Friday, June 16, 2017

Early Review: The Red Lily by Juliette Cross

The Red Lily
Release Date: June 19, 2017
Publisher: Entangled Select
Vampire Blood Book #2
ISBN13: 9781633759411
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Review Copy Source: Publisher

When Red falls for the Big Bad Wolf...

The Black Lily resistance needs a larger army if they are to defeat the vampire monarchy. In order to do so, former lieutenant and traitor to the vampire Crown, Nikolai must seek help from the red-hooded temptress he needs to avoid at all costs. The secret he carries could prove dangerous for her if she gets too close...even though keeping her close—very close—is the only thing on his mind.

Sienna will do anything for the Black Lily, and when Nikolai asks for her assistance to gain the trust of the commonwealth, it's the last thing she wants to do. The thought of leaving her woods and her wolves behind is terrifying...not to mention the danger being with Nikolai poses.

I really enjoyed Arabelle and Marius' story in THE BLACK LILY and I also really enjoyed meeting Nikolai and Sienna along the way. I didn't find THE RED LILY as exciting as book one, but the story was still enjoyable and I have no doubt that the people and events that took place will show up in later installments of the Vampire Blood series.

I'm finding myself having a hard time reviewing THE RED LILY. I enjoyed the story, but I feel like it was missing something and I can't quite put my finger on what it was. On top of that, I know that THE RED LILY is Sienna and Nikolai's book, but I was really looking forward to seeing the resistance some more and I don't feel like it really did the job of furthering that part of the storyline even though that was the point of the couple working together. They did get some things done, but it didn't feel to me like enough was done.

The romance between Nikolai and Sienna wasn't as tumultuous as Arabelle and Marius, but they did have passion. The sexy scenes when they happened were hot and Arabelle really surprised me during those moments.

The Hart wolves were something that really interested me in THE BLACK LILY and they are explored a lot more in book two. I would have never guessed what they really were or that they were a part of the things that were revealed to us. I am excited to learn more about them in future books. In fact, I'm hoping they get a book all to themselves. I have no doubt that their connection to Arabelle will have them in future fights as allies of the resistance. Come on THE WHITE LILY, make my hopes a reality.

I gave it 3.5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.