​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?



Add The Merchant's Love to your Goodreads shelf.

Preorder The Merchant's Love:
NineStar Press
Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Kobo

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+.

The Merchant's Love will officially be out on Monday, though preorders from NineStar were available yesterday. I'm a mess of excitement and nerves, as always—though perhaps a bit more about this one since Faelen is my first published demisexual main character and that's so important to me. I'm sharing another snippet from the book today. This is Maxen talking with his friend Valentin about meeting Faelen.

You can find out more about The Merchant's Love, including an excerpt and links, here. Also, all my Dreamspinner books are on sale right now. The Prince's Consort is 99 cents at all retailers this month, and my other three DSP books are 40% off there through Monday. Thanks for reading!

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?



Add The Merchant's Love to your Goodreads shelf.

Preorder The Merchant's Love:
NineStar Press
Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Kobo

I have another The Merchant's Love with baked goods photo for you today. Faelen has such a weakness for books and baked goods (and who can blame him?), and so much of the bonding courtship in this book involves the two that it seemed like fun to take some photos and share recipes and snippets from the book. I hope you're enjoying it. Today's recipe is for brownies. They're really fudgy and chocolatey and flourless, so gluten free. This has become my go-to brownie recipe. Let me know what you think if you try it.

Fudgy Gluten Free Brownies

1/2 butter
2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8x8 inch pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a small microwave-safe bowl. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, and cornstarch. Add in the butter/chocolate mixture, and whisk until well-combined. Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Whisk in the eggs on at a time. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 33 minutes until the brownies are set around the edges. Cool completely in the pan before slicing.

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?



Add The Merchant's Love to your Goodreads shelf.

Preorder The Merchant's Love:
NineStar Press
Amazon
Apple
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
Kobo

​Yes, I'm counting down!
​

The Merchant's Love will be out one week from today, and even sooner, for those of you who preordered at NineStar. (How did that happen? How is it so soon?) It's also Monday, and I think that means we all need cookies. So for today's baked goods and The Merchant's Love photo (if you've missed any of the previous posts and don't know why I'm doing this, catch up here and here), I'm giving you hazelnut chocolate chip cookies. And I wish I could actually give you some because they're really yummy.

There actually are cookies in the book, as you can see in the snippet above. It's part of a scene I really love, especially for what it makes Faelen realize. I don't specify what kind of cookies they're eating that night, but it might very well be these. They're a favorite of mine, and I think Faelen and Maxen would enjoy them. I hope you do too.

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons Nutella (or other brand of hazelnut spread)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts (optional; the Nutella gives a nice hazelnut flavor even without these)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in Nutella, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add the flour mixture and incorporate at low speed until not streaks of flour remain. Stir in chocolate chips and hazelnuts (if using). Form the dough into 1 inch balls.

Before baking, I refrigerate cookie dough for 12-24 hours or freeze it at least overnight (You can make the dough much farther ahead and freeze it too. I always have cookie dough in my freezer for emergencies. Cookie emergencies are absolutely a thing). Chilling the dough makes the cookies puffier, but you don't have to with this recipe (The original recipe didn't call for it; this is just my trick for almost all cookie baking). If you do freeze the dough, there's no need to defrost it before baking.

Preheat the oven 375, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes (possible a few minutes longer if the dough is frozen) until the cookies are a light golden brown around the edges.

Let cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen.

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?



Add The Merchant's Love to your Goodreads shelf.

Preorder The Merchant's Love:
NineStar Press
Amazon
Smashwords
More retailers coming soon!

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 The Merchant's Love for you today. This one takes place not long after last week's snippet. Faelen and Maxen didn't dance, but they do spend quite a while talking that night.

The Merchant's Love will be out on June 18th (a little more than a week!). You can read more about it and find links here. Also, The Prince's Consort is 99 cents all month for Pride Month, if you haven't read it yet. Thanks for reading today!