Hello and welcome!! Happy Tuesday and also Happy Publication Day to the fabulous BERNI STEVENS for the release of IT’S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL!!!
And to celebrate that fact, I’m handing over the blog to her today so she can share an excerpt from the book with you… and then you can rush out and buy yourself a copy as it’s another wonderful book from her!!
Over to you Berni….
Exclusive Release Day Extract: It’s Only Rock and Roll by Berni Stevens
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship with an internationally famous rock star? Would you travel with him? Or would you stay at home, following your own career path? Can you even imagine what it must be like going to every social occasion alone, because your man’s away on the other side of the world?
How fragile the balance within the band must be sometimes, and how easily it can all go horribly wrong. Everything could collapse in a drumbeat if that balance is upset.
There’s the soaring egos amongst the band’s main personnel, the competition and the jealousies, and then there’s the girlfriends and wives …
Here’s a couple of sneaky peeks at the book, firstly when Izzy and Seth arrive in Adelaide for the final leg of the tour before everyone enjoys a few weeks’ holiday, followed by Izzy’s arrival at Seth’s beautiful country pile in Sussex …
I hope you enjoy them.
Berni x
From: It’s Only Rock and Roll by Berni Stevens
Seth cast a cursory look over their cases and nodded.
‘All there,’ he said.
One less thing to worry about. Their luggage had arrived safely with them in Adelaide and not careered off to Bangkok.
Zach was indeed waiting with Anna in Arrivals, standing with a bunch of other drivers all holding up notices. Zach’s said: Mr Rock God and his lovely lady. Seth laughed aloud when he saw it, and Izzy, in spite of the weird feeling that she’d somehow landed on a different planet, joined in.
‘Hey man, how’s it going?’ He shook hands with Zach and dropped a kiss on Anna’s cheek. ‘How’s my second favourite girl?’
‘Good to have you back,’ said Zach. ‘Really.’
‘Sounds ominous.’ Seth shot him a look.
‘Nothing you can’t sort,’ said Zach quickly. ‘The odious Sophie arrived a couple of days ago.’
Seth rolled his eyes. ‘Now I know it’s ominous.’
‘Sophie?’ Izzy looked at Anna, fearing Sophie might be another Gracie, and, to be honest, one of those was enough for any one lifetime. Gracie was one of Seth’s ex-girlfriends – demanding, jealous and verging on stalker-like.
‘The love of Jonno’s life – apparently,’ said Anna. ‘Interfering and really annoying – just like the woman in Spinal Tap.’
‘I’m betting Iz has never seen Spinal Tap,’ said Seth with a grin. He raised his eyebrows at Izzy in question.
‘Sounds like an affliction,’ muttered Izzy.
‘In all the years I’ve worked for the band, I’ve never ever known Gina and Caz to argue. They’re like twin sisters, but the moment she arrived, they’ve been arguing,’ said Anna with a sigh.
Seth frowned. ‘Over what?’
‘Sophie “borrowed” Caz’s personal mic, so she could sing Jonno’s track yesterday. Without asking I might add, and her voice is bloody awful. When challenged, she told Caz that Gina said she could use it, so it was Gina who got yelled at.’
Izzy didn’t know much about band politics, but even she knew personal equipment was just that – personal.
‘What fun she’s having,’ said Seth grimly.
***
The gates clanged shut behind her, and she drove up towards the property. The beautiful red-brick Tudor house came into view after the first bend in the drive. She remembered the first time he’d brought her here, and it did feel strange to just turn up without him. Almost voyeuristic. He must trust me implicitly to allow me to come here, she thought. The London flat was one thing, but this was his special place: his retreat from the mad world of rock and roll. And yet he’d allowed her in without any doubts at all, it appeared.
Unsure where she should park, Izzy followed the sweeping drive round to the back of the house, to the big wooden door she knew opened on to his very impressive kitchen – the kitchen nobody ever cooked in. A gunmetal coloured VW Golf was parked under the trees opposite the back door, so Izzy parked next to it, wondering who it belonged to. She got out of her car and stretched, feeling the need to walk off the hours spent driving.
The back door opened, and a sturdy-looking woman with grey-streaked brown hair pulled back in a severe bun stepped out.
‘You Isabelle?’ she called.
‘That’s me,’ said Izzy.
‘I’m Sarah, Seth’s housekeeper.’
Another housekeeper. Izzy really hoped she didn’t live in.
‘Hello, Sarah,’ she said, hauling her case out of the boot. ‘How’s everything?’
‘Quiet with Seth away,’ Sarah replied with a quick survey of Izzy’s belongings. ‘How long are you here for?’
‘I’m not sure yet.’ Suddenly Izzy didn’t feel very welcome.
‘I don’t cook,’ Sarah continued. ‘You’ll have to fend for yourself. And I don’t clean either. I’m only here now to see you in.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Izzy, wondering what, in fact, she did do. ‘I’ve brought supplies, and I’ll be visiting my family a fair bit too.’
‘Couldn’t stay with them then?’
Izzy hid an inward sigh. This woman would take some winning over, it seemed.
‘I could have, yes,’ was all she said. She continued pulling bags of supermarket shopping out of the boot, and her laptop bag, but decided to leave her wellies where they were. Something told her she shouldn’t appear to be moving in to this territorial woman. Slamming the boot shut, she locked the car and began taking her stuff into the kitchen. Sarah made no attempt to help, just continued standing in the wide doorway with her arms folded, so Izzy had to say ‘excuse me’ every time she wanted to get by.
‘There’s no milk either,’ she said, seemingly as a last ditch attempt to rattle Izzy.
‘I brought some,’ said Izzy abruptly, wishing the woman would just go home.
‘Or tea,’ she continued.
‘Don’t drink it,’ said Izzy, almost beginning to enjoy the exchange now.
‘Or coffee.’
Izzy burst out laughing. She couldn’t help it. What was her problem?
© Berni Stevens
About the Book:
Is the rock and roll lifestyle all it’s cracked up to be?
Being the girlfriend of a rock star isn’t all glitz and glamour – at least that’s what Izzy Grant has found since she started dating Seth Roberts of Scarlet Gryphon fame; it’s actually a lot of waiting and wondering and worrying as Seth travels the world whilst she’s stuck in London. Can she ever rely on Mr Cool to settle down?
But rock gods get insecure too, and whilst Seth is jetting off to far-flung locations to perform sold-out shows, he worries that Izzy will find a “Joe Normal” and opt for a more ordinary life. Plus, he could do with some support when a certain entitled rock star girlfriend gets too big for her Jimmy Choos and threatens to break up the band.
There is a solution, but are either of them willing to take the plunge?
Buying links:
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3q6cE3r
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3taumEU
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3IfN5Df
Nook: https://bit.ly/3KMLs1C
About the Author:
Berni Stevens lives in a four-hundred-year-old cottage in Hertfordshire, England, with her husband, son and black cat. She trained in graphic design and has worked as a book cover designer for more than twenty years.
Books and art remain her passion, and her love of the paranormal began when she first read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, aged fourteen. She is now on both the committee and the book panel of the Dracula Society, a society for fans of gothic literature and film.
Berni writes contemporary and fantasy romance.
Find out more about Berni here:
https://www.instagram.com/berni.stevens.5/
https://www.facebook.com/berni.stevens.5/
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