Antonia Aquilante
  • Home
  • About Antonia
  • Books
  • Coming Soon/In Progress
  • Blog
  • Contact

Rainbow Snippets July 30-31

7/31/2022

1 Comment

 
Picture
​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'm sharing a few snippets from The Scholar's Heart this month because it has a book anniversary on the 13th. The Scholar's Heart is an estranged friends to lovers romance. Etan is a scholar and cousin to the Crown Prince of Tournai, and Tristan is the oldest son of a prominent merchant family (the older brother of Maxen from last month's snippets from The Merchant's Love). Etan and Tristan were close friends, and Etan had fallen for Tristan, but Tristan broke his heart when he chose to marry the person his father chose for him. This is probably the angstiest thing I've ever written, but they do manage to find their way to each other eventually. This weekend, I'm sharing a snippet of Etan using his magic, a mysterious magical Talent kept secret by Tournai's royal family.
Picture







​The woods had served that purpose for him many times and would again today. He walked into the trees, letting the cool shade swallow him up, and kept going, farther into the little wood. He stopped in a small clearing containing only a stone bench. The palace and the rest of the gardens were out of sight, and no one could see him.

​
Closing his eyes, he let out a long, slow breath and pulled up the magic that rested deep inside him. It swirled up and through him, tingling and fizzing in his veins, along his skin. He loved it, the feeling, the magic. The thrill of it, the exhilaration. Always had.

When the feeling died away, he stood on four legs instead of two.

You can find out more about The Scholar's Heart here. This is the last weekend to get The Scholar's Heart and my other books 50% off at Smashwords. Don't miss out on a great sale! Thanks for reading today and I hope you're all staying safe and well!
1 Comment

Rainbow Snippets July 23-24

7/24/2022

1 Comment

 
Picture

​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'm sharing a few snippets from The Scholar's Heart this month because it has a book anniversary on the 13th. The Scholar's Heart is an estranged friends to lovers romance. Etan is a scholar and cousin to the Crown Prince of Tournai, and Tristan is the oldest son of a prominent merchant family (the older brother of Maxen from last month's snippets from The Merchant's Love). Etan and Tristan were close friends, and Etan had fallen for Tristan, but Tristan broke his heart when he chose to marry the person his father chose for him. This is probably the angstiest thing I've ever written, but they do manage to find their way to each other eventually. I have another kiss between Etan and Tristan for you this week, this one not in the middle of an argument!
Picture






​Tristan stretched out a hand and snagged 
Etan’s arm. He used it to pull Etan into the shadows and push him against the wall, the way Etan had Tristan that day in the secret corridor, a memory Tristan still took delight in. He swallowed Etan’s surprised gasp in a kiss.

​
Tristan poured everything he had into the kiss, everything he’d felt over these last few weeks. His frustration and confusion, his attraction and longing for more after the taste he’d had of being with Etan. He willed Etan to feel all of it in the kiss.

Making a noise in the back of his throat, Etan brought his hands up to Tristan’s shoulders. Etan broke away from the kiss, but he didn’t move, didn’t push Tristan away. “Wait, Tristan, wait.”

“Why?” He leaned forward and nipped at Etan’s lower lip. “It’s your birthday party. Enjoy yourself.”

You can find out more about The Scholar's Heart here. And don't forget that The Scholar's Heart and my other books are 50% off at Smashwords through the end of July (which is somehow not much longer!). Thanks for reading, and I hope you're staying safe and well.
1 Comment

GRL 2022

7/21/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture

I'm not sure if I ever announced this here, but I will be attending GRL this year as a Spotlight Author! This will be my first GRL, and I'm both excited to finally be attending and nervous because there's still a pandemic going on. I don't have much information about my GRL schedule yet, but I will be signing books at the book signing on Saturday. I'll have some books with me to sell, but you can also preorder signed books using this form and pick them up from me at the signing. I hope to see you at GRL!
0 Comments

Rainbow Snippets July 16-17

7/17/2022

1 Comment

 
Picture

​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'm sharing a few snippets from The Scholar's Heart this month because it has a book anniversary on the 13th. The Scholar's Heart is an estranged friends to lovers romance. Etan is a scholar and cousin to the Crown Prince of Tournai, and Tristan is the oldest son of a prominent merchant family (the older brother of Maxen from last month's snippets from The Merchant's Love). Etan and Tristan were close friends, and Etan had fallen for Tristan, but Tristan broke his heart when he chose to marry the person his father chose for him. This is probably the angstiest thing I've ever written, but they do manage to find their way to each other eventually. The snippet I'm sharing today is Etan and Tristan's first kiss, which happens in the middle of an argument.
​
Picture





​Against all his better judgment, which was screaming at him unheeded from some small part of his mind, he grabbed Tristan, pulled him close, and kissed him.

​
The kiss was rough--passionate but rough and almost violent. All lips and teeth and grasping hands. Not at all how Etan usually kissed or liked to be kissed. Not at all how he’d envisioned a first kiss with Tristan to be, back when he’d imagined such things, before he put aside the possibility of anything between them. A shame, since this kiss was likelyto be their only one. But he couldn’t change it now. All his anger and frustration, his thwarted passion and hurt, every feeling that had accumulated over years of loving Tristan and grieving what might have been, was being poured out into the kiss, and Etan was helpless to stop it.

You can find more about The Scholar's Heart here. And don't forget that The Scholar's Heart and my other books are 50% off this month in the Smashwords sale, so it's a great time to read Etan and Tristan's story. Thanks for reading today and I hope you're staying safe and well.
1 Comment

My June Reading

7/6/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture

I had lots of plans for my Pride Month reading, and then my brain decided not to cooperate. Ugh. It's been so frustrating the last couple of years when this happens—all I want to do is get lost in a book (and I have so many waiting for me!) and it just doesn't work. I did get a little reading done, though most of it wasn't the books I planned to read.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh: I wasn't sure if I was in the mood for this book (and I hadn't planned to read it in June) when my library hold on the audiobook came in. But, library holds must be read, of course, so I dove in on my morning walks. And this ended up being a wonderful listen. A retelling of a Korean tale, this story gives us a village that sacrifices a young woman every year, throwing her into the sea to be the Sea God's bride in the hope the god will stop the storms destroying the village. Mina isn't supposed to be the bride that year, but she jumps into the sea in the place of the woman her brother loves. She's carried away to the spirit world and the Sea God's city, where things are not as she might have imagined and the Sea God needs saving. The world building is lovely, and the story is a beautiful combination of adventure, romance, and fantasy with a focus on family (blood and chosen) and the power of storytelling.

Kinship and Kindness by Kara Jorgensen: This historical paranormal has been on my kindle for far too long. especially considering how much I ended up enjoying it! Fox shifter and transgender man Bennett has traveled to Louisiana at the beginning of a gathering of werewolves to see their leader and plead his case that a union for non-wolf shifters is needed for their protection. Only he finds that the man is away and his son Theo is standing in for his father. Theo doesn't feel he can fill his father's shoes because of his epilepsy, but he'll do anything he can to protect his family and those depending on them. (He also stress-bakes, which makes him instantly relatable to me.) I loved Bennett and Theo, and Bennett's fox who has his own fun personality. The relationship that developed between them was lovely. 

The Botanist's Apprentice by Adren Powell: This novella is quick, easy read. Set in an alternate 1920s where magic seems to be the norm (I say seems to be because there isn't a ton of world building in this short), the story introduces us to Eli who has graduated college and comes to a reclusive botanist in search of an apprenticeship. The romance between the two is sweet—there's an age gap and some mutual pining and ultimately sex pollen (sort of) leading to a steamy encounter. I'm looking forward to reading more in the series and learning more about the world.

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly: Love & Other Disasters was my only contemporary romance read last month. The premise—two competitors on an amateur cooking competition show falling for each other—sounded fun, and it was, though I had some moments of acute secondhand embarrassment at the beginning that almost had me putting the book down a couple of times! Recently divorced from the guy she'd been with since high school, Dahlia quits her job (though she can't afford to) to travel across the country to be on the show and figure out who she is and what she wants. Convinced while drunk by their twin sister to try out for the show, London is the first openly nonbinary contestant on, and they're determined to do their best and prove haters wrong. The book is fun and adorable and charming, as is the relationship between London and Dahlia. The relationship forms the bulk of the story. Issues with London's dad not accepting who they are and a bigoted competitor on the show are there in the background, but the focus is on London and Dahlia. (And there were definitely a few times this book made me want to cook/bake.)

​What have you read and loved lately?
0 Comments

Rainbow Snippets July 2-3

7/3/2022

3 Comments

 
Picture

​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'm sharing a few snippets from The Scholar's Heart this month because it has a book anniversary on the 13th. The Scholar's Heart is an estranged friends to lovers romance. Etan is a scholar and cousin to the Crown Prince of Tournai, and Tristan is the oldest son of a prominent merchant family (the older brother of Maxen from last month's snippets from The Merchant's Love). Etan and Tristan were close friends, and Etan had fallen for Tristan, but Tristan broke his heart when he chose to marry the person his father chose for him. This is probably the angstiest thing I've ever written, but they do manage to find their way to each other eventually. This snippet is the very beginning of the book, before things come crashing down.
Picture



​“There you are!”

​Tristan’s musical voice made the simple sentence something spe
cial, or perhaps Etan’s feelings made it seem so. Etan smiled as he looked up from his book, a glow of warmth and welcome lighting him up inside.

Tristan strode into the small room Etan had claimed for his own in the palace’s labyrinthine library. He had a desk in the university library as well, but these days, out of necessity and preference both, he conducted most of his work in this cozy little room. Obscure history books filled the shelves lining the walls. The table in the center of the room held Etan’s notes on his studies and projects, all neatly organized so he could find anything he wanted quickly. But this morning he slouched on the comfortable couch instead, book propped in his lap.

He sat there, book forgotten as he watched Tristan, the morning sun streaming in through the window and glinting off Tristan’s bright gold hair. Tristan seemed to bring the sunshine into the room with him, brightening what had been an ordinary morning until that moment.

You can find out more about The Scholar's Heart here. And, if you want to give it a try, it's 50% off at Smashwords this month, along with my other books. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well.
3 Comments

Big Smashwords Sale!

7/1/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture

If you missed NineStar Press's Pride Month sale, you're in luck--the big Smashwords Summer/Winter sale started today, and all of my books (and lots of others) are 50% off there through July. Go grab something to new to read!
0 Comments

    Author

    Antonia is a writer and a reader. She loves books, travel, art, photography, baking, pasta, and shoes.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    A Dance Of Water And Air
    A Harmony Of Fire And Earth
    Autumn
    Baking
    Blog Tour
    Bookstores
    Christmas
    Chronicles Of Tournai Series
    Cover Art
    Dragons Of Ivria
    Elemental Magicae Duology
    Events
    Giveaway
    GRL
    Guest Post
    Halloween
    Holidays
    Inspiration
    Libraries
    My Books
    New Year
    NineStar Press
    Rainbow Awards
    Rainbow Snippets
    Reading
    RWA Conference
    Sales
    Spring
    Thanksgiving
    The Artist's Masquerade
    The Dragon's Devotion
    The Envoy's Honor
    The Merchant's Love
    The Prince's Consort
    The Scholar's Heart
    The Sorcerer's Guardian
    The Spymaster's Secret
    To Love The Dragon King
    Travel
    Turn The Page Anthology
    Winter
    Writing Updates

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly