It’s time for Snippet Sunday and I have two new releases coming. The first is in an anthology where the proceeds go to Planned Parenthood and NARAL in an effort to help keep women’s medical decisions between them and their doctors. There are 36 stories in this anthology by authors like Jackie Lau, Megan Frampton, Cecilia London, Elizabeth Cole, Zoe York, Alison Packard, and of course, me.
My story is SEDUCING THE DRAGON, a historical paranormal romance that asks the question, what if you were selected to be the next virgin sacrifice? What would you do? The book is my response.
In this snippet, Isabelle is asking the question because she’s pretty sure she’s going to be chosen next and not even her father will stop the village from choosing her.
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So I’m not like my sisters, but that doesn’t mean I cannot find a man to bed me. But who?
It’d have to be someone who didn’t know her, who wasn’t from the village or any of the hamlets near it. Someone who hadn’t heard the rumors about her or her mother. Working at her father’s tavern might help her. All those who came to Lochmore Cott stopped at the Careless Wench for a meal and drink. If there were any new travelers in town, she’d see them at the tavern.
Am I really making the right decision? Cold dread hit her as the wind sent frozen tendrils down her back. Is there no man who will ask for my hand?
Her father’s desperation to find her a husband grew stronger by the day, and no one had stepped forward to offer for her. Many men in the village saw her as a nuisance and troublemaker, and they didn’t want her near their womenfolk in case she’d infect them with whatever “ailed” her.
Why couldn’t I be more like prim and proper Mary, or sweet little Sarah?
Mary had married into another clan, and Sarah’s bans had been posted for Thomas MacArthur in Westerdale. Both had escaped the stupid tradition of the Virgin Sacrifice of Lochmore Cott.
Which leaves only me.
Isabelle had no intention of dying for the village, especially now with her mother gone. She may not have agreed to how women should behave, but she certainly didn’t want to die for her opinion. Sometimes she hated her village, but it was home and what she knew best. Her sister remained at the tavern while she waited for Thomas to gather his bride price, and Isabelle loved her. Sarah was the only one in the family besides their mother who’d accepted Isabelle for herself.
So, if I don’t wish to die in the Virgin Sacrifice, I shall have to lose my virginity.
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She’s talking to someone beyond his reckoning. 😉 There are several great authors on the Weekend Writer Warriors list, the Snippet Sunday Facebook group, and the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group. A few of my favorites are, P.T. Wyant, Karen Michelle Nutt, Veronica Scott, Karysa Faire, and Iris Blobel.
Here’s the blurb for SEDUCING THE DRAGON in the OUR CHOICE: ROMANCE FOR ROE Anthology:
Unless Isabelle finds a man to take her innocence, she may be the next virgin sacrifice.
For Isabelle Andersen, being a virgin in a dragon-plagued Scottish village is a dangerous position. Potentially the next dragon sacrifice, Isabelle’s only way out is to lose her innocence, and fast. All she needs is one handsome stranger she can coax into bed, but Lochmore Cott doesn’t get much in the way of visitors.
Jonarrion Swiftwind has sworn off virgins. The last time he took one to his bed, his family paid the price for his lust at the hands of her demon-possessed father. Since that night, he’s made it his mission to destroy demons and keep his bed virgin-free. Nothing distracts him from killing the demon-in-dragon’s-clothing until lovely Isabelle offers him a mug of tea. And her virginity.
It takes just one night of passion for Jon to realize he doesn’t want to let the independent beauty go. Isabelle may have accepted her choices, but will she accept Jon when she discovers the only real dragon in her village… is him?
Previously published as ‘Not a Dragon’s Standard Virgin’ through Siren Publishing.
Oh my, what a great snippet and story line! Definitely want more! 🙂