To Be Sure #RainbowSnippets #LGBT

I haven’t posted a Rainbow Snippet in such a long time, but I’m going to do my best to change that in the coming year and get back to posting regularly.

About Rainbow Snippets
Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).

In this group you'll find anything from romance and historical fiction to mystery and YA. The common thread is that every story's main character identifies as LGBTQ+. The snippets could range from zero flames to full-on sexytimes, anything goes content-wise. The only rule is snippets will be 6 sentences long–one for each color in the Pride flag.

Today’s Rainbow Snippet
I’m posting from To Be Sure, which is contemporary LGBT+ fiction with romantic elements, featuring two older women (aged 70+): Saorla Tierney, a bisexual woman from Derry, The North of Ireland, and her long-term friend/lover, Aileen Cullen, lesbian and also from Derry. In today’s snippet, Saorla and Aileen are on a plane heading for England and Saorla’s grandson’s baptism.

The story is part of the Never Too Late collection - nine stories about friendship, family and love featuring LGBTQIA 50+ characters, which was released earlier in December.

You can download the story for free in the Smashwords Christmas sale (and get the full collection for half-price). A lot of my other stories are also free on Smashwords until January 1st.

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The Snippet:

Aileen’s mouth opened and closed in a couple of false starts before she said, “May I ask you something? It’s a wee bit delicate.”

“Go on,” Saorla agreed warily and sipped her coffee for distraction.

“If it had come to the worst in January, would you have moved to England?”

Saorla lifted her drink away from her mouth and rubbed her chest to relieve the sudden reflux brought on by Aileen’s question. As if it wasn’t bad enough to have her son at death’s door the once, the fool had to go and do it all over again. In those long, silent hours at the hospital, waiting for Finn to speak, to explain himself or put their minds at ease, the thought had flitted like an alluring, uncatchable butterfly amid the awful mess of their lives: move away, start anew, enjoy her retirement before she was too old.

The Blurb:

Saorla Tierney's sons are conspiring against her, and at their age, they should know better. After all, she's nearly seventy-one herself, and, quite frankly, whether she still 'has needs' is none of their business.

OK, so, maybe she was a bit harsh with Sean when all he did was ask if she and Aileen wanted a double hotel room. And of course she feels bad for biting Finn's head off when he was only having a wee joke.

Between her grandson's unconventional baptism and the decades-long feud between her sons, even with Aileen at her side it's not as easy a decision as they seem to think. Or maybe it is. Saorla doesn't know anymore, and until she's sure...

To Be Sure is a stand-alone, novella-length character special. Part of Hiding Behind The Couch series. This story follows chronologically from Reunions (Season Seven) and continues in Alumni (Season Eight - WIP).

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Thanks for reading,
Deb x