The Dragon's Devotion seems to be on sale at Amazon for $1.99 right now. I have no idea how long the sale will last (or that it was even on sale!), but grab it for a great price while you can! You can find it at Amazon here.
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The Dragon's Devotion seems to be on sale at Amazon for $1.99 right now. I have no idea how long the sale will last (or that it was even on sale!), but grab it for a great price while you can! You can find it at Amazon here.
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 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 taking a little break from snippets of To Love the Dragon King and switching to The Dragon's Devotion because The Dragon's Devotion celebrated a book anniversary this month. It's been out in the world for six years! The Dragon's Devotion is part of my Chronicles of Tournai series but stands alone just fine. It's the story of Bastien and Corentin. Bastien inherited a title and took responsibility for his younger siblings far too young when his parents died suddenly. Years later, he learns that their death may not have been the accident everyone thought it was, and of course, he decides to find out the truth—and gets himself into trouble along the way. Corentin is a scholar with a big secret (he's a dragon shifter), but he begins to find it more difficult to keep his secret and keep himself apart when he meets Bastien and is immediately attracted to him. And even more difficult when Bastien ends up in danger. Last week's snippet introduced you to Corentin. This week's is the book's introduction of Bastien:  Bastien propped himself up on his arms in the open window of his study and took a long, deep breath. Fresh air filled his lungs, fragrant with grass and horse and a hint of woodsmoke—the familiar scents of home. He liked this time of year, this shift of season when the trees changed color and the estate was awash with gold and red, before the weather turned colder and the gray of winter set in. He didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to miss all that color, but he likely would this year. It was absurd to feel so wrong about leaving, especially for so short a time. Just a trip to Jumelle for a month, maybe two. It wasn’t as if he would never return. You can find out more about The Dragon's Devotion here. Thanks for reading today!
 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 taking a little break from snippets of To Love the Dragon King and switching to The Dragon's Devotion this weekend because The Dragon's Devotion celebrated a book anniversary this past week. It's been out in the world for six years! The Dragon's Devotion is part of my Chronicles of Tournai series but stands alone just fine. It's the story of Bastien and Corentin. Bastien inherited a title and took responsibility for his younger siblings far too young when his parents died suddenly. Years later, he learns that their death may not have been the accident everyone thought it was, and of course, he decides to find out the truth—and gets himself into trouble along the way. Corentin is a scholar with a big secret (he's a dragon shifter), but he begins to find it more difficult to keep his secret and keep himself apart when he meets Bastien and is immediately attracted to him. And even more difficult when Bastien ends up in danger. Here's a snippet from the very beginning of the book:  In the privacy of his small office, Corentin circled his neck and rolled his bare shoulders and back, trying to loosen the stiffness there—impossible because his muscles weren’t really stiff. But he did it anyway. It was just that he hadn’t changed and stretched his wings in far too long. Whether real or imagined, it had always been this way if he didn’t use his Talent regularly. Only how was he to accomplish that in this place? There wasn’t anywhere in the capital city where he could change unseen, and few places close to Jumelle where a large dragon would go unnoticed. You can find more about The Dragon's Devotion here. Thanks for reading today!
 The Merchant's Love has been out in the world for five years today! This book is a cozy fantasy romance (though I hadn't heard the term then!) and has always felt like a warm hug in book form to me. In it, Faelen, a bookish, demisexual royal, and Maxen, a devoted, bisexual merchant, fall in love over books and baked goods. So every year, I feel the need to bake to commemorate the anniversary. This year, I made some chocolate chocolate chip muffins and thought I would share the recipe. The original recipe came from the Food Network website, but I changed it a bit, adding more chocolate and salt and a pinch (or more, depending on my mood) of cinnamon and using olive oil when it called for vegetable oil. It's super easy and quick, and reliably delicious:  1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/4 teaspoon salt pinch (or more) cinnamon 1 cup milk 1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup chocolate chips Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners (or spray the pan). Mix the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon into the muffin pan evenly (the cups will be fairly full). Bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.  About The Merchant's Love: Faelen, cousin to the prince and son of a diplomat, has finally come home to Tournai after years away. The pull to return was almost tangible, and the sense of rightness at being back is absolute. He wants nothing more than to put down roots and build a life among family while pursuing his linguistic studies. Becoming involved in magic meant to protect Tournai isn’t part of his plans…and falling in love is even more unexpected and unfamiliar, but he finds himself doing just that as his friendship with Maxen deepens into something more. Maxen, second son of a wealthy merchant family, longs to leave Tournai and visit everywhere he can. All his life, he’s found places on maps and dreamed, planning out routes to get to them. For now, he’s tied to Tournai’s capital city by family obligations and his position in their shipping business. Someday, though, he’ll be able to travel. His sudden attraction to Faelen shocks him, but their friendship soon becomes a necessary part of his life. Love, however, has no place in his plans, especially not love for a royal cousin with secrets who wants nothing more than to stay in one place. For Faelen and Maxen to build something real between them, they must resolve their differences, but when magic goes awry and all Faelen’s secrets are revealed, will Maxen remain at his side? You can find more about The Merchant's Love and buy links here. Also, The Merchant's Love (and my other books!) is 50% off with code PRIDE23 at NineStar Press this month—it's a perfect time to pick up some fantasy romance!
 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 switching over to sharing some snippets from The Artist's Masquerade this month. Cathal is cousin to the crown prince of Tournai and son of a royal duke, and is absolutely shocked when his father tells him he has arranged a marriage for him with a relative of the emperor of Ardunn, who has for some time wanted to add Tournai to his empire. A dutiful son, Cathal goes along with the betrothal despite his misgivings, but when his bride arrives, finds himself more interested in her companion, Flavia. What he doesn't know is that Flavia is really Flavian, an artist fleeing the empire in disguise as his friend's companion. He never expected to have to keep up the charade for so long, but complications keep getting in the way. Cathal and Flavian are pulled reluctantly closer and closer, tumbling into love and trust, but the situation—Cathal's betrothal, spies infiltrating Tournai, secrets and lies—is stacked against them. In this snippet, Flavian has seen where Cathal grew up and begins to wonder about what Cathal was like as a child...and then think about grown-up Cathal.  Cathal and his brothers probably hadn’t run wild, not with a father like Umber. No, Cathal had probably always been a serious boy. Grown into a serious man, who could kiss well enough to make Flavian nearly swoon just remembering it. He cursed himself silently. He should not be thinking about Cathal, not in such a way. Not at all. And he certainly would do no swooning, not over Cathal, not over anyone. Ridiculous to even think it. You can find more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading today!
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 switching over to sharing some snippets from The Artist's Masquerade this month. Cathal is cousin to the crown prince of Tournai and son of a royal duke, and is absolutely shocked when his father tells him he has arranged a marriage for him with a relative of the emperor of Ardunn, who has for some time wanted to add Tournai to his empire. A dutiful son, Cathal goes along with the betrothal despite his misgivings, but when his bride arrives, finds himself more interested in her companion, Flavia. What he doesn't know is that Flavia is really Flavian, an artist fleeing the empire in disguise as his friend's companion. He never expected to have to keep up the charade for so long, but complications keep getting in the way. Cathal and Flavian are pulled reluctantly closer and closer, tumbling into love and trust, but the situation—Cathal's betrothal, spies infiltrating Tournai, secrets and lies—is stacked against them. Since it's Mother's Day weekend here in the US, I decided to share a snippet of Cathal and his mother. This is back at the beginning of the book when Cathal's has just informed him of the marriage he's arranged for Cathal. (Meriall is Cathal's youngest sister.)  “Cathal.” Mother held out her hands to him and tilted her head for his kiss to her cheek. “I didn’t know you were here.” He brushed a kiss over Meriall’s cheek as well. “Father wanted to meet with me.” Because he was watching, he saw the flash of concern in Mother’s warm-brown eyes. Did she know her husband’s plans for Cathal? “Is everything all right?” You can find more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading today!
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 switching over to sharing some snippets from The Artist's Masquerade this month. Cathal is cousin to the crown prince of Tournai and son of a royal duke, and is absolutely shocked when his father tells him he has arranged a marriage for him with a relative of the emperor of Ardunn, who has for some time wanted to add Tournai to his empire. A dutiful son, Cathal goes along with the betrothal despite his misgivings, but when his bride arrives, finds himself more interested in her companion, Flavia. What he doesn't know is that Flavia is really Flavian, an artist fleeing the empire in disguise as his friend's companion. He never expected to have to keep up the charade for so long, but complications keep getting in the way. Cathal and Flavian are pulled reluctantly closer and closer, tumbling into love and trust, but the situation—Cathal's betrothal, spies infiltrating Tournai, secrets and lies—is stacked against them. Another short jump ahead to this snippet in Flavian's point of view.  He watched Cathal, focusing only on him, on the way he moved, sinuous and graceful, a bit incongruous for someone so tall and well built. He held his breath as Cathal came near, turning as Cathal passed behind him, a hairsbreadth away. Flavian’s skin prickled at the proximity, and he let out a shuddering breath when Cathal moved away again. His hopes Cathal hadn’t noticed were dashed when Cathal glanced at him over his shoulder, a knowing smile curving his full lips. And how he wished the smile didn’t make heat curl through his middle. He could not think of Cathal in such a way, could not let him affect him so much. It was time to leave, to go back to the boring party or, better yet, back to his bedchamber where he didn’t have to deal with anyone. You can find more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading!
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 switching over to sharing some snippets from The Artist's Masquerade this month. Cathal is cousin to the crown prince of Tournai and son of a royal duke, and is absolutely shocked when his father tells him he has arranged a marriage for him with a relative of the emperor of Ardunn, who has for some time wanted to add Tournai to his empire. A dutiful son, Cathal goes along with the betrothal despite his misgivings, but when his bride arrives, finds himself more interested in her companion, Flavia. What he doesn't know is that Flavia is really Flavian, an artist fleeing the empire in disguise as his friend's companion. He never expected to have to keep up the charade for so long, but complications keep getting in the way. Cathal and Flavian are pulled reluctantly closer and closer, tumbling into love and trust, but the situation—Cathal's betrothal, spies infiltrating Tournai, secrets and lies—is stacked against them. I've skipped ahead slightly again. This week's snippet is a moment between Cathal and Flavian, as Cathal sits with Flavian while he draws.  They lapsed into silence then, and a few minutes later, Flavian began to sketch again. At first, he drew haltingly, glancing at Cathal sideways, but Cathal forced himself to stare out at the sea, and soon Flavian relaxed--Cathal could see it in the lines of his body and the way his hand flew across the page, confident and sure. As Flavian appeared to lose himself in the drawing, Cathal gave in to temptation and allowed himself to study Flavian surreptitiously. Flavian drawing was yet another facet of the man Cathal was becoming far too fascinated with. Flavian drawing was calm and focused and more open. Seeing him this way made Cathal want to see more, learn more, discover more of who Flavian was. Cathal shouldn’t have come to Flavian, he knew it before, and he knew it now. He should be at the side of the woman he had to marry, not becoming even more fascinated by the prickly man masquerading as her companion. You can find more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading today!
I'm late again with this week's Rainbow Snippet, after a busy weekend (one of these days I will manage to plan ahead properly again!). 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 switching over to sharing some snippets from The Artist's Masquerade this month. Cathal is cousin to the crown prince of Tournai and son of a royal duke, and is absolutely shocked when his father tells him he has arranged a marriage for him with a relative of the emperor of Ardunn, who has for some time wanted to add Tournai to his empire. A dutiful son, Cathal goes along with the betrothal despite his misgivings, but when his bride arrives, finds himself more interested in her companion, Flavia. What he doesn't know is that Flavia is really Flavian, an artist fleeing the empire in disguise as his friend's companion. He never expected to have to keep up the charade for so long, but complications keep getting in the way. Cathal and Flavian are pulled reluctantly closer and closer, tumbling into love and trust, but the situation—Cathal's betrothal, spies infiltrating Tournai, secrets and lies—is stacked against them. I've skipped ahead slightly again. After their kiss in last week's snippet, Cathal now knows who Flavian really is and tells his cousin, Prince Philip. Which leads to a serious discussion.  "You love who you love, Cathal.” “I never said anything about love.” The protest was immediate and vehement. Attraction certainly, but he wasn’t in love with anyone and never had been. “Say caring then. Connection? Feelings of some kind, because if this was just desire, you would have put it aside like you have every other attraction to a man before this. I’m sure there were some.” “Of course there were.” Fleeting, momentary attractions ignored without another thought. “But it doesn’t matter now.” “It does, because I want you to be happy. I want you to have more than a life of duty and responsibility. I want you to have love.” Philip gripped Cathal’s arm, his gaze boring into Cathal. You can find more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading!
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 switching over to sharing some snippets from The Artist's Masquerade this month. Cathal is cousin to the crown prince of Tournai and son of a royal duke, and is absolutely shocked when his father tells him he has arranged a marriage for him with a relative of the emperor of Ardunn, who has for some time wanted to add Tournai to his empire. A dutiful son, Cathal goes along with the betrothal despite his misgivings, but when his bride arrives, finds himself more interested in her companion, Flavia. What he doesn't know is that Flavia is really Flavian, an artist fleeing the empire in disguise as his friend's companion. He never expected to have to keep up the charade for so long, but complications keep getting in the way. Cathal and Flavian are pulled reluctantly closer and closer, tumbling into love and trust, but the situation—Cathal's betrothal, spies infiltrating Tournai, secrets and lies—is stacked against them. I've skipped ahead this week to Cathal and Flavian's first kiss—complicated by the fact that Cathal doesn't yet know who Flavian really is (though that's about to change) and is still supposed to marry someone else.  Flavian froze, his mind going utterly blank the instant Cathal’s lips touched his. Because Cathal was kissing him. Cathal was kissing him. Flavian never, ever, expected it to happen, or for it to be like this. A passionate, uninhibited kiss with Cathal’s firm body pressing against his, pushing him into the unyielding surface of the door. Who would have thought a man like Cathal would kiss like this? And for an instant Flavian drowned in it—the feel of Cathal’s smooth lips on his, the firm grip of his hands on Flavian’s waist--as Cathal devoured him. But then reality came back in a flood. “We can’t do this.” You can find more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading today!
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AuthorAntonia is a writer and a reader and a copy editor/proofreader. She loves books, travel, art, photography, baking, pasta, and shoes. Archives
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