Snippet Sunday - Take the Reins - Meeting the Lead Mare

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 upcoming release, Take the Reins, Book 1 in the Rifts series, a fantasy adventure with romantic elements. This story is connected to my SEALs romantic suspense out now. You can read last week's snippet HERE.

In this snippet, Bethany is meeting the Lead Mare of the centaur village. It's not going so well, for either of them.

The female centaur stepped closer, a frown creasing her brow. While her face remained unlined, crow’s feet at the edges of her eyes marked her experience. A circlet of gold rested in her hair portraying her status as lead mare to the general’s harem.

“To what do I owe the dubious honor of your presence, human? Have I angered the general so much he sends me a mythical beast?”

The smooth, feminine voice dripped with sarcasm, and a matching scowl conveyed her disdain. Lordy, now I have a bitch of a woman to deal with, bless her heart.

Bethany gritted her teeth. “Trust me, Lead Mare, if the idiots outside would let me, I’d be gone in a heartbeat.”

Okay, not the most diplomatic, but certainly honest.

“Do you insult us, human?” Her nostrils flared and she rested her hand on a wicked dagger belted to her human waist.

Deep breath, you’re on her turf.

Diplomacy can be hard to come by. ;) There are several great authors on the Weekend Writer Warriors 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 Sarah Wesson.

Here's the blurb to Take the Reins, available everywhere now:

Social change is normal for a senator’s daughter, but affecting gender politics in centaurs wasn’t on Bethany’s agenda.

All Bethany Stanton needed was time away to think. She never imagined a walk with her horse might lead her so far from home. When she steps through a rift between worlds at an old archaeological site, she realizes she has bigger problems than marriage to the man of her nightmares. Like a herd of centaurs with distressing views on gender equality and “mythical” humans.

As part of the Supernatural Anomalies Investigative Field Unit, Major Stephen “Mack” McMacken has seen and done more weird stuff than written in a science fiction novel. When called in to track down a U.S. Senator’s missing daughter, Mack figures it’s more a case of runaway rich girl than supernatural mystery. Until his team finds the portal and he’s nearly torched by a dying phoenix.

In a world ruled by mythical beasts, Mack and Bethany find themselves on trial for endangering the centaur village. With the only escape route they know gone, working together to establish their innocence might prove easier than avoiding seductive Sirens and ravenous native beasts.

And then there’s the not-so-simple matter of finding a way back home…

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