books with Rhoda Baxter
25th June	The YA’s Nightstand
26th June	Compelling Reads
30th June	Tracy Riva Books and Reviews
	Deal Sharing Aunt

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Filed under Blog Hops, Desperately Ever After, Events

May 30, 2014 · 1:00 AM

Maleficent casts a spell on D.E.A. — Just 99 cents through Sunday!

In conjunction with the opening weekend of Disney’s Maleficent … Desperately Ever After is on sale at Amazon for just 99 cents!

This is by far the lowest price it’s been since the release, and the lowest it will be for quite a while. The drop ends Sunday (or possibly earlier, since Amazon’s timing is an enigma), so don’t let another minute go by!

*** Click here for Amazon US … or here for Amazon UK ***

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A bit about the book:

A 2014 Chick-Lit finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards

Stephanie Evanovich, New York Times bestselling author of Big Girl Panties, says: “Laura Kenyon makes happily ever after desperately delicious!”

Chick Lit Central praised it as a great cure for “Once Upon a Time withdrawal,” or for fans who miss Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives.

According to the New Canaan Advertiser, “Kenyon’s colorful imagery and often quick, lighthearted style, makes it easy to keep flipping pages.”

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Have you ever wondered how Cinderella would feel 10 years down the road, when her iconic ball gown no longer fits and she has four kids, a billion royal duties, and a husband who’s never ever around? Or what about Beauty? Once his curse broke, how long would it take for “Beast” to realize there are a million other “beauties” in the sea … and it’s good to be the king…

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Set in a fictional realm based on New York City, Desperately Ever After imagines what might happen if our most beloved fairy tale princesses were the best of friends and had the dreams, dilemmas, and libidos of the modern woman. How would their stories unfold after the wedding bells stopped ringing?

Years after breaking her husband’s curse and becoming his queen, Belle finds out she’s finally going to have a child. But before she can announce the wondrous news, she catches him cheating and watches her “happily ever after” go up in flames. Turning to her friends for the strength to land with grace, she realizes she’s not the only one at a crossroads:

~ Cinderella, a mother of four drowning in royal duties, is facing her 30th birthday and questioning everything she’s done (or hasn’t) with her life.

~ Rapunzel, a sex-crazed socialite and one-woman powerhouse, is on a self-destructive quest to make up for 20 years locked in a tower.

~ Penelopea, an outsider with a mother-in-law from hell, is harboring a secret that could ruin everything at any moment.

Together, these women rescue each other from life’s trials with laughter, wine, and a scandalous new take on happily ever after. At heart, it’s about ordinary women dealing with how their lives have turned out. They just happen to live in castles.

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LINKS:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

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Not sure? Check out some more reviews …

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Sign up here for exclusive updates and advanced notice of giveaways

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Filed under Desperately Ever After, Hollywood

May 19, 2014 · 8:36 AM

Jera’s Jamboree

Happy Monday everyone! I’m delighted today to be a guest blogger at Shaz Goodwin’s wonderful blog, Jera’s Jamboree. It’s the kick-off to an entire month of festivities surrounding Desperately Ever After, so check it out ;)

And don’t forget that Miranda Dickinson’s giveaway ends Tuesday night right here!

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Filed under Blog Hops, Desperately Ever After

May 16, 2014 · 3:00 AM

Desperately Ever After is going on tour!

Thanks to the wonderful Shaz Goodwin of Fiction Addiction Book Tours, Desperately Ever After is welcoming summer by hitting the road!

Now don’t worry. I’ve given it a stern talking to about using sunscreen, always keeping the gas tank half full, and limiting the strawberry daiquiri intake. (The last thing we need is a drunken foray splashed all over the pages of the Marestam Mirror!)

But in all seriousness, I’m extremely excited about the following schedule. There will be reviews, guest posts, interviews, dream casts, and — most importantly — giveaways! The tour will officially kick off on May 19 with a guest post on Shaz’s blog, Jera’s Jamboree.

Date	Tour Information
3rd June	Books are my life
	Chicklit Club Connect
4th June	Lost in Chick Lit
5th June	Chicklit vs Fantasy
6th June	Trips Down Imagination Road
9th June	Rachel Brimble Romance
11th June	Have Book, Will Read
13th June	M’s Bookshelf
16th June	A Novel Review
17th June	jgrwriter
19th June	Tea Party Princess
23rd June	@jaustenrulesok
24th June	Fiction Dreams
	Inheritance Books with Rhoda Baxter
25th June	The YA’s Nightstand
26th June	Compelling Reads
30th June	Tracy Riva Books and Reviews
	Deal Sharing Aunt

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Filed under Blog Hops, Desperately Ever After

May 6, 2014 · 4:40 PM

Need a Mother’s Day Gift? — Plus, it’s International Chick Lit Month!!

How many times has your mother poked fun at her “prince?” Called her home her “castle?” Or made light of the whole damsels-in-distress, knight-in-shining-armor, happily-ever-after fairy tale?

How many times has she said someone should write about what really happened to Cinderella down the road? Would her iconic ball gown still fit? Would she be happy with all her new responsibilities? How many kids would she have? Would “true love” endure?

And what about Beauty? How long would it take “Beast” to go right back to his old, wolfish ways after she broke his curse? Or Sleeping Beauty? I mean, what kind of man comes across a comatose woman in the woods and decides to kiss her, anyway?!

In honor of International Chick Lit Month and Mother’s Day, Desperately Ever After has been marked down in both print and e-book formats. So forget flowers. Make her laugh this year and stock her beach bag early–before the sequel, Damsels in Distress, hits the shelves in August.

Click here for Amazon US

Click here for Amazon UK

Click here for more about the book

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While you’re browsing, celebrate Chick Lit Month with some great titles discounted down to just 99 cents. And don’t miss out on Thursday’s big Facebook party. Events all day!

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April 13, 2014 · 11:21 AM

Weekend Reminder

Bestseller Giveaway

Stephanie Evanovich, author of Big Girl Panties and The Sweet Spot, is giving away two paperback copies of her bestselling novel through Tuesday. All you have to do is leave a comment. Plus, she’s a great interview, so it’s a win-win!

Link: http://bit.ly/1iJ4NNG

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Filed under Author Interviews, Contests, Desperately Ever After

April 7, 2014 · 7:49 PM

InD’tale Magazine helps me explore the dirty side of fairy tales

The following article was published in the wonderful (and free!) InD’tale Magazine, “serving self and small published with a romantic flair.” To read more and sign up for a digital subscription (Did I mention it’s free?), visit www.indtale.com.

When you think of “clean reads,” do you immediately picture a handsome knight rescuing a gorgeous damsel, placing her gracefully atop his snowy white steed, and trotting off to their standing-room-only wedding by the sea? Do you think of fairy tales in which good conquers all, true love never dies, and beauty (even if disguised at first) is the ultimate sign of virtue?

If so, you might be in for a rude awakening (though not nearly as rude as the first Sleeping Beauty’s, as you’ll soon find out). That’s because many of the wholesome, Disneyfied fairy tales we know and love are actually hiding much darker pasts—pasts filled with sex, violence, and terrifyingly inventive ways to kill people. Put it this way: if your kids read the original tales before bedtime, you’ll be calming their screams until morning!

I stumbled upon these grisly origins while doing research for Desperately Ever After, which takes our most beloved fairy tale characters and imagines what happened to them when the wedding bells stopped ringing. From Hans Christian Andersen to the Brothers Grimm, consider these the skeletons buried deep in the back of Walt Disney’s closet.

Fair warning: you may experience loss of innocence. Continue reading →

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Filed under Desperately Ever After, Fairy Tale Spin-offs, Journalism

April 4, 2014 · 1:28 PM

Sale! Get your beach read now!

In honor of spring…

and in the hopes that it sticks around…

Desperately Ever After is just $2.99 through the weekend!!

(That’s less than a grande latte at Starbucks!)

Click here for details

Summary & reviews:

Have you ever wondered how Cinderella would feel 10 years down the road, when her iconic ball gown no longer fit and she had four kids, a billion royal duties, and a husband who was never ever around?

Or what about Beauty? Once his curse broke, how long would it take for “Beast” to go right back to his old, wolfish ways?

Sprinkling women’s fiction with elements of fantasy, Desperately Ever After combines “Sex and the City,” “Desperate Housewives,” and the Brothers Grimm. At its core, the debut novel is about a group of ordinary women coming to terms with how their lives have turned out. They just happen to live in castles. Continue reading →

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April 4, 2014 · 9:53 AM

My tribute to a publishing heroine: Hazel Gaynor, author of THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME

About six months ago, when I was trying to figure out this whole publishing thing, I connected with a brilliant and wonderful author by the name of Hazel Gaynor. To an aspiring author, she was a beacon of hope and kindness in a world of locked doors.

By that time, her self-published e-book, The Girl Who Came Home, had sold nearly 100,000 copies and gone on to secure a re-publishing deal (plus an additional title) from William Morrow.

To me, she was living proof that an author with a good book and a dedicated work ethic would eventually find success. There may only be one Promised Land, but there are countless ways to get there.

When I reached out to her for advice with Desperately Ever After last fall, she could have easily glossed over my questions or sent me an indifferent, “Just keep at it!” But she didn’t. She took the time to answer all of my questions in-depth; she asked about my life and told me about hers; she put me in touch the brilliant Andrew Brown of Design for Writers; she introduced me to Catherine Ryan Howard‘s invaluable guidebook, Self-Printed; she offered to be my second-ever author interview on Skipping Midnight (after the also wonderful Heather Webb); and she has continued to support me in this brand new life that I’m determined to make work.

Hazel was the first of many writers I’ve since met who’ve completely disproved the notion that this industry is filled with cutthroat, uber-competitive people who are only out for themselves.

This past Tuesday, William Morrow released the “new and improved” edition of The Girl Who Came Home. Below are the Amazon summary and link. I just purchased my paperback copy (the original is on my Kindle), and hope you’ll consider doing the same. Continue reading →