​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 give you the lines directly following last week's snippet from The Merchant's Love this weekend, so you can see how Maxen responds (Hint: denial! To Tristan, and himself). I really enjoyed writing the relationship between brothers Tristan and Maxen in this story, and sort of turning the tables. In The Scholar's Heart, Tristan was one all turned around by his relationship with Etan and Maxen the sensible one. It was fun to see how Maxen would react to his growing feelings for Faelen, and how Tristan would act as his brother.

​Etan probably didn’t know about all the notes Maxen exchanged with Faelen, or he would have told Tristan about that too. “Nothing, or nothing that you’re implying. We’re friends.”

​“Mhmm.”

At Maxen’s look, Tristan shrugged and did a poor job of looking innocent.

Maxen shook his head and muttered, “Someone save me from annoying older brothers.”

“I heard that.”

“You were meant to.” And even with Tristan’s teasing, Maxen couldn’t help taking one more peek at Faelen. 

​

If you'd like to know more about The Merchant's Love, you can find it here. The Merchant's Love and The Dragon's Devotion are still 50% off at Smashwords, but only through the end of the month. Don't miss out!

​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 a little more from The Merchant's Love for you today. I've skipped ahead a little. In this scene, Maxen is with his brother, Tristan, and, as they're walking together, sees Faelen at a gathering of courtiers. (Etan is Tristan's husband and Faelen's cousin.) (I went over the sentence limit again—I'm sorry! I thought it was necessary here.)

You can find out more about The Merchant's Love here. Don't forget that The Merchant's Love (along with The Dragon's Devotion) is 50% off at Smashwords through the end of July. Thanks for reading!

​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 following off of last week's snippet from The Merchant's Love. Faelen and Maxen were about to have a picnic. This snippet comes toward the of their lunch. (It's a little longer than it should be, but I thought it was necessary.)

​"Don’t you have to go back to your office?”

​“But we haven’t finished lunch. We still have the best part left. Unless you have to get back to the palace.”

Faelen tilted his head. “What’s left of lunch?”

“Dessert, of course.” With a grin, Maxen retrieved the pastries from the bottom of the basket and unwrapped them to reveal spirals of dough sticky with honey, nuts, and spices. “We should have something sweet, shouldn’t we?”

Faelen’s eyes were wide, and he bit his lip. “I suppose we should.”

Maxen handed over one of the pastries, and Faelen bit into it immediately. The noise he made—a quiet little sound that was almost a moan—hit Maxen like a punch in the stomach. Faelen’s eyes closed as he savored the sugary bite. Would his face look that way if he were lost in pleasure of another kind? The thought flashed like lightning through Maxen. 

​

If you'd like to know more about The Merchant's Love, you can find it here. Both The Merchant's Love and The Dragon's Devotion are 50% off this month over at Smashwords if you'd like to give them a try. Thanks for reading today!

​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 little more from The Merchant's Love today. This follows not long after last week's snippet. (I went just a bit over six sentences, but they're short!)

If you'd like to know more about The Merchant's Love, you can find it here. All this month, The Merchant's Love and The Dragon's Devotion are 50% off at Smashwords in their big sale. It's a great deal if you want to give them a try. Thanks for reading!

​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 more from The Merchant's Love for you today. Maxen and Faelen have been writing to each other, but this is the first time they've seen each other since the night they met.

You can find more about The Merchant's Love here. Today is the last day to get The Prince's Consort for 99c (at all retailers), and it's the last day to use coupon code PRIDE for 40% off your order at NineStar Press (where you could buy The Merchant's Love and lots of other great books). Thanks for stopping by and reading!

I thought I'd do one more The Merchant's Love and baked goods post to round out the month, though I will probably end up doing another when the paperbacks arrive. I'm sure I won't be able to resist pretty pictures with the paperback.

Today, I have a white wine bundt cake for you. I had some fun using a fancy bundt pan—and then realized after it was in the oven that I have a castle bundt pan that I forgot about and that absolutely would've been more appropriate, so maybe another cake next time. I really love this cake. The wine gives it a unique flavor, and it smells so good.

Usually I set up a prettier picture, or try to, but it's been not a great week, and that cake wasn't going to last uncut off the cooling rack. So a not so fancy picture this time!

White Wine Cake

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup oil (I used olive, but another vegetable oil would be fine)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 cup white wine (I used pinot grigio, but a different white wine would work too)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, lemon zest, lime zest, wine, and both extracts. 

Slowly pour the wine mixture into the flour mixture while whisking constantly. Mix until the batter is smooth and no streaks of flour remain. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Serves 10-12.

​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 more from The Merchant's Love for you today. Last week was a snippet with Maxen and his best friend, and this week, I have a snippet with Faelen and his twin brother, Alexander. At this point, Faelen and Maxen haven't seen each other since the night they met and spent so long talking.

You can find more about The Merchant's Love here. And don't forget that The Prince's Consort is on sale for 99c at all retailers through June. Thanks for stopping by!

Bundled up against the cold night, they walked hand in hand toward Maxen’s house. They didn’t stop in at any of the taverns along the way. By mutual agreement, it seemed they wanted something else. Faelen did anyway—to be alone with Maxen somewhere quieter. But Maxen tugged him into a bakery that was still open and bought two pastries, swirled through with cinnamon and spices and topped with sweet sugary icing.

Faelen hadn’t thought he’d be hungry after the filling stew, but the pastry was warm and smelled delicious...perhaps he might have room for something sweet.

Outside, Maxen grinned and pressed a kiss to his temple. “I know how you love your sweets. Go ahead.”

Faelen blushed, even as a delightful shiver traveled through him from the place Maxen’s lips had been so briefly. He ducked his head, letting his hair fall forward to shield his face. -The Merchant's Love

​

The Merchant's Love came out on Monday (yay!), but with the way the world has been this week, I haven't had it in me to promote it too much, which is probably not good. Romance novels are where I turn for comfort and escape and hope that things get better. I'm sure many of you do too, and I hope this book can maybe do that for you. So I thought it might be a good time for more books and baking. 

This week, I made cinnamon rolls, which seem so appropriate for Faelen and Maxen (if you've read about these two, I think you'll agree!). Someone sent me this recipe a while ago and I hadn't tried it yet, so I decided to give it a go. While I was doing it, I realized that might not have been the best idea, since the recipe was a bit vague here and there, but they came out pretty well, I think. I tried to clarify the recipe for you a little.

Cinnamon Rolls
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup and a pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup hot milk
1 egg
3 cups all purpose flour

Stir together the warm water, yeast, and the a pinch of sugar. Let the mixture sit for a 5-8 minutes until foamy.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, salt, butter, and milk. Stir everything together and then allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in the egg, then stir in the yeast mixture. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time until a very soft dough forms. Continue to knead for a few minutes (or use the dough hook if you're using a stand mixer). The dough will be very soft but should hold together. If it doesn't, add another tablespoon of flour. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It should double in size.

Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly butter a pan (the recipe doesn't specify what kind, but I used a 9 by 9 inch square pan and that worked fine).

Turn the dough out on a floured surface and roll out into a long rectangle (about 15 by 9 inches maybe). Melt 3 tablespoons of butter and brush the butter all over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with sugar and cinnamon. The recipe called for 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. I didn't measure, but I'm sure I used more than that! Roll up from the long side and slice into 12 pieces. Place the rolls in the pan and bake for 25-27 minutes until the edges are brown. 

I iced my cinnamon rolls with bourbon cream cheese frosting. Here's the recipe for that:

Bourbon Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
confectioner's sugar
bourbon

Beat together the butter and cream cheese until creamy. Add in confectioner's sugar and bourbon and beat until smooth. The original recipe that I have called for 4 cups of sugar and 5 tablespoons of bourbon, but I didn't use that much. I tend to add sugar by the cup a little at a time until it's as sweet as I want it to be, and then add the bourdon to taste as well. You can leave out the bourbon easily if you want them to be nonalcoholic.  

The Merchant's Love is out in the world today, available from all retailers. I'm so excited for you to have this book, and nervous too. I'm going to go hide by working on edits for Dance in a bit, I think (though I really have to finish those edits, so it does serve a purpose other than hiding, really). When I wrote The Merchant's Love last year, I wrote the book I needed. It's a warm, romantic story and a sweet, lovely romance. I wanted to wrap Faelen and Maxen up in a big hug, and maybe I wanted this book to be one for you too. 

Faelen is my first published demisexual main character, which is big and important for me too. This book and Dance, which will be out in October, are the first books I wrote with demisexual characters, the first books with characters sharing that part of my identity. A lot of me and my experience went into Faelen (maybe more than I meant, since he also shares my sweet tooth and love of books, among other things). Writing them was more nerve-wracking than I expected, but I'm sure these characters won't be the last demisexual characters I write (actually, I absolutely know that since I'm in the early stages of planning something). We need more demisexual characters.

I hope you enjoy The Merchant's Love, Faelen and Maxen's relationship, and their relationships with their family, both blood family and found. If you've read other Tournai books, you'll see some familiar faces, and if not, you can jump in right here and always catch up on others later. All the Tournai books stand alone. If you leave a review after you read, you have my profound gratitude and appreciation, but please don't feel any obligation. I only hope The Merchant's Love brings you a little joy, especially with the world feeling rather grim.

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?



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