We’re starting off the week taking a look at a new paranormal romance series by up-and-coming author Juliette Cross. Β Early reviews look good!
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The Nightwing SeriesΒ Book One
by Juliette Cross
Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Kensington Publishing/Lyrical Press
Date of Publication: October 20, 2014
Number of pages: 109
Cover Artist: Renee Rocco
Blurb:
In a world divided by prejudice andΒ hatred, only love can bridge the chasm.Β Tensions are rising in the Gladium Province. The boundary between humansΒ and Morgons has begun to blur. While the human aristocracy strives to maintainΒ distance between their daughters and the dragon-hybrid race, fate has other plans.
As the daughter of the corporate king, Jessen Cade is duty-bound to honor herΒ arranged marriage to a man she detests. Feeling trapped by family duty and aΒ loveless future, she longs for more, straying to the Morgon side of the city.
Lucius Nightwing is the eldest son of the powerful Morgon clan, and the greatestΒ enemy of Jessenβs father. When a bar-room brawl thrusts Jessen into his arms, hisΒ dragon roars to the surface, craving to sate his carnal hunger in the brown-eyedΒ beauty. The beast in Lucius recognizes her as his own, even if the man refuses to admit the truth.
Available at Kensington |Β Amazon | Barnes & Noble
*****
Excerpt:
Prologue
Thousands of years ago, Radomis, the dragon king of the North, took flightΒ on the last full moon of winter. Beating great, black wings, he soared away fromΒ his mountainous kingdom, lured by some unknown force to the sultry lands in theΒ west where humans dwelled. Dragons and humans had always lived apart.
On this same night, Princess Morga honored the fertility rite of bathingΒ under the full moon the night before her wedding. As she stepped from the naturalΒ steaming pool, rivulets of water glistened over milk-pale skin, ebony hair slickedΒ over her breasts and down her back. The dragon king saw her. Instant desireΒ ensnared his beastly heart. He descended.
Shifting into human form, a man of might and beauty, he murdered herΒ guards and handmaidens. Horrified, Morga could do nothing when the dragon kingΒ took her in his arms, hard lust in cold eyes. The moment his tongue licked into herΒ mouth, she felt the burning of soulfireβthe dragon elixir meant for his one andΒ only mate. Golden heat melted through blood and bone, filling her with euphoricΒ pleasure, bonding her to him forever.
Radomis took her on the ground among bloody bodies and moon-shadows,Β intent to sate his hunger. One night would never be enough. Shifting into dragonΒ form, he carried her in his claws back to his kingdom. She would be his queen,Β trapped in a gilded cage of opulence as the object of his endless desire.
From their union, a child was bornβan abomination. A human bodyΒ with dragon wings and dragon strength. The boy, Larkos, was outcast amongΒ dragonkind, including his father. Only Morga showed him any love.
When Larkos reached manhood, he wielded his rage with an avengingΒ sword, tracking and killing all of dragonkind. Even in beast form, his father couldΒ not match him, finally falling to the forgotten sonβs sword. What Larkos did notΒ know was that soulfire bonded his loving mother to the beast in such a way thatΒ when his dragon-heart stopped beating, so did hers.
This is the tale Iβd been told when my body began changing from child toΒ woman, a warning for young girls to beware of Morgon men.
βNever stray from your own kind, Jessen,β my mother would say, βor youΒ could end up like Princess Morga, a slave and outcast to be abhorred.β
The problem was, Iβd never been a very obedient daughter. Never the one toΒ do exactly as I was told. And fairy tales have no meaning when the stars align andΒ Fortune spins her wheel, weaving her own story for your heart.
*****
Juliette calls lush, moss-laden Louisiana homeΒ where the landscape curls into her imagination, creating mystical settings for her stories.
She has a B.A. in creative writing fromΒ Louisiana State University, a M.Ed. in giftedΒ education, and was privileged to study underΒ the award-winning author Ernest J. Gaines inΒ grad school.
Her love of mythology, legends, and art serveΒ as constant inspiration for her works. From theΒ moment she read JANE EYRE as a teenager, she fell in love with the GothicΒ romance–brooding characters, mysterious settings, persevering heroines, and dark,Β sexy heroes.
Even then, she not only longed to read more novels set in Gothic worlds, sheΒ wanted to create her own.
Website: https://www.juliettecross.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliettecrossauthor
Blog: http://www.juliettecross.com/blog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Juliette__Cross
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/crossjuliette/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7795664.Juliette_Cross
*****
Giveaway:
5 ebook copies of Soulfire
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba112ffc805/
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