​The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.

This month, I'm sharing some snippets from A Harmony of Fire and Earth, the second book in the Elemental Magicae duology. This book picks up right where A Dance of Water and Air ends (if you don't want spoilers, proceed with caution!). Arden and Edmund have reached relative safety in Edmund's home kingdom and are preparing for their wedding, but as personally happy as they are, they know their countries are still in danger. They believe there is a way to protect them, but they need powerful wielders of Earth and Fire magic to help. Arden sends for two he trusts—Rhys and Briallen—and they bring Gaz, a powerful Fire wielder, with them. Rhys fell in love with Gaz a long time ago, but his friend doesn't know it. And almost no one, including Rhys, knows that Gaz is actually Prince Gareth, Edmund's brother long thought dead and in hiding for his own safety. Gareth agrees to return home to help his brother, knowing that it could put him in danger and destroy the relationship he begins with Rhys along the way. A bit of a random snippet this week. Rhys, Gaz, Briallen, and Meraud are in the middle of their journey, made more difficult because it's winter and very cold and snowy. Rhys has a gift for Gaz to help with the cold.

You can find more about A Harmony of Fire and Earth here. Thanks for reading today and I hope you're staying safe and well.

I've always loved fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, so since tomorrow is Tell a Fairy Tale Day, I thought I would recommend a few fairy tale retellings I enjoyed. These are a mix of young adult and adult books, all fantasy/fantasy romance. There are some great contemporary and historical romances that use fairy tales for inspiration without fantasy elements, but I'm focusing on the fantasy ones this time.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (YA, Snow White): In this reimagining of Snow White, the tales of stepmother Mina and stepdaughter Lynet are told in past and present, intertwining. And even though there are two romances in this story—Lynet's f/f romance and Mina's m/f—it's the relationship between Mina and Lynet that drives the story. Mina is the only mother Lynet has ever known, and as in the original tale, their relationships begins to go very wrong, but unlike in the original tale, they can change it.

The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl (YA, various): The Grimrose Girls weaves together various fairy tales in the modern settling of an elite boarding school. Three girls have lost their best friend to what the police believe is suicide, but what they believe is murder. When their newest roommate arrives, it sets in motion a series of events in which they confirm that Ariane was murdered, but she wasn't the first murder by far. The fantasy, mystery, and fairy tale elements are all intriguing and well done and just a bit dark, and there is tons of queer rep among the main characters. Also the beginnings of a couple of romances. I have the second book waiting for on my TBR stack.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley (YA, Beauty and the Beast): I adore this retelling and have since I first read it when I was in middle school. That same paperback—a little battered after so many years and readings—is still on my book shelf. It's a really lovely retelling and a faithful one. The characterization is wonderful, the setting stunning, and writing lovely and perfect for conveying this fairy tale.

Ash by Malinda Lo (YA, Cinderella): When Ash's father dies, she's left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother, a set-up very much like the original tale. In this one, Ash escapes into the stories of fairies her mother told her and dreams of fairies of stealing her away—and thinks her dreams might come true when she meets a fairy. But it's really when she meets the King's Huntress that her life begins to change and she begins to see a life past her grief. There's a lovely f/f romance and a suitably creepy fairy who has laid a claim on Ash to escape as well.

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten (Adult, Beauty and the Beast): Before I started this book, I thought it was going to be Red Riding Hood inspired, mostly from the cover in which the heroine is wearing a red hooded cloak, the mentions of a wolf, and the heroine's nickname Red. But, it turned out to be a Beauty and the Beast inspired story and a really lovely one. The world building and magic were intriguing, and the romance between Red and the Wolf quiet and gorgeous. The exploration of sisterhood and sacrifice was also compelling. The sequel, For the Throne, finishes the story with a focus on Red's sister and some inspiration from Snow White.

Peter Darling by Austin Chant (Adult, Peter Pan): I'm not sure if Peter Pan counts as a fairy tale, but I had to include Peter Darling anyway because it is a delightful and ingenious retelling. It manages to be a joyful, fun, and funny story while also being thought-provoking throughout, dealing with issues of identity and fantasy and growing up. And there is a lovely love story between Peter and Hook with the absolute perfect ending.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh (YA, The Tale of Shim Cheong): I've never read the original Korean folk tale this book is based on, so I can't give you the differences, but I can tell you I adored this book. Mina's village is beset by destructive storms every year. To try to stop them, they through a beautiful young woman into the see each year to serve as the Sea God's bride. They believe that once the true bride is found, the Sea God will stop the storms. This year, the woman Mina's brother loves is chosen and Mina sacrifices herself in her stead. She finds herself brought to the spirit world where she discovers the Sea God is under a spell and sets out to make everything right. The writing and world building are beautiful, and the characters delightful.

Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray (Adult, Beauty and the Beast): This is a really lovely, touching take on Beauty and the Beast set in England during World War II. A parson stumbles into a country house during a storm to find it seemingly empty but a table laid for him. On the way out, he picks a rose for his daughter and the master of the house, under a curse that turned him into a dragon, appears in a rage. What follows is a beautiful story of love and friendship and companionship. 

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (YA, Cinderella): In this young adult fantasy, Cinderella has been dead for two hundred years and her story is now used to oppress women and force all the girls of the kingdom to go to balls where men can choose them as brides. Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee from the ball instead, and while hiding in Cinderella's mausoleum, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella's stepsister (the stepsisters were not evil in this one!). They vow to bring down the evil king and bring change to the kingdom. Along the way, they discover there's more to Cinderella's story than is told and that there's more going on in the kingdom as well. An excellent reimagining with a sweet F/F romance and big bring down the patriarchy energy.

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (Adult, Green Man folklore): Silver in the Wood is a gorgeous novella that draws on Green Man folklore for its inspiration (I know, not exactly a fairy tale, but I'm including it anyway because it is delightful). Greenhollow's woods are magical and wild, and Tobias is tethered to them, living a quiet life in his cottage until sweet, curious Henry Silver shows up and the past begins to be dug up. The novella is sweet and dreamlike and lush in its writing. It explores home and roots and freedom, and putting the past to rest. Tobias and Henry's relationship is lovely. I mostly just wanted more (and since there's a sequel...).

Do you enjoy fairy tale retellings? What are some of your favorites?

I have a belated Rainbow Snippet for you today. It should've posted over the weekend...but I didn't manage that! 

The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.

This month, I'm sharing some snippets from A Harmony of Fire and Earth, the second book in the Elemental Magicae duology. This book picks up right where A Dance of Water and Air ends (if you don't want spoilers, proceed with caution!). Arden and Edmund have reached relative safety in Edmund's home kingdom and are preparing for their wedding, but as personally happy as they are, they know their countries are still in danger. They believe there is a way to protect them, but they need powerful wielders of Earth and Fire magic to help. Arden sends for two he trusts—Rhys and Briallen—and they bring Gaz, a powerful Fire wielder, with them. Rhys fell in love with Gaz a long time ago, but his friend doesn't know it. And almost no one, including Rhys, knows that Gaz is actually Prince Gareth, Edmund's brother long thought dead and in hiding for his own safety. Gareth agrees to return home to help his brother, knowing that it could put him in danger and destroy the relationship he begins with Rhys along the way. In this snippet, Edmund and Arden get a look at each other right before their wedding ceremony.

You can find more about A Harmony of Fire and Earth here. Thanks for reading today and I hope you're staying safe and well!

We're over halfway through February, which means I'm over halfway through this year's JeRoWriMo challenge. If you haven't heard me talk about JeRoWriMo in years past, it stands for Jersey Romance Writing Month and is a writing challenge for New Jersey Romance Writers members in which participants try to write/revise 30k words in the month of February. I've participated every year (with the exception of 2021 when I wasn't a member); I wrote part of my first published book, The Prince's Consort, during a JeRoWriMo and many of my books since. The challenge always motivates me, both because of the wonderful encouraging people who cheer on every accomplishment and every word written...and because I'm a ridiculously competitive person who can't join a challenge without completing it!

The last few years have been rough for me writing-wise (and otherwise, as it has been for so many of us). I've had times when I've barely written at all and wondered if I would ever finish another book. But I'm finally getting there, and I'm feeling very hopeful that I will soon finish this book and then write more after. JeRoWriMo has given me a push to finish the last of the scenes I need to write in To Love the Dragon King—I'm mostly a pantser (which autocorrect constantly tries to change to panther, and that's way cooler sounding, so maybe I should just let it) and I write out of order. It works for me, but it can also be a little chaotic and stressful, even more so this time around when I've been writing this same book for longer than I've ever spent writing a book. I went into this month knowing I had some scenes to write in the middle of the book to make both the romance and the plot work. During the last couple of weeks, my brain also decided there should be a few more scenes in there, but writing is almost finished, and then I can get down to the work of revising and get closer to getting this book into your hands.

And win the JeRoWriMo challenge too, of course.

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​It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets! The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.

This month, I'm sharing some snippets from A Harmony of Fire and Earth, the second book in the Elemental Magicae duology. This book picks up right where A Dance of Water and Air ends (if you don't want spoilers, proceed with caution!). Arden and Edmund have reached relative safety in Edmund's home kingdom and are preparing for their wedding, but as personally happy as they are, they know their countries are still in danger. They believe there is a way to protect them, but they need powerful wielders of Earth and Fire magic to help. Arden sends for two he trusts—Rhys and Briallen—and they bring Gaz, a powerful Fire wielder, with them. Rhys fell in love with Gaz a long time ago, but his friend doesn't know it. And almost no one, including Rhys, knows that Gaz is actually Prince Gareth, Edmund's brother long thought dead and in hiding for his own safety. Gareth agrees to return home to help his brother, knowing that it could put him in danger and destroy the relationship he begins with Rhys along the way. Since Valentine's Day is this week, it seemed like the perfect time for a first kiss snippet.

You can find more about A Harmony of Fire and Earth here. Thanks for reading today and I hope you're staying safe and well!

Since it's Black History Month, I wanted to take the opportunity to recommend some books by Black authors that I've enjoyed. There are so many amazing authors and books that I could've put on this list, and as I was looking through my bookshelves and Goodreads and TBR lists, I was reminded of a ton of books sitting there that I haven't gotten to yet but look amazing and that I am going to have to move up my mountainous to-be-read piles. It's a bit overwhelming really! For this list, I decided to limit myself to some romance and young adult books. I'm sure I'll do another post recommending more at some point because I keep thinking of more books to add here!

Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins: I've enjoyed all the Beverly Jenkins historical romances I've read so far, and the only thing keeping me from bingeing through the ones I haven't read immediately is that right now it feels nice to space them out. Forbidden is one of my favorites and begins an excellent trilogy. Eddy is traveling to San Francisco to start a restaurant, but a series of misfortunes leaves her in Nevada until she can save up some money and continue on. Rhine has been living in that Nevada town, passing for white, and building a life for himself, but meeting Eddy changes everything. (M/F historical romance)

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole: I had a very difficult time choosing which Alyssa Cole book to list! She writes contemporary and historical romance (the first book I read of hers was actually a post-apocalyptic romance, also really good), but I went with the first book in her Reluctant Royals series, a contemporary romance series that is great fun. In this one, an epidemiology grad student keeps receiving emails saying she's betrothed to an African prince and deleting them—turns out it's true. (M/F contemporary romance)

Mangos & Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera: I adored this Christmas novella, so I had to share it, and I don't think you have read it around the holidays. In it, two Dominican bakers competing on a Bake-Off-like show filmed in Scotland have to work together and end up falling into bed and in love. There's a lot of character and relationship development packed into a short novella with an exploration of the differences of the two women, how they view their cultures, how their family and their own ambitions affect them. Plus all the baking descriptions! (F/F contemporary romance)

Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert: Talia Hibbert writes mostly contemporary romance, but I had to include this paranormal novella because I'm a big fan of paranormal romance and it was such a fun Halloween-themed romance. It is a sexy, funny, sweet short in which a monster hunter and a werewolf find out they are fated mates. The fated mates trope is handled so well (consent is important here), and so many lines are just laugh-out-loud funny. (M/F paranormal romance)

Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann: Let's Talk About Love is billed as Young Adult, but Alice is nineteen and in college, so it probably is somewhere on the young adult/new adult line (is New Adult still a thing?). Alice is also asexual and biromantic and her girlfriend just broke up with her because of it. There is a romance here, but the book is also (more?) about Alice coming out to more people and becoming more comfortable with who she is and what she wants and what is all means. (YA M/F contemporary romance)

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson: This book is delightful, just adorable and happy-making and delightful. Liz wants out of her small prom-obsessed town because she's never felt like she belongs, and her plan to do it is to go to her dream college and become a doctor. When her financial aid falls through, she is convinced to try for prom queen (which in this town is a whole big competition process) because prom queen comes with a scholarship. Liz's emotions and determination are fierce and wonderful, as are the friendships and romance in this book. And I've just remembered I need to read more by Leah Johnson. (YA F/F contemporary romance)

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron: In this young adult fantasy, Cinderella has been dead for two hundred years and her story is now used to oppress women and force all the girls of the kingdom to go to balls where men can choose them as brides. Sophia makes the desperate decision to flee from the ball instead, and while hiding in Cinderella's mausoleum, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella's step-sister. They vow to bring down the evil king and bring change to the kingdom. Along the way, they discover there's more to Cinderella's story than is told and that there's more going on in the kingdom as well. An excellent fantasy with an F/F romance and a quest to bring down the patriarchy. (YA F/F fantasy) 

If you've read any of these books/authors, what did you think? And if you have favorites, please rec them to me (though my TBR pile will weep!).

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​It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets! The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your TBR. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ.

This month, I'm sharing some snippets from A Harmony of Fire and Earth, the second book in the Elemental Magicae duology. This book picks up right where A Dance of Water and Air ends (if you don't want spoilers, proceed with caution!). Arden and Edmund have reached relative safety in Edmund's home kingdom and are preparing for their wedding, but as personally happy as they are, they know their countries are still in danger. They believe there is a way to protect them, but they need powerful wielders of Earth and Fire magic to help. Arden sends for two he trusts—Rhys and Briallen—and they bring Gaz, a powerful Fire wielder, with them. Rhys fell in love with Gaz a long time ago, but his friend doesn't know it. And almost no one, including Rhys, knows that Gaz is actually Prince Gareth, Edmund's brother long thought dead and in hiding for his own safety. Gareth agrees to return home to help his brother, knowing that it could put him in danger and destroy the relationship he begins with Rhys along the way. Here's a bit from the beginning, before Arden gets in touch. Gareth and Meraud, his one-time guard and now friend (she would say she's still his guard too), are in the village tavern.

You can find more about A Harmony of Fire and Earth here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well.

Hello, my darlings! I hope the first month of 2023 was kind to you and brought you many excellent books to read. I started my year with some favorite rereads in audio and also read some wonderful new to me books:

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske: (F/F historical fantasy romance) A Restless Truth is the second book in the Last Binding Trilogy and definitely doesn't stand alone, so read A Marvelous Light first. I adored the first book—it was one of my favorite reads last year, and this book will probably be one of my favorites this year. This second book takes us out of Edwardian England and onto a ship making the journey from the US to England. Maude, sister of Robin from book one, is at the heart of this story, and she is a delight. The story itself is a romp aboard ship as Maude searches for a magical artifact with the allies she's drawn to her and tries to evade the people looking for it, who will do anything—including murder—to get their hands on it. The romance between Maude and Violet felt like a good beginning for them and I would classify it in an unresolved HFN place. My only disappointment is the lack of Robin and Edwin from the first book, though I did love the glimpses of them we got.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling: (M/F paranormal romance) I'm going to say right out that my favorite character was Sir Purrcival the talking cat. He was adorable and made me laugh, and I would like more scenes with him. That said, the rest of the book was great fun as well. This is the sequel to The Ex Hex (which was pitched as Hocus Pocus but they fuck and this continues in that vein), and probably should be read after that one. The Kiss Curse brings us back to Graves Glen for more witchy small town shenanigans. I loved the romance between Gwyn and Wells with their enemies to lovers vibe and excellent banter. The book is funny and sexy, and there's an intriguing, mysterious plot to draw you in as well. 

Back in a Spell by Lana Harper: (F/NB paranormal romance) Another witchy book in another series I've been loving. Back in a Spell is the third book in the Witches of Thistle Grove series. I adore the setting of these books—this magical little town inhabited by witch families and a lot of regular people who have no idea. This book brings us Nina and Morty as main characters. It took me a little while to warm up to Nina, not necessarily because of her, but because her family has been set up as the antagonists since the beginning of the series. But I did warm up to Nina and even enjoyed seeing her older brother begin to redeem himself. Morty was a delight from the very beginning (actually from his brief scene in the first book). He and Nina match on a dating app, and Nina's friend convinces her to go out with him. Their first date does not go well, but Morty suddenly begins developing magic, something he never had or knew existed before. Their romance from there is lovely, and so is Nina's growth as she figures out the origins of all the weird magical stuff happening in town.

Perfectly Imperfect Pixie by MJ May: (M/M paranormal romance) This was a quick cute read. Phil is a home and hearth pixie, but while he has the colorful hair and fluttering wings of other pixies, he's also six feet tall, much larger than normally petite pixies. As such, no one will give him a chance and he hasn't found a home and family to bond to and care for. Until he's hired by a wolf shifter to care for his home and the two children he recently received guardianship of, mostly to make him seem a better bet in the custody battle with the children's horrible grandfather. What follows is a sweet slow burn romance between pixie Phil and shifter Sedrick and a lovely story of building a family. The book could've used a better edit and proofread, but it was still good read.

A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year by Jackie Lau: (M/F contemporary romance) This is the third novella in the Holidays with the Wongs series. After his parents and grandparents set up him and his siblings on blind dates at Thanksgiving (to mostly disastrous results), Zach has decided he needs to bring a fake girlfriend to Chinese New Year to make sure that doesn't happen again. He asks his friend Jo to fake date him leading up to the holiday and attend the family celebration with him. When she agrees, he has no idea that she's already fallen for him.  The novella is a cute, funny friends to lovers, fake dating to real love story. A quick, fun read for any time of year, but especially seasonal around Chinese New Year.

What have you read and loved lately?