Published by Berkley Trade on February 6, 2007
ISBN-10: 0425214338
ISBN-13: 978-0425214336
Summary
Mona Lisa has come to accept her true identity as a Mixed-Blood, a descendant of the Monère, a race of moon children who are stronger, faster, and more beautiful than any human. As the newest Queen of the Monère, she is accompanied by her loyal cadre of warriors and kin as she ventures into Louisiana, where she must learn to navigate the Monère’s erotic and savage customs.
However, some of her subjects are uneasy about being ruled by a half-human, and Mona Lisa must face enemies both old and new. As she becomes ensnared in the dark forces of the Monère’s hidden world of animal passions and unrelenting lust, she realizes the tremendous power she must wield to hold her realm together and come into her own.
Her reign is a journey of self-discovery, where Mona Lisa discovers that being a queen is not only about commanding others but also about mastering oneself. As she rises to the challenge, Mona Lisa proves that even as a Mixed-Blood, she is a force to be reckoned with.
Reviews
“Tantalizingly erotic, Sunny’s Mona Lisa Blossoming seduces readers into the powerfully imaginative world of the Monère.”
— L.A. Banks, NYT Bestselling author of The Vampire Huntress Legends series
“Sunny is blossoming into a star well worth reading.”
— Harriet Klausner, 5 stars
“Gripping with intensity from page one, I was immediately pulled back into Mona Lisa’s world. Well-crafted with detailed images, crisp dialogue and steamy sex, Sunny has another winner, seamlessly continuing the story from the first book. If you like Laurell K. Hamilton, Christine Warren and MaryJanice Davidson, you will love Sunny. Don’t miss this series – pick up both books and savor every page. A very good read.”
— Lory Martin, Fresh Fiction
“Sunny pulls no punches with this book! It is sexy, it is dangerous and it is addicting…for those who have followed the series thus far—you are going to love it! I couldn’t put it down. There are sequences in this book that will put you on the edge of your seat.”
— Julie Kornhausl, Romance Readers At Heart, 4 Roses
“MONA LISA BLOSSOMING is yet another fantastic offering from Sunny. Sunny’s stark but beautiful writing continues to impress as she weaves her compelling tale. MONA LISA BLOSSOMING is highly recommended for dark fantasy fans who like their books a bit on the edgier side!”
— Debbie, CK2S Kwips and Kritiques, 5 Clovers
“Wow! Just…wow. This follow up to MONA LISA AWAKENING is one fabulous read, full of love, heartache, deception, and plenty of steamy sex…I very rarely give out the highest honor that RRTE awards authors with, but Sunny’s MONA LISA BLOSSOMING was one of those few novels that I hated to see end. Do not miss out on this highly entertaining and sensuous tale!”
— Courtney Michelle, Romance Reviews Today Erotic
“Once again, Sunny creates a masterful new world and populates it with characters who are among the best drawn I have seen. I am reminded here of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Fae series. The author demonstrates a marvelous grasp of the ability to construct new dimensions and new species, and populate them with appealing and well-delineated individuals and groups. The Mona Lisa stories certainly rank among that caliber, and I dearly hope to find the series continues beyond these first two stories, Mona Lisa Awakening and Mona Lisa Blossoming.”
— Annie, The Romance Studio, 5 hearts
“This is another intense and darkly erotic adventure into the world of the Monere. Mona Lisa and her vibrant group of companions transport you into their world and absorb you in the breakneck pace of events. It keeps you wondering how Mona Lisa can possibly pull through this newest obstacle. The battles and fight scenes are stunningly written and almost as good as the sex scenes, which leave you filled with anticipation for the next. The battle between her human nature and her Monere blood is epic, and I’m wondering with all she has thrown at her if her human side is resilient enough to withstand the beating. This is another great offering from Sunny and I’m left breathlessly awaiting my next journey into this exotic world.”
— Vivian Whipp, Book Fetish, 4-1/2 Stars
“Mona Lisa Blossoming by Sunny is the third installment in the Monere series. The first book is Mona Lisa Awakening, followed by the OVER THE MOON ANTHOLOGY of Mona Lisa Three, which actually precedes this book. All three are great books filled with an erotic world of desire. Paranormal lovers will fall instantly in lust with this series and be swept away to a world that is equally erotic and dark as the imagination of Laurell K. Hamilton.”
— Lori Sears, The Romance Readers Connection, 4 Stars
“Mona Lisa Blossoming by Sunny is a sensually erotic journey into the lives and customs of a completely new and unique group of paranormal beings. The new Queen Mona Lisa is absolutely wonderful. I could feel her emotions of wonder, confusion, lust and anger practically leaping off the pages while she was trying to find her way in her new world. The males surrounding Mona Lisa are almost indescribable in their beauty, power and love for their Queen. If you like your books to have hot, scorching sex scenes, unique storylines, a strong heroine and sexy heroes then drop everything and run out to get this book, you won’t be disappointed.”
— Char, Romance Junkies
“After reading Mona Lisa Three I was extremely anxious to read Blossoming, and couldn’t put it down. The story is thoroughly engaging, exciting and it brings to life the character this reviewer truly enjoys. I found myself back in the story, like in Three, and it was easy to loose myself in it. The returning characters, and the location, had me enthralled. I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Sizzling, sexy and bold, the next book can’t come fast enough!”
— Peaches LaTour, Rites of Romance Reviews
“A fast pace and thoroughly detailed and lush scenes sweeps the reader away into this dark erotically charged world where we learn yet more about ‘the Children of the Moon’ and the demon dead… This is sumptuous writing to sink one’s senses into.”
— Lil, Love Romances & More, 5 Hearts
“Sunny’s fascinating story has interesting characters and a rather unusual origin. There are shape-shifters, blood drinkers, a heroine who’s an unexpected unique queen, some bloody violence and a fair amount of sex.”
— Romantic Times
Excerpt
Chapter 1
We were in a private jet winging through the darkness of night, flying to New Orleans. My new territory. I was dressed in a black gown. Full length, formal. Not my usual style or taste. But at least this one fit me, not like the hand-me-downs from Mona Sera which had gaped and gathered at my modest bosom. My mother was lushly built. Not so, me. Too bad I hadn’t inherited that physical aspect from her. Or maybe it was a good thing that I hadn’t inherited more of her traits. Not too nice, my mother.
All I seemed to have gotten from Mona Sera was my black hair, high cheekbones, and a jaw line that was both delicate and strong. Oh, yeah. And the Monère blood that ran strong and true and dominant in my blood. A quarter of me is human. The other three-fourths is of another species, from another planet: Monère — children of the moon, stronger and faster than humans. And more powerful. We are the truth of what the legends of werewolf and vampires are based upon.
Beside me sat Gryphon. He’d been unusually quiet. We weren’t touching but I felt his presence, his power, like a delicate pressing hand against my skin. I turned to look at him, to gaze upon him, this beautiful creature descended of people from another world who had fled their dying planet over four millions years ago. His exceeding loveliness struck me, as always, like a blow to my chest, knocking the very breath from me. But who needed to breathe when you could drink in the richness of his beauty instead? The midnight blackness of his hair that fell like a silky curtain of darkness, brushing across his shoulders. The white alabaster purity of his skin. The startling redness of his cupid-bow mouth. Such unearthly loveliness, such lips should have only graced a cherub. In fact, the first time I’d seen Gryphon, the thought had whispered in my mind that he was a fallen angel tumbled to the earth, kicked out of heaven. I hadn’t been too far wrong. Only their heaven had been the moon.
Haunting sadness swam like a living thing in his sky blue eyes. Sad eyes that had seen too much, done too much. I hated seeing that look once more in those clear crystalline depths. Feeling my caressing eyes, Gryphon turned to me and I watched the sadness that seemed so much a part of him fade away, and watched something else rise up from deep within to take its place. In his blue, blue eyes, I saw my dream come true. Hot passion, sweet adoration. Love. Everything I had wished for all my life and never thought to have. Gryphon. My dreams made flesh, an arbiter from another world who had come to me, alone and injured by his own Queen’s hand, dying. Saving him had freed me from my loneliness and initiated me into my real life.
The memories and the pull of emotions between us swelled and I wondered why we were not touching. I wanted to touch him, feel him, caress that sweet skin, to reassure myself that he was real, not a dream that would fade away. That he wouldn’t leave me.
A movement drew my attention away. Ah, yes. Coming down the aisle toward us was the reason why I wasn’t touching him. Amber, my other lover. Tall like a majestic mountain, solid with hefty bones and even heavier muscles. Powerful like a massive oak tree, grand, roughly hewn. His beauty lay in his ruggedness, in his battered heart, with his raw strength and even rawer emotions that he normally hid behind a cold wall of reserve, a wall of control — his normal façade. A life-preserving habit that he had honed under Mona Sera’s cruel rule, so that one was fooled into thinking that he didn’t feel much…until he looked at me, like he was doing now.
I swallowed against what I glimpsed naked and intense on Amber’s face, what he allowed me to see. There was nothing cold or reserved about him now. His dark blue eyes had changed to fiery gold, glittering yellow like a bright, shiny jewel; the same color as his name — Amber. The eyes of his beast. They heated and glowed with this extraordinary color whenever he was gripped with passion or power.
I watched him walk toward me with those glowing molten eyes filled with desire and devotion intertwined, and was torn between running away and throwing myself into his massive arms. He had saved me, brought me back from the brink of death, protected me from a band of kidnapping rogues and had loved me so. When we returned from our ordeal, the bond between us had been forged strong and true, and I loved Amber now as dearly as I loved Gryphon. My two Warrior Lords. My two lovers. I still hardly believed that I would not have to give up one or the other. That I could keep them both and allow them to share me, as they called it.
Amber lowered himself into the aisle seat beside me, his trim waist and hips fitting easily. Even the great sword he wore at his waist found a space. But his shoulders were so wide, so broad across that we touched. And with that small contact, a sign of relief rippled through us all. The tension between us eased, the strain ebbed. My left hand naturally, without thought, reached for Amber’s broad callused hand as my right hand twined with Gryphon’s long, slender fingers. Gryphon raised my hand, brushed a kiss across the back of it, and pressed it to his heart. A courtly gesture that was as natural and graceful as the man himself, triggering a rare fluttering feeling within me —happiness. And being this happy, having things this perfect made me nervous. Why? Because I knew it couldn’t last. Not for me.