Soulfire
The
Nightwing Series
Book
One
Juliette
Cross
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Romance
Publisher: Kensington
Publishing/Lyrical Press
Date of
Publication: October 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61650-561-5
Number of pages: 109
Word Count: 32K
Cover Artist: Renee
Rocco
Book Description:
In a world divided by
prejudice and hatred, only love can bridge the chasm.
Tensions are rising in
the Gladium Province. The boundary between humans and Morgons has begun to
blur. While the human aristocracy strives to maintain 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 her arranged marriage to a
man she detests. Feeling trapped by family duty and a 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 greatest enemy of Jessen’s
father. When a bar-room brawl thrusts Jessen into his arms, his dragon roars to
the surface, craving to sate his carnal hunger in the brown-eyed beauty. The
beast in Lucius recognizes her as his own, even if the man refuses to admit the
truth.
Available at Kensington
Excerpt-
Prologue
Thousands of
years ago, Radomis, the dragon king of the North, took flight on the last full
moon of winter. Beating great, black wings, he soared away from his mountainous
kingdom, lured by some unknown force to the sultry lands in the west where
humans dwelled. Dragons and humans had always lived apart.
On this same
night, Princess Morga honored the fertility rite of bathing under the full moon
the night before her wedding. As she stepped from the natural steaming pool,
rivulets of water glistened over milk-pale skin, ebony hair slicked over her
breasts and down her back. The dragon king saw her. Instant desire ensnared his
beastly heart. He descended.
Shifting into
human form, a man of might and beauty, he murdered her guards and handmaidens.
Horrified, Morga could do nothing when the dragon king took her in his arms,
hard lust in cold eyes. The moment his tongue licked into her mouth, she felt
the burning of soulfire—the dragon elixir meant for his one and only mate.
Golden heat melted through blood and bone, filling her with euphoric pleasure,
bonding her to him forever.
Radomis took
her on the ground among bloody bodies and moon-shadows, intent to sate his
hunger. One night would never be enough. Shifting into dragon form, he carried
her in his claws back to his kingdom. She would be his queen, trapped in a
gilded cage of opulence as the object of his endless desire.
From their
union, a child was born—an abomination. A human body with dragon wings and
dragon strength. The boy, Larkos, was outcast among dragonkind, including his
father. Only Morga showed him any love.
When Larkos
reached manhood, he wielded his rage with an avenging sword, tracking and
killing all of dragonkind. Even in beast form, his father could not match him,
finally falling to the forgotten son’s sword. What Larkos did not know was that
soulfire bonded his loving mother to the beast in such a way that when his
dragon-heart stopped beating, so did hers.
This is the
tale I’d been told when my body began changing from child to woman, a warning
for young girls to beware of Morgon men.
“Never stray
from your own kind, Jessen,” my mother would say, “or you could end up like
Princess Morga, a slave and outcast to be abhorred.”
The problem
was, I’d never been a very obedient daughter. Never the one to do exactly as I
was told. And fairy tales have no meaning when the stars align and Fortune
spins her wheel, weaving her own story for your heart.
About
the Author:
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.
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