The Black Lily

Juliette Cross

Mar 2017 · Vampire Blood Book 1 · Sold by Entangled: Amara

About this ebook

Every day, the threat of the Varis family grows stronger—especially to the humans they rule over. And with every minute that Arabelle spends doing chores for vain, entitled aristocrats, her resolve to overthrow the vampire monarchy increases. She is the leader of the underground resistance, The Black Lily.

And she’s waited long enough.

Now is the perfect time to ignite the rebellion. The plan? Attend the vampire prince’s blood ball. And kill him.

Dagger in hand, Arabelle is caught off guard by the immediate spark she shares with Prince Marius. It doesn’t help that he’s listening to her and seems so kind and understanding.

Arabelle is sworn to kill Marius at all costs, but what if Prince Charming is more than he appears to be? Because now he knows the truth...and she’ll have to do whatever she can to save her people.

Each book in the Vampire Blood series is STANDALONE:
* The Black Lily
* The Red Lily
* The White Lily
* The Emerald Lily

Ratings and reviews

I will not give too much of the plot in this review, as I would rather the readers discover it for themselves, and Ms. Cross does a fine job at creating a brand new world. Vampires have been around for a long time, and rule with an iron fist; humans have become fodder for aristocratic vampires, and one day, a peasant girl by the name of Arabelle had enough, and she created a resistance movement: THE BLACK LILY. Arabelle has set in motion a plan to kill Prince Marius on the night of the blood ball, and then go in hiding. But things do awry, Prince Marius is only injured, and swears he will find the human, however beguiling, who tried to kill him and make her pay. However, things get complicated as Arabelle did not expect to find her enemy so bewitching, and while Marius was taken aback by Arabelle’s bravery, and her attractiveness. Still, she must be found first… Prince Marius had not realised how little he knew of his people, and humans are rebelling in other kingdoms as well. Marius is seriously torn: he must marry Princess Vilhelmina to unite their kingdoms, they don’t even know each other, and more and more, he is attracted to Arabelle. THE BLACK LILY is a very ingenious take on Cinderella, and it is also much more. Loosely based on the classic fairytale, the author adds fascinating political undertones to this paranormal romance, as well as a welcome touch of Gothic. Juliette Cross weaves a hypnotic spell on the reader, as powerful as the attraction between Arabelle and Marius. The author has created magical characters, so well fleshed out, they seem real, even in a fantasy context. And dear readers, for once, the cover model is exactly how I pictured Marius! What a bonus! I loved the world the author created: it’s different, very well thought-out, and striking. Prince Marius is a very interesting character, and not at all how I imagined he would be; he surprised me several times. Arabelle is a true resistance fighter: she is courageous, fearless, ingenious, and determined to do what is best for her people. Besides, however taken they are with each other, they both know there is no future for them. I loved the tone of the book: while it retains the stylistic qualities of a fairytale, it is an adult paranormal fairytale, and very well done. The writing is luminous, and simply gorgeous, and I must commend Ms. Cross for her perfect grammar and syntax. The dialogues ring true, every character has its own voice; I love Juliette Cross’ voice! And the characters are very compelling: Deek, Arabelle’s blacksmith friend is wonderful, and Lieutenant Nikolai, a Legionnaire and protector of the vampire realm, is simply delicious, if by-the-book, and at times a bit of an enigma. And how I loved Vilhelmina! But all is not rosy in this romance: I was absolutely stunned when something dreadful happened to a central character, and there is gore and blood – obviously, for a vampire story, but in a more realistic way that is often portrayed, which felt authentic. And what a fabulous ending: I did not expect most of what happened. What delights await us in this new series! I cannot wait for the next book, because this is not over my friends! (Don’t worry, there is no cliffhanger, just a taste of all the fabulousness that we can expect in the future! I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.

***5 ‘You Are Not What I Expected’ Stars*** When I heard that Juliette Cross was going to be putting her own paranormal twist on some very well loved fairy tales I started making grabby hands, while doing a lot of the practicing patience thing and though it did take me a little longer to dive in that I intended, I wasn’t disappointed. She has created a vibrant world and filled it with characters that I need to know more about, even the baddies and woven humor, heart, suspense and a good dose smexyness into it that had me turning the pages until there were no more to turn. I adored Marius. He is a vampire and a prince, but he’s nothing like you’d expect him to be. He believes in the superiority of his race and status within it and though the arrogance that comes with that belief is woven into his very being, it doesn’t suffocate. He’s all kinds of charming, confident, intelligent, smexy alpha male goodness and all of that combined with his compassionate heart makes him all kinds of swoon worthy. Arabelle and I had an interesting go of it. Overall I loved the girl. She genuinely cares for her people and though she is just a servant she is willing to do all she can to better their lives, even if it mean sacrificing hers. She could have turned her back on the problems, and even turned callous and cold, but didn’t. But for all I admired her, her tunnel vision in the beginning had me twitching. She has just cause for her feelings, but the soapbox she put herself on was not as sturdy as she believed. Marius and Arabelle’s road to their HEA was a bumpy one for many reasons, but it was a fun and smexy one as they forced each other to open their eyes to the true reality of the world they lived in. I enjoyed the push and pull between them because it not only made the sexual tension between them that much hotter, but it forced them to get to know each other beyond their station in life and come to realize that they had much more in common than they could have ever imagined. It’s not secret I’m a huge Juliette Cross fangirl and a good portion of that has to do with how well she builds the world her stories are set in. They are vibrant, even in their darkness, and she has a way of making you want to explore every nook and cranny of it. She creates a history of the world that is believable even though you know in your logical mind that there is no way it can exist and yet you want to get lost in it and that’s what she done once again with The Black Lily. On top of all of that she brings to life characters that you want to know more about and spend time with, even the ones you want to gut with a spoon and there are many I’d love to cozy up to here. As this is the first in series, there is a lot of information being thrown at you, but it’s done in a more show not tell way so it isn’t overwhelming. I do have one, well, two bones to pick with Ms. Cross, but neither are about the overall story arc of the series, which I thought was well done and cannot wait to see how everything plays out down the road! ~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley ~

The threat the Varis family poses to the humans they rule over grows stronger every day and Arabelle’s resolve to overthrow the vampire monarchy grows as well. Now is the perfect time to ignite the underground resistance’s rebellion, by attending the prince’s blood ball and killing him. But Prince Marius could be more than the Prince Charming he appears to be if he listens and understands the truth. This is the first book in fascinating and different vampire world that readers can really sink their teeth into. The chemistry between Arabelle and Marius has sparks flying in every direction from every page of this fiery and volatile romance that provides readers with a very entertaining mix of passion, laughter and adventure. The characters are strong, the emotional turmoil fits the story and characters so well that readers really feel as if they know and understand both sides of the conflict. The heroine is quite saucy and spirited while the hero is an arrogant male who soon turns into a real prince and readers just have to sigh in pleasure. The wonderful setting adds just the right atmosphere to the story to make it believable and readers find that the story ‘feels right’ which makes it delightfully exciting and quite thrilling as they get caught up in the suspense and action of this story. The clever ‘Cinderella’ fairy tale retelling makes this vampire romance, one that readers will want to visit over and over again.

About the author

JULIETTE is a multi-published author of paranormal and fantasy romance. She calls lush, moss-laden Louisiana home where she lives with her husband, four kids, and black lab named Kona. 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 books set in Gothic worlds, she wanted to create her own.