Masquerade in May - Romancing Aesthetics
Mood board inspiration for the month of May, a different kind of fairy tale, and some writing updates. Don’t forget to take the poll at the end! ;)
Hello Book Monsters!
Can you believe it’s already May? I don’t even know how that happened! I will say, we’ve had a lot of snowy rain in my neck of the woods and that has led to a full creek, lots of greenery, and even a few early flowers that we usually don’t see here until later. Here’s a little peek at our pet duck enjoying a swim out in the wild.
Today, I thought I’d try something a little different. I’ve been looking for writing inspiration and decided to make up some random mood boards. Here’s one I put together with no specific story in mind. It came out as a little ode to The Frog Prince. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved the idea of masquerade balls. What could be more fun than a Masquerade in May?
Actually, there is a masked ball in Wolf’s Captive. It takes place in the fall, not in the spring, but it’s still a fun scene, nonetheless. I’ll just slip it in right here for your reading enjoyment.
Excerpt from Wolf’s Captive
Going inside is, dare I say, like walking into a fairy tale. Everything is sparkling and refined, the furnishings of the house all speak to Victorian era opulence. The decorations are festive while being tasteful and grown up, and even though there’s not an orchestra playing minuets or waltzes, it’s like walking back in time. As soon as we enter the ballroom, a masked waiter offers us champagne.
“After the night I’ve had, I can definitely use a drink.” I take a glass from the waiter, downing its contents in one go. Grim smirks at me. I shrug. Declining a drink for himself, he scans the occupants of the ballroom from behind his black mask with his shrewd wolf’s gaze.
“Do you see him?” I ask.
“No, but this place is crawling with Charmings.”
“What? Really?”
He nods, prompting me to look around. All I see are a bunch of people in costumes at first, but then I realize I do recognize quite a few of them from Realm. It’s so weird to see them in real life. A beautiful blonde woman in a poofy silver dress catches my eye.
“Cinderella.”
Grim follows my stare.
“Hmm,” he grunts, “total twit-bot.”
That makes me laugh. That and I think the champagne loosened me up a bit. He turns to look at me, that warm gleam in the backs of his eyes lighting up again. It’s utterly enchanting. I blink.
“You have a beautiful laugh.” He says.
My lips part a bit in surprise at that, and I see his eyes dart down to them. The whole exchange makes me think about his lips on mine and how incredible even a fake kiss was from this dashing villain. I wonder what a real one would be like. I clear my throat, looking down to break the spell. What am I doing? My mind wandered away from the severity of the task at hand over one silly compliment. How did my thoughts about the feral, sexy villain somehow drift into the realm of tenderness all of a sudden?
“What are they all doing here?” I change the subject before I make a complete fool of myself.
“I haven’t a clue.” Grim’s voice comes out a little raspier than normal, the sound of it doing funny things to my insides.
“Maybe one of them knows where Prince Del is. We could split up and try to chat some information out of them.” I mean, if they’re all bots, they can’t be all that smart, right?
Grim frowns, his eyes drifting to the ballroom. “With The Fall on the loose, the last thing we’re going to do is split up. I have a bad feeling about them being here. But perhaps mingling isn’t such a bad idea.”
He slants me a sidelong glance. I lift one eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate. He dips into a short half-bow, the picture of aristocratic elegance despite the fact that, because of me, he’s dressed more like a biker. I start to laugh, but he extends his arm to me for the second time in a matter of minutes, and the look in his eyes is nothing short of an invitation.
“Care to dance?”
We’re on a mission. This is serious. Still, I can’t help the little thrill that ripples through me when he asks. In that moment, it’s easy to picture him at a real ball back two centuries ago. Gone is his gruff demeanor as we glide out onto the dance floor. I imagine he was probably thought of as quite the catch in his own time. Thank the stars a slow song is playing. Little known fact about me: along with being a terrible witch, I also can’t dance. I never even went to prom. The thought makes a bout of self consciousness rear its head. My eyes flit around to all the other bodies on the dance floor, moving together effortlessly. What the heck am I doing? My feet freeze up and I stumble over them—classic Angel—but Grim doesn’t miss a beat as he folds me into his arms. He leans down, speaking into my ear over the music.
“Don’t worry, I have you, Red.”
When he pulls back up, his eyes meet mine and I’m completely caught up in his stare. We start to move, our bodies finding the rhythm of the music. He makes it easy, somehow infusing my limbs with his confidence, swaying me masterfully through the space in a way I don’t have to think about to follow. We should be looking at the other guests, trying to determine what we can about the Charmings’ presence here and be on the lookout for the book. We should absolutely pay attention to all those things, but our eyes stay locked on each other instead. It’s as if Grim is the real caster here and I’m under his spell.
Excerpt from Wolf’s Captive by Amanda V Shane Copyright 2024.
Things get a bit steamier after that cut off, hee hee. If you want to read more Grim and Angel, you can find this story, and many more, in my subscription on Ream.
Writing News
What in the world am I working on right now? I actually have decided to keep going with with my favorite wolfie romance over on Ream. I’m putting out some never before seen chapters that I’ve been working on in upcoming weeks. In addition, I’m still writing on Lucien and Marissa’s story, Wicked Love, which will be book two of the same series. I’ll be sure to post little snippets here for you as I go.
Future Romance Aesthetics
What other inspiration boards would you like to see, my Book Monsters?
That’s all for now, beauties. Till next time, I’m wishing you many magical adventures and hope you get to read lots of great stories.
See you soon!
Amanda
Romance stories are not my thing, but oh my, you are a wonderful writer.