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.
In April, I'm sharing snippets from The Artist's Masquerade. The Artist's Masquerade is my second book, published back in 2015 (and rereleased in 2020 with its pretty new cover). This book is the story of Cathal, a royal duke's heir who has spent his entire life doing what is expected of him by his father, putting aside his own needs and wants to do so. When his father tells him that he has to marry—and that his father has chosen his bride for him—Cathal goes along with it but then finds himself far more fascinated by his intended's companion, Flavia. What Cathal doesn't know is that Flavia is in reality Flavian, an artist in disguise and on the run from a bad situation in his home country. His friend—Cathal's intended bride—came up with the ruse to disguise him as her companion and smuggle him out of the country so he can disappear into a new life. Only everything doesn't quite go as planned, and Flavian finds himself trapped in his role and pulled into intrigue. In last week's snippet, Cathal found out Flavia is actually Flavian and left him locked in his room. Flavian immediately begins searching for a way out but isn't able to find one. I'm picking up when Cathal returns.
“I thought the guards were going to come drag me away.”
He realized Flavian always spoke in a low whisper--probably to disguise that his voice wasn’t feminine--only now he didn’t. The difference was disconcerting. Everything about the situation was disconcerting.
“I thought I’d wait on it for a little while. Until I know more.” Cathal stepped farther into the room. “You say you haven’t done anything wrong. You’re going to prove it to me.”
“And how am I going to do that?”
Cathal held up the small vial filled with vivid blue liquid. “This is a truth potion. You’re going to drink it, and you’re going to answer my questions.”
“Am I?” Flavian snapped and folded his arms across his chest. “Why would I agree to that?”
“To keep me from bringing the guards to your door, if in fact you are innocent of wrongdoing.”
Flavian flinched slightly. “This is a lot of trouble to go to because you think I’m your betrothed’s lover.”
“That’s not why I’m doing it,” Cathal said.
You can find more about The Artist's Masquerade here. Thanks for reading today!
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