The White Lily

Brennalyn Snow, after an unexpected change in her life, became a schoolteacher and took in children, orphans of the destruction perpetrated by bloodthirsty vampires. She had met, Friedrich Volya, the Duke of Winter Hill twice, and he didn’t seem so bad, still Brennalyn joined the resistance against the nobility’s abuses. She is THE WHITE LILY, and she intends to spy on the Duke. Brennalyn was attending the Harvest ball, but she hadn’t counted on Friedrich being there, and certainly not being so attracted to him. She didn’t expect the horror that happened either! THE WHITE LILY continues the story arc from the first two instalments in this series, where we had briefly met Friedrich. Brennalyn is torn between righting wrongs committed mostly by vampires and her undeniable attraction to the charismatic and arrogant Friedrich. I wonder if I had picked the wrong day to read this book, but it was not quite was I expected until the very end. I felt that in THE WHITE LILY, there was a lot of talking and thinking, and not much doing, except for a few short bursts of action. I also found minor details a bit puzzling, such as Brennalyn’s reactions to the Duke: “Who does he think he is!”. Well, a duke… His repeatedly calling her “kitten” also got on my nerves after a while. THE WHITE LILY was also “cuter” at times than I would have liked; I kept thinking of “The Sound of Music”! I was also somewhat disappointed that Brennalyn does little more than “being a woman”, if you will forgive me; she is not quite the warrior I would have liked. The sexual tension between Brennalyn and Friedrich could have been cut with a knife and the culmination of their attraction happens under unusual – and very clever – circumstances. There are also very interesting twists on Snow White. The descriptions are sharp and delightful, and the writing is, of course, stylishly elegant. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.

***5 ‘Why Are You On Your Knees?” Stars*** Ever since getting that taste of Friedrich (who will from now on be called Freddy with the blessing of the author :D) in The Red Lily I’ve been doing my best to #practicepatience (badly) for his story, and though it took me a bit to finally dive into The White Lily, I was not disappointed in any way. Even with all the tension between the royal family and those who back the Black Lily, it was a fun read filled with moments that made my heart go all kinds of wonky and twitterpated, my panties melt (and amazingly had no moments that me want to give the author the evil eye) and filled with characters I want to spend more time with and was quite disappointed when there were no more words to read. I absolutely ADORED Freddy & Brenna! Freddy may just be my favorite non-broody yet alpha AF male Ms. Cross has written to date. He’s sneaky, charming, commanding, dominate and oh my god smexy and then mix in his compassionate heart and simple kindness and you have a very lethal male on your hands. Brenna has that potent and intriguing mix of tender heart and iron will. She’s not afraid to jump into the mix and help out in whatever capacity she can, but she doesn't need to be the in the spotlight. The chemistry between Freddy and Brenna was off the charts. It was seriously in that whole my my heart all kinds of wonky and twitterpated while melting my panties off chemistry (Honestly don’t even bother with panties). Even when they were dancing around each other with their “secrets” it was hot and then when they finally come clean and get to know each other without all the baggage they are both carrying around...it’s practically perfect. There is a bit of push/pull going on, but the angst is low, and I’m definitely not mad at where they were at in the end. Part of my enjoyment of any story are well written secondary/supporting cast of characters that inhabit the world and Ms. Cross writes some amazing ones. Brenna’s children had me smiling, especially Izzy though Beatrice wasn’t far behind considering our shared hobby and Denny...Then there is Grant and the men in the Bloodguard. Let’s just say that I wouldn’t be upset at all if they all got their own HEA’s, whether it be in this series or a spin off. As for the direction the overall series arc is going, I’m really enjoying watching as everything unfolds and cannot wait to see what the next book in the series brings! ~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~

I swear, this series just keeps getting better with each new release! Friedrich was everything I love in a hero and then some, and Brennalyn was an amazing mix of strong yet still soft heroine. The two of them made for AMAZING chemistry. Seriously! From right out of the chute, I was hooked and dying for these two exceptional characters to finally get together. And let me just say, when they finally do, they DO NOT disappoint. As for the overarching plot with The Black Lily, things are really heating up and getting oh so interesting. I love how Juliette has managed to make each romance so beautiful and yet wind in an exceptionally well crafted plot and can't wait to see how she wraps things up in the final installment. If you love commanding alpha heroes with soft spots for their heroines, superb paranormal stories, and off the charts romance, this one is a must read.