Thursday, April 24, 2014

Gotta love me a spunky little gal who can kick butt!

Available from 5 Prince Publishing www.5princebooks.com  books@5princebooks.com
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary
Release Date: April 24, 2014
Digital ISBN 13: 978-1-63112-034-3 ISBN: 10: 1631120344
Print ISBN-10: 1631120352 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-035-0


Indomitable Spirit:
Caught between the traditional Korean culture of her mother and the fun-loving Irish heritage of her father, Kym O'Byrne has never felt truly at home ... until she inherits the O'Byrne Karate School in the sleepy Colorado town of Aspen Creek. Staying focused and disciplined is her game, but something buried deep within the eyes of the grouchy handyman, John Larson—father of some of her most promising students—threatens to turn her strict world on its end ...



About Bernadette Marie

Bernadette Marie has been an avid writer since the early age of 13, when she’d fill notebook after notebook with stories that she’d share with her friends. Her journey into novel writing started the summer before eighth grade when her father gave her an old typewriter. At all times of the day and night you would find her on the back porch penning her first work, which she would continue to write for the next 22 years.
In 2007—after marriage, filling her chronic entrepreneurial needs, and having five children—Bernadette began to write seriously with the goal of being published. That year she wrote 12 books. In 2009 she was contracted for her first trilogy and the published author was born. In 2011 she (being the entrepreneur that she is) opened her own publishing house, 5 Prince Publishing, and has released her own contemporary titles. She also quickly began the process of taking on other authors in other genres.
In 2012 Bernadette Marie began to find herself on the bestsellers lists of iTunes, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble to name a few. Her office wall is lined with colorful PostIt notes with the titles of books she will be releasing in the very near future, with hope that they too will grace the bestsellers lists.
Bernadette spends most of her free time driving her kids to their many events—usually hockey. She is also an accomplished martial artist with a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. An avid reader, she enjoys contemporary romances with humor and happily ever afters.


@writesromance on Twitter



Excerpt of Indomitable Spirit

Crisp wind blew off the lake and down through the small mountain town. The streets were bare as the sun crested the mountaintop and sent the lake shimmering in gold and orange hues. Kym O’Bryne stood on her deck, wrapped in her heavy robe and fuzzy slippers, nursing a warm cup of coffee that steamed in the brisk November air.
She’d lived in many places. Korea, Ireland, California, and New York to name a few. Each place held its own mystique when fall began to give way to winter. But she’d never experienced anything like the change in the seasons in Colorado.
Already she’d been up for hours. She’d tended to her grandfather. In April he’d turned ninety, and though sharp as a tack, he was becoming frail. It had become her duty to take care of him and she did so with honor. She’d run three miles on her treadmill, within her warm house, and had trained in her dojang, which was downstairs from where she lived. She’d inherited the failing karate school for her thirtieth birthday.
Kym shook her head at the thought. She always assumed she’d run a school. What had made her father purchase the school and hand it over to her, she’d never know. It wasn’t what she considered an ideal location. It was, however, her grandfather’s dream to see his grandchildren carry on the family tradition. Though, when you saw the name O’Bryne on the door of a karate school, it didn’t actually give the impression of traditional Korean training.
She shook off the cold and walked back into her home, slipped a piece of bread into the toaster, and finished her cup of coffee. Kym thought of her brothers and their minimal success with their schools. Both of her brothers, Ian and Liam, were Irish through and through. Ian with his blond hair and Liam with his red, both sported emerald green eyes like hers. They’d inherited them from their father, Todd O’Bryne of Dublin, Ireland.
She took her toast from the toaster when it popped and buttered it generously and then slathered strawberry jelly on top of it. It was her little bit of indulgence.
With her toast in hand she sat at the kitchen table, flipped open her laptop, and was pleased to find an email from her mother. She smiled.
Oh, it was a grand thought that Todd and Mi Sun O’Bryne had retired back to Dublin, where her father was born. Her mother sent a picture of them standing in front of a pub once owned by her father’s family. They looked happy.
Her mother’s name fit her so well. Mi Sun stood for beauty and goodness and that was what her mother always radiated.
Her parents’ was a love story you’d have read in a book or seen in a movie. The tall, gangly Irishman who followed his wanderlust and landed in Korea, where he met the small, beautiful, and graceful daughter of a rice farmer. Both father and daughter dreamed of seeing the world. Todd and Mi Sun were married and lived in Korea for five years, where Ian was born. Then Todd took his family, father-in-law included, and moved to Ireland. That was where Kym was born.
Named after her mother’s family Kym, Kym was born with the Korean features of her mother, except for the emerald green eyes she’d inherited from her father.
After five years it was off to America to live in Sacramento where little Irish Liam was born and the first school of the Kyms and O’Brynes was started.
It seems like a lifetime ago, Kym thought as she cleared her place at the table. She closed her laptop and moved to the cabinet to find the tea to make for her grandfather.
Now Ian, Liam, and she owned schools all over the country that taught Tang Soo Do to the masses, changing lives as they went along.
Kym, however, never thought her chance to change lives would be tucked in a small community in the Colorado mountains with less than three thousand people.
When she reached for the canister of tea, she found it was empty. That she should have known, it was on her list, but she’d forgotten to stop at the store. She wished she’d remembered, because the temperature had dropped at least thirty degrees from the day before and now she would have to bundle up, warm her car, and head out to find tea for her grandfather.

John Larson pushed through the front door of the Aspen Creek Market. How, he wondered, could kids eat through four boxes of cereal, two boxes of Pop-Tarts, and a box of frozen waffles in a week? They were going to break him.
He pulled out a cart, and with his head down, he started on his mission.
“Good morning, John. How are you this lovely morning?”
On a slight oath he turned to see Gloria, the cheerful clerk, standing at the register with her red apron barely encompassing her oversized chest and stomach.
“Mornin’.” He pushed forward as quickly as he could. The last thing he needed on a Sunday morning was to be caught up in one of Gloria’s hour-long renditions of what her grandbabies did this week that no other child has done before—like eat and poop. He just didn’t need it.
He fretted over the cereals that his sons liked because there was a heroic character on them and then over to the ones with a princess, for his little Abby. But in the end he reached for the generic bag of cereal with the name that sounded name brand, but wasn’t. He threw two different ones into his cart and with a grunt he took off to finish his shopping.
A woman’s yelp made him shoot his head up when his cart collided with another. He found himself staring into the most mesmerizing green eyes he’d ever seen. How odd they seemed on the very petite Asian woman standing before him.
His tongue swelled in his mouth and he couldn’t speak to apologize as she glared at him.
“Sir, don’t you think an apology is in order?”
He stood there, staring at the long, dark hair that fell from beneath her sensible stocking cap, over her shoulders and down her back. It had been a very long time since a woman’s beauty had rendered him unable to think or talk.
“Well, then I’ll apologize for having my cart simply parked here in the way of your moving one.” She huffed out, reached for a box of tea bags, and tossed it into her cart.
He simply watched as she backed up her cart and started around him. She stood erect, and, though she was probably only five feet tall, he thought she could easily walk among the city streets without anyone messing with the little ball of beauty and fire.
She stopped and shot him another look with those beautiful, cool eyes. “I haven’t found too many people in this town who weren’t treated to manners as a child, but I guess there is always a first.” She went on her way, moving down the next aisle as John continued to get his breath back.
Once he shook off the utter irritation and delight of the little woman, John went back to filling his cart with things his children would, no doubt, devour before he got home from work the next day.
When he headed toward Gloria to check out, he noticed the dark-haired woman who had stunned his brain with just a few words walk out of the store.
He unloaded his items onto the conveyor as Gloria began to scan the boxes, bags, and cans.
“Where’s your veggies?” she asked, analyzing his purchases.
“Pardon me?”
“Those kids need veggies.”
“Yeah, I’ll get some next time.” That would shut her up for a moment, he hoped. Then he realized he needed information, and if anyone in town had it, it would be Gloria. “Hey, who was that woman that was just in here?”
“Oh, Kym?”
“Kym?”
“Just took over the karate school. Lives above it with her grandfather. Surprised you didn’t know about it.”
He shrugged. “Been busy, I guess.”
“Heard. Fixing up Malory’s bakery?”
“Yeah.”
He wondered if he’d heard about her moving to town. Then again, people were always talking, and he was usually in his own world. There was too much on his plate to worry about town gossip. Until now.
He carried the bags to his truck and tossed them in the back. As he did he saw her, Kym, he reminded himself, dart out of Malory’s bakery with a cup of coffee. No doubt it was one of those fancy blends that she’d brought in just for those who had to have it. He didn’t see the point, but then again John didn’t need anything that was fancy.
Kym hurried to her small Honda and drove away. John stood at the back of his truck and watched her disappear around the curve of the lake and behind the trees. It was a good thing she lived and worked at the same place, he figured. Sooner or later it was going to snow, and that little car wasn’t going to go anywhere.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Another How to.... is coming....

Genre: Fiction/Romance/Contemporary
Release Date: May 15, 2014
Digital ISBN-10: 1631120441 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-044-2
Print ISBN-10: 163112045X ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-045-9


How to Have an Amicable Divorce
Have you ever got yourself in so deep you feel like running away and starting a new life?

That’s exactly what wife and artist, Denizon Cartwright felt like doing. After deciding that she couldn’t put up with her unfaithful husband any longer, she leaves him for smooth-talking artist and professor, Damien   Johnson – but she soon learns she’s swapped one liar for another and beats a hasty retreat … only to become entangled with Jay, the ex-lover of her best friend, Robyn.

Could her life get any more complicated?
Yes! A surprise encounter leaves Denizon with an ever-growing list of men falling in love with her.

Her escape route is at hand in the shape of Escuela de Montana d’Armentera, an artistic retreat high up in the Spanish mountains. But her problems only follow, as she discovers.

Will she find true happiness in the Spanish sun or lose everyone she ever held dear?

And is the cost of finding herself too high a price to pay?


Monday, April 7, 2014

Another series coming from Bernadette Marie!

Amelia, Penelope, Vivian
The Three Mrs. Monroes
Bernadette Marie


Some men keep secrets…Adam Monroe kept three.

 Genre Contemporary Romance:
Amelia Book one of The Three Mrs. Monroes
Release Date: June 26, 2014
Digital ISBN-10: 1631120387 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-038-1
Print ISBN-10: 1631120395 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-039-8

From loss breeds new opportunity.
Amelia Monroe had felt the sharp pain from the loss of a soldier before—Adam Monroe’s death didn’t have that same effect.
Sam Jackson had one job—deliver Adam Monroe’s revised will. Even he couldn’t have anticipated that he’d be entangled in the web of lies his client had woven.

Doing what is right had been inbreed in Amelia. She’d planned to say her goodbyes and start fresh. Staying in Adam’s small town with his other lies, that wasn’t part of her plan.



Penelope Book two of The Three Mrs. Monroes
Release Date: July 31, 2014
Print ISBN-10: 1631120417 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-041-1


From loss breeds new life.
Penelope Monroe married on impulse and her heart had been broken by Adam Monroe’s lies. Pregnant she wonders how she will survive, alone, with her baby.
Brock Romero held Adam Monroe when he died in combat. Now released from the Army he makes it his priority to find Adam’s wife and share with her his last words.
On the verge of making the same mistake twice, Penelope must trust her heart—especially when new lies are uncovered.



Vivian Book three of The Three Mrs. Monroes
Release Date: August 28, 2014
Digital ISBN-10: 1631120425 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-042-8
Print ISBN-10: 1631120433 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-043-5

From loss breeds new beginnings
Vivian Monroe had been jaded. Her husband’s death only compounded the lies she’d only come to learn about.
Clayton North knows a thing or two about loss. He figured it was fate for him to meet Vivian Monroe. He’ll take on the challenge of helping her mend her heart.
Midst new friendships and new romance, Vivian must let go of her pain and face the woman who helped Adam Monroe weave his deceptive web.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

The end has come to Charlotte and Sanderson~Goodbye sweet friends








Available from 5 Prince Publishing www.5princebooks.com  books@5princebooks.com
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Release Date: April 3, 2014
Digital ISBN-10: 1631120298 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-029-9
Print ISBN-10: 1631120301 ISBN-13: 978-1-63112-030-5


A Heart Forever Wild


Outlaws. Lies. Executions. Indians.

When all of their dreams come true, will Sanderson and Charlotte still have what started it all – their everlasting love?

In this final installment of the Everlasting Heart series, Sanderson and Charlotte must make a home for themselves in the Army town of Fort Bidwell, California. When the job as an Indian agent begs him to round up the peaceful area Indians for execution, Sanderson again runs afoul of the government. In answer to the broken promises of the Army, Sanderson and Jerry turn to a well-paying job with the railroad. However, they are warned to turn a blind eye to the treatment of their Chinese workers ...  or else. But can money buy this formerly-happy Arkansas family the happiness they are so desperately searching for?

Meanwhile as Charlotte stands up for Cotton against the town bullies, she accidentally falls into favor with Johnny Tan, the handsome young outlaw who slowly transforms into both Sanderson’s nemesis and his saving grace. In a world where women are expected to be silent, can Charlotte be a parent Cotton, a wife to Sanderson who seems to have fallen more in love with money than with her, and friend to Minerva, who seems to be drifting farther and farther away?

About Sara Barnard
Sara Barnard, who was most likely born into the wrong century, is mother to four awesome children. In addition to Rebekah’s Quilt, she has authored the historical romance Everlasting Heart series, consisting of bestselling A Heart on Hold, which was also a 2012 RONE award finalist, A Heart Broken, A Heart at Home, and A Heart Forever Wild – all from 5 Prince Publishing. She also writes for the younger among us. Chunky Sugars is a picture book from 5 Prince Kids and her independently published children’s nonfiction titles, The ABC’s of Oklahoma Plants and The Big Bad Wolf Really Isn’t so Big and Bad, have hit bestseller lists several times. She and her family make their home in the far reaches of the west Texas desert with the Javalina, mesquite trees, and of course, lots and lots of oil.


Where to find Sara:
facebook.com/sarabarnardbooks
Twitter: @TheSaraBarnard


Excerpt of A Heart Forever Wild:
The thundering hooves from both the stampede and the onslaught of soldiers vibrated the ground. “Sanderson!” Charlotte had to shout to be heard over the growing din. The scene before her unfolded in slow motion as Jerry lifted Minerva, Jay Jay, and Cotton into the wagon with expert precision, one after the other.
Cotton’s normally musical voice tore from his throat in a hysterical shriek. “Mr. Sanderson! Don’t forget Button and George!” Tears left wet trails down his bronze face while more still shimmered in his clear blue eyes. His arms trembled as they reached for his wolf pup.
George whimpered, scared and helpless, until Jerry plopped Button into the wagon beside him. At once, the gray pup ceased his cries and began to snarl and snap at his brother and friend, both of their fluffy tails wagging, oblivious to the mortal danger that careened toward them from seemingly all directions. Cotton folded his little body over the puppies as Minerva draped her arm over Cotton. Her emerald eyes, wide and staring, darted to and fro.
Sanderson’s strong hands snapped Charlotte from her trance. “Come on!” Her grip tightened around tiny Charlie. “We gotta clear out!”
Nicolai flung his huge head as the herd of wild horses drew nearer and the shouts of the soldiers grew louder. He stomped his hooves as though he may take off with the mustangs at any moment. Achilles, hooked to pull the wagon alongside the younger stallion, glanced over his gray shoulder and whuffed.
Cocoa and Peanut zipped through Jerry’s legs as he pitched a few bags out of the birthing tipi that Charlotte had called her home -- the warm, snug, safe place where precious Charlie had come into the world and she herself had almost exited it. Both buckskin and cloth bags landed at her feet in the thin layer of mud. Careful not to trip over them, Charlotte quick-stepped to Sanderson and shoved Charlie into his waiting arms.
Once Charlotte was safe in the wagon bed with her family, Jerry tossed in the rest of the bags as she reached for Charlie.
Sanderson’s eyes were as wild as she’d ever seen. As she accepted their child from him, he was looking everywhere but at her. “Hunker down, going to be a rough ride,” he called, disappearing around the side of the wagon. Nicolai stomped and reared, making the wagon lurch as snippets of conversation made its way back to the bed where Charlotte tried to remain brave. Sanderson’s voice was the clearest. “You drive and I’ll ride!”
Cries from the Indians drowned out Jerry’s reply.
The wagon jerked to life as a few words from Charlotte’s beloved met her ears again. “Turn in with the herd ... kick for that river!”
Fear churned in Charlotte’s stomach as she grasped Charlie tighter. Her gaze, searching the faces of her loved ones who shared the wagon bed with her, met the wide one belonging to Minerva.
The words rolled off her tongue in choppy Romani-tinged syllables. “There is a river near?” Jay Jay screeched, prompting Charlie to join in, as the popping of gunshots peppered the air above the deafening roar of hoofbeats.
Careful to keep from looking out the front of the wagon, Charlotte hunkered down and tugged at the neck of her buckskin dress. Once her swollen breast was freed, she offered it to Charlie who quieted his whimpers and began to nurse.
Minerva busied herself with watching Jay Jay, following Charlotte’s lead not to look out the front of the wagon – or the back. “We’re with herd? Of wild horses?”
Cotton peeked up from his furry fort of wolf pups. “We’re riding with those stampedin’ horses?” His inky eyebrows arched skyward. “To get away from the soldiers?” He pushed himself up into a semi-sitting position. Had he ears like Button and George, they’d have no doubt been perked up, sitting at attention.
Charlotte laid her hand on his shoulder and nodded. “Please, stay low. Those shots are close.” No sooner had the words passed her lips than a crack sounded and a shot of hot lead tore through their canvas cover. Jerry roared from the driver’s box.
“No!” Minerva’s face contorted into a mishmash of planes as she tried to scramble toward the front of the wagon and conceal Jay Jay at the same time. “Jerry!”
Charlotte shoved Cotton back into the nest of puppies and slid down until she and Charlie were flat, as far from Army bullets as possible. “Minerva, get down!”
Tears leaked from Minerva’s flashing eyes as her mouth gaped, sobs roiling up from the depths of her being. “No, he’s dead! They’ve killed him!”
The wagon turned sharply to the right, sending Minerva and Jay Jay crashing over Cotton and into Charlotte’s legs. Hoofbeats thundered against the frozen earth in deafening thunks. Someone screamed, though Charlotte wasn’t sure if it was her or Minerva. Surely, her world was coming to an end.
Jerry’s voice rose above the din like a phoenix from the ashes. “I’m alright! You gals stay low -- we’re running with the herd now!”
Thank you God. Charlotte reached with her free arm and patted Minerva’s ebony head. Shots from the Cavalry rifles sounded farther away as the wagon roared wildly toward the north, in the company of a thousand wild horses.
Cotton’s head poked up again. “We’re in the herd? With wild horses?” With the grace and stealth of a cat, Cotton rose and crept toward the driver’s box, somehow managing to keep his footing amid the mess of goods, people, dogs, and the rolling of the wagon.
Charlotte reached to snag the youngster, but missed. “Cotton, no!” Before she could adjust her seat and grab for one of his moccasined feet, Cotton slipped through the canvas arch and situated himself next to Jerry without a single misstep. Holding onto the roughhewn wooden bench, Cotton swiveled his head back toward Charlotte, a grin lighting his entire face. “Miss Charlotte! I ain’t never seen so many horses!”
As she held the youngster’s stare, Charlotte’s lips spread back farther and farther until her eyes crinkled at the sides and her cheeks ached, her body rocking in rhythm with the wagon. The sudden surge of happiness was so unexpected, it threatened to consume her right then and there. “Watch ‘em for all of us, alright?”
Nodding his ebony-tressed head, Cotton hollered back. “Alright!” Before the word was fully formed and free of his lips, he had already turned back to face the horses.
George and Button took turns nipping at Charlotte’s toes before being knocked off their paws by the jostling wagon, only to begin again as soon as they regained their footing. Silly puppies. She froze. Puppies. Her head snapped back and forth, searching the wagon for the animals she knew weren’t there. Finally, she found her voice. “Minerva!” Charlotte’s voice broke as though speaking the words brought a whole new level of pain with them. “We left Peanut and Cocoa!” Right on cue, baby Charlie began to shriek.

WHAT A GREAT SERIES, AND A WONDERFUL ENDING. 
GOOD LUCK SARA BARNARD