Category: The Sorcerer's Guardian

Rainbow Snippets September 24-25

9/24/2022

“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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“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

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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'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!

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Rainbow Snippets August 14-15

8/14/2021

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Loriot took the opportunity to study Savarin surreptitiously.

Savarin was a handsome man, far too handsome, really. When Loriot had seen him for the first time years ago, he hadn’t quite been able to believe the man was real, with his near-perfect features and tall, lean frame. Savarin’s aloofness and arrogance had convinced him otherwise. As always, Savarin was dressed well and fashionably, but Loriot was glad to see his clothing was also practical for travel. He didn’t think he had ever seen Savarin less than perfectly attired in anything except the more formal clothes appropriate for the palace or the city, in rich silks and velvets all in saturated colors and excellent cuts, certainly from the best tailors in Jumelle.

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

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Rainbow Snippets May 29-30

5/29/2021

6 Comments

As afternoon waned into evening, Loriot approached his house on Dove Lane. Weariness dragged at him with each step. He hadn’t slept more than a few minutes in the last few days, and now that the crisis had passed, he felt the fatigue down to his bones. But the lack of sleep was worth it for the good outcome of the situation.

He trudged up the few steps to his front door, its rich blue color recently freshened, and let himself in. The key turned smoothly in the lock, and the magical protections on the house recognized him as belonging, allowing him inside.

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

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Rainbow Snippets March 27-28

3/27/2021

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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'm continuing on with first kisses this weekend with Loriot and Savarin's first kiss in The Sorcerer's Guardian. Savarin is an arrogant, powerful sorcerer on an important mission for the crown, and Loriot the loyal guard captain sent to keep him safe while he accomplishes what he needs to do. Savarin has no desire to be guarded, and Loriot has no desire to go on this journey at all, but they'll both do as their princes command. Even if they do clash quite a bit along the way. In this scene, they've taken shelter at an inn during a storm...where there is only one room left with only one bed. They ended up having to travel through the beginning of the storm to reach an inn because Savarin became too involved in his magic earlier in the day, and Loriot is not pleased about that. Loriot speaks first in this snippet (and I went over the sentence limit—I'm sorry!—but I wanted to set the kiss up properly).

“Do you not understand how dangerous this storm is?” As if to punctuate his words, thunder boomed, and he could have sworn the whole building shook. For an instant, everything froze, but the inn didn’t fall down around their ears. “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.

He and Savarin were devouring each other.

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

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Read an Ebook Week Sale!

3/7/2021

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All of my books are 50% off in the Smashwords Read an Ebook Week sale through March 13th. You can find them all here. Go grab some books!

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Rainbow Snippets October 10-11

10/11/2020

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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'm a little later than usual with my Rainbow Snippet this week—unpacking is still consuming my life, and I keep losing track of time! Hopefully, I can get things back to normal soon.

Today, I'm sharing another snippet from The Sorcerer's Guardian, which is now back out in the world with a gorgeous new cover by Natasha Snow. (But I may switch over soon to snippets from my upcoming new release, The Envoy's Honor, which is currently with the proofreader.) The Sorcerer's Guardian is an opposites attract fantasy romance between an arrogant sorcerer and a loyal guard captain sent on a mission for the crown. They spend a lot of time clashing with each other and manage to tumble into love along the way (and at one point, they are stuck at an inn with only one room left and only one bed...). I'm picking up in this snippet just a little bit after the last. Savarin was told by the princes that Captain Loriot would accompany him on his journey for protection, which Savarin was less than pleased about. But he was unable to change Prince Philip's mind. Savarin and Loriot have now left the princes' presence and are discussing the matter together.

“I don’t need a minder or a protector.” Savarin didn’t raise his voice, but his tone was firm--it probably intimidated all the lesser mortals the great sorcerer dealt with. Loriot wouldn’t be intimidated.

“Prince Philip believes otherwise, and though I believe I’m needed here to ensure the safety of the royal family, I cannot disobey his order.” Even if he wanted to. He would do his duty to the prince. “The prince has made up his mind. There’s little sense in arguing with him about it.”

He didn’t add Savarin had tried and hadn’t gotten far. He didn’t need to—the disgruntled look in Savarin’s eye told Loriot he realized it quite well.

You can find more about The Sorcerer's Guardian here. Also, The Sorcerer's Guardian is still 30% at NineStar Press, along with all my other books. Grab some books to curl up with this fall! Thanks for reading my belated snippet, and I hope you're all staying safe and healthy!

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Rainbow Snippets October 3-4

10/3/2020

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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 skipped Rainbow Snippets last week...mostly because I completely forgot to put a post together in all the chaos surrounding my move at the end of last week. But, I'm now in the new house, and though there are still boxes everywhere, I'm settling in enough to know what day it is and get a snippet up.

Today, I'm sharing another snippet from The Sorcerer's Guardian, which is now back out in the world with a gorgeous new cover by Natasha Snow. (But I may switch over soon to snippets from my upcoming new release, The Envoy's Honor, which is currently with the proofreader.) The Sorcerer's Guardian is an opposites attract fantasy romance between an arrogant sorcerer and a loyal guard captain sent on a mission for the crown. They spend a lot of time clashing with each other and manage to tumble into love along the way (and at one point, they are stuck at an inn with only one room left and only one bed...). This snippet is set a little further along in the same scene as the last one I posted. Savarin has informed the princes that they have a problem with Tournai's protection spells and that he plans to go investigate them more.

“Captain Loriot,” Prince Philip said after the door opened and closed, “perfect timing. Thank you for joining us.”

“Of course, Your Highness. You had need of me?”

Savarin glanced over as Loriot stepped up beside Lord Etan’s chair. The captain appeared his usual competent self this afternoon; Savarin hadn’t seen him look less than competent in all their association. His thick, dark hair all in place, short beard neatly trimmed, deep-red-and- brown uniform perfectly pressed. The royal seal was embroidered on itsbreast, his captain’s insignia displayed on the jacket’s arm.

“Yes, Captain,” Prince Philip said. “Master Savarin will be traveling along Tournai’s borders on an important mission for us. I’d like you to accompany him.”

Shock stole Savarin’s thoughts for a moment, but the protest came quickly. “Your Highness, that’s hardly necessary.”

You can find more about The Sorcerer's Guardian here. It's also still 30% off at NineStar Press, along with all my other books. Thanks for reading today, and stay safe and well, everyone!

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Rainbow Snippets September 19-20

9/19/2020

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“What did you find?” Prince Philip asked.

“I traveled the majority of our eastern border with Elleri before I had to return to Jumelle. From what I’ve seen, the barrier formed by the protections follows the border, or at least it does in that area. I did find spots where it seemed weaker.”

“Weaker how?” Prince Amory asked.

He fumbled for a moment to find the words to explain it to someone with no training in sorcery. He might have struggled to explain it to someone with training as well—the protections didn’t behave like any others he had ever seen. “Think of the spells surrounding Tournai as a barrier, a thin but strong wall, Your Highness. In a couple of spots, the wall has gotten thinner, weaker. As if someone has been pushing at it, wearing it away.”

“Trying to get through it,” Lord Etan murmured.

You can find more about The Sorcerer's Guardian here. And you can still get it 30% off at NineStar Press, along with my other books. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're all staying safe and healthy!

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Rainbow Snippets September 24-25

Rainbow Snippets September 17-18

Rainbow Snippets September 10-11

Rainbow Snippets August 14-15

Rainbow Snippets May 29-30

Rainbow Snippets March 27-28

Read an Ebook Week Sale!

Rainbow Snippets October 10-11

Rainbow Snippets October 3-4

Rainbow Snippets September 19-20

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