Antonia Aquilante
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Rainbow Snippets April 16-17

4/16/2022

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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.

I have another springlike snippet from The Envoy's Honor for you this week. The Envoy's Honor is an adversaries to lovers dragon shifter romance. In this snippet, Kirill, a dragon shifter trying to protect his people while falling for someone he absolutely shouldn't, is grabbing a few moments of needed peace in the palace gardens.
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He had no idea where he was going once he started walking. While 
he’d spent some time staring out of his window at the garden in the early morning light, he hadn’t tried to understand how it was laid out or to plot out routes through the maze of paths. So instead of attempting to find his way anywhere in particular, he set off wandering. The neatly maintained paths led him deeper into lush gardens in the first bloom of spring. A riot of colorful, fragrant flowers filled flowerbeds. Neatly trimmed hedges lined paths and separated gardens. Fanciful statues peeked from behind trees and stood in the center of burbling fountains. None of it was gaudy or ostentatious--all of it elegant and beautiful. And serene in the hush of early morning.

You can find more about The Envoy's Honor here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well!
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My March Reading

4/4/2022

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Was it only me or did March seem to go by quite quickly this year? I'm not sure what happened to March (or what I accomplished, but that's something else entirely...), but it's now April and I get to tell you all about the reading I did last month. I did a couple of KJ Charles audiobook rereads in March and also read some knew to me books I enjoyed:

Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia: In this mystery, Black girls are being kidnapped and murdered in 1920s Harlem. Louise, who survived a kidnapping attempt several years earlier, is pushed into helping to solve the crimes. The mystery is good, and the details of time period and setting are excellent. Louise's established relationship with another woman in her boarding house is mostly in the background, but it's lovely. I'm sure I'll keep reading this series.

Fluke and the Frontier Farce by Sam Burns: I'm enjoying this series so much. And I'm so sad that there's only one book left after this one—and eagerly looking forward to it at the same time. This installment was one of my favorites in the series. The time travel element was fun, and I loved the characters that we meet in the past. Fox familiar Fluke continues to be delightful, of course. There's lots of magic, mystery, suspense, romance, and family in this series, and I'd recommend it (but start with book one).

All the Queen's Men by SJ Bennett: This is the second book in the Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series, in which Queen Elizabeth II is an amateur sleuth solving mysteries with the help of her assistant private secretary, Rozie. In this installment, there is a murder in the Buckingham Palace pool plus a lot of mysteriousness surrounding a painting. I found it utterly entertaining and delightful fun. 

A Walk in the Park by Rebekah Weatherspoon: This novella is an Audible Original, though I believe it will be released in ebook at some point. It's the adorable (and just a bit steamy) story of two people who are mistakenly promised the same dog (Zeus, also adorable) at the shelter and decide to coparent him rather than one of them having to give him up...and, of course, they fall in love along the way.

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo: The Chosen and the Beautiful is a retelling of The Great Gatsby and it's loyal to the original, only with the addition of mysterious, intriguing magic and a change of narrator to Jordan Baker, a queer, Asian American immigrant adopted and raised in high society by a rich white family. There's still a contemplation of wealth and status and the American dream, but through Jordan's eyes and with exploration of her identity as a Vietnamese American woman in that world. The reimagining is fascinating, and the writing is lush and beautiful.

Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater: I have no idea who recommended this series to me, but I'm so glad I finally started it! This is a fairy tale-like take on the Regency period with a young woman missing half her soul due to a pact with a fairy her mother entered into before her death and an extremely grumpy sorcerer who tries to help. The characters are engaging, and there's a lot of depth to discussion of issues relating to treatment of the poor. I listened to it and enjoyed the audio. I'll definitely continue the series.

​What have you read and loved lately?
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Rainbow Snippets April 2-3

4/3/2022

3 Comments

 
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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.

​With it finally beginning to look like spring (the daffodils are blooming!) even if it doesn't quite feel springlike most days, I felt like sharing a spring snippet, and this scene from The Envoy's Honor came to mind. The Envoy's Honor is an adversaries to lovers dragon shifter romance, and at this point in the story, Griffen and Kirill absolutely do not trust each other...but they are attracted to each other. This snippet is from Griffen's point of view.
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He should go home, and he’d known it even before he saw Kirill sitting on a bench surrounded by blue irises--before the sight of him there in the sunshine, surrounded by flowers, took his breath. Kirill was alone, but he hadn’t been for long--Romilly was walking away from him, back toward the guest wing of the palace. Neither of them had noticed Griffen, and he had a moment to decide whether he should turn and walk away before Kirill did. Well, if he wanted to be sensible, he absolutely should walk away, and he should be sensible.

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He wasn’t going to be sensible.

You can find more about The Envoy's Honor here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well!
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    Antonia is a writer and a reader. She loves books, travel, art, photography, baking, pasta, and shoes.

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