Romance Books Uncategorized

#BookReview – “Dark Lover” by JR Ward

Blurb

The only purebred vampire left on the planet and the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who killed his parents centuries ago. But when his most trusted fighter is killed—orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate—Wrath must put down his dagger and usher the beautiful female into another world.

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

Review

In the first Black Dagger Brotherhood book, Beth Randall is a reporter for a small newspaper outside New York City. Her life starts to unravel after she’s attacked and nearly raped one night. She soon learns she’s not fully human. In fact, she’s part vampire and is in the middle of her transitioning—the state of becoming an adult vampire with various powers.

Wrath is the king of the vampire species, but he refuses to rule. Instead, he leads the brotherhood of warriors to protect the vampire civilians from the Lessening Society, an organization of soulless humans who want to kill all vampires. The vampires are nearly extinct due to the high probability of their women and babies dying in childbirth, as well as from the lesser attacks. He helps Beth through the transitioning—at her dead father’s last request—but he never expected to fall for her.

I really liked Beth. She’s levelheaded and determined to survive whatever life throws at her. I couldn’t relate to Wrath. He’s too arrogant and callous. Their relationship starts fast (they have sex within ten minutes of meeting each other, and she’s halfway drugged), and they’re committed to each other within a handful of days.

Wrath’s brothers-in-arms all have dark, mysterious paths. They’ve adapted well to the twenty-first century in their smack-talk, rap music, material items, and attitude. They’re badasses and vicious when needed, which is pretty often, but they protect their own. Unfortunately, if you’re not part of their clique, they don’t care if you live or die. They don’t care about human casualties in their fight against the lessers, but since Beth is part human, Wrath is changing his ways and will make sure the others do as well.

Butch, Beth’s human cop friend, is awesome. He’s the only male character in the book that I fully liked and understood as a person. He fits in well with the Brotherhood—his past and life is just as seedy as theirs—but he’s a more decent person. His connection to Marissa is beautiful. Even though I’m not a big fan of Marissa, I’m looking forward to reading their story.

There are some unanswered questions. Will Wrath tell Beth about his past with Marissa? Will he continue to feed from Marissa or another vampire female when in need, or will Beth’s half human/vampire blood be strong enough, as long as he’s not mortally injured? Did the brothers find out Zsadist wasn’t responsible for killing the prostitutes?

The story is well-written in alternating POVs with proper scene breaks. There was no head-hopping or typos from what I noticed, which is always wonderful. I have several books in this series, so I’m looking forward to reading more. Hopefully, the brothers will grow on me once I get to know them better.

3 Stars