Antonia Aquilante
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Rainbow Snippets October 11-12

10/12/2025

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​The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend (I'll beg forgiveness in advance for sometimes going over the sentence limit!). 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 weekend, I'm sharing a snippet from The Spymaster's Secret because it will have been out in the world six years this coming week. I love this book—I had so much fun writing it, writing Alexander and Marcus as they fell in love. Alexander is a flirtatious royal with hidden depths and Marcus is a mysterious older widower, and their story includes lots of banter, shenanigans at a masquerade ball, plus some spies and intrigue. Here's a snippet from the beginning of chapter two.

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Rainbow Snippets February 24-25

2/25/2024

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​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 with snippets from The Spymaster's Secret. It's a book I had so much fun writing, mostly because of the main characters and their dynamic, and I don't think I've shared snippets from it in quite a while. Alexander is a flirtatious, charming young royal with hidden depths who develops an unexpected but not unwelcome attraction to a mysterious older widower. In turn, Marcus is fascinated by the vibrant Alexander, but as the Crown's spymaster, he knows being involved with him is dangerous. Marcus also can't seem to stop himself from becoming more entangled with Alexander even as he tracks a ring of spies and danger creeps up on Alexander. This is another last minute snippet this week, and it's a bit longer than it should be—sorry on both counts! I've skipped ahead just a bit for this snippet. Alexander has gone to Marcus's house for dinner so they can get to know each other better. Alexander was left in the parlor to wait for Marcus, who comes in a few moments later.

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Rainbow Snippets February 17-18

2/18/2024

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​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 with snippets from The Spymaster's Secret. It's a book I had so much fun writing, mostly because of the main characters and their dynamic, and I don't think I've shared snippets from it in quite a while. Alexander is a flirtatious, charming young royal with hidden depths who develops an unexpected but not unwelcome attraction to a mysterious older widower. In turn, Marcus is fascinated by the vibrant Alexander, but as the Crown's spymaster, he knows being involved with him is dangerous. Marcus also can't seem to stop himself from becoming more entangled with Alexander even as he tracks a ring of spies and danger creeps up on Alexander. I missed posting last week—I was pushing to hit my word count goals and didn't realize I hadn't posted until too late, but I'm sneaking a snippet in this week. It's from not long after the last snippet I shared.

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Rainbow Snippets February 3-4

2/4/2024

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​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 with snippets from The Spymaster's Secret. It's a book I had so much fun writing, and I don't think I've shared snippets from it in quite a while. Alexander is a flirtatious, charming young royal with hidden depths who develops an unexpected but not unwelcome attraction to a mysterious older widower. In turn, Marcus is fascinated by the vibrant Alexander, but as the Crown's spymaster, he knows being involved with him is dangerous. Marcus also can't seem to stop himself from becoming more entangled with Alexander even as he tracks a ring of spies and danger creeps up on Alexander. This week's snippet follows not long after last week's. We're now in Alexander's point of view.

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Rainbow Snippets January 27-28

1/28/2024

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​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 switching to snippets from The Spymaster's Secret this month. It's a book I had so much fun writing, and I don't think I've shared snippets from it in quite a while. Alexander is a flirtatious, charming young royal with hidden depths who develops an unexpected but not unwelcome attraction to a mysterious older widower. In turn, Marcus is fascinated by the vibrant Alexander, but as the Crown's spymaster, he knows being involved with him is dangerous. Marcus also can't seem to stop himself from becoming more entangled with Alexander even as he tracks a ring of spies and danger creeps up on Alexander. This week's snippet follows not long after last week's. Alexander asked Marcus to leave the masquerade ball and meet him. Marcus decides to go but just to tell Alexander they couldn't get involved. It doesn't turn out quite like he planned...

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Rainbow Snippets January 20-21

1/21/2024

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​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 switching to snippets from The Spymaster's Secret this month. It's a book I had so much fun writing, and I don't think I've shared snippets from it in quite a while. Alexander is a flirtatious, charming young royal with hidden depths who develops an unexpected but not unwelcome attraction to a mysterious older widower. In turn, Marcus is fascinated by the vibrant Alexander, but as the Crown's spymaster, he knows being involved with him is dangerous. Marcus also can't seem to stop himself from becoming more entangled with Alexander even as he tracks a ring of spies and danger creeps up on Alexander. This week's snippet follows directly after last week's in which Alexander asked Marcus to dance with him at the masquerade ball.

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Rainbow Snippets January 13-14

1/14/2024

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​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 switching to snippets from The Spymaster's Secret this month. It's a book I had so much fun writing, and I don't think I've shared snippets from it in quite a while. Alexander is a flirtatious, charming young royal with hidden depths who develops an unexpected but not unwelcome attraction to a mysterious older widower. In turn, Marcus is fascinated by the vibrant Alexander, but as the Crown's spymaster, he knows being involved with him is dangerous. Marcus also can't seem to stop himself from becoming more entangled with Alexander even as he tracks a ring of spies and danger creeps up on Alexander. I've skipped ahead just a little this week to some banter between Alexander and Marcus masquerade ball.

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Rainbow Snippets January 6-7

1/7/2024

2 Comments

 
Picture
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​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 switching to snippets from The Spymaster's Secret this month. It's a book I had so much fun writing, and I don't think I've shared snippets from it in quite a while. Alexander is a flirtatious, charming young royal with hidden depths who develops an unexpected but not unwelcome attraction to a mysterious older widower. In turn, Marcus is fascinated by the vibrant Alexander, but as the Crown's spymaster, he knows being involved with him is dangerous. Marcus also can't seem to stop himself from becoming more entangled with Alexander even as he tracks a ring of spies and danger creeps up on Alexander. This snippet is from early in the book (and it's a bit longer than it should be—I'm not starting the year well, am I?).

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Rainbow Snippets November 5-6

11/6/2022

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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'm sharing snippets from The Spymaster's Secret over the next few weeks to celebrate the book's third birthday. The Spymaster's Secret is an opposites attract romance between a flirtatious, outgoing royal with hidden depths and an older, serious widowed father with very mysterious work. Which our young royal is quite curious about. And you know what they say about curiosity. Last week, I shared a snippet from Alexander and Faelen's preparations for the masquerade ball. This week, I thought I would give you a glimpse at the ball itself...and Alexander's flirtation with Marcus there.
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Alexander tilted his head as he contemplated Marcus. “What is it? What are you thinking?”

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Marcus needed to divert Alexander away from his actual thoughts. Because he couldn’t tell him, not when Marcus had been trying to avoid those feelings. Before he could find the words, Alexander’s eyes darkened, something coming into them as he watched Marcus steadily. His lips curved more, just a hint of a seductive smile, and Marcus shook his head immediately in denial.

“Alexander.”

His smile didn’t falter at Marcus’s quietly voiced admonishment. If anything, it grew. “Marcus.”

His name in that low, teasing tone rippled through him, leaving heat in its wake. “We can’t do this.”
Alexander’s eyes widened behind the mask, before he lowered his lashes to veil them. “I didn’t ask you to do anything. But maybe I will now.”

“Alexander.”

He ignored the repressive tone again. “Dance with me.”

“You—you want me to dance with you?”

“We are at a ball.” Those peridot eyes glittered flirtatiously. “At balls, 
people dance. I enjoy dancing. I think I might enjoy it very much with you.”

You can find more about The Spymaster's Secret here. Thanks for reading today, and I hope you're staying safe and well!
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Rainbow Snippets October 29-30

10/30/2022

1 Comment

 
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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 sharing snippets from The Spymaster's Secret over the next few weeks to celebrate the book's third birthday. The Spymaster's Secret is an opposites attract romance between a flirtatious, outgoing royal with hidden depths and an older, serious widowed father with very mysterious work. Which our young royal is quite curious about. And you know what they say about curiosity. With Halloween tomorrow, I thought I would share a snippet from the closest thing I have to a Halloween scene—a masquerade ball. In this snippet, Alexander and his twin, Faelen, are getting ready for the masquerade. They've dressed alike—Alexander's idea. He wants to make a little good-hearted mischief...though he has other reasons too.
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Tonight was a masked ball though. Everyone would be in disguise.
 They would dress in finery and cover their faces with fanciful masks and dance the night away. Why shouldn’t he and Faelen have a little fun?

Their clothing was identical down to the smallest detail of the rich, emerald-green velvet jacket and pants, the gold embroidered shoes. Alexander had insisted they put their hair up, securing it with gold combs, to disguise the slight difference between them. Their masks were exactly the same as well--intricate gold and green half masks with green- dyed feathers and a single white silk rose on the right side. They were secured with glossy green ribbons. Yes, Alexander was pleased with the effect. They looked wonderful, and no one would be able to tell them apart.

“Why is it the point?”

“Don’t be so serious! Just think of people’s faces when they don’t know who they’ve seen or how one of us can be in two places at once.” Alexander grinned. “You know it’s going to be fun.”

You can find more about The Spymaster's Secret here. Thanks for reading today, and Happy Halloween!
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    Antonia is a writer and a reader and a copy editor/proofreader. She loves books, travel, art, photography, baking, pasta, and shoes.

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