Snippet Sunday - Christmas ICE Magic - Surviving the Loss

Welcome to the Snippet Sunday on the Weird, the Wild, and the Wicked. Thank you so much for visiting. If you choose to comment today, I really appreciate it. The snippets are from my Christmas novella, Christmas I.C.E. Magic, a paranormal romance set in the mountains northeast of Las Vegas. It's one of four stories in the Happy Holidays from the Crescent Moon Lodge Anthology, and it's only sale for only $0.99. And in a few weeks, the sequel to Christmas ICE Magic is coming out. If you missed last week's snippet of Bronco's Rough Ride, you can read it HERE.

In this snippet, Lily Sinclair is struggling to find peace after the death of her twin brother two years earlier. This Christmas she's going extreme camping, seeking the magic she used to feel when her brother was alive.

A gust of snowflake-laden wind snapped Lily back to the present and she scanned the white world ahead. Though she knew the sun hadn’t set yet, the world lay swaddled in snowy twilight and the determined survivalist in her warned she’d have to build some sort of shelter soon. Her legs told her the ground climbed, but her eyes couldn’t detect features in the winter expanse.

Everything smelled wet, cold, and fresh, and her weather sense warned of a larger, heavier storm approaching. Linus had often teased her about her “weather witchiness,” but he’d always listened to her gut feelings when it came to storms.

Except that one night. Why didn’t you listen to me then, Linus?

Because she hadn’t been there. She’d been hiking in Snowy Mountains of Australia that Christmas with her Wild Women Travel group. Linus had only been going out to pick up groceries for Christmas Eve dinner—something as mundane as butter or eggs. Friends told her the roads had been slick with black ice and the stupid asshole who’d hit him where he waited at a red light had been so drunk, he’d survived the ensuing crash with only broken leg. Linus had died on impact, and Lily struggled to live with the broken heart.

Hindsight is always 20/20. There are several great authors on the Weekend Writing Warrior list and in the Snippet Sunday Facebook group. A few of my favorites are Charley Descoteaux, SJ Maylee, Gem Sivad, Goran Zidar, Veronica Scott, and Karla Doyle.

If you're interested in more from Christmas ICE Magic, here's the blurb for the Anthology:

At the Crescent Moon Lodge, anything is possible and Christmas wishes come in the most unusual packages.

Christmas I.C.E. Magic – By Siobhan Muir
For Lily Sinclair, Christmas means sorrow and loss since the death of her twin brother. The magic is gone and she only wants to see her brother one more time. As an Ice Demon Zachary Snow is used to rescuing people in winter, but he’d never rescued anyone like Lily. Now he must convince her the magic she wants is in life itself.

A Howling Yuletide –By Shannan Albright

Fleur Delecourt knew her Christmas holiday was doomed from the start. Not only did she hate the cold and snow, but also she found herself saddled with a ski instructor, courtesy of a friend’s twisted sense of humor. Werewolf Rory Furr left Scotland to find a life and pack of his own. What he was not prepared for was finding his mate in the form of a petite redhead who tests both his self-control and patience.

Bon Appetite from the Lunar Eclipse Restaurant-By R.M. Sotera
Executive chef vampire Michael Stake loves his job at the Lunar Eclipse Restaurant. Although food critics do not visit often, he welcomes world-renown critic Penelope Rothchild to his establishment. That’s when all hell breaks loose. World-renown food critic Penelope Rothchild looks forward to her new assignment in Las Vegas. Christmas in the West, what could possibly go wrong? Everything. But it’s all in the name of the perfect meal.

Boo Christmas – By Johanna Riley
All Elvira "Elle" Grant wanted for Christmas was to get out from under her famous paranormal investigator parents' shadow. But being a medium she's always haunted by their profession. Thanks to a contest win, she gets the chance to do her own paranormal investigating during Christmas at the beautiful Crescent Moon Lodge near Las Vegas, Nevada. With hunky (albeit dead!) Casper Van Beau’s help. Can Elle get over her own insecurities long enough to open up to the possibilities of eternal love?

Happy Holidays from the Crescent Moon Lodge is only $0.99 at Amazon, All Romance, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Pick up your copy and get swept away for Christmas. And keep an eye out for Cloudburst Ice Magic coming July 20th 2014!