Serenity Snow's Blog, page 41
February 13, 2020
Forever Love
Alexi and Tatiana are fast becoming two of my favorite
couples from my books. I love Alexi’s mixture of animal nature and humanity.
She’s a killer, but she has a heart and that heart just got stolen by Tatiana.
Alexi will do just about anything to keep her new mate safe.
Tatiana’s
secretary, Abby, stepped into the room with a bouquet of carnations in hand.
“Sorry. These just came for you along with this.” Abby held up a small box.
“Thanks, Abby.”
Tatiana rose and took the items from her. “How’d this come?”
“A courier,” she
said and smiled and slipped out of the room.
“Is it some
special occasion I forgot?” Andrea demanded. “Birthday?”
Tatiana frowned.
“No. I’ll talk to her. I’ll have Abby schedule her in for Monday.” Next week
obviously. She couldn’t fit another meeting into her day right now and still
get things done.
“Fine,” Andrea
said, eyes on the flowers. “You got engaged?”
“No.” She shook her
head.
“Nice flowers.”
Andrea gave the blooms one last look. “A fight with the lover?”
“Uh—”
“Life’s too short
to stall a romance over a little misunderstanding,” Andrea told her. “It gets
lonely when all you have to go home to is a stiff drink, cable, and regrets.”
Andrea gave her a wan smile before exiting.
Tatiana stared
after her for a moment. Andrea didn’t bring her personal life to work, but she
had been working harder than usual these last four weeks. Maybe that was
because of a broken relationship.
With a sigh, she
looked for a card, but there wasn’t one. Tatiana inspected the box and found
one taped to the bottom of it. She pulled it free wondering who did that.
Tugging it from
its envelope she studied the bold scrawl.
Sorry.
Forgive me?
February 12, 2020
Forever Love
A Northerly Breeze is one of my favorite books in the Windswept series. I love this excerpt too.
Avery opened her mouth to ask if she was
one of the nearly extinct nymph breed but decided that couldn’t be.
The mountain nymphs were wood nymphs who
cared for the trees and flowers of the mountain ranges and ensured the energy
of the area was balanced. They were a warrior breed who almost never ventured
from the mountains now.
“Who are you?” Avery demanded. Her power
was curiously still, the coldness of it now on the tips of her fingers ready to
do damage.
The woman swallowed tightly. “I’m Mickey.”
“And I smell blood. Are you hurt?” The
healer in her couldn’t ignore the bruises any longer and the blood staining her
shirt nor the pallor of her skin.
The urge to care take was strong, but
something about the woman seemed so familiar, she couldn’t just tend her on the
porch and send her on her way.
“I was attacked,” she said and there was
hesitation in her expression as if she wanted to say more but was all too aware
that she could be in the company of an enemy.
Avery walked over and murmured, “Unlock,”
and the trap around Mickey’s leg faded. The woman stumbled and Avery caught
her. Electricity coursed through her, and the freshness of green leaves and the
cold bite of snow filled her senses.
Their eyes met and Avery saw the confusion
and surprise she felt warring for dominion in Mickey’s stare.
“T-thank you,” Mickey said huskily. “That
trap is ingenious, but it hurts like hell. Is that a crystal grid spell?”
“Yes.” Hers was created to kill if the
victim tried too hard for too long to escape. Avery helped Mickey over to the
door, the wind sliding up her back at the same moment thunder clapped so loud
the windows rattled.
Avery shoved the key into the lock which
disengaged the shield spell momentarily. So, she urged Mickey inside and
quickly went in after her, closing the door. The lights came on in the foyer
surrounding them in pale gold but blinked as the wind gusted outside.
“That storm is getting fierce,” Mickey
murmured as she rubbed her hands together.
“You can stay the night,” Avery told her
and took her arm to lead her to the den. The recessed room just off the foyer
was where she spent most of her time when she wasn’t in her bedroom.
She was sure it showed in the worn look of
the couch cushions, the comfortable rocker recliner across from it and the low
stone coffee table laden with books on many subjects. The blue-gray rug was
clean but faded and had a small grape juice stain from last week.
“Sit.”
“Are you a doctor?” Mickey asked, eyes
going to her bag.
“You could say that,” she replied. “Where
are you hurt?”
Mickey wary. “Just a few scrapes on my
side.”
“Take off your shirt,” she said. “I’ll
need to get a closer look before I can actually do anything.” She opened her
bag before wiggling two fingers and using a light wind to shove her patient to
the couch before kneeling before her.
Mickey let out a disconcerted cry, but
Avery was already in healer mode, removing items from her bag.
“Take off your shirt, sweetie,” she said
absently. “Let’s see what’s going on. What about that leg? You’ll need to get
those pants off, too, for me to have a look.”
“I—”
“Don’t be modest, I’ve seen it all from
gaping wounds to dirty, holey panties.”
“My undies aren’t dirty or holey,” she
said coldly.
Avery smirked, intrigued by the fire
flashing in those golden eyes before Michaela lifted her arms and winced.
Something inside her wanted to rip the bastards who’d hurt Mickey a new one,
but the thought was arrested by the way her hair fell slowly down around her
face.
Her breath caught, as the doctor gave way
to the woman, unable to continue to pretend this was just a hurt stray. Her
cheeks had a slight flush and the pretty pink bra covered firm breasts that
looked just perfect for palming.
Michaela made an audible sound as she set
her shirt aside and Avery tore her eyes away to remove Michaela’s sneakers
before looking up at the creamy golden skin in front of her.
There was dark bruising on her arms, and near
her ribs, and over the gentle swell of her stomach, but it was the creeping
green ivy vine that snared her attention, holding her gaze riveted.
The small barely there leaves on them
reminded her of the mark on her wrist. It was faint even now, had been there
her entire life, but was a replica, right down to the nearly invisible heart
with its tiny droplet of blood that the vine went through.
“How long have you had this?” Avery asked,
looking up at her. And for a moment, she saw moss green eyes in a
peaches-and-cream face filled with love that wrapped around her like a warm
blanket in the room that still held a chill despite the fire.
The tender smile on the woman’s beautiful
face relaxed the tension in her shoulders like it always did.
Victoria.
Tori
Calder’s blonde hair flowed around her delicate shoulders as she left the piano
where she’d just finished playing Mozart’s Sonata in A.
“Why
such a grave look in your eyes my darling, Euri?”
“The
war isn’t going well for the South, Tori,” she murmured. “And the demons are
continuing to interfere with the human business.”
“At
least they haven’t gotten to Lincoln,” Victoria said, resting her hand on
Euri’s bare arm.
“Not
yet, but if they can’t turn him they will kill him,” Euri told her quietly.
“Your family is still standing firm against the darkness that is attempting to
invade its ranks?”
“One
of my cousins has fallen, but the rest are still resisting which could well get
any or all of us killed.”
Euri
sighed deeply. “You should leave here.”
“I
can’t, my love,” she said with a shake of her head. “I owe my family. Plus,
something has happened that I can’t walk away from.”
“What
is it?” Tori’s expression was grave as she withdrew her hand. She went back to
the piano and returned with a small gold box. “What is it?”
Victoria
raised the lid and Euri looked inside, finding it empty, but the hint of
freshness told her it had been something green and floral. “What have you
done?” she demanded. Only a wood nymph could confer a gift of freshness in
winter.
“I
wanted to be with you forever, Euri, but just as important, I wanted to be able
to be of use to the cause.”
“You
are. Your love keeps me strong and focused. Now, tell me what you’ve done?”
Victoria
opened her hand revealing a single rose with vines of ivy entwined around it.
“Do
you realize that not all nymphs are good? This could be a trick to claim your
immortal soul.” Her voice rose in proportion to her growing fury and fear at
the loss of the woman she so dearly loved.
“I
found her in my garden, but she was dying. Her skin was cold as London, and she
asked me to take the rose. She said it would prevent the power of the House of
Rose from falling into dark hands.” She shook her head. “You spoke so highly of
them that I couldn’t refuse.”
Victoria
started to close her hand and Euri tried to stop her. “Don’t!”
Victoria
ignored her and a moment later blood trailed down the side of her hand. “I’m
one of them now.”
February 11, 2020
Forever Love
Photo by Adonyi Gábor from Pexels
I think Montana and Dylan are an interesting couple. Two dominant
chicks, both strong, both capable and they find themselves in a relationship with
each other. One that Dylan is afraid of because as strong as she is isn’t quite
the alpha Montana is. That leaves them with a slight imbalance of power yet
still with two strong women who know what they want.
This is one my favorite scenes because it shows the
chemistry between them.
Dylan could smell
the fetid scent of death already claiming her as the body slowly shut down. Not
every shifter could distinguish the scent of the dying versus the scent of the
dead, but she’d never had a problem telling the difference.
“Your town is in
danger. Russo will destroy to claim it,” she said in a whisper. “I wouldn’t
have done that, but Iron Capsule might as he fights it out with Russo.
Summerfield is in the most immediate danger. She’s seen as the biggest threat,
next to Mayer.”
“I have the son in
jail.”
“Jeno’s in New
York, but he’ll send someone to handle things here. He wants this town as a
power base, but Iron Capsule already has it. He thinks he can make it a shifter-only
town run by him,” Lena said. “It’s going to be one hell of a fight, and I hate
I’ll miss it. Take this—it’s your ticket to the game.”
Lena pressed
something into Tana’s hand, but Tana didn’t look at it. Dylan immediately
started devising ways of gaining the information.
“What is it?” Tana
asked softly.
There was a
cryptic smile on her face. “Seek and ye shall find,” she said and for a moment
humor and excitement sparked in her eyes. “If you’re half the woman my jackal
thinks you are, you’ll enjoy this fight as much as I would have.”
Dylan sensed
rather than saw the tension in her ex’s body and for a moment the room was
silent but for Lena’s ragged breaths.
“Thank you,” Tana
said.
The dying woman merely blinked before drawing
in a breath. Her eyes slowly closed, and her head lolled to one side.
“Goodness,” Tana
said and pushed to her feet. Dylan gave her a hand from behind and Tana walked
a few steps from her before facing her.
It was like a
punch in the gut, Dylan decided as their eyes met. It had been like that the
first time she’d met those blue eyes set in the smooth brown face. The long
black lashes lowered for a moment and rose again.
The blue depths, she called them blue agate
eyes because they were a mixture of white and blue unlike any she’d ever seen
in her life. They were mysterious, moody eyes. The eyes of an alpha snow
coyote.
Those eyes watched
her with no emotion at all and that hurt. It was as if earlier hadn’t even
happened.
“What are you
doing up here, Dylan?” Tana demanded, one hand sliding into her pants pocket as
if she wanted to hide the item Lena had given her from Dylan.
“What did she give
you?” Dylan asked softly, taking a step toward her, and Tana stepped back.
“You do realize I
could have you arrested, right?” Tana asked coolly. “You shouldn’t be up here
trampling on my crime scene.”
“Tana—”
“I’m working,
Dylan,” she cut in quickly.
“I get that you’re
in lady-of-the-manor mode, but do you have to act like I mean shit to you?”
“What do you want
to mean?” Tana asked with a frown. “I know you’re only coming on so strong
because Claudia doesn’t trust me to do my job.”
“That’s not true,”
Dylan insisted sharply.
“Then ask me if
I’m okay. Ask me if she hurt me. Better yet, tell me you still want me as much
as ever and you want to see me again.”
Dylan blinked. “I—are
you okay? I wanted to tear her hand off when I saw those claws.”
“She barely nicked
me.”
“Why’d you scream
then?”
“I didn’t scream,”
Tana balked. “I don’t scream.”
Dylan snorted.
“You’ve been known to scream,” she said in an intimate tone.
Tana’s brows drew
together and Dylan smiled.
“Have dessert with
me tomorrow evening?” Dylan asked. “Maybe we’ll actually get to finish that
dinner.”
Tana’s lips
quirked in amusement. “Tell Claudia if she wants to know something, call me
back.”
February 10, 2020
Forever Love
This scene is from the end of the book. I think it fits the
theme of forever love.
Ace was treated by one of their cleaners
once she’d gotten home. The girl was also a healer with decent skills which
made her valuable to the team. She showered and called Devin who picked up on
the first ring.
“How’d it go?” Devin demanded tightly.
“Well, I got the hitter put in charge of
killing Jasmia and Patton,” she told her friend. “The shelter is closed for
now.”
“Good. We’ll get the kids some lodgings
until we can get a building renovated. I think you should have someone talk to
the kids and find out what they plan to do with their lives. We can get them educated.”
“I’ll get to that in a few hours,” she
agreed. “The Hatter wants my ass on a silver platter for interfering in his
plans.” She looked up to see Jasmia coming into her study. Her first instinct
was to tell her to leave, but she reminded herself that their relationship was
a partnership too. She had to work at it the same way she’d worked at her
relationship with Devin.
“Great. The trial starts in a few days.
I’ll take a break later and let Darice babysit.”
“We do need to talk face-to-face,” Ace
agreed. Jasmia stroked the back of her neck after moving around behind her. She
reached up to caress her arm.
“I’ll see you later this afternoon,” Devin
told her.
She ended the call and urged Jasmia onto her
lap. Her green eyes were filled with warmth and welcome. Ace hugged her and
kissed her.
“Is it over?”
“For you.”
“And not for you?”
“The Hatter wants me dead,” Ace told her.
“Then, it’s not over for me,” Jasmia said
softly. “Ace your safety or lack thereof affects me as well. You’re going to
have to remember that.”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said with a bit of dry
humor.
“Did you find out who was trying to kill
me?”
“Seymour was the assassin put on your
case,” Ace said.
“Seymour? He wouldn’t have betrayed me or
my family,” she exclaimed horror on her face.
“He did, but the bad thing is someone
killed him before I could question him further,” Ace said hugging her. “The shelter
is closed for now.”
“Our families are probably taking his
death hard,” Jasmia murmured. “They won’t believe he was involved in this. I
hardly can.”
Ace sighed. “I’m sorry, Mia.”
“They don’t really have to know, right?”
“I won’t tell them,” Ace assured her.
“Thanks,” Jasmia said softly. “I don’t
want his family to be hurt over this.”
“You’re too kind,” Ace told her. “I’d tell
them in a heartbeat.”
“Don’t ever,” Jasmia said sternly. “I
finished my story on Mojo. It’s a stellar piece. Sabrina loves it.”
“I’m not sure it was a good idea.”
Jasmia shrugged. “Too late. Mojo is
officially a lesbian business known to the public,” Jasmia told her with a
smile. “Deal with it, love.” She kissed Ace’s cheek.
“Hm. Well, I think I’d rather deal with
you,” she murmured. “When are you moving in?”
“Whenever you ask me too,” Jasmia said
with a laugh and claimed Ace’s lips for a soft kiss.
February 9, 2020
Forever Love
In honor of Valentine’s Day I’m bringing you excerpts from
some of my books. The theme is Forever Love. I’ve said it before but I will say
it again. I’m a romantic and I do believe in the concept of soul-mates. I think
there is one or two people out there for all of us. This soul-mate is our
forever love no matter how man times we reincarnate this is the person or
persons we will always find and fall in love with.
That relationship might not always be healthy. It might not
always work out that first try, but it is our love. It is up to us to decide if
we act on that love or move on to something or someone we feel is better for us
or even safe.
Me, I’m a solitary woman. I’ve jaded and touched by betrayal
making me gun shy, but I haven’t given up on real love. I guess though my vision
of love is something true and unconnected with sex. I’m not saying sex is out,
just that my heart and my head has to be touched not my G-spot.
Enough about me. This week I’ve selected five of my books
for this meme.
First up is Jasmia and Ace from Assassin’s Kiss. I love Ace
and she was once willing to kill Jasmia if she became a problem, but not so
much now.
Then, there’s Montana and Dylan. You have to love two alpha
women trying to navigate the road of love.
After that it’s to the world of magic and nymphs where love
is eternal. Avery and Michaela are two of my favorites from this series but I
love the whole series because it’s built on the premise of reincarnation and soul-mates.
Then, it’s back to the world of assassins for Tatiana and
Alexi—a mate pair caught up in a fight for love and life.
Finally, it’s look at Caroline and Lucky. I love Lucky and I’m
working out a few new books with these two for when I finish the fourth
Assassin’s Core romance.
Photo by Suvan Chowdhury from Pexels
February 6, 2020
Assassins Core
I’m right at the end of finishing Assassins Core III. I can’t believe the ending. It wasn’t what I imagined when I wrote this. I have to go back over it to make sure that’s how I want to end it.
I have a title and I tried to plan to that as a theme through the entire book, but I’m nervous about it. Did I make Alexi go too far? Sigh. The dilemmas of not going overboard while not going far enough.
Well, I’ll have to do some editing and see what I think. Do I take risks here considering this is a crime drama or do I pull back a little.
Here’s a little tidbit.
Her office door opened, and Alexi put her
phone on the table and stood at the sight of Tatiana coming in.
“Morning, honey,” she said warmly.
“Good morning,” Tatiana answered. “I hate
you weren’t even in bed with me this morning.” Tatiana crossed the room to her,
and Alexi pulled her into a hug.
“I had something to do,” she said. “A run
in the woods.”
“Take up a more respectable form of
exercise, and you’ll have me by your side.” Tatiana said and kissed Alexi’s
jaw. “You smell like pine.”
“Ah, yes. That damn soap.”
Tatiana laughed. “What soap?”
“It was a gift.” She smoothed her fingers
along Tatiana’s nape. “Let’s plan to stay in tonight.”
“Definitely,” Tatiana agreed. “I have to
go. I have a meeting with the advertising staff. They’re supposed to have a new
campaign ready for me. Sabrina agreed to send her head of marketing and
advertising with me to check things out.”
“Really?”
“I know I didn’t tell you, but I didn’t
think I had to,” Tatiana said. “Is that okay?”
“Fine. Bri’s smart. I trust her judgment.”
Tatiana beamed. “Great. I better go.”
“Be careful, okay?”
“You too,” Tatiana said and kissed her.
Alexi kissed her back and nuzzled
Tatiana’s throat, the coolness of the chain holding the memory locket Alexi had
given her touching her skin. “The cat can’t get enough of you.”
“I’m glad because I kinda like her too.”
She nipped Alexi’s bottom lip and ran her hands up her chest. Alexi purred,
loving Tatiana’s touch.
“You’re wearing that necklace,” Tatiana
commented. “What is it?”
“It was a—” Tatiana began unbuttoning the
periwinkle blouse Alexi had pulled on when she returned from this morning’s
business. She’d decided to leave the tie today as she was only going to the
building site and to look at some furniture for the club.
Alexi caught her hands, stilling them, but
Tatiana had already bared her enough that she was staring at the medallion.
“What is it?”
“Nothing I want to talk about right now,”
she said. “I’ll tell you eventually.”
Tatiana held her gaze, and Alexi saw
shadows of fear. “The cat’s in your eyes.”
“Tia.” She sighed and kissed her before
releasing her. “It was an old—someone I worked with in Russia.”
Tatiana studied her. “Russian mob,” she
said and rubbed her palms on her pants legs while Alexi buttoned her shirt.
“Why? I thought you weren’t involved with them.”
“It’s complicated,” she said and wiped her
hand over her mouth.
“I have a college degree. I can probably follow.”
Alexi laughed bitterly. “You make it sound
so simple and it’s really not. Plus, it’s private.”
“Private? What the hell does that mean?
Tatiana demanded. “Every time I bring it up you shy away from it when you
should be trusting me with the truth.”
Photo by Derwin Edwards from Pexels
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Evernight's Reader's Choice Awards
Best Lesbian Romance: The Madam's Lover
Author of the Year
Book of the Year: Catching a Coyote
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February 4, 2020
Quick survey
It’s The Evernight Reader’s Choice Awards! I’m up for three awards. Catching a Coyote: Book of the Year, Serenity Snow Author of the year and The Madam’s Lover: Best Lesbian Romance. I’d appreciate your votes. Thank you!
