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

Pride Month Sale!

6/4/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture

NineStar Press is having a big sale this month. Lots of books, including all of mine, are 40% off. Go get some reading for Pride Month and beyond!
0 Comments

Rainbow Snippets January 29-30

1/29/2022

4 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.

​We've had a winter storm here this weekend, and I've spent Saturday staying cozy inside and drinking hot chocolate. So this seemed like an appropriate snippet from A Harmony of Fire and Earth.
Picture

​“I thought you might like some chocolate.” She came to him and leaned against the edge of the desk, handing him a steaming mug.

​
“Breaking into the precious stores?” he teased.

“The snowy day seemed to call for it.” She sipped from her own cup.

“We’re going to have a lot of them.”

“I know.”

He laughed softly and settled deeper into the worn 
cushions of his chair, breathing in the scent of the rich chocolate. There were memories in the scent—of childhood with his siblings, of winters since with Meraud in Aither’s cold. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to revel in them or turn away, and he didn’t much like that he was getting maudlin. He took a drink from his mug instead.

“Everything all right, Gareth?”

He glanced up at her, hating the concern in her eyes. He’d seen too much of it in the months and years at the beginning of their flight from Thalassa. He didn’t want it now.

You can find more about A Harmony of Fire and Earth here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're all staying safe and healthy (and warm, if you're also dealing with this storm!).
4 Comments

Rainbow Snippets January 22-23

1/22/2022

5 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 have another snippet from A Harmony of Fire and Earth for you today. I'm sticking with a snowy theme and a snippet that follows a bit after last week's. 
Picture




​Gareth stared out the window at the falling snow. Fat, soft flakes drifted down from the gray sky, coating bare tree branches and making everything look like a painting, stark and beautiful. This early in the season, he could appreciate the beauty of it, before biting wind and ice made it more painful than anything else, and he wouldn’t want to leave the cottage if he didn’t absolutely have to. Even today, he was content to sit and watch it accumulate, see the little pile against the window glass begin to grow.

​
He’d been working, reading through a book he’d been sent by a Fire wielder from Damek he’d trained with briefly with a request for his comments, but though the book’s theories were interesting, nothing was holding his attention today. If he were honest with himself, he’d admit his attention had been lacking for a while now. Since the night before Edmund’s wedding. Since the night Rhys had kissed him.

But Gareth wasn’t ready to be quite so honest.

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!
5 Comments

Rainbow Snippets January 15-16

1/15/2022

5 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 have another wintry snippet for you this week, this one from A Harmony of Fire and Earth, which follows A Dance of Water and Air in the Elemental Magicae series. Gaz is a wielder of Fire magic with dangerous and Rhys is an Earth wielder who has been his friend and in love with him for quite some time. They get pulled into a risky magical undertaking, and all those secrets come out and danger and conflict follow. But in this snippet, none of that has happened yet, and the two men are sharing a first kiss on a snowy night.
Picture








​Gaz’s lips were soft and still under his. Then he made a little noise and stepped into Rhys, bent just a bit, and the kiss became something more. Rhys clutched at Gaz’s hips, slim beneath the thick coat he wore. He wished they didn’t have coats and gloves between them—he wished they didn’t have anything between them. But there was something magical all the same about a kiss in the winter night, stars above them, fresh snow beneath their feet, crisp, cold air nipping at them. Even the bite of the cold disappeared after a moment. He didn’t want the kiss to end, and if his mind was working properly, he would be thinking of somewhere they could go alone for more kisses.

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!
5 Comments

Rainbow Snippets January 8-9

1/8/2022

5 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.

​Today, I'm sharing a snippet from A Dance of Water and Air, the first book in my Elemental Magicae series about two princes who must find a way to save both their kingdoms from a plot against them, and hopefully find a way to be together too. I thought about this series because it happens in winter, and we just got snow here. So, a snippet of A Dance of Water and Air involving snow, which is something Edmund sees little of in his home country.
Picture






​Edmund turned back to the window. Snow was indeed falling lightly to the ground. An almost childlike delight filled him. He’d thought the view beautiful before, but with the softly falling snow and the hushed stillness it brought, it was perfect, like a painting.

​
“I love that smile.” Arden’s whisper startled Edmund, and perhaps Arden too if his widened eyes were anything to go by.

“What?”

Arden bit his lip. “The way you smiled when you saw the snow, as if you took such joy in the simple sight of it. I wish I could see you smile that way more.”

Find out more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're all staying safe and well.
5 Comments

Smashwords End of Year Sale!

12/17/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture


It's that time of year again—the Smashwords End of Year sale started today! There are so many books on sale, including all of mine. My books are all 50% off at Smashwords through January 1st, so if you haven't read any of them, now is a great time to pick them up. Happy reading!
0 Comments

Rainbow Snippets October 9-10

10/9/2021

2 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 another autumnal snippet this week, this one from A Dance of Water and Air. In Dance, Prince Edmund must make an alliance marriage with the queen of a neighboring country, but he finds himself falling for her brother instead, and of course, things are not all they seem there anyway. In this snippet, Edmund is making the journey to meet his betrothed.
Picture




​When they arrived at the border, they were met by a contingent of Aither guards who joined them for the rest of the journey. Edmund’s own guards would see him safely delivered to the castle and then return home, leaving him on his own but for Peregrine and one personal guard. The sense of vulnerability and exposure was odd and unfamiliar—he’d spent his whole life surrounded by guards loyal to his family and kingdom. The idea of not knowing whether he could trust anyone made him uneasy. Logically, he knew they had to protect him, if only to protect their own queen and the alliance she’d made. But it was little comfort, especially with a looming threat to Thalassa.

​
He found some distraction when the landscape began to change. They climbed upward—rolling hills becoming higher and steeper, air that had been pleasantly warm on the coast taking on the chill of autumn, leaves that had still been green at home changing to red and rust and gold. Edmund’s first sight of the mountains pulled a gasp from him; he might have been embarrassed if Peregrine hadn’t done the same.

You can find more about A Dance of Water and Air here. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're all staying safe and well.
2 Comments

Rainbow Snippets September 25-26

9/25/2021

4 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 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.
Picture





​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.
4 Comments

Rainbow Snippets September 18-19

9/18/2021

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+

​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.)
Picture
​

​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.

​
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!
3 Comments

Rainbow Snippets July 10-11

7/10/2021

7 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+

This week's snippet of first lines comes from A Harmony of Fire and Earth, the second book in the Elemental Magicae series. This book picks up right after A Dance of Water and Air, which I shared a snippet from last week. Edmund and Arden's story continues in this book, though they've gotten a pretty solid HEA at the end of Dance. Harmony resolves more of the fantasy plot and introduces a new couple who need their own HEA, Rhys and Gareth. The first lines of Harmony give us Arden's reaction to a bombshell Edmund dropped on him at the end of the previous book (so this snippet probably counts as spoilers!).
Picture








​“Your brother is alive?” The words burst from Arden without thought. Shock wasn’t allowing him to think.


Prince Gareth of Thalassa was alive?

And this wasn’t something Edmund had chosen to tell Arden before now? They were going to be married in the morning, and Gareth was Edmund’s younger brother, whom everyone had thought dead for years.

You can find more about A Harmony of Fire and Earth here. Also, it's 50% off at Smashwords this month (along with my other books!). Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're all staying safe and well.
7 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

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

    Archives

    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
    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