Christmas Reading Continues

🎄A Dream for Winter by Maria Bernard🎄

Stick Shift Lips Rockstar Romance

Enjoy as part of the series or as a stand alone read.

⛄ Blurb

Sage is a mystery. The world doesn't understand him, and that's just fine as far as he's concerned.

Carlie dreams of Christmas trees and family dinners. On her own for the first time, she dreads the long and lonely nights of winter.

What happens when their contrasting worlds collide?

❄ Quotes from happy readers:

❄ Thus begins one of the sweetest romances I have ever read! 

❄ WOW!! I devoured this story in one sitting!

❄ It was like a beautifully modern gothic urban fairy tale set at Christmastime.

❄ This book took me through so many emotions! Couldn't put it down.

❄ I love the Stick Shift Lips boys and this book brought them together with a new favorite, Sage. I love this book and hope to be reading many more stories about this group. Maria ROCKS.

⛄ Excerpt:

“Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that,” she said, standing back from the window. “I suppose that’s why you don’t like Christmas?”

“I hate everything about it,” he said, making his way over to the fifth and final window. “It’s all just a gimmick, hyped up by department stores like this one. It’s hands down, one of the greatest marketing scams ever.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said with a despondent sigh.

“Think about it,” he said, shaking his head at the gaudy display. “The whole event is designed to make you want things, to make you feel guilty unless you buy all these useless material goods that you really don’t need. It feeds off of people’s insecurities.”

“I still love it,” she said, walking past him toward the burlap wrapped Christmas trees. 

“Do you?” he asked, watching her remove her mitten and run her fingers along the pine needles. “How do you feel about not being able to afford one of these trees? Do you feel good about that?”

“No, but I feel hopeful that one day I may be able to afford one,” she said with conviction.

“You just don’t get it, do you?” he asked, looking into her big brown eyes. “It’s all just a big lie.”

“Why are you trying to destroy something that means so much to me?” she asked with an involuntary quiver to her lips. “Why would you want to take Christmas away from me?”

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Amazon:

US: http://amzn.com/B00ON9V13E

CA: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00ON9V13E

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ON9V13E

AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00ON9V13E

iBooks:

US: http://apple.co/1MtQlqy

CA: http://apple.co/1LxGkMG

UK: http://apple.co/1VWUmOz

AU: http://apple.co/1X9fcaE

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1OkuVlm

B&N: http://bit.ly/1OkuK9C

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1LDsZOJ

A Christmas Story

Whispers From The Heart

Chapter One

If you had told me last Christmas, I’d be a young widower the same time next year, I wouldn’t have believed it. Yet here I am in December, gazing helplessly at the grocery store shelf, my motherless babe in my arms.

“Bear with me, sweetie. I’m afraid your dear old dad’s at loss for all this.”

Tucking Hope’s head onto my shoulder, I continue to stare at the shelves holding things I know nothing about. But I’m determined to make this happen. All I want is to give my infant daughter a proper Christmas. For not only is this our first Christmas on our own, it is also my baby girl’s first birthday.

My poor little girl, my sweet Hope. I’ve let her down in so many ways. For too long I’ve lived in the shadow of my grief. I’ve neglected her, I have, and I won’t deny it. I can tell by the way she clings to me. She is just getting used to me again. In the beginning, I was afraid of her a little, I must admit. As excited as I was to be a father, I hadn’t expected to be a single parent to a newborn baby girl. But then again, I’m sure Hope hadn’t expected to be left motherless before she took her first breath. We had been handed a raw deal, the two of us, no doubt about that.

It’s hard to believe the one year anniversary of her mother’s death is only a month away. I lost the love of my life on Christmas Eve as she gave birth to my daughter and the memory of it still tears me apart if I dwell on it too long. Yet never have I blamed Hope, for that would be unforgivable of me. Even in the darkest depths of grief, I knew this to be true. But that doesn’t stop others from doubting the depths of my love for this gift I hold in my arms.

I ignore the incessant buzzing of my phone in my coat pocket. I don’t even have to check to know who it is. My dearly departed wife’s mother is determined to take Hope away from me for the Christmas holidays and I am just as determined not to let that happen. I will not give her that satisfaction no matter how daunting the idea of doing this on my own is. As great is my grief, my stubborn nature will not allow me to give up. I will not give up my daughter. She is all I have left of her mother.

♡༻♫༺♡༻♫༺♡

Hearts will break, tears will fall, but where there is hope, love conquers all.

Recently widowed composer, Lyndon Grace, has only one thing on his mind. Christmas is fast approaching, and he needs to make it as special as possible for his motherless infant daughter. Trouble is, he hasn’t a clue how to go about it. Worse yet, he fears losing his baby girl in an impending battle for custody with his estranged in-laws.

Twenty-year-old Evelyn Dawson is at the end of her rope. Taking care of her little brother is not what she expected to do at her age. Homeless, jobless, and desperate, she needs to find a solution, quick.

Brought together by fate, and a sprinkling of benign intervention, these two souls from very different worlds attempt to make the most of an unlikely yet mutually advantageous arrangement.

Read the ongoing story now on Wattpad...

New Cover!

Now available on Google Play!

Falquen’s Nest • Joy & Sorrow • Bleed Out Your Heart • Jesse’s Reign

These Bones Rockstar Romance by Maria Bernard

• A classic tale of opposites attract.

In this classic tale of opposites attract, we meet Janie Drago and Falquen Forrester. Falquen is a moody bassist and struggling painter. He lives alone in his downtown art studio above an art supply shop. Janie is a fresh out of college, watercolorist, hoping to dive into Toronto’s art circuit and make a name for herself. What happens when fate brings these two polar opposites together?

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These Bones Series ♡ White Knights Dressed in Black

This steamy romantic series follows the adventures of four members of These Bones band. You will meet struggling artist and bass player Falquen Forrester, his fraternal twin the gregarious singer Gray Forrester, the impossibly handsome lead guitar player Darien River, and last but definitely not least the soft-spoken drummer Jesse Rain.

Complete Series available for Binge Reading! 📚📚📚

Amazon

US || CA || UK || AU 

iBooks

US || CA || UK || AU 

Kobo

US || CA 

Nook  || Smashwords || Google Play

♡༻♫༺💀༻♫༺♡

Falquen's Nest - Book One

True Love Crosses All Social Barriers

Falquen's Nest by Maria Bernard

These Bones Rockstar Romance Series, Book 1

• In this classic tale of opposites attract, meet Janie Drago and Falquen Forrester.

Janie is a fresh out of art college watercolorist, hoping to dive head first into Toronto’s art circuit and make a name for herself. To do that, she moves out of her childhood home in the suburbs to find a place in the city. After a few failed attempts, Janie’s search for a place of her own turns desperate.

Falquen is a moody bass player for the local Goth band, These Bones. Besides being a brilliant musician, he is also an up and coming painter with eccentric tastes. He enjoys living alone in his art studio above an artist’s supply shop, The Crypt.

Needing a little extra cash, he very reluctantly takes out an ad, renting out the spare room in his apartment. Janie's got one last place to check out, which just happens to be Falquen's Nest. Fate brings these two polar opposite personalities together but can they find enough common ground to live with each other, maybe even fall in love?

♡༻♫༺💀༻♫༺♡

Excerpt: © Falquen’s Nest

“I’ve got one more place to check out.”

“Well, I sure hope this one turns out better for you than the last two.”

Janie raised her eyebrows in agreement as she finished her coffee. Understatement of the year, that was, actually. Janie wasn’t completely naïve. She had anticipated a little difficulty in finding a decent apartment but she hadn’t realized that it would be this challenging.

“Well, at least, this one is in the art district,” Charlotte said encouragingly as she handed the newspaper clipping back to Janie. “You’ll fit in just fine there.”

“Is it?” She had no clue about what neighbourhoods were best when it came to this city. As far as she could tell, one moment you could be walking down a seemingly safe street to then turn a corner and find yourself in a completely seedy, scary stretch of road.

“Yeah, well sort of,” Charlotte said reflectively. “Parts of it can get a tad sketchy after dark, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, you won’t be living alone either so....”

“Right...” Janie said, chewing on her bottom lip. Just who would she end up living with, she wondered warily.

It was already late in the day, and Janie was tired and discouraged. She glanced down at her newspaper clipping and scratched a big red X on the last apartment she looked at. She shuddered just thinking about the place. Well, not so much the place, but the neurotic clean freak who would have been her roommate, had she agreed to move in there.

♡༻♫༺💀༻♫༺♡

These Bones ❤ Fear Us Not 

These are love stories heavy on the romance with a healthy dose of steam.

Get out of your comfort zone! Take a walk on the Goth Side.

These Bones Series ♡ White Knights Dressed in Black

This steamy romantic series follows the adventures of four members of These Bones band. You will meet struggling artist and bass player Falquen Forrester, his fraternal twin the gregarious singer Gray Forrester, the impossibly handsome lead guitar player Darien River, and last but definitely not least the soft-spoken drummer Jesse Rain.

Complete Series available for Binge Reading! 📚📚📚

Amazon

US || CA || UK || AU 

iBooks

US || CA || UK || AU 

Kobo

US || CA 

Nook  || Smashwords

♡༻♫༺💀༻♫༺♡

These Bones Series

True Love Crosses All Social Barriers

Falquen’s Nest • Joy & Sorrow • Bleed Out Your Heart • Jesse’s Reign

These Bones Rockstar Romance by Maria Bernard 🎸

These Bones ❤ Fear Us Not 

These are love stories heavy on the romance with a healthy dose of steam.

Get out of your comfort zone! Take a walk on the Goth Side.

These Bones Series ♡ White Knights Dressed in Black

This steamy romantic series follows the adventures of four members of These Bones band. You will meet struggling artist and bass player Falquen Forrester, his fraternal twin the gregarious singer Gray Forrester, the impossibly handsome lead guitar player Darien River, and last but definitely not least the soft-spoken drummer Jesse Rain.

Complete Series available for Binge Reading! 📚📚📚

Amazon

US || CA || UK || AU 

iBooks

US || CA || UK || AU 

Kobo

US || CA 

Nook  || Smashwords

Canada At Par

Tired of paying the exchange rate?

Me too!

I should have done this ages ago. 

I have just adjusted prices for my entire catalogue of books through Smashwords. That means that Canadian readers can purchase any of my books from iBooks Canada and soon Kobo Canada at the same cost as the US outlets.

That means if the book is $2.99 USD, it is $2.99 CAD.

If the book is $3.99 USD, it is $3.99 CAD.

iBooks Canada

I'm excited about this because I'm Canadian and I hope to reach more Canadian Readers!

Happy Reading!

Yours truly,

Maria Bernard

#CanadaReads #Canada #reading #books

New Covers for the SSLs

The Stick Shift Lips Series gets a fresh streamlined look.

No worries, no huge changes. I just thought a few tweaks were needed to give the series a cleaner, unified look. The newer covers will be uploaded to the various ebook sellers within the next little while. I figured I'd let you all know in advance. 

I hope you like them.

~ Maria Bernard ~

Flash Fiction - All Wet and Bothered

This week's installment of the Fiction Friday Writing Challenge from author, Arial Burnz was definitely a challenge for me. This is my first attempt at this exercise. I can't say I've tried flash-fiction before so, of course, I took the easy way out and called on one of my favourite characters, Crispin Clover of the House of Goths to help me out. So here we go...

This week's writing prompt is...  Your character gets caught in the rain. What happens next?

♡༻♫༺💀༻♫༺♡

“Perfect! Just Perfect!” Crispin wiped briskly at his sleeves. If he had known he’d get drenched he would never have offered to pick up Becky’s paint box from her locker. The girl was always forgetting it. But being the concerned housemate, he was, as much as he hated to admit it, he’d rather retrieve it himself instead of letting the spunky little imp run-off in the dark to get it.

The silly dormouse certainly had a way of winding him up. He hadn’t wanted her to move in the first place and still held firm to the belief that she should never have been permitted to rent the spare room. But nevertheless, his other two housemates had overruled his vote. Yet here he was, doing her bidding and loving every minute of it.

♡༻♫༺💀༻♫༺♡

Maria Bernard - Author

The Subject of Fear

Fear…

Not long ago, I created some teasers from my books around the word fear and as a result, I realized how often it actually comes up in my writing. Should it worry me? Stress me out? No, I find it fascinating.

Fear - it can save your life or it can also paralyze you. Fear is a basic instinct in all of us. To claim you are fearless is to fool yourself into thinking you are braver than you are. When, in truth, bravery is not about living without fear, but to face those fears and handle them the best you can. To voice a concern about fear is not weakness or shameful. It’s simply a way of dealing with it, or taking that first step to confront it. Courage is a key ingredient to facing your fears. Again, it takes courage to give voice to your fears. To open yourself to others takes a lot of courage, especially if you are already fearful.

The real culprit or enemy of the soul and body is stress. Stress is feeling like you are stuck and thinking or believing you need to be somewhere else. Like being stuck in traffic. There’s nothing you can do about it, but you’re angry and frustrated because you need to get somewhere else or you’ll be late. Or it’s about being where you are in your career, finances, education, etc., but thinking or believing you should be further ahead. That is insanity. That is stress. 

When you face your fears, you demolish stress. But you can’t face your fears until the time comes, or an opportunity presents itself. There’s no point in confronting your fears ahead of time since the situation that scares you most may never even come to pass. Sometimes the best course of action is inaction. Be still. It’s harder than you think.

Maria Bernard

Copyright © 2017 Maria Bernard, All rights reserved.

Rock Romance Everywhere!

✽*•.★ ROCKSTAR ROMANCE READS ★•*✽

Summer means music fests - and what better way to rock your world than rockstar romance.

Try these amazing authors and their stories to heat up your reading.

Drummers, singers, bassists, oh my...

The Legend of Arturo King - L.B. Dunbar >> http://amzn.to/29koAKB

Vintage Volume One - Lisa Suzanne >> http://amzn.to/1aVR4Vz

First Chance - A.L. Wood >> https://goo.gl/pMWDpF

HITS (Hidden In The Stars) - Sadie Grubor >> http://amzn.to/2rHm2tS

Detour - Kacey Shea >> myBook.to/DetourOffTrack

Breaking Faith - Joy Eileen >> http://amzn.to/2hAzKfF

Flowers on the Wall - Mary J. Williams >> http://amzn.to/2svlr1v

Chasing Kade - Anna Paige >> http://amzn.to/2kXfKqM

Forever My Girl - Heidi McLaughlin >> http://amzn.to/2aM3pgg

Torn Between Two - Mia Kayla >> http://amzn.to/2khuj7X

Someone to Watch Over Me - Anne Berkeley >> http://amzn.to/2sHnG3i

Falling Down - Anne Mercier >> http://amzn.to/2c6b6Cz

Her Forbidden Rockstar - Sarah Robinson >> http://amzn.to/2rWlFzU

Night Shifts Black - Alyson Santos >> http://amzn.to/1RbpLc8

Serenading the Shadows - Jodie Larson >> http://bit.ly/StSJLUS

Jag, Rush, Roxy, Stone (Pandemic Sorrow Series) - Stevie J. Cole >> http://amzn.to/2rmGi83

The Back-Up Series Box Set - A.M. Madden >> http://ow.ly/3WkE30cOJPw

Ryker - Joanne Schwehm >> http://amzn.to/2sv9atO

Dangerous Hearts (A Stolen Melody Duet, Part I) - K.K. Allen >> smarturl.it/DH_Live

Just an Illusion - Side A - D. Kelly >> http://amzn.to/2tK7BWz

Irresistible Refrain - Michelle Mankin >> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FLG5KPS

Broken Melody - Jennifer Miller >> http://amzn.to/2tXk78X 

Gravity- Lauren Runow >> http://amzn.to/2jcaqO9

Ready For Flynn, Part1 - K.L. Shandwick >> http://bit.ly/RFF1AmazonUS

Rock Stars Don’t Like Big Knickers - Nikki Ashton >> myBook.to/NARockStars1

Bring Me You - Ryleigh Andrews >> http://amzn.to/2tU9pMQ

REVELRY - Carmen Jenner >> http://a.co/cmPS3n3

Bassist With Benefits - Jenna Galicki >> http://bit.ly/BWBam

Dream Crush, LA Summer - Maria Bernard >> myBook.to/DreamCrush

Wounded - Abby Brooks >> http://smarturl.it/woundAZ

Stoned - Mandi Beck >> http://amzn.to/2t55mOK

Love Sex Music - Michelle A. Valentine >> http://amzn.to/2sBABAC

My Contribution is Dream Crush, LA Summer - Maria Bernard >> myBook.to/DreamCrush

You'll meet the members of Dream Crush, reunite with the Stick Shift Lips, and see Jay Sharp (Southern Jackass) in 'action' right where it all started, LA's infamous Sunset Strip.

Dream Crush can and should be enjoyed as a Stand Alone Read as well as a part of the SSL Rockstar Series!

For more on the Stick Shift Lips Series go to mariabernardauthor.com

☆ Dollar Sale ☆

☆.•°*°•.☆ Dollar Sale ☆.•°*°•.☆

Don’t miss this huge Smashwords Summer Book Sale!

Grab these three titles for only $1 each!

Available ebook formats:  mobi for #Kindle, epub for #iBooks, #Nook, #Kobo

Wherever Girl by Maria Bernard

Surf and Sun Rockstar Romance (Stand Alone)

• Having nothing left, Sara flies away and lands in the arms of a charming songwriter.

♡✭༻♫༺♡༻♫༺✭♡

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/535158

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The Balcony by Maria Bernard

Rockstar Romance with a Paranormal Twist. (Stand Alone)

• Two matchmaking lost souls endeavour to save a third from throwing it all away.

♡✭༻♫༺♡༻♫༺✭♡

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/513560

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House of Goths by Maria Bernard

Not Your Average Fraternity House

• Refusing to languish in a dorm, Becky finds a home with four unlikely fraternity brothers.

♡✭༻♫༺♡༻♫༺✭♡

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/634729

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Plus many, many more books on offer!