Bernadette Marie

Author Bio

So Cute Photo San Jose Family Photography

Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie is known for building families readers want to be part of. Her series The Keller Family has graced bestseller charts since its release in 2011. Since then she has authored and published over thirty-five books. The married mother of five sons promises romances with a Happily Ever After always…and says she can write it because she lives it. 

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. 

Tell us about yourself. 

I am the happily married mother of five sons. An entrepreneurial spirit controls me, as I have been in business for myself since I was twenty. I am a publisher, an author, and of course I have two other businesses, because like I said, the entrepreneurial spirit controls me.  
 
When did you know you wanted to be an author? 

When I was thirteen, I began writing letters in a spiral notebook with my friends. We would pass it around during classes. The unique part to it was that we wrote as characters. Eventually, after having fallen in love with mini-series that were based on books, I thought I could take the letters my character wrote and I could write a book. This was my passion for the next twenty-seven years—writing that story, even submitting it when I was sixteen.  

 What genres do you like to read? Are these the same genres you write in? 

Aside from contemporary romances, which is my favorite, I enjoy reading biographies and paranormals. I write in contemporary romance. 

 
Is your book for adults, young adults or children? 

Adults 

What is your current release or project?

Kennedy Devereaux is the first book in my new family saga series, The Devereaux Family. Each book follows one of the siblings and is named for that character. 

 Tell us about the key characters 

Kennedy is entrepreneurial as well. The owner of a fashion boutique, she loves all things pink and feminine. But, don’t let the pink fool you. She’s a strong and independent woman. 

What is your blurb or synopsis of the book? 

Kennedy Devereaux, owner of Kennedy Devereaux Designs, is a sight to behold in her signature pink colors, accented with custom designed jewelry. Intriguing enough that Joel Kingsley, the man building the new business next door, can’t help but keep coming around, just to get to know the woman in the designer clothes. He finds she’s not such a mystery, and his charm easily wins her over–until she finds that he’s forgotten to let her in on the secrets of his past. 

Share an excerpt

Pink doors, crystal light fixtures, white shelves. Joel cupped his hands around his eyes to get a better look at the feminine interior of the store he stood in front of. Kennedy Devereaux Designs, the lettering on the door said. Costume jewelry, purses, and a few pieces of clothing were elegantly displayed on uncluttered shelves. He could see a small sitting area toward the back of the store with white chairs on a plush pink rug.   

When he stepped back from the door, he inhaled. Could he even smell the store and all of its femininity? 

“Can I help you?” A soft voice had him turning to see a woman, as feminine as the store, standing behind him. 

She was the smell—sweet and floral. Soft golden hair framed a delicate face, and her lipstick matched the soft pastel pink of the doors he’d been looking through. Sharp blue eyes watched him as he stared at her. 

Joel Kingsley was no idiot around women, but this one seemed to render him speechless. 

“We don’t open for an hour, but if you’re looking for something specific, I could help you with that,” she said as if to wake him from the trance that he’d fallen into. 

“Sorry,” he said, tucking his fingers into the front pockets of his jeans. “I was just looking in the window. New to the neighborhood and wanted to check out who else was here.” 

“New to the neighborhood? You just moved in?” 

Joel nodded to the building next door. “New business neighbor.” 

The woman looked past him to the old building which had once been the post office, then was broken down into retail businesses. They were about to reopen the space and make it grand again. 

“You’re putting a business in the building next door? Which part?” 

“All of it,” he said rocking back on his heels. “We’re gutting it and starting fresh. When we pulled back the dry wall on the north wall, we even uncovered all the old mailboxes. They’d just walled them up.” 

Her eyes were wide. “You’ll be doing a lot of construction?” 

“Of course. Ideally now is when we’d like to be opening. Spring and summer are great times for this kind of business. But permits took a lot longer to pull than we’d imagined. We’d like to be open by August at the latest, but with construction, you just never know what can happen.” 

A line formed between her brows. “You’ll have crews here all day?” 

And then it hit him. She was worried about what that was going to do to her business—the soft pink, feminine business that happened just beyond those doors under crystal lights. Joel looked down the street. Her neighbors included an antique shop, florist, holistic healing, and a bakery on the end cap. Something told him he was going to be met with the same lack of sensitivity from each of them as well. 

But his father always taught him to keep to his convictions. He believed in what he was doing, and nothing was going to stop him. So, he was going to inconvenience people for a while, but he was also about to bring in three times the number of customers to the quaint little square. 

Holding out his hand he began to introduce himself. “Joel Kingsley.” 

The woman hesitantly took his hand and shook it. Her nail polish matched the door and her lipstick.   

He’d expected a weak little shake, but he got a full on business handshake, and it lit something inside him.   

“Kennedy Devereaux.” 

Kennedy Devereaux Designs, that’s you.” 

“Of course it is.” 

Do you have a favorite scene? 

I think my favorite scene is the one I shared where Joel meets Kennedy. The set up of femininity was fun to create, and her use of Kennedy Pink is my favorite. 
 
What advice would you give a beginner? 
Never give up. Never quit writing. Don’t over edit. Make sure if you are going traditional, research the agents and publishers first. Make sure they are trustworthy. Also, make sure you know what they are looking for. As a publisher, most rejections happen because the author never read our guidelines. If Independent Publishing is in your future, find an excellent content editor. Put out quality work, and you’ll have more success. 

SOCIAL MEDIA/CONTACT 

Email: info@bernadettemarie.com 

Website: www.bernadettemarie.com 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorbernadettemarie 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/writesromance 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorbernadettemarie 

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/writerofromance 

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Kennedy-Devereaux-Family-Book-ebook/dp/B08JZK8KKV

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2 thoughts on “Bernadette Marie

  1. Sounds like a cute read with business owners falling in love next door to each other. Knowing Joel has some past secrets that could destroy their love sounds eerie and riveting! The cover looks like the story is a small town setting (which I LOVE).

    My question for the author is, what celebrities do you think look the most like Kennedy and Joel in your head? Thanks for sharing an excerpt!

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