It’s time for Snippet Sunday. And I finally have a book releasing. It’s been a long time, almost a year, and while I have written and finished some books, none were ready to come out until now. FLIP THE TROPE: ROMANCE GONE WILD is a new anthology with 12 tales the flip a romance trope on its ear. My story is A TIMELESS HEART and it’s the second story in the ELEMENTAL HEARTS series.
A TIMELESS HEART is Captain Śandor Halmi’s story and he’s the captain of the Cloudburst Hot Shots, the local wildland firefighters in Cloudburst, Colorado. In this snippet, we’re in Śandor’s POV and he smells something really good at the farmer’s market.
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He poked around the vendors’ stalls and bought some fresh vegetables, some venison from a local butcher, and some moisturizing cream from the Herbarium. His stomach growled again, and he turned to find one of the food stalls. He inhaled, sampling the scents permeating the park, and something teased his nose. An odd combination of crisp pine and soft honeysuckle filtered through the aromas of sizzling meat, sweet kettle corn, and fried bread.
He frowned and scanned the crowds walking between the popup tents. The pine and honeysuckle scents pulled him through the throng of people, dancing like the elusive breeze, and he completely forgot his hunger in his need to find the source of the scent.
“Hey, Captain. Are you okay?”
Śandor stopped his forward motion just in time to keep from running into his big crewmate Mason Rockwell. The man stood just shy of seven feet in height and had shoulders twice the width of Śandor’s. He’d often complained about finding shirts and pants that fit his massive body.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Śandor frowned as he tried to look around Mason.
“What are you looking for?” Mason craned his head to look behind him.
“Something that smells good, I’m not sure what.”
“You mean the roast chicken? I think that stall is selling it.”
Śandor shook his head. “No, something spicy and sweet. You can’t smell it?”
Mason rumbled a chuckle. “My people aren’t known for their noses, Captain.”
Śandor scowled. “Aren’t you on duty this weekend?”
Mason shook his head with a wink. “I worked something out with Redfeather, and we traded shifts. So now I’m free to help you find whatever smells good.” He cracked a grin.
Śandor snorted but the luscious scents of pine and honeysuckle teased him too much to pursue the argument.
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So much for asking a stone giant if he can smell something. 😉 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.
Blurb for A TIMELESS HEART:
When Bianca Pearce left Cloudburst, Colorado at eighteen, she swore she’d never come back. She moved to L.A., got married, and created a successful antique and modern clock repair business. But time mellowed the hurts of the past, and with a divorce and two kids in college under her belt, Bianca is ready to move back to the small town to have a quiet life in a familiar place. At her age, she knows who she is and what she wants, and figures love is better left to the young.
Captain Śandor Halmi is the commander of the local Hot Shots squad—and a Zomok, a Hungarian Forest spirit that most often takes the shape of a dragon. His main goal is to take the whole weekend off to relax, ignore his phone as much as possible, and generally disappear now that the Colorado fire season has ended. Love is not on the agenda…until he sees Bianca at the local farmer’s market. He’s struck dumb by her beauty, bearing, and experience, and now he can’t get her out of his mind.
Despite growing up in Cloudburst, Bianca doesn’t believe the stories about the town having non-human residents, and she definitely doesn’t believe in love at first sight. But something about the silver fox firefighter sets her desire ablaze, and she can’t seem to stop thinking about him. Not even when he shows her his true form.
Scents are especially evocative. Pine and honeysuckle is an odd mixture for food. Could it be home-made candles?
Intriguing snippet. I love these stories – best wishes on the anthology!