GENRE: Contemporary Romance
Craig Turner was
Coach Diaz’s star player, back in the day. He was held in high regard, until he
broke the rules and dated the coach’s daughter. Young and stupid, his affection
for her lasted until graduation, and then it was time to face the real
world--but his love for her would never leave him.
Rachel Diaz
became who her father wanted her to be, a well educated, well traveled,
successful woman, but she holds a well full of secrets from the outside world.
As a high school therapist, she uses her past traumas to help others overcome
their own.
When the Fabulous
Five arrive at Coach Diaz’s funeral, to pay their respects, a rekindling
happens between them all—and between Craig and Rachel.
Is Rachel woman
enough to face her demons and is Craig man enough to accept them? Or will their
encounter be as brief as the affair they had a decade ago, behind her father’s
back?
"Dr. Olivia Chasen,”
Santa’s jolly baritone popped her mental fuzzy bubble.
She stopped as she struggled
to whirl around. “Me?” She touched her chest with a dramatic flourish she
didn’t know she possessed.
A powerful spotlight
illuminated her; its heat burned her already flushed face.
She pressed a clammy palm to
her chest. “How do you know my name?” The haze in her mind was paralyzing all
cognitive function.
“My dear girl,” Santa
chuckled, “you should know by now that Santa knows everything and everyone,” he
tapped an index finger to his temple.
Santa Claus turned to
address the waiting line. “Girls, Boys, Moms, Dads, everyone, if you don't mind
waiting for a brief moment, I'd like for Olivia,” he pointed a white gloved
finger at her, “to please come up here on stage, and tell me what she wants for
Christmas.”
She stood dumbfounded as the
audience and the people in line clapped and chanted her name, “Olivia! Olivia!
Olivia!”
Oh no! What was she going to
do? She couldn’t possibly go up onto that stage. She was far too shy to address
a theater full of people.
But if she didn’t go that
would be so unexciting and so like the old Olivia.
But she wasn't
unexciting! She was the new Olivia, and she was exciting! And she wanted to have
fun! Correction: She was determined to have fun. Besides, she’d never see these
people—her fellow passengers—ever again.
Bernadette Marie |
Obsessed with the art of writing and the business of publishing, chronic entrepreneur Bernadette Marie established her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, in 2011 to bring her own work to market as well as offer an opportunity for fresh voices in fiction to find a home as well.
When not immersed in the
writing/publishing world, Bernadette Marie and her husband are shuffling their
five hockey playing boys around town to practices and games as well as running
their family business. She is a lover of a good stout craft beer and might have
an unhealthy addiction to chocolate.♥
Bernadette
Offers Five Tips to Romance in Marriage
It’s
amazing quickly a romantic relationship can become stale when marriage vows are
taken. It’s not that a couple no longer pines for the other, but life quickly
will get in the way when a couple wakes each morning together. It’s imperative
to remember what made the relationship spark in the beginning and bring that to
the marriage. It won’t happen without thinking about it, especially with
careers, in-laws, and eventually children mixed in. Here are five great tips to
keeping that spark in a relationship, especially after marriage.
- Remember to use the words I love you in
their full context. Love you can easily replace the sentiment, but
without the I, it doesn’t apply the same.
- Always remember, even during an argument, never
leave your partner without letting them know how much you care. You never
know if those might be the last words you get to say to them.
- Love notes tucked into lunches, bags, drawers,
etc. are always fun to find. It let’s one partner know the other was
thinking of them.
- Compliment your partner every day. It’s
important to let them know you notice them.
- Say Thank you. Yes, chores around the
house should be done by both partners equally, but it’s okay to say thank
you for the mundane things as well as things they go out of their way to
do.
Though some of my tips might
not seem romantic, knowing your partner thinks about you and appreciates you is
key to keeping that romance in a marriage.
Bernadette Marie will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.