Jennifer Bernard offers a smokin’ hot read, all for a good cause Jennifer Bernard blazed onto the romance scene with back-to-back publications of the first two books in Bachelor Firemen of San Gabriel series earlier this year, with Publishers Weekly calling book one, THE FIREMAN WHO LOVED ME, “solid, sexy, and funny.” While readers wait for the next full-length story from the Bachelor Firemen, Bernard has a sizzling prequel for them with ONE FINE FIREMAN, an e-original novella from Avon Impulse on sale November 13, 2012 (e-ISBN 9780062257956; $1.99). Not only will readers get a story with lots of heat, they will also be contributing to a good cause with their purchase of ONE FINE FIREMAN. Bernard has pledged to contribute a portion of her earnings from every book sold for the lifetime of the book to the Firefighters Cancer Support Network, an organization she heard about while researching her novels. According to its website, the mission of the Firefighters Cancer Support Network “is to provide timely assistance to all fire service members and their families in the event of cancer diagnosis…[and to provide] awareness to fire service members and their families about the importance of cancer prevention and screening…

Inspiration – that elusive gem, that idea that transforms our thoughts and our ideas into the essential essence  of our stories. But, from what magical place does that indefinable pearl emerge? For me, as a nurse and humanitarian aid worker, I find inspiration everywhere. I stand in line at the bank and watch as a woman peers into a glass shelf, and seeing her own reflection, preens with undisguised admiration. I write furiously. I want to capture the set of her eyes, the slight grin as she realizes how intrigued she is by her own reflection.  On the crowded commute to work, I watch as harried drivers, sometimes wild-eyed,  thump their horns, and shout at other drivers.   Everywhere I look there is inspiration and, eager to record it all, I am never without a pen and paper. My aid work has taken me to a variety of places – from Africa to Afghanistan – and when I took my tentative first steps in the world beyond our own, I knew at once that everything there was inspirational, not just the people, but the rugged landscape, the steaming green tea, all of it sustenance for this writer’s soul. Afghanistan, like Africa…

In my brand new release, LET IT SEW, the holidays are fast approaching and the members of the Sweet Briar Ladies’ Society Sewing Circle have much to do to get ready. There are the usual things of course—baking cookies, making homemade stockings, and the like. But there’s also a few not so usual things that threaten to wreak havoc on their preparations. You know, things like a real live Grinch who has set her sights on Margaret Louise’s decades-long role as head of the town’s decorating committee… And a little boy whose fondest Christmas memories are being destroyed out of jealousy and meanness… Oh, and did I mention the dead body? The one Tori Sinclair unearths on the grounds of the library during a late night dig with Leona and Margaret Louise? The one with ties to the sewing circle’s very existence? Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas, huh? Well don’t despair. We are talking about the Sweet Briar Ladies’ Society Sewing Circle, aren’t we? These ladies, while equal parts gentle and ornery, know right from wrong. And standing by while the town’s Christmas traditions are turned inside out and backwards isn’t in their DNA. Nor is the idea of looking…

Anyone who’s read my historical novels up to now knows that I don’t write about handsome dukes or gorgeous duchesses. I am not wealthy, or beautiful, or even well-mannered; consequently, I find it challenging to relate to characters like that. In fact, with the exception of one book, my heroines have been plump, poor, or plain. Those qualities I can relate to. Perhaps that’s why I loved the Broadway musical, The Phantom of the Opera. I felt so sorry for that poor man with his blighted face and unrequited love. I was angry and disappointed with Christine Daaé, who chose the handsome and rich Raoul de Chagny over the artistic and longsuffering Erik. OK, so he killed a few people. Nobody’s perfect. Even after viewing the play seven times, reading the book by Gaston Leroux, and watching the film starring Gerard Butler, I found myself wishing for a different ending. I kept hoping that Erik would finally find the love he sought. Needless to say, the tragic ending was always the same. But through the magic of storytelling, we’re now able to glance into a world of might-have-been. Long after Erik was abandoned by the beauteous Christine, UNMASKED begins to…