Nightbloom by Juliette Cross – Review, Blog Tour & Giveaway
Nightbloom
Nightwing series – Book #3
by Juliette Cross
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo
Description
All her life, Ella Barrow has allowed others to make her decisions. Forced to stifle her artistic talents and stay in a loveless relationship with Clayton Kerrington, the man her mother believes to be her perfect match, Ella’s life may be safe—but it’s not her own. Paxon Nightwing, on the other hand, is anything but the safe choice.
A charming and alluring Morgon, Paxon sees Ella for the woman she truly is. His bold confidence and protective nature ignites a passion she’s never felt before. But a dark family tragedy forces their secrecy—until Clayton makes it impossible to hide their clandestine affair. Will Ella be strong enough to fight for herself at last? Or will she succumb once more and risk losing the only man she’s ever loved?
Review:
Nightbloom by Juliette Cross is the 3rd book in her terrific Nightwing series. All the books in this series are novellas, or a bit more. I love this series, and whenever I find out a new one is coming, I cannot wait to get my hands on it. These are perfect fast reads that you devour in one sitting…exciting, action, sexy couples, and scorching hot….did I say hot, hot. When I discovered Juliette Cross in the first book, Soulfire, I knew then she would become one of my favorite authors, and nothing has changed that opinion.
The Nightwing series is about Morgan men, who are all totally irresistible, and the woman who will become their mates. Ella Barrow is our heroine, as we met her in the earlier books, since Ella is best friends with Scorcha and Jessen, our earlier heroines. Ella is smart and a talented artist, but her mother has put the fear of Morgon men into her life since she was a child. Ella is dating Clayton, her family’s choice as the perfect man, but Clayton is not a nice man, as she will soon find out.
Paxton Nightwing has been watching Ella from afar, but her shyness and fears keeps him from attempting to get to know her. Until one night when her boyfriend offers her to kiss anyone who wins a wager. Paxton, in trying to protect her, enters the battle and wins a kiss. She has always found Paxton enticing, someone forbidden, and now the kiss has changed her, especially after she finds Clayton having sex with a waitress. It is here that Ella will change, begin to drop the veil she has lived under for so long, and allow her feelings for Paxton to rise up in a blaze of fire. That is how hot their chemistry was. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ella come out of her shyness, and go after what she wants….Paxton.
It was a beautiful and totally hot relationship between them. I loved both Paxton and Ella together, and enjoyed her marvel when he flies her to places. Morgon men are Dragons, and can fly. Most of all, I loved Paxton’s devotion to Ella, as well to protect her against the evil Clayton and to help her face her family to prove all Morgon men are not always bad. It was an emotional moment when mother and daughter finally came face to face again.
Juliette Cross has done it again with another sensational story in this fabulous series. The story is beautifully done, the sex is scorching hot, and the couple are super great together. If you have not read this series, you are missing a gem. I am happy to say that I have discovered Juliette Cross, and I am not missing anything she writes.
Reviewed by Barb
Copy provided by Publisher
I blotted my Petal Pink lips on a piece of memo paper and capped the lipstick.
“Dangit!”
Trying to retrieve the tube with the tip of my open-toe heel, I only succeeded in pushing the lipstick farther away. “Ugh.”
Unable to bend that far in my pencil skirt, I hiked the hem up to my thighs and crawled on all fours, shimmying my behind, then stretching my arm till my fingers finally gripped my favorite lipstick.
That’s when I heard a low, masculine whistle from someone standing behind me.
Scooting back, I shot off the floor and slid my hemline back to my knee, all under the steady gaze of Paxon Nightwing, silhouetted by the sunlight that filtered into the foyer of Linden and Burke.
Towering above me with jet-black hair and matching sharp-edged wings, wearing a charcoal button-down, black slacks, and a devilish smile, his voice crooned when he spoke. “Now that’s what I call a warm welcome.”
“I, um, well, I…”
He extended a bronzed hand. I reached out with my right, nearly dropping the lipstick again. I shifted it to my left hand. “I like pink.”
I like pink? I like pink! For God’s sake, Ella. How old was I? Five?
His extended hand engulfed mine, then he drew our bodies closer. Grinning wide and stroking his thumb across my knuckles, his melodious voice sounded sultry and sinful.
“So do I.”
I blinked stupidly till my brain started functioning again. He didn’t say a word, mesmerizing me with ridiculously deep brown eyes.
“I’m, uh, Ella Barrow.”
“Paxon Nightwing. Pleasure to meet you. But I think we’ve met before.”
I tugged on my hand. He didn’t let go, tightening his hold.
“Uh, well, I’m friends with Sorcha and Jessen.”
“Yes.”
I knew this guy was a player, the kind to make a girl swoon with a glance and charm the pants right off her. Literally. Jessen had even kissed him in a club once. And while his carousing behavior should make me want to run away, I couldn’t forget that Jessen had said on a scale of one to ten, his kiss was a ninety-nine.
He still held my hand, angling his body closer. “I’ve also seen you at the Vaengar games. With Kerrington.”
“Yeah. We’re, um, dating.”
“That’s a shame.”
I tugged again.
He released me. “I have an appointment with Sorcha Nightwing.”
“Yes. I know.”
Pulling myself together, I pressed the comm device on my desk and cleared my throat. “Mr. Nightwing is here.”
“Thanks, Ella. Show him to my office, please.”
Rounding behind the desk, I gestured down the hall. “This way.”
“After you.” A sly grin.
I tilted up my chin, pretending I wasn’t afraid of him, then led him toward Sorcha’s office. I was good at pretending.
As soon as I stepped in front of him, a primal shiver vibrated through my bones.
His eyes were on me. I felt his gaze, as if his gaze were a caress, brushing up my legs, curving over my behind, rounding my hips to the dip of my waist and finally settling on the blond waves that fell past my shoulders. By the time we reached the door to the office, my heartbeat hammered in my throat.
Gesturing for him to enter, I kept my eyes on the floor, trying desperately to regain control. He stopped in front of me, but I held my gaze until I realized I was fixated on his crotch. I jerked my head up. Amusement flickered across chiseled features. He was about to say something, but I didn’t give him the chance. I marched back up the hall to the receptionist area.
Juliette calls lush, moss-laden Louisiana home where the landscape curls into her imagination, creating mystical settings for her stories. She has a B.A. in creative writing from Louisiana State University, a M.Ed. in gifted education, and was privileged to study under the award-winning author Ernest J. Gaines in grad school. Her love of mythology, legends, and art serve as constant inspiration for her works. From the moment she read JANE EYRE as a teenager, she fell in love with the Gothic romance–brooding characters, mysterious settings, persevering heroines, and dark, sexy heroes. Even then, she not only longed to read more novels set in Gothic worlds, she wanted to create her own.
Juliette is a multi-published author, including her Nightwing series with Kensington Publishing and The Vessel Trilogy with Samhain Publishing.
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