One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Paranormal Romance; Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 455 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Butch O'Neal had been a cop with a shady record and a painful past the night that a car bomb exploded and Black Dagger brother Darius was executed by lessers. The investigation into that homicide pulled him out of the world he knew and life he half loathed and dragged him into a world of vampires and battle, expensive suits and beautiful females. He is the only human to have ever gained entrée into that world, into the haven of a brotherhood of warriors. Not that his rise in station did much for the poisonous maw of guilt and self loathing, really, but it did clothe his posterior much better.

Still feeling the sting of rejection by the aristocratic vampire female Marissa and at a loss what to do with himself amongst vampires who see him as someone to protect, not someone to depend on in a fight, Butch's growing depression is putting a hurt on his liver as he wallows in booze and escapes in random sex. On his own, he's a disaster waiting to happen, so when he's snatched by lessers as he steps in to save a civilian vampire, he's not all that surprised at what goes down. What one lesser and his master the Omega do to him, though, is a vicious, unending nightmare of torture and defilement.

As Butch lies broken and eternally corrupted by the poisonous evil inside him, he knows that none of the brothers, not even his best friend V, will be able to save him.

J.R. Ward's trailblazing Black Dagger Brotherhood series kicks off its fourth installment with the human cop Butch, whom fans will remember from previous installments, as the main character. His well-documented love for the vampire female Marissa is twisting him up even more than normal as he tries not to be too pathetic about it, but as all males in this series, human or no, Butch has a lot of scars on his soul and doesn't always make good choices when he's hurting. Some of those choices will change his life and the lives of the members of the brotherhood forever.

As much as I enjoy this series and recognize it for the innovative fiction it is, I can't say that Lover Revealed is a favorite of mine. In fact, it's my least favorite of the first four books, and after my shameless worship of Z and Bella's story and the supporting subplots in Lover Awakened, this book was a sharper disappointment than I had anticipated, even on this second reading.

The book stumbled as a paranormal romance because I couldn't warm up to Butch, who came off as sort of pathetic with his poor-me attitude, depression, and willing self destruction throughout most of the book, and I detested the prim and proper and oh-so-spineless Marissa for a painfully equal length of time. In Marissa's case, even when she grew a spine and started to stand on her own two feet, the relationship evolution with Butch was painful, with rocks the size of prehistoric land mammals on the thin, overgrown path towards a shaky HEA. I didn't care much for either character individually, and I didn't like them together at all - and, according to most of the book, neither did they, which is a pretty darn big problem.

Hell, best friends Butch and V had more scintillating sexual tension and romantic presence, not to mention wicked stronger bonds of trust and concern than the supposed main romantic pair of Butch and Marissa. There is something seriously wrong with that in a het paranormal romance. When all was said and done, I would have preferred Butch kick Marissa to the curb and strap himself down for a little bromance V-style - it would have been a hell of a lot more interesting, anyway.

If I ignore the 'romance' and focus on the book's urban fantasy elements, the book fares much better (it would sort of have to). The Warden's imagination and ability to weave complex subplots into a cohesive and darkly delicious whole are what makes this series so very special to me, and there was some serious new development and a few twists and turns that I hadn't expected on the first read several years ago, and on this reread got to sit back and just enjoy.

The subplot with John was well done; very thorough, believable, and flashing big neon signs of impending explosion. I'd have to be dead not to feel for that poor kid. The weightier presence of the Omega was also important...if not a bit ironic considering how that all works out. I wasn't as interested in Van's descent to the dark side - it felt a bit too similar to a plot thread in a previous book, but it wasn't bad, and the fore-lesser Mr. X's issues were an interesting twist.

I wish that Marissa's project had been initiated earlier in the book and given more page time, because it was a good and worthy cause with a ton of potential plot development, and maybe I wouldn't have disliked her so much had I seen more of her coming into her own and at a quicker pace. On the other hand, I didn't at all care for the glimpses of Butch's sister's life and could very well have done without them. I was so annoyed in those passages I skimmed most of them and wish Ward had found another way to get the character development and information they imparted out to her readers.

As a romance, this book doesn't work for me, and as the book that directly followed Z's, it failed pretty handily in that regard, but the other elements make it a worthwhile read and at least a decent installment in the series. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is definitely not a series you should read out of order, regardless. Each book is so very well written to build up and around the romance of each main couple that single installments become individual stepping stones towards the evolution and eventual culmination of a fantastic overall series arc. Miss one and you may just fall off the path and get hopelessly lost. And what a shame that would be. 

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series (1-4):

Genre: Paranormal Romance; Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 3
Rating: 5 Stars
Length: 434 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


His past will make you weep. His face will make you cringe. His presence will make you tremble as his glare strokes icy tendrils of fear down your spine and shoves terror into your gut to clamp down and twist. He is one monstrous mountain of sadistic attitude and murderous instinct honed blade-sharp.

He is Zsadist. And it's his turn.

At this point I think it only fair to warn you that if you're looking for an objective review of Lover Awakened that is full of the typical (for me) sort of plot synopsis and qualitative insight into character, plot, and story...well...not this time, I'm afraid. When it comes to Z and Bella's story, "objective" flies out the window and all that's left is a sore but full heart, a sick but hopeful clench in the gut, and a lot of soggy tissues. Oh, yeah, and some awe. A lot of awe, actually.

I'm a fan of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and I loved the book that kicked it all off, Dark Lover, but when we're talking about the book that includes the story of Zsadist and his relationship with Bella, we're talking a whole other level of fandom. One that is rabid, devout, and unwavering. It is my favorite book in the series, it is centered around my favorite Brother, and it features my favorite female of worth in that world. And that's understating my feelings.

The combination of Z's brutal past, his vicious present, and his complete and utter helplessness against Bella's tender pursuits just flat-out touched me in a way that has stuck with me in the five years since I first read it. The reminder on this reread was a little breathtaking. The path these two must walk, the trials and tribulations they go through, are poignant and crushing and god...so devastating. And the attention to detail given to Z in particular, as well as the reactions of everyone around him towards him, were a little astounding in their realism and believability. I was and am forever in awe of Ward for that reason alone.

And just between you and me, the first time I read Z referring to his genitalia as "it"...and the moment he looked up at Bella from his cowering spot in a frigid shower after rubbing his skin raw and bloody because he thought he was unclean...broke my heart all those years ago, and it did it again just as intensely this time around.  He was so raw, so primal, so unflinchingly deadly...and yet so lost and helpless - I'm still astounded at how completely believable he was despite...or maybe because of...that dichotomy.

I loved him. I loved him like any avid reader loves a deeply complex, utterly ruined character who finds his own twisted path to redemption, slogging through a quagmire of misery, loss, and torment to grasp for a triumph as he defines it. And frankly, I thought it was brilliant that while Bella was definitely the motivation and the core of Z's changes, she didn't have a direct hand in many of those changes. Z did that himself. And that I respected and admired. Loved Bella, too, by the way, as she was definitely the absolutely perfect match for Z and also an interesting character with tons of internal strength in her own right.

Yeah, yeah, there were other characters (lots of them) and other plot lines (tons, really) and a bunch of really gut-wrenching developments (Ward is not easy on her characters, but damn, that female can write). Don't care. In this case, and only in this case, it is all about Z for me...okay, and a little about Z and Bella together.

When making plans to reread what I'd read so far in the series before continuing the saga with Lover Mine, I knew that I was going to have to pause for a break after reading Z's story again. I remember feeling shaken after the first time I read it, and being glad that I had a few months before Butch's book came out. I hadn't really expected to feel just as, if not a bit more shaken by it this time around. I'm not going to wait months to continue with the next book, but I am going to take a short break, just to let things settle a bit in my mind and prepare myself for the rest.

I'd say it's sort of like...a respectful pause to honor the accomplishments of Z and Bella...but that would sound a bit too far down the tracks to Crazy Town so I won't. Even if I think it once or twice.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 2
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 441 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


He's the brother with the biggest monkey on his back. Or...you know...raging, slavering monster. Whichever.

Cursed by the Scribe Virgin to bear the beast for 200 years, the brother Rhage is forced to keep himself level or risk transforming into eight feet of teeth, claws, and mindless slaughter. He uses sex, lots and lots of sex, and fighting to keep himself even-keeled as he counts down the days until he's free. The best of the Brotherhood at hand-to-hand combat and as good looking as a fallen angel, his brothers envy his way with the ladies even as they respect his mad skills and fear his beast of burden.

No one, not even those he calls brothers, have the first clue that with each shallow, meaningless coupling, each flash of the beast, his soul is dying by degrees, leaving him teetering on the brink of despair and starved for the peace of genuine emotional connection. Then one night, as he lurches through the underground hallways, nearly blind from a recent transformation, he hears a sweet, dulcet-toned voice and feels a wave of calm the likes of which he hasn't felt since well before the night he was cursed.

He has to find the woman who has that voice, woo her, and keep her forever.

Full human Mary Luce, a warrior in her own right, though her battles are waged on a different battlefield, doesn't understand why her friend and neighbor Bella would hook her up on a blind date with someone as stunningly gorgeous as Hal, and she sure doesn't trust the man when he ignores every gorgeous woman blatantly throwing themselves at him. She's well aware of her physical limitations.

And his showing up at her house, well, that's just weird. So she does everything she can think of to push him away, until a surprise attack from lessers puts her life in danger and pulls her into a world of vampires and warriors. But it sure can't be any more deadly than the specter of the big C that is stalking her. And as a vampire is bonding to her despite her best intentions and she feels herself falling for him, devastating news puts a chilling end date to their relationship.

The second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series sparks a plethora of plot threads and introduces us to characters that are destined to become series favorites. The world is fleshed out more, we spend some more time with the Scribe Virgin (now I'm sure I don't like her), get a closer look at some of those nasty, baby powder-smelling lessers, and once again enjoy a balanced blend of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. In that regard, Lover Eternal was just as fully satisfying at the first book in the series.

But I noticed some things that got on my nerves a little in this one, so I stopped to wonder why. I realized that as much as I liked Rhage, he was a little slow on the uptake about his beast's reaction to Mary, and you'd think the brothers would've thought up a better way (or any at all, really) of dealing with his curse after over a hundred years of it. And on a personal level, I loathed something Rhage did after he'd moved Mary into his room at the Brotherhood, but was even more disturbed by Mary's reaction to it. And speaking of...

I wasn't as fond of Mary as I was of Rhage, and couldn't seem to warm up to her until well into the book when she finally started letting Rhage in a little. From the moment she had a little face-to-face with beastie boy, she totally won me over, but there was a lot of book before that and some of the parts that included her were a bit of a struggle.

By the way, what's the deal with the Omega? I could've sworn there was a better explanation or more of an imposing presence from him from my memories of the first time through the first two books of the series. This time around, though, he seems more like a faceless, anonymous bully than the force of all evil against the vampires. And I totally don't get why he hasn't recruited a much larger and more competent army.

To be fair, the lessers really aren't the driving force for my admiration of this book or the series, and they certainly aren't the reason I read either. The Brothers are. And their females. And their world. And the layered, blended, intricate plots. So far, really, so good. With the second book of the series done and the third (hint: my favorite) just inches from my grasp, we're just getting started. Hop on for the ride.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1
Rating: 5 Stars
Length: 393 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


He is the last of his kind, the only full blood vampire left alive on the planet, and he is the leader of a small brotherhood of warriors who protect his threatened race from extinction at the hands of an unholy and de-souled army of lessers. He is Wrath, the biggest, baddest mother you never want to meet in a dark alley. He is the Blind King, but he is a king who refuses to rule.

Beth is a half-vampire, half-human female on the cusp of a transition into a creature she doesn't know exists. An orphan who was raised in foster homes, she is unprepared for the dark abyss of truth that will open its gaping maw at her feet and threaten to devour her. Only Wrath can save her, only Wrath can teach her of her people...only Wrath can love her.

Because he says so.

It is the book that spawned a popularity surge in a literary subgenre, that created a firestorm of fans and spun a thousand writers into similar directions. Long before Kindle, before I became a mindless, book-consuming beast, I picked up a red book in a dark bookstore with a racy title and fell into a world I had only heard rumblings of before. And I was lost.

It wasn't the vampires or other paranormal aspects - read them before. It wasn't the romance - come on, I live for romance and always have. It was the unique and utterly satisfying blend of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. It was the brothers themselves; those damned and damaged warriors each bearing the weight of their own personal crosses with honor and death and sex and booze and pulse-searing rap. It was the brilliant world and the complex, layered plots, too, but mostly it was the intensity of the emotions that each brother garnered just by being.

And it all started with Dark Lover.

I'm not going to sit here and attempt to write what I consider a typical review. I'm not going to go on and on about what the story was about, what worked, what didn't. I'm not going to hash out plot points or discuss story arcs. It's been done by people far more capable than I. All I'm going to say is that for me, Dark Lover is one of those books that transcends reading entertainment and becomes something tangible, something that makes willing suspension of disbelief seem nothing more than a trite catchphrase because there is no disbelief.

It started with this book and regardless of where the series has gone since, regardless of where it has yet to go, this book is the one book that I'll never criticize or critique. I'm just so glad I read it all those years ago, and am happy to have read it again.

It changed...everything.