#SnippetSunday - The Beltane Witch - What the Queen Wants

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. Currently, the snippets are from my newest release, and while they aren't consecutive, they are in order within the story. You can read last week's snippet HERE.

Today, I'm offering a snippet from The Beltane Witch, the second book in the Cloudburst Colorado series. It's available on Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, Amazon, and B&N. In this snippet, Darius is reporting to the Summer Queen all he's found out with procuring a witch for the Beltane Rituals. Unfortunately, she's not pleased with his progress and has upped the stakes.

The Queen stared at him with thoughtful eyes, but her expression remained serene. Darius had the sinking feeling the other shoe was about to drop.

“See that you do, Chamberlain, or the consequences will be dire.” She rose from her seat and turned, raising her chin and looking down her nose at him. “You must convince her to do the rituals or you will lose not only your position in our Court, but also your longevity, your honor, and your sword, which your family prizes so. In addition, the Winterbourne name shall be stricken from our records, and your family shall be banned at Court.”

Darius’s gut churned and he clenched his jaw. How dare she take everything he held dear from him over another’s choice? He’d been nothing but loyal and diligent for all his centuries of service. He’d never considered the Queen banishing his family from her Court over his failure to convince Sabrina.

Looks like there's trouble in paradise and he'll have to make a decision on what he values most. :) There are several great authors on the Weekend Writing Warrior list and in the Snippet Sunday Facebook group. A few of my favorites are Anastasia Vitsky, SJ Maylee, Goran Zidar, Zee Monodee, and A.S. Fenichel.

If you're interested in The Beltane Witch, here's the cover and the blurb:

Magic, mayhem, and motherhood… a witch’s work is never done, but Sabrina draws the line at the Fae.

After almost two decades as a practicing witch in Cloudburst, Colorado, Sabrina Foxglove is done with men, magic, and the fertility rituals of High Beltane. She’s dealt with all three before and ended up with two young daughters and no partner. Twice. She’s looking forward to a magic-free May Day, with nothing more exciting than making brownies for a kindergarten class and decorating a May Pole. She definitely doesn’t have time for a handsome, Fae-touched man…

After almost two centuries as the human chamberlain to the Fae’s Summer Court, Darius Winterbourne is a man accustomed to getting his way. So when the Summer Queen tasks him with finding a witch to perform the annual rituals and strengthen the ancient warding magicks, he figures it should be easy. He doesn’t expect Sabrina’s hardheaded refusal, her untrained abilities, or his attraction to her. With less than a week to Beltane, he must gain Sabrina’s trust before he loses his home, his position…and his heart.

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)

Dream Heroes Part 2

I had a dream last night (no, it won't be put into another story) were I was sitting in a restaurant in Pike Place Market, downtown Seattle, being interviewed by a young reporter for the romance writers' convention. He looked like Jerad Leto, with black hair, dreamy blue eyes, and lashes long and dark, like he wore too much eyeliner. He was giving me the eye despite the ring on my left hand and it was pretty obvious he'd gotten most of his interviews by using his good-looks. He was young, probably mid-twenties and I found his seductive come-hither looks amusing.

He was trying to find out more about me and the woman I'd just been visiting; the grand Pooh-bah of the convention (I'm not sure why she was so important, but she was). He was trying to get the inside scoop on her, as if she was the Queen of England or the First Lady of the US, and I'd just come from speaking with her. It was pretty funny, but I'm not a gossip, so he didn't get much from me.

At some point during our "interview", Christina Dodd, one of my favorite romance authors, came over and sat down, listening with half an ear to our conversation. I greeted her and waited for the reporter to ask her name, but he was doing his best to focus on me, trying to draw me out. Apparently, he thought I was "hawt".

Christina finally said, "I think your ride's here," and pointed toward the door. We all turned our heads to look and there he was. He wasn't the tallest guy I'd ever seen, but he stood at about 6 feet, with long dark hair falling over his broad shoulders and a dark goatee on his face. A black Stetson cowboy hat covered the top half of his face and a black leather duster fell to his booted ankles. Water dripped off the brim of the hat and slid down his coat to pool at his feet.

"Yep, thanks, Chris. Nice to meet you," I said to the reporter. I rose, gathered my coat and laptop bag, and headed toward the sexy man in the Stetson. When I reached him, he grinned, tilted his head and gave me a sweet, sweet kiss, before taking my raincoat and helping me into it. Then he ushered me out into the rain.

The man in the Stetson is my husband and he just gets better and better looking the longer I'm with him. He's my favorite "hero". He wakes up next to me every morning and cooks me dinner each night. He also cleaned out the garage this weekend. Love you, Handsome.

(BTW, my dream continued after "I" left and Christina asked if he knew who he'd been talking to. When he said no, she said, "That was Siobhan Muir." At his blank look, she added, "You don't know who Siobhan Muir is? What about Christina Dodd? Kate Pearce? Sabrina Jeffries? Kresley Cole?" He shook his head no and she asked, "Then why are you here doing an article on a romance writer's convention?") Good question. :)

Do you have a favorite type of hero? Is he a strong, aloof cowboy? Is he a military man from the future, like the bad-ass guys from Halo? Is he a doctor, a scientist (mad or otherwise), a fireman, a cop? Is he SWAT or a Navy SEAL? A Marine or a Top Gun? Is he the Bad Boy Biker Dude or the smart, sneaky thief? Is he the "anti-hero" like Vin Diesel in The Chronicles of Riddick? What is your favorite type of hero?