Bria Rivello Media

Bria Rivello Media 📚Storytelling with Strength 💪
📈Strategy for Small Businesses 🏪📱
📖Read or Book a Consultation Today☎️

☀️Beautiful morning at the best beach in South Jersey. 🏖️💖 My parents and I discovered Fortescue 6 years ago on Memorial...
06/16/2026

☀️Beautiful morning at the best beach in South Jersey. 🏖️💖 My parents and I discovered Fortescue 6 years ago on Memorial Day 2020, and I’ve been in love ever since.👍🏻 Relaxing by the beautiful bay before the humidity 🥵 and green heads 🪰 return. I feel like I can finally breathe again with my day job being done for the school year, 👩‍🏫 CPRS training being finished tommorow, 🧠 finishing creating and scheduling marketing posts before Where the Dunes Settle’s release mext week, 📖🎨 & tying up freelance work 👩🏻‍💻& grad classes ✏️ before I take a 2-week break + my Elsinboro trip. 🌊☀️ Busy season, but necessary to get where I want to go and character-building for sure.💪 I love this place so much I want a beach house here.💖🏠🏝️

📖 1 More Week until Where the Dunes Settle is released on Amazon! 📚🛒😀💖👍🏻 Kindle Pre-Ordering Available Now! 🛍️📱
06/16/2026

📖 1 More Week until Where the Dunes Settle is released on Amazon! 📚🛒😀💖👍🏻 Kindle Pre-Ordering Available Now! 🛍️📱

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd, let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until th...
06/16/2026

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd, let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until the release date, I will post a fun fact about what went into writing the book, along with quotes/excerpts to show it!
The fourth and final fun fact is about why the book is titled "Where the Dunes Settle." I wrote this story to tell a story about personal transformation through relationships and staying true to yourself. I would also say it is a parable about how love alone is not always enough to overcome fundamental differences in values and long-term goals.
Just as dunes are reshaped by storms and tides yet remain standing, our experiences transform us while our true selves remain at the core.

Quotes:
"Later, lying in bed, the room dark and still, Angelina let her thoughts settle. Before Liam she had been independent, but isolated.... Now, she was both independent and connected." -Chapter 40

"Our relationship had not been a mistake. It had been a turning point." -Chapter 39

"As they passed the dunes, Angelina glanced toward them briefly. Storms had shaped them. Winds had shifted them. Tides had tested them. But they remained, not untouched or unchanged, but settled. " -Chapter 44

📚 Meet Liam Ellis• Born circa 1992 and a lifelong resident of Willow Bay, New Jersey• Son of Paul and Linda Ellis, whose...
06/12/2026

📚 Meet Liam Ellis

• Born circa 1992 and a lifelong resident of Willow Bay, New Jersey
• Son of Paul and Linda Ellis, whose steady marriage shaped his belief in family, commitment, and unconditional support
• Younger brother to Maggie Ellis, a counselor who lives with her wife and their beloved cats
• Younger brother to Alexis Ellis, a nurse and devoted single mother to a son, Dylan, and daughter, Ella
• Graduated from Willow Bay High School in 2010
• Earned a Master’s Degree in English from Rutgers–Camden
• Works as a full-time faculty member at South Jersey Shore Community College
• Known for his kindness, patience, empathy, and thoughtful nature
• A deep thinker who values meaningful conversations, personal growth, and genuine connection
• Down-to-earth and approachable despite his academic career
• Believes in showing up for the people he loves, even when life gets complicated
• Drawn to Angelina Castagna’s fiery spirit, fierce independence, and determination to live life on her own terms
• Admires her strength and ambition, even when her stubborn streak frustrates him or challenges his own values
• Finds himself torn between his love for Angelina and his long-held dreams of marriage, family, and children
• A man who learns that love is not always about finding someone who shares your plans—but understanding and respecting the person they truly are.

📖 Read more about him in Where the Dunes Settle, coming out June 23rd on Amazon!

📚

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd, let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until th...
06/09/2026

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd, let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until the release date, I will post a fun fact about what went into writing the book, along with quotes/excerpts to show it!
This third fun fact is about how the main character, Angelina, and I have one important thing in common: we're both single and childfree by choice.

When writing Angelina's character, I wanted to create a protagonist who feels complete on her own, embraces the life she wants, and stays true to herself.

While Angelina's story is not my story, her experiences were inspired by the realities many single and childfree-by-choice people like me face. Like all fiction, her journey is imagined, but the emotions, questions, and choices she navigates reflect the experiences of many people who choose a path different from what society often expects.

Chapter 2 Excerpt:
Before they finished their meals, Liam set down his fork, tilting his head slightly. “Can I ask something that might get me in trouble?”
Her brow lifted. “Go ahead.”
“Is it true you’ve never dated anyone? Carly told me.”
She took a sip of lemon water before answering. “Probably the truest thing about me.”
Liam blinked, surprised. “Like… never?”
“Never.”
He paused, caught off guard. “I’m not suspicious or anything. It’s just… you’re beautiful, intelligent, funny, and interesting. Why haven’t you? If you don’t mind me asking… You certainly don’t have to answer that.”
Angelina looked down at the table. “I’ve just never been drawn to that traditional lifestyle. I’m not interested in dating or getting married, and I definitely don’t want kids.” She took another sip of water. “I don’t even like them.”
“Oh… Okay.” He paused, like he had not expected that...
“That’s not about you,” she added. “You seem like one of the nice ones. I’ve just built a life that fits. Why complicate things?”

📝 My poem that was featured in the New Jersey Bards Poetry Review Anthology 2026.📖
06/08/2026

📝 My poem that was featured in the New Jersey Bards Poetry Review Anthology 2026.📖

✨ MEET ANGELINA CASTAGNA ✨Before you dive into *Where the Dunes Settle*, here's a little about the woman at the heart of...
06/06/2026

✨ MEET ANGELINA CASTAGNA ✨

Before you dive into *Where the Dunes Settle*, here's a little about the woman at the heart of the story:

• Born in 1991 and raised in Willow Bay, New Jersey

• 31 years old at the beginning of the story

• Lifelong Willow Bay resident

• Graduate of Willow Bay High School, Class of 2009

• Earned a degree in Communications with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies from Stockton University

• Works as a freelance communications specialist

• Raised primarily by her grandmother, Maria Castagna, while her mother, Sandra, struggled with alcoholism

• Does not know the identity of her father at the start of the story

• Fiercely independent and determined to build a life on her own terms

• A passionate feminist and supporter of women's rights

• Single and childfree by choice

• Proud dog mom to her poodle bichon, Abby

• Loves the Jersey Shore, walks along the beach and marina, traveling to different spots in South Jersey, and summer sunsets

• Loyal to the people she trusts, but doesn't let many people get close

📖 Read Angelina's story in *Where the Dunes Settle*, a novella about personal transformation, healing, and choosing a life that is aligned with you. Will be released on Amazon on June 23rd!

📚Want a good coastal women’s fiction/romance story for your summer beach read? 🏖️📖 Look no further than Where the Dunes ...
06/05/2026

📚Want a good coastal women’s fiction/romance story for your summer beach read? 🏖️📖 Look no further than Where the Dunes Settle, which will be released in paperback and Kindle on Amazon Tuesday, June 23rd! ☀️🌊💖
📖 Description: Set in the fictional shore town of Willow Bay, New Jersey, Where the Dunes Settle follows Angelina Castagna, a fiercely independent and ambitious thirty-one-year-old woman who has built her life around autonomy, control, and self-preservation.
Happily single and childfree by choice, Angelina is content with the life she has created for herself. But beneath that independence lies a quiet loneliness shaped by a childhood marked by emotional neglect, alcoholism, and unresolved resentment toward her estranged mother.
When her best friend Carly introduces her to Liam Ellis—a warm, emotionally intelligent English literature professor from a loving and open-minded family—Angelina finds herself drawn into a relationship that is healthy, respectful, and deeply fulfilling. It offers everything she never expected to find and never planned to want.
But as their relationship deepens, so do the differences in the futures they envision. While Liam longs for partnership, marriage, and family, Angelina remains committed to the independence and childfree life she has fought hard to build.
At the same time, her mother, now more than a decade sober, begins trying to reconnect, forcing Angelina to confront painful truths she has spent years avoiding.
Tender, emotionally layered, and deeply introspective, Where the Dunes Settle is a contemporary women’s fiction novella about healing, self-discovery, personal transformation through relationships, and choosing a life aligned with oneself.💖

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd. Let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until th...
06/02/2026

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd. Let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until the release date, I will post a fun fact about what went into writing the book, along with quotes to show it!
This second fun fact pertains to the book's setting. Willow Bay, New Jersey is a fictional town. The main reason I often create fictional but realistic towns in my writing is to maximize creativity without worrying about geographic accuracy. This allows me to fictionalize areas, businesses, weather, etc. It also makes it more protective of any real people, places, and events that may have inspired my work. That being said, the settings of my stories are usually at least inspired by somewhere in South Jersey or the tri-state area, because that is all I am really familiar with.

When I created Willow Bay, I knew I wanted it to be a shore town. I didn't want it to be far out from the rest of the world or rural like the Cape May County area, so I opted for more Atlantic County vibes. I also wanted it to match my idea of an ideal shore town that is artsy, walkable, and full of small businesses and young professionals, much like real-life Collingswood in Camden County, NJ. I know this type of town does not really exist near the shore because the culture is different from that of a town right outside a major US city like Philadelphia. So, Willow Bay blends the best of both words: the shore and a hip, walkable town!

Quotes:
"Leaving the beach behind, she moved through the empty streets of Willow Bay. The coffee shops, bookstores, and metaphysical shops along the avenue sat quiet at that hour, their personality tucked behind darkened windows. Pride flags and Black Lives Matter banners hung still, waiting for the town to wake.
She was grateful it was late September. Most of the tourists flooding neighboring Seashore City across the bay were gone, and the steady traffic between Atlantic City and Cape May had finally eased." -Chapter 1

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd. Let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until th...
05/26/2026

So, while we're waiting until Where the Dunes Settle's release on June 23rd. Let's have some fun! Every Tuesday until the release date, I will post a fun fact about what went into writing the book, along with quotes to show it!
This first Fun Fact is my favorite. The main character, Angelina Castagna, has her loyal dog, Abby, always by her side. This character literally came to mind at the last minute as I was drafting Chapter 1 in the first draft last July. At the time, I was only like 2 months into having our dog, Riley, and thought it would be fun to incorporate her into the story somehow! After all, what's a single, childfree woman without a dog? I couldn't have her be a "Childless Cat Lady," lol. That's how the character, Abby, the adorable, intelligent, but mischievous sidekick, was born!
Quotes:
"When Angelina stepped inside her apartment, she was breathing heavily. The space was small but clean, filled with neutral tones and the faint scent of vanilla from a candle she had burned the night before.
Abby, her white and apricot poodle-bichon, greeted her with an enthusiastic dance, tail wagging wildly." -Chapter 1
"She scooped her up and kissed the top of her head, then carried her over to the couch and settled in, pulling Abby into her lap like she was a child.
'Guess what?” she murmured. 'Aunt Carly set me up with a guy. I was not happy about that.” She huffed lightly. 'But… he was nice.'
Abby let out a small sigh, already mildly inconvenienced by the tight hug.
Angelina rested her chin against her head.
'But it can’t work,' she said quietly. 'He wants romance, the wedding, the house with the white picket fence, and kids running around.'
She shook her head slightly.
'That’s not me, puppy girl.'
Abby shifted in her lap, unimpressed, as Angelina held her a little tighter, talking through something the dog would never understand." -Chapter 2

Address

Washington Township
Gloucester County, NJ
08012

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bria Rivello Media posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category