Antonia Aquilante
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Rainbow Snippets September 25-26

9/25/2021

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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'm sharing a snippet from A Harmony of Fire and Earth today, the second book in my Elemental Magicae series. It continues the story of Edmund and Arden from A Dance of Water and Air and their quest to save two kingdoms. Edmund and Arden marry in A Harmony of Fire and Earth, but this book includes a new romance between Rhys, an Earth wielder who has been enamored of his friend Gaz for years, and Gaz, a reclusive Fire wielder with secrets that have kept him from acting on his own attractive to Rhys. Rhys and Gaz met long before the beginning of the book, but in this snippet, Rhys remembers their first meeting, prompted by his sister Briallen questioning him about whether he'll ever let Gaz know how he feels.
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​Briallen shook her head. “Are you ever going to say anything to him?”


“I say things to him all the time. Every time I see him, in fact.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. I’m just not sure why you’ve chosen to say it now.” He’d met Gaz for the first time four years ago and wanted him in his bed from the moment Gaz opened his cottage door. Rhys could still see him in that moment, a tall, lean man with light brown skin and wary dark eyes, wavy hair tipped in the fiery red signifying his Element and the glint of silver at his ears. But Rhys didn’t jump into bed with men he’d just met, and Gaz hadn’t indicated he’d want to anyway. Other feelings on Rhys’s part had followed over the years. He still wanted Gaz in bed, but he wanted so much more as well.

“Because it’s been years.” Briallen’s voice pulled him from the memory.

You can find out more about A Harmony of Fire and Earth here. Thanks for reading today and I hope you're all staying safe and well.
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Rainbow Snippets September 18-19

9/18/2021

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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 week, I'm sharing a snippet from A Dance of Water and Air, the first book in the Elemental Magicae series. In this book, Prince Edmund must make an alliance marriage with Hollis, queen of the neighboring kingdom. But he and Hollis's brother, Prince Arden, find themselves growing closer instead. Then, Edmund is accused of trying to kill the queen. Arden helps him escape, and they flee, hoping to clear Edmund's name and save both of their kingdom—and find a way to be together. This is Arden's first sight of Edmund when he arrives in the throne room to be presented to Hollis. (I went a little over the sentence count—sorry!—but I thought it was necessary.)
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​The tall doors, polished wood with silver and gold set in a fluid pattern over the entire surface, were pulled open, and Prince Edmund stepped through.

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Arden hadn’t expected the punch of instant attraction and didn’t much care for it. He had certainly been attracted to people before and had a couple of discreet liaisons when he’d found a potential lover he could trust, but he’d seldom felt an attraction so sudden and visceral, one that had him wondering what it would be like if he dragged Edmund off to bed.

But this was his sister’s intended—for an alliance marriage that was meant to secure the safety of their kingdom.

Still, Arden understood his own reaction. Edmund was breathtaking. He had light brown skin and shining dark brown hair that waved around his face. He was tall, with broad, strong shoulders tapering down to a narrow waist and hips and long legs. The heavily embroidered silk jacket and slim pants he wore—obviously in the style of the Thalassan court—showed off his body to its best advantage. He carried himself as the prince he was. No uncertainty, no unnecessary deference in his posture, even as he walked into a foreign court very nearly alone, and Arden respected him for it.

You can find more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well!
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Rainbow Snippets September 11-12

9/11/2021

4 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+

Today, I'm sharing a snippet from The Envoy's Honor. This story puts Griffen, who is trying to protect his family, at odds with dragon shifter Kirill, who is trying to protect his people. Their attraction to each other doesn't make anything easier. Nor does the murder they decide they're going to have to look into together. Here is Kirill's first sight of (and reaction to) Griffen.
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​Another man who entered the room behind them with Ligeia on his 
arm wasn’t quite so emotionless. Something smoldered in his eyes, some emotion hastily banked.

But that wasn’t what made Kirill utterly freeze where he stood.

The man did that on his own.

He was watching Kirill, stare intense out of rich brown eyes. His bronze hair was thick and wavy, framing an incredibly handsome face of chiseled features. Kirill gritted his teeth. He’d never let it happen before 
and he could not afford to get turned around by a handsome face now of all times. He had no time for an affair on this trip and certainly not with someone connected with the royal palace--and to Corentin, too,considering this man’s close resemblance to the earl Corentin was going to marry.

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

9/10/2021

1 Comment

 
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​Summer really flew by, and now we're in September. And honestly, I'm not mad about it. Autumn is my favorite season, and I'm looking forward to some lovely weather and changing leaves and pumpkin everything. But for now, I'll wrap up summer with August's reads. August was not a great reading month for me. I mostly reread some favorites in audio. Other than that, I started several books—a few I'll return to when I'm in the right mood for them and a few just weren't for me—and I read two books for the first time:

Faithless in Death by JD Robb: I'm still reading this series over fifty books in and still enjoying every visit with Eve, Roarke, and the family (if some installments more than others). You can tell the pandemic has messed up my reading habits, though, because I used to read these quickly after they released, and this one came out back in February. But I read it just in time for the new one!

Fluke and the Faultline Fiasco by Sam Burns: I'm really enjoying the Fantastic Fluke series, and this is another great installment. I love how the characters are growing and the storyline is deepening and expanding. And Fluke the fox familiar is all kinds of adorable. Start reading at the beginning of this series to get the most out of it, and then you can join me in awaiting the next book.

What have you read and loved lately?

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Rainbow Snippets September 4-5

9/4/2021

4 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+

Today, I'm sharing a snippet from The Spymaster's Secret, the story of Alexander, a flirtatious, mischievous royal with hidden depths, and Marcus, an older widower who does very mysterious work for the crown. Plus family, magic, spies, and shenanigans at a masquerade ball. Alexander and Marcus have seen each other only once before the beginning of this book, though Marcus has made it a point to learn about both Alexander and his twin Faelen (because of the afore-mentioned mysterious work). Here is the first time they see each other in this book.
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​A laugh shattered the quiet and brought Marcus’s attention fully 
back to his surroundings. As he approached an intersecting corridor, the two young men he’d been thinking of came around the corner. They were nearly identical in appearance with the same shade of dark hair that glowed red in the light, the same ivory skin and peridot eyes, the same delicate features, an intriguing mix of pretty and sensual. Their differences were slight, but perfectly apparent with a moment’s study. Alexander was slightly taller, and Faelen’s hair fell in loose curls while Alexander’s was a tumble of waves.

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He’d made a point of finding out which of them was which. And not because of the way Alexander had looked at him the one previous time he’d been in their presence.

The way Alexander looked at him now. Curious with a spark of something more.

Alexander had been the one laughing, a joyful, delighted sound that made Marcus want to smile. He forced himself not to, forced his face to remain bland and pleasant and unremarkable. Forced himself to ignore the little lurch, the punch of attraction when he looked into Alexander’s eyes.

He had to.

You can learn more about The Spymaster's Secret here. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're all staying safe and well!
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    Author

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

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