Devil To Pay by Renee Bernard

I have to admit to being more than a little envious of today’s guest. Why? Because she’s funny, and there’s nothing I like more than a good laugh. So today I’m happy to introduce Renee Bernard. Over to you Renee…

Hello! Thank you so much for having me here!  It’s always fun to stop on a tour and meet other authors and new readers especially stepping out of my comfort zone with historicals and now trying paranormal romantic comedy.  (By the way, try saying ‘paranormal romantic comedy’ ten times really fast.  It turns into Klingon sweet nothings really fast.)  DEVIL TO PAY is the first book in my new Eternity Gambit series and I’m very excited about it.  Don’t get me wrong! I love writing historical romances and I’m not giving them up but it was nice to take off the corset and touch my toes again…

For four years, I’ve been hosting a weekly internet radio show called “The Romance Bookmark” (formerly “Canned Laughter and Coffee”) which Ms. Marlow Kelly needs to come on as a guest by the way… Anyhooo! Every Tuesday night, a different author comes on the show to hang out with me for fifteen minutes of non-professional, non-marketing, unrehearsed conversation.  We laugh, we chat, we pretend it isn’t live radio and say things we shouldn’t.  It’s a lot of fun and so far, no one has complained. 

I mention it because I think it’s important not to take ourselves too seriously out there.  And promoting yourself is always hard. Whatever insecurities we have, we have to put them aside, raise our hands in a class of thousands and hope that someone calls on you and that when they do, you don’t pass out.  It’s a joy ride. 

Not that I’m shy.  The opportunity to host “The Romance Bookmark” was tailor-made for me but I don’t ever, ever shove my books in people’s faces with the platform. I see it  more as a chance to help other authors, debut and veteran, to have more of a voice and presence with their fans.  I think readers want to connect with us and hearing us laugh and be able to relate to our ordinary lives is a great way to do it.  I want them to hear a person who reminds them of themselves or someone they know and then when they are looking for the next book to pick up for their TBR piles, they see a name that means more than an author in a genre.  They remember how her radiator overheated in July with an ice cream cake in her back seat and how she let her giant black lab “clean it out” only to learn that large dogs aren’t meant to consume that much sugared frozen milk products before having a different crisis on the upholstery… 

See?  Pure magic.

Humor is my greatest personal asset, defense, weapon, party accessory and mediation tool in a crisis.  I don’t think I could have survived this long without it.  I have always consciously made it a part of my life.  I did open amateur mike nights at local comedy clubs after college and let’s face it, if your brain works a certain way, a trip to the grocery store can provide you enough comic material to keep you afloat for months.

So the jump to romantic comedy was fairly obvious.  I needed an outlet.  The nearest comedy club is over two hours away and I have two young children.  Mama needs to sleep and she’s too old to pretend she doesn’t.  But every Tuesday night, Mama gets to relax, hang out with better, brilliant minds and make the most of a simple truth: We’re stronger when we laugh.

 

Available at:


Amazon 

Smashwords 

B&N 

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Workplace comedy is always fun but when the company in question in H.E.LLc (Hades Enterprises LLc) and your job is being Lucifer, let's just say, there are some unique challenges beyond Casual Fridays and who keeps taking your lunch out of the break room. Even if Hell really is just a place where evil is tracked and analyzed in endless cubicles-no brimstone and not a human soul in sight-there's no room for error. This Lucifer (who is the seventh unlucky archangel to get the position behind the black onyx desk) is about to have his entire world rattled when a very sweet and likable mortal woman crosses his path.

After all, angels can't lie. And when Jayne Hamilton wants to know what he does for a living, all bets are off. Because "dating" isn't exactly in the cosmic scheme of the Eternity Gambit, but Love... Well, Love is never really off the table.

Now, if Lucifer can just figure out how to win the girl and get himself fired, he'll be one very very happy angel. 

"Filled with sparkling wit and devilish charm, DEVIL TO PAY is a delightful visit to the Shangri-La of Hell!" -- Erin Quinn, The Three Fates of Ryan Love, NYT Bestselling Author.

"Only Renee Bernard could make dating Satan sexy as sin! Funny, fresh, irreverent and utterly adorable!" - Dakota Cassidy, National Bestselling Author

First book in the new Eternity Gambit series from USA Today bestselling author Renee Bernard. This is a romantic comedy series with an original paranormal twist that defies categorization and turns every notion of Heaven and Hell on its ear.


Excerpt

“Jayne!” He shook his head.  “I didn’t expect to see you—ever again.” 

“Didn’t you?” She decided to jump in full steam ahead before her courage evaporated.  “You deliberately drop a bombshell of an announcement on a woman about being some mythical ruler of Hell, play with her sense of reality and then what?  Did you expect me to just laugh it off and go on with my life?”

Luke froze.  “I don’t think I had any expectations and I don’t think I proclaimed to be mythical, Jayne. But perhaps we should let Malcolm leave before we finish our conversation.”

“I don’t mind staying!” Malcolm protested.  “I can be very quiet over here in the corner and you won’t even know I’m in the room.”

Jayne blushed furiously.  “I…I apologize.  I shouldn’t have…started in…”

“Oh, don’t apologize.” Malcolm’s look was nothing short of incendiary admiration.  “This is priceless.”

Lucifer came around the desk effectively rescuing her from the smoldering look Malcolm was giving her.  “Jayne, I was about to introduce you to Malcolm, but I’m starting to think that that would be a mistake.”

“Not at all!” Malcolm protested.  “I’m the soul of courtesy, Miss Hamilton.”

Lucifer began again.  “Jayne, this is Malcolm.  My right hand, so to speak.”

“How do you do?” Jayne held out her hand, determined hold her own in the world of weird she’d just reinvaded.  “Are you an angel, too?”

Malcolm’s warm hand enveloped hers, his smile brightening at the question, amping up his charm to an almost bone-melting level.  “Oh, I’m no angel!  But I’m flattered you would think so.”  He gave Lucifer a preening look and a wink of a challenge.  “I like her.”

“I like her more.  Behave, Malcolm.  And let go of her hand.”

“I apologize.”  Malcolm released his grip, stepping back to defer to his boss.   “I forgot myself in the moment. 

“Okay, that’ll be all, Malcolm.” Lucifer dismissed him more firmly, and Malcolm bowed and obeyed, retreating to the elevator and disappearing behind its doors.  “You were saying, Miss Hamilton?”

“I…” Jayne took a deep breath.  “I believe you.”

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

What in the world is a retired Navy chaplain’s daughter doing writing scorching hot historical romances and paranormal romantic comedies and even comic books? Renee Bernard is applying a great education from traveling all over the world to story telling and doing her best to keep her father proud. Truthfully, her father is her number one fan, even though he has sworn never to read a single word of her books (a vow he has kept to this day!) Nothing stops him from telling everyone he knows that his daughter is now a USA Today Bestselling author or from handing out bookmarks on the golf course.  Love can make even a minister do strange things!

Renee Bernard is a freelance writer and host of “The Romance Bookmark” on Readers Entertainment, as well as a contributor to Romantic Times BookReviews magazine.  Renee currently lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Northern California. (Note an interesting proximity to great wineries!)

DEVIL TO PAY is available now online wherever books are sold and is coming soon to Audio!  The Eternity Gambit series is a fun departure from her well-known Victorian set historical romances and creates a new world for readers unlike any other.  DEVIL TO PAY is the first book in this new series and is gathering up 5-Star reviews and momentum as more readers discover that office politics can hit a whole new level of crazy when you work at Hades Enterprises, LLc (or H.E.LLc).

For more information, please visit her website at http://www.reneebernardauthor.com or http://www.eternitygambit.com .

 

You can also find her at:
FaceBook at Renee Bernard Fan Page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Renee-Bernard-Fan-Page/85990572539

Twitter: @ReneeBernard

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Renee will be giving a $50 B&N or Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/12/vbt-devil-to-pay.html

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