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.
Happy New Year, everyone! For our first snippet of 2022, I have more from The Merchant's Love. I haven't written a holiday book yet, but The Merchant's Love begins in autumn and runs through the winter holidays in Tournai. I often call this book—the story of a bookish royal and the merchant who is besotted with him falling in love over books and baked goods—a warm hug in book form, so I thought I'd share some snippets from it. And as the festive season draws to a close, I thought I would give you one last snippet, continuing on from last week in which Maxen is giving Faelen a Midwinter gift. (I went over the sentence limit, but I really wanted to finish out this bit...I'm sorry!)

Maxen cupped his cheek, stroking his thumb over it lightly. “Just open it.”
Faelen turned his head and kissed Maxen’s palm. Then he began to carefully work the wrapping free. He could tell Maxen was smiling without looking at him, but Faelen had always been deliberate in opening presents. Not that Faelen wasn’t eager to know what this package held—he just liked the anticipation.
Finally, the colorful paper fell away to reveal a velvet box. Jewelry? Slowly, he lifted the lid, and gasped. Inside, on a pad of more dark velvet, lay a set of combs. The intricate silver filigree was set with little pearls and sparkling peridots. Faelen didn’t know what to say for a moment. The way he wore his hair wasn’t the fashion in Tournai, but Maxen had given him something he knew Faelen would love. A token perhaps, as were all gifts exchanged at Midwinter, but one he’d use happily.
“Maxen...” Faelen finally looked up to find the worry back in Maxen’s eyes. “They’re beautiful. I love them.”
Maxen’s smile bloomed. “I hoped you would. I saw them and thought of you. You’re always putting your hair up, and I thought these would look splendid in it.”
“Why don’t we see?” Faelen set the box down on a table and reached up to twist his hair back in a loose knot. He picked up one of the combs, slid it into his hair, and did the same with the other, anchoring the mess of curls. He looked up at Maxen through his lashes. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re beautiful, but I thought that the first moment I saw you.”