Introducing our VIP Sponsor Author Célia Pereira: Kitchener Pages and Pleasures Author!

Thank you so much for sponsoring this event and making it as special as it can be. Having authors participate in the sponsorship and creating this event is a huge help and we sincerely appreciate all you do!

Hey everyone, it’s such a pleasure to be a part of Pages and Pleasures Kitchener book event in 2026! It will be my very first book signing and to say I’m excited and nervous is an understatement, but I can’t wait to meet all you readers.

A little bit about me. My name is Célia Pereira. I reside in Toronto, originally from Portugal. I speak Portuguese fluently and visit back home often. I have one sibling, an older brother, who is the best brother any girl could have and also my biggest fan. I also have two nieces who own my entire soul, and they know it. I work full-time at a real estate law firm as a receptionist by day and at night I let my imagination run wild and write dramatic romance stories.

Why I chose romance. Before I began writing I use to binge read. I am talking a book every two days. (Yes, I was that person who barely slept before her shift to finish a book. When you need to know, you NEED to KNOW. LOL!)

I remember reading Inhale, Exhale by Sarah M. Ross and the prologue sucker punched me and made me think, what the heck is going on? What happened to her? I need to know! I also thought, man, if I ever write a book, I want to start the book exactly like this. And when I did decide to write my first book, Just Breathe, it’s exactly how I started it. With a sucker punch that made readers hold their breath and made them need to know what happened and happens to the characters. 

Another book I had read that made me want to write romance was The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden by Jessica Sorensen. The entire story is dramatic and intense, but the ending is what got me. I don’t want to give any spoilers for those who have not read it, but the ending had me throwing my kindle across the room. I just couldn’t believe that’s how the book ended. I didn’t want to believe it. I was so upset and upset with the author. LOL! But in the end, I thought to myself, although I am hating the author right now, she is a genius. This is how I want to write a romance novel. I want the reader to be so engaged in the novel that by the end they either love me or hate me for evoking all these emotions in them. I believe I have succeeded with my second book, Beneath the Lies.

One of the books I will be bringing with me to the event, aside from Just Breathe and Beneath the Lies, will be Finding Malakai, Black Jack’s Bar. Although, I love every single book I have written and am in love with all my characters, Malakai just holds a very special place in my heart along with Talya. I feel their story is just so realistic in the context that the guilt these two characters carry within them is the main reason for a lot of their choices. I feel that’s how we sometimes operate. Guilt is a nasty monster that lives within us and when we allow it to wake it can consume us and confuse us in thinking we’re making the right choice but in the end, not so much. These two characters are very similar yet different. Both have served for their country and have seen and experienced some pretty gruesome things, yet the way they have handled it is very different. Where Talya feeds off the love they once shared and uses it as her light, Malakai sees it as a precious gift he does not deserve and falls into the darkness that is his guilt. 

If you want to find out more, Finding Malakai is available on Amazon and Free with Kindle unlimited and so are all my other books. Check out the link below to find all my books and follow me on my social media platforms.

https://linktr.ee/authorcpereira  

See you next April 😊

What does a typical writing day look like for you (if such a thing exists)?

This is quite difficult since I work full-time so writing is typically done in the evening. It will definitely depend on how exhausted I am mentally from my day job and if my characters are alive and vivid in my mind. Sometimes I can get home and hit the cave no problem and write a chapter or two. Other days I don’t even fire up the laptop.

Tell us about a favourite author and reader interaction you have ever had. 

When I wrote my second book, Beneath the Lies, there’s a specific scene, if you’ve read it, you know what scene I’m referring to, if you haven’t you need to go read it. LOL. I had no idea I would write this scene through this character’s viewpoint but when I started typing, I knew it was gonna be good. What I didn’t know was how the readers would take it and every reader who read that book all jumped into my Dms or Facebook group to yell at me on how I could have done what I did to that character. Lol! They all said the same thing. “I have never cried so much over a character.” “Why did you have to do that to them?” and so on. I have to say, it was pretty exhilarating to have readers msg me or pop in the group to chat with other readers about how it made them feel, but also how well written that particular scene was. That was pretty cool.

Do you have a favorite fictional couple you've written? What makes them stand out?

I haven’t written all my characters, and this is such a tough question, but Malakai & Talya hold such a special place in my heart. I think it’s because they love each other in such a unique way. They literally sacrifice themselves to ensure the other is protected especially Malakai. He’s never experienced such a genuine love from a woman and Talya to him is so precious that if it means not being with her to ensure her safety that’s what he’ll do even if he’s completely miserable his entire life. Also, I just love the straight forwardness that Talya brings. She has no issue laying it on Malakai when he is coming up with excuses. She’s that no nonsense type of girl and you better have a good reason behind your actions. 

If one of your characters could give you life advice, who would it be and what would they say?

Stella and she would say, stop being a little b***h and write that damn book. It’s good enough. Also, forget everyone, it’s about time they figure out their own lives, and get yourself on the damn plan.

Are any of your characters based off of real life people? 

Two of my characters, Stella & Natie, are a little bit of a blend of my best friend. Those two characters are the only two who have no problem telling their best friends exactly how it is even when they don’t want to hear. They’re also the two characters who tell their best friends when they are messing up. My best friend is literally the only person in my life who is not afraid to tell me how it is and when I need to stop being a little baby and handle things like a damn adult.

What’s your go-to comfort read when you need a little romance magic yourself?

I have two go-to comfort reads. The first one is hands down The Sawyer Brothers by Abbi Glines. I have read that book at least ten times if not more and I am not ashamed. My second is Levitate by Kaylee Ryan.