Category: Rainbow Snippets

Rainbow Snippets October 1-2

10/2/2022

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.

Happy October, all! And with October 1st comes the publishing anniversary of A Dance of Water and Air (out in the world for four years!). I thought I'd share a few snippets this month to celebrate. A Dance of Water and Air is the first book in my Elemental Magicae series, which I wrote challenging myself to write a series that would be complete within those two books. (It is, but I'm probably going to write more in this world. Because of course.) In this book, Edmund is a demisexual prince whose father arranges a marriage for him with the queen of a neighboring country to create an alliance. However, Edmund soon finds himself falling for the queen's brother, Arden (who is bisexual and transgender). When Edmund is framed for an attempted assassination of the queen, he and Arden realize there is a lot more going on than they thought, and they go on the run, hoping to figure out a way to save Edmund and their countries and for them to be together. In this snippet, Edmund and his secretary are traveling to meet Edmund's intended bride.

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.

It looked like a painting, and so different from home he almost ached looking at it. The castle towered above the capital city, shooting up from the rock of the mountains, white towers gleaming in the moonlight as they reached toward the sky. As the carriage rattled through the empty nighttime streets, stone buildings silent and dark around them, Edmund kept his eyes on the bright white of the castle, seized by a sudden burst of fear as reality came crashing down upon him. This was to be his home?

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

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Rainbow Snippets September 24-25

9/24/2022

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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.

This week, I have another snippet from The Sorcerer's Guardian, which had a publishing anniversary this month. In The Sorcerer's Guardian, an arrogant (but really very powerful and talented) sorcerer and a loyal guard captain are sent on a dangerous mission by the Crown Prince. Neither of them feels it is necessary that they make this long journey together, but the guard captain is too loyal to argue and the sorcerer's arguments are ignored. Along the way, they bicker and snark at each other, and learn to work together...and that they're quite attracted to each other. In this snippet, Loriot decides Savarin has been working too long and needs a break...

“I’m aware of the importance of your work,” Loriot said and came toward Savarin in what could only be described as a prowl. “But you can’t work all night.”

Savarin pushed aside the stirrings of heat in favor of annoyance at the amusement he could hear in Loriot’s words and stepped backward. “This is serious, Loriot. Treat it as such.”

“Oh, I am. You need to relax sometimes, or you won’t accomplish anything.” With a wicked smile, Loriot kept advancing, crowding Savarin back until he came up against the door. “You’ll be far more clearheaded if you allow yourself a little enjoyable distraction.”

You can find more about The Sorcerer's Guardian here. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're staying safe and well!

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Rainbow Snippets September 17-18

9/18/2022

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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.

This week, I have another snippet from The Sorcerer's Guardian, which had a publishing anniversary this month. In The Sorcerer's Guardian, an arrogant (but really very powerful and talented) sorcerer and a loyal guard captain are sent on a dangerous mission by the Crown Prince. Neither of them feels it is necessary that they make this long journey together, but the guard captain is too loyal to argue and the sorcerer's arguments are ignored. Along the way, they bicker and snark at each other, and learn to work together...and that they're quite attracted to each other. This week's snippet is Loriot and Savarin's first kiss.

“Your friend warned you about how dangerous they would be. It’s why we’ve been planning so carefully. To make sure we were safely here before the storms and not trying to ride around or camp out in them.”

“I’m quite aware of what Gemella said.”

He stalked closer to Savarin. “Then why are you being so arrogant and ridiculous about this?”

“Ridiculous?” Savarin’s voice went quiet, and he stood in the tub, long legs unfolding beneath him.

“Did you just call me ridiculous?”

“I see you have no objection to my calling you arrogant.”

“I’m arrogant? You need to listen to yourself. You arrogant, smug—”

Loriot had no idea which of them moved first. Maybe they moved together; he didn’t know. What he did know was one second Savarin was hurling a litany of insults at him and the next they were kissing. Only kissing was too tame a word for what they were doing.

You can find more about The Sorcerer's Guardian here. Thanks for reading and I hope you're staying safe and well!

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Rainbow Snippets September 10-11

9/11/2022

3 Comments

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 switching over to snippets from The Sorcerer's Guardian, which also has a publishing anniversary coming up this month. In The Sorcerer's Guardian, an arrogant (but really very powerful and talented) sorcerer and a loyal guard captain are sent on a dangerous mission by the Crown Prince. Neither of them feels it is necessary that they make this long journey together, but the guard captain is too loyal to argue and the sorcerer's arguments are ignored. Along the way, they learn to work together...and that they're quite attracted to each other. And at one point, there's a storm and only one room left at the inn with only one bed. But we haven't gotten that far in this snippet... (I'm sorry that it's a bit long!)

The one small window let in enough moonlight for him to see but left the room in shadow. He moved to grab the candles from the chest and light them from the ones in the corridor, but Savarin was faster. He took hold of Loriot’s arm, keeping him back from the candles, and an instant after, the wicks ignited into steady, glowing flames.

Loriot sucked in a quick breath. At the surprise of having the candles light on their own? Or at the surprise of having Savarin touching him? Both were unexpected, and both kicked his heartbeat up. The realization Savarin had used his Talent to light the candles settled into his mind, becoming far less jarring. But Savarin was still touching him, his grip firm on Loriot’s forearm. Loriot was suddenly much more aware of Savarin’s presence close by his side, of Savarin so much taller than he was. But Savarin’s hand holding his arm...it was almost devastating in the awareness it produced.

In that breathless moment, heat rushed through him from the one point of contact between them, and he wondered--in what was obviously lunacy--what it would be like to turn and push Savarin up against the closed door, trapping him there with his body and kissing him.

You can find out more about The Sorcerer's Guardian here. Thanks for reading and I hope you're staying safe and well!

3 Comments

Rainbow Snippets September 3-4

9/3/2022

1 Comment

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 decided to share a few snippets from The Dragon's Devotion leading up to its fifth anniversary this weekend. In The Dragon's Devotion, Corentin is a scholar with a secret (he's a dragon shifter) and Bastien is an earl with far too much on his shoulders—including learning that his parents' death several years ago might not have been the accident they all believed. As they become closer, Bastien looks into the death of his parents and is drawn into danger, leaving Corentin in the position of revealing his secret—which could put his people at risk—or losing the man he's come to love. In this week's snippet, Bastien sees Corentin as a dragon for the first time.

Where Corentin had stood only a moment ago was a large dragon.

Bastien stared, his gaze traveling over the astonishing creature sitting in front of him. The dragon—Corentin, the dragon was Corentin, and he had to remember that or he might be as terrified as he was awed--Corentin was a magnificent sight. He was enormous and sinuous, with a powerful body and a long neck and wings folded over his back. His body, except for his wings, seemed to be entirely covered in scales that glistened in the light from the lantern. In the near dark, Bastien couldn’t tell what color the scales were, and he very much wanted to know. Because Corentin was beautiful, and Bastien wanted to see all of him, to remember this sight forever. This first time he saw Corentin as a dragon.

He looked up, meeting Corentin’s eyes, and opened his mouth to ask about the color of his scales, which was probably a ridiculous question both for its subject and for the fact that Bastien didn’t know if Corentin could talk as a dragon. Could dragons talk? In the stories, they mostly roared and breathed fire, but the stories obviously weren’t correct. Except that dragons did exist.
And he was rambling even in his thoughts.

You can find out more about The Dragon's Devotion here. Thanks for reading, and I hope you're staying safe and well.

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Rainbow Snippets August 27-28

8/28/2022

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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 decided to share a few snippets from The Dragon's Devotion leading up to its fifth anniversary in a few weeks. In The Dragon's Devotion, Corentin is a scholar with a secret (he's a dragon shifter) and Bastien is an earl with far too much on his shoulders—including learning that his parents' death several years ago might not have been the accident they all believed. As they become closer, Bastien looks into the death of his parents and is drawn into danger, leaving Corentin in the position of revealing his secret—which could put his people at risk—or losing the man he's come to love. This week, I'm sharing a snippet of Corentin using his magic to transform into a dragon.

Closing his eyes, Corentin let out a long, slow breath and smiled as he reached for his magic. The change was immediate and glorious. He grew and changed under the cover of silvery purple light. When he opened his eyes again he looked out on the world from a far different perspective. He stretched his long neck, his back, even his tail, working out all the kinks and relaxing into this body. His wings came last, large and strong and the thing he’d thrilled to when he came into his power years ago.

With another smile, which he had on good authority looked quite different from his human one, he launched himself over the cliff. He didn’t make a sound doing it, even though as the wind rushed by him, as he beat his wings to carry him up and up, he wanted to scream his joy.

You can find more about The Dragon's Devotion here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well!

1 Comment

Rainbow Snippets August 20-21

8/21/2022

3 Comments

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 decided to share a few snippets from The Dragon's Devotion leading up to its fifth anniversary in a few weeks. In The Dragon's Devotion, Corentin is a scholar with a secret (he's a dragon shifter) and Bastien is an earl with far too much on his shoulders—including learning that his parents' death several years ago might not have been the accident they all believed. As they become closer, Bastien looks into the death of his parents and is drawn into danger, leaving Corentin in the position of revealing his secret—which could put his people at risk—or losing the man he's come to love. This snippet is a sweet moment between Bastien and Corentin after Bastien went to him when he was upset.

A small smile flirted with the corners of his mouth, and his thick hair was tousled and spread around his head. Corentin gave in to the temptation to comb his fingers through the soft waves. Bastien let out a sigh, and the smile became more pronounced.

Bastien’s eyes fluttered open, and he stared up at Corentin. They gazed at each other for a while; Corentin had no idea what was going on in Bastien’s head, but he was glad to see that Bastien didn’t look as lost as he had when he’d arrived so unexpectedly at Corentin’s door. Unable to resist, Corentin kissed him.

“Will you stay?” he asked, keeping his voice to a whisper. Somehow it seemed appropriate.

Bastien didn’t answer immediately, and Corentin could almost see him thinking about it—whether he could or even wanted to—as he stared up at Corentin. He began to wonder if he should have asked, but finally Bastien nodded. “Yes, I’ll stay.”

You can find more about The Dragon's Devotion here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well.

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Rainbow Snippets August 6-7

8/7/2022

1 Comment

Edmund snagged his hand as Arden walked by and gently tugged him in and close. He paused a hairsbreadth from kissing Arden, giving Arden an opportunity to step away. As if Arden would. He closed the slight distance and touched his lips to Edmund’s. He’d meant it to be a light kiss, playful and sweet and quick, but when he tasted Edmund, he sank into the kiss, burying his other hand in Edmund’s hair and holding on.

When they finally, reluctantly, pulled back from each other, Arden’s head was spinning. He’d always enjoyed kissing, but with Edmund, he never, ever wanted to stop. He blinked up at Edmund, waiting for his scattered thoughts to settle. Edmund was quiet too, watching Arden with wide, dark eyes. Finally, Arden leaned forward and nuzzled into Edmund’s neck for just a moment.

You can find out 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 July 30-31

7/31/2022

1 Comment

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.

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

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!

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.

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Rainbow Snippets October 1-2

Rainbow Snippets September 24-25

Rainbow Snippets September 17-18

Rainbow Snippets September 10-11

Rainbow Snippets September 3-4

Rainbow Snippets August 27-28

Rainbow Snippets August 20-21

Rainbow Snippets August 6-7

Rainbow Snippets July 30-31

Rainbow Snippets July 23-24

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