Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward (BDB # 4) Mini Review

Title: Lover Revealed
Author: J.R. Ward
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #4


Synopsis:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York there's a war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defender of their race. But now an ally of the Brotherhood is about to encounter his own dark desire...

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard living, ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world to engage in the turf war with the lessers. He's got nothing to lose. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. If he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers...

Fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls Marissa to bring him back. But even her love may not be enough to save him...

Review:

I don't know what it was about this particular book in the series but I didn't think that it lived up to the three prior novels. I can honestly say that of the 4 books in the series that I've read so far this one is probably my least favorite.  In my opinion it started off slow and never really gained much steam the farther I got into the book.

I've always like Butch since he was first introduced into the series.  He was a "warrior" before he joined the BDB and all he really wants to do is help the BDB fight the lessers so he doesn't feel so much like a mooch.  Though I can honestly say that I'm only lukewarm on Marissa. SIDE NOTE: Her brother is my absolute LEAST favorite character in the whole series, he's such a pompous ass in my opinion.

Overall, I didn't hate this book.  I just prefer that when I read a romance I don't spend most of the book wishing the pace would pick up.  There were plenty of exciting parts and the ending, though a little predictable, was very good.  And as an added bonus we learn a little bit about Vishous' kinky side.

RATING:

3/5

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

Title: Dark Lover

Author: J.R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Release Date: September 5, 2005

Format: Mass Market Paperback, 393 pages

Source: Bought

 

Rating: 5/5

Smuttiness: 4/5

Synopsis:
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood...

The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed - orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate - Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead...

Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn't there, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both....

Review:

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is one of my favorite adult vampire series of all time.  Each of the brothers have bad ass names like Rhage and Tohrment to name two.  Each brother has his own story and I can hardly wait to re-read them all!  Including John Matthew's story which I still haven't read yet. *hangs head*

But Dark Lover is the kickoff story for this series.  The main characters are Wrath and Beth Randall...Wrath who is the King of the vampires and Beth who is the half human daughter of Darius (a warrior in the brotherhood who is killed at the beginning of the story).  At the beginning of the story Darius approaches Wrath about helping Beth through her transition (from human to vampire), if it were to happen.  At first Wrath shuts him down cold.  But then Darius is killed and Wrath feels that he owes Darius to help Beth through her transition.

I really LOVED this book a LOT.  Not only are we talking about a group of EXTREMELY attractive warrior vampires who's whole purpose in life (is it really life if your a member of the undead?) is to protect civilian vampires from lessors, who are soulless humans who get their jollies getting rid of vampires.  But also a group of individuals who really act like brothers.  And the fact that they are written to basically be SEX GODS.  Definitely NOT your Twilight vamps that's for sure!

I really was impressed with the way that this book was written.  The characters were very engaging, even Hard-ass Butch and Zsadist, I felt that even I could relate to the characters. The side stories I thought were well written to keep the story flowing....There's a lot of from the vampire's points of view and switching to the lessor's points of view through out the book. The dialogue was catchy and there was a touch of humor laced through out this book.  I thought that the transition from Wrath and Beth at the beginning of the book to the end of the book was very smooth.  See at the beginning Wrath was 6'9" of hard ass and didn't particularly care for females or humans (two strikes against Beth) and Beth was sort of a loner lost in the world (her mother died when she was born and she was put in the foster system), then Wrath shows up and things start to change for both of them.  I thought that they were beautifully matched.

Overall, I think that this book was a great start to this series and I can hardly wait to read further on into the Brotherhood.  I'm off to start reading about Rhage and his curse...sounds awfully delicious!

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

Title: Lover Eternal

Author: J.R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Release Date: March 7, 2006

Format: Mass Market Paperback, 441 pages

Source: Bought

 

Rating: 5/5

Smuttiness: 4/5

Synopsis:
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret bound of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed bu a deadly beast Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant to Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...

Review:

Lover Eternal is the second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood and is Rhage's story.  Rhage a LONG time ago was cursed by the Scribe Virgin and now he's got about 91 years left on a 200 year old curse.  Well that is until he meets Mary that is.  That's when things start to get real interesting around the brotherhood.

Mary on the other hand is a strong independent woman.  She has to be to have gone through the "curse" she's gone through and come out on the other side.  Well that is until that nasty old "curse" comes back again.  Then she meets Rhage, through a friend (who she has no idea is actually a vampire) and all bets are off.

Unlike the first book where there was a LOT of fighting and almost a lot of romance this book in the series goes the other way.  Where there's a LOT of romance and almost a lot of fighting.  What I really liked about this book is that J.R. Ward took a vampire that had been written to be shall we say a fighting/sex addict to keep his beast (which you learn some shocking things about through the course of the book) at bay and turned him into fighting/monogamy addict.  Really teaching an old dog a new trick.

Another thing that I really liked about this book was the way that Rhage spoke to Mary.  Even from the beginning it was really sexy (in my opinion) when he talked to her like he was talking to his wife.  It gave me warm fuzzies inside to read all these words of love coming out of a big, strong, sexy as hell warrior vampire.

I'm usually not one for cliff hanger endings but I think with the build up throughout this story to Zsadist and Bella's story that the cliff hanger was very appropriate.  I made me want to keep reading and pick up the next book and start that one right away...which I did.  I can honestly say that I spent my entire Sunday, from the time I got up at around 1 am until I went to bed at a little after 5 pm, reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood.  I just could not stop myself. 

Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

Title: Lover Awakened

Author: J.R. Ward

Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Signet Eclipse

Release Date: September 5, 2006

Format: Mass Market Paperback, 434 pages

Source: Bought

 

Rating: 5/5

Smuttiness: 4/5

 

Synopsis:

 

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, a deadly turf war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion and terror his only passion-until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for each other begins to overtake them, Zsadist's thirst for vengeance against Bella's tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past and find a future with her.

 

Review:

 

Hi!  My name is Jamie and I spent my Sunday reading Black Dagger Brotherhood novels. I think that's a hell of a way to spend a day.  Sexy as hell warrior vampires and the ladies they eventually learn to love.  Hell of a way.  I actually got through 2 novels yesterday.

 

Lover Awakened is Zsadist's story.  When Zsadist was young he was stolen from his family and turned into a blood slave where absolutely HORRIBLE things happened to him.  To the point that his twin actually tells Bella that Zsadist isn't broken, he's ruined.  Cause if something is broken you can sometimes fix it right.  Everyone is scared of him because he's scarred (he's got a LOT of nasty ass scars from his bloodslave days) and borderline sadistic.

 

But really all it takes is a strong female vampire to turn Zsadist's world upside down.  That's where Bella comes in.  After her ordeal (which starts in Lover Eternal) with the lessers she's beyond shaken and she's always had a crush on Zsadist.  And that's where she starts turning him around.  Making him feel loveable and almost "human" again.

 

Unlike the last two books there is a LOT of sadness in this book.  I don't want to gve too much away but y'all should know that this story is NOT all "sunshine and roses."  And not all the sadness comes from the main characters either.

 

What I've noticed so far in this series is that the books seem to rotate from being a LOT of fighting and almost a lot of romance to a LOT of romance and almost a lot of fighting.  Well this book happens to be of the a LOT of fighting and almost a lot of romance variety.  Don't get me wrong there is a considerable amount of romance but given Zsadist's past he's a fighter learning to be a lover.  Actually, because of his past he feels that he's unattractive AND unloveable.  Double whammy!

 

What I also noticed about this book was there wasn't a much buildup to the next story in the series.  In the last two books there was buildup to each character's story.  I didn't feel that that was happening in this story as much as the other two books.

 

Overall, I thought though it had more than it's fair share of sad moments that Lover Awakened was a great read.  Of the three books in the series that I've read so far I'm having a hard time coming up with a clear cut favorite.  But I think that with Zsadist's past and his hang up's he just might be slightly ahead of the other two books.