"The King," by J.R. Ward

The King by J.R. Ward

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Normally, I don't hide my reviews because of spoilers, but this time I will. Although I don't tell you the outcome, I still feel it might give some away.

Oh what a beautiful story! As always, the Warden comes through! She caught every emotion. In this book, the primary story is about Wrath & Beth... his kingship, their marriage, their family. But intertwined are at least four other stories weaved throughout the book. We get some back story on Wrath’s parents and the struggles they went through as the monarchy of that time. Wrath went down memory lane quite a bit whilst he wrestled with his concerns of being king. Wrath has his demons he must deal with as he realizes his shellan is not complete without a young. He struggles with the idea of having an heir to the throne... what would he do if his young were like him, blind! The glymera have other concerns and cause their own set of problems!

As I said, there are several intertwined sub plots.

Though Xcor and his Band of Bastards endeavor to dethrone Wrath, Xcor has his own story building up. His feelings toward the Chosen Layla continue to grow and although, it would seem Layla also seems to be falling for Xcor, she’s more concerned with what Xcor and his men are doing to her king. She’ll do anything to stop Xcor from dethroning or even killing her king and queen.

Assail pursues Sola and kills a couple of her assailants who were also his business partners. Sola, realizing she’s all alone and being carted away by hired kidnappers, ends up doing the unthinkable to free herself. Assail knows this human is his and Sola, though seemingly in love with Assail, can’t stay with him if he intends on staying with his career. The nightmare of freeing herself from her kidnappers has emblazoned itself on the forefront of her mind, and to keep a promise to herself and her god, she chooses to take her grandmother south to get away from it all.

The shadow, Trez has his story continuing here too. Though he’s promised to marry his s’Hibe queen’s daughter, he does everything he can to make himself unworthy or unwanted so he can escape this match. Meanwhile, he seems to have his eye on a Chosen of his own and wants very much to be worthy for her.

John Matthew has something going on with him. As with all the other books, I’m lead to believe that his father may be in his head with him. Of course, don’t get that story here, but I can’t help but wonder if that’s what is going on. In this book, we hear more about John Matthew being the brother of the queen. We see more of their relationship there. He has a couple more of his seizures that cause Doc Jane, Xhex, & Beth to get him over to the hospital for a MRI. I’m not sure if we’re going to see more of this, but it really makes you wonder what’s going on inside John Matthew’s head.

There was so much in this book to follow it sometimes got confusing. But I love how J.R. Ward writes her books as if it is real life. She keeps these brothers as family and allows you to see snippets of their lives as they develop.

I must admit I cried through parts of this story. As with all J.R. Ward’s books, I do recommend you read this 12th installation of her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, but definitely be ready to have your emotions sprung!


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"Lover at Last," by J.R. Ward

Finally, J.R. Ward’s eleventh installment to the Black Dagger Brotherhood has arrived! “Lover at Last” was everything I had hoped for and more.

If you’ve read J.R. Ward’s previous books in this series, you will have seen the friendship, dedication, and love between Qhuinn and Blay develop. For me, the angst between the two was frustrating to watch. The on-again-off-again friendship made me want to slap either or both of these males. I really didn’t care which direction their relationship went, as long as both were happy. But to have Blay express is frustrated, matter-of-fact, straight talk to Qhuinn really gripped my heart. Then to watch Qhuinn wrap his head around what he truly and deeply wanted. To see him finally realize that he was living by someone else’s standard. Qhuinn brought me to tears. Being rejected by everybody in his family only to find himself accepted just as he is in a new family!

Although this book was expected to be all about Qhuinn and Blay, it was much more than that. There are so many different paths built into this book. If I didn’t already know what J.R.Ward’s next book is to be about, I would be hard pressed to know the next path we’re to travel next.

So many different facets open up in this book. There are exciting twists to Layla’s life. Remember, she is pregnant with Qhuinn’s baby. The Brotherhood make a decision that’ll blow you away and the Band of Bastards consider a new approach to winning the throne! We learn a little more of the shadow brothers, Trez and iAm. It looks like they will become more involved with the Brotherhood, but to what degree? Do you remember meeting Assail from “Lover Reborn”? He’s back and with more to his story as well! I think we will see more of Assail and maybe the new female that he meets in this book. I believe he may be an important factor with the battle between the Brotherhood and the Band of Bastards, even though he claims he wants nothing to do with any of it.

As you can see, there is a lot to this book. It will keep your head spinning and your heart pounding! This book has the makings of several stories to come. It gave me the feeling that it is has some kind of pivotal importance in the fight between the Brotherhood, Band of Bastards and the glymera. I have to give these book 5 stars. I was going to rate it with 4 stars just because there were SO MANY facets here to wrap my head around... There were some areas where it got a tiny bit confusing. However, by the time I reached the end, I realized that we're going to see much more to come.

I can’t wait for the next book, which J.R. Ward has announced will be, The King, and will come back to more of Wrath and Beth, who are trying to have a baby!

Awesome job, J.R. Ward!

"Lover Reborn," by J.R. Ward

Synopsis: Ever since the death of his shellan, Tohrment has been unrecognizable from the vampire leader he once was. Physically emaciated and heartbroken beyond despair, he has been brought back to the Brotherhood by a self-serving fallen angel. Now, fighting once again with ruthless vengeance, he is unprepared to face a new kind of tragedy.

When Tohr begins to see his beloved in his dreams—trapped in a cold, isolated netherworld far from the peace and tranquility of the Fade—he turns to the angel in hopes of saving the one he has lost. But, because Lassiter tells him he must learn to love another to free his former mate, Tohr knows they are all doomed...

Except then a female with a shadowed history begins to get through to him. Against the backdrop of the raging war with the lessers, and with a new clan of vampires vying for the Blind King’s throne, Tohr struggles between the buried past and a very hot, passion-filled future…but can his heart let go and set all of them free?

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I love J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. She writes with great eloquence and really seems to connect with each of her characters, no matter how great or how small a part each takes. Each book portrays a new brother and his life. I love how she carries her characters throughout the entire series, only to write about each individual brother in his (or her) own book.

Lover Reborn, written by J.R. Ward, is book ten in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I have love Tohrment throughout the entire series, even worried about him when he came back to the Brotherhood. He seemed to be the strongest, most well balanced brother in the beginning. However, when his enemies murdered his shellan, he completely fell apart. In my mind, Tohr was suicidal, but not in the way you might think. He couldn’t take his own life by means of eating his own bullet, or slashing his wrists. That would mean that he couldn’t cross over into the Fade. No, he was suicidal by means of starvation, or at the hand of his enemies.

Tohr dreamt often about his passed shellan, Wellsie. Each dream seemed to be less and less of her. Through the subtle coercion of his fallen angel, Lassiter, Tohr learned that Wellsie was not in the Fade. She and their baby boy were stuck in the In Between, a Purgatory of their own. Tohr needed to figure out how he could help them move on into the Fade.

Tohr reaches out to No’One as a confidant. Their friendship grew throughout the book. They both had issues that needed work. As their friendship grew, their love blossomed. As they begin to fall in love, Tohr tells No’One that he hates her name and ends up giving her the name "Autumn".

The part that really bothered me, and I suppose this is why I give this book four stars and not five, really has to do with the ending. I felt the ending was weak and unrealistic. With all that occurred, we read that they go to eat hamburgers as if nothing happened. For some reason, I felt gypped.

I struggled with another storyline in this book. John Matthew and Xhex were experiencing marital problems. John Matthew found it more difficult to watch his shellan fighting with their enemy, which made it difficult for Xhex to accept. Xhex was a fighter, not a lady in waiting. So, I began to worry that these two might become divorced or at least separated long term. However, like many other times, we see John Matthew come around to accepting that he chose a mate that was a fighter just as he was and therefore he needed to find a compromise that both could accept.

I found myself drawn to Blay and Quinn in this book as well. It seems as if their love for each other was brought out a little bit more and, hopefully, we’ll get to hear about their relationship in the next book in this sequence.

I still feel loose ends with the Band of Bastards. I’m left wondering if perhaps Throe may be Autumn’s brother. Will there be a relationship between Xcor and Layla?

I have heard many rumors but until Ms Ward writes the next book, we will never know.

If you have not read any of these books, I recommend you do. If you’re just not sure about this book 10, it is well worth the read. You will struggle to put your book down. You will cry, laugh, swoon, and root for your favorites.

You can order your copy of Lover Reborn from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

“Lover Eternal” by J.R. Ward

Once finishing J.R. Ward’s first book, “Dark Lover,” I had to jump off into the next. “Lover Eternal” is book two in this series, Black Dagger Brotherhood.

As I stated in my review of “Dark Lover,” the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, written by J.R. Ward, is about an ancient order of warrior vampires who defend and protect their race from vampire slayers known as lessers. These lessers are de-souled humans, recruited by an evil supernatural being known as the Omega. There are six warriors in the Brotherhood who stand between the extinction of their vampire race and the Lessening Society.

In this series, the author creates a vampire race, which is separate from the human race. In fact, to be a vampire, one must be born with vampire DNA. Vampires are born like humans, looking like humans, acting like humans, and in some cases, unaware of the changes the must go through in their mid-twenties, when their bodies go through dangerous changes. Surviving this transition, they must drink the blood of vampires of their opposite sex to survive. Living as vampires, they can drink any blood, human or animal, but to stay strong and live healthy, they must consume the blood of their opposite gender.

In this book, “Lover Eternal,” J.R. Ward brings to life the brother “Rhage,” also known as “Hollywood” to his friends. Rhage is the brother/vampire with the biggest appetite and he seems to be the best fighter of all the brothers. He has a dark side that lives inside him. The Scribe Virgin (the vampiric goddess of sorts), casts a curse on him that is to last two hundred years, a curse that forces him to live his life not feeling love. Sex and violence are his only means to keep the beast within him under control. When Rhage loses control, everyone around him takes cover as his beast bursts out and consumes every thing in sight. One day, Mary comes into his life and Rhage finds that he is drawn to Mary.

Mary is a human who suffers from leukemia again. Through circumstances brought in with other characters connected with Mary’s life, she meets Rhage. He’s handsome, strong, and he’s interested in her. She knows this time she will most likely die from her affliction. So now, she wonders if her life will end happily.

Mary is brave on so many levels. She fights for her on life, gets mixed in with the vampire race because of a secondary storyline within this book, and learns to understand the beast in Rhage.

I loved this story very much and in some ways felt, I could relate to Rhage the most. His constant battle with his own demons and the lack of control of his beast seemed to connect with me in many ways. It seemed that the more he pursued Mary, the more capable he was able to cope with his beast.

This book was a definite page-turner! It was dark with moments of sadness, yet a romantic sensual love story. J.R. Ward cleverly weaves a secondary storyline that introduces the next book in the series.

“Dark Lover” by J.R. Ward

I have read many vampire series of late, enjoying every one of them in their own way. One day, I was about to read the next book in another series, when friends who follow me on Twitter insisted I read J.R. Ward’s “Black Dagger Brotherhood” series. On several occasions, whispers of this series came across my timeline but were ignored, simply because I had so many other books slated to read. One day, I finally broke down, bought the first six books of the series, and began to read.

Many series novels that I have read, take more than just the first book to hook you into the story. Not this series…no, this series sucked me in on the first book! Drama, fighting, friendships, and just all out romance sucked me right in and catapulted me into the next book.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, written by J.R. Ward, is about an ancient order of warrior vampires who defend and protect their race from vampire slayers known as lessers. These lessers are de-souled humans recruited by an evil supernatural being known as the Omega. There are six warriors in the Brotherhood who stand between the extinction of their vampire race and the Lessening Society.

Author, J.R. Ward, creates a different type of vampire in these novels. These vampires are a separate species from humans. In fact, to be a vampire you must be born carrying vampire DNA in your blood. Ms. Ward’s vampire race begin their lives as human and are unaware of what lies ahead of them until their mid-twenties when their bodies go through a dangerous. Surviving the transition, they must now drink the blood of vampires of the opposite sex in order to survive and stay strong.

This book, “Dark Lover,” centers on Wrath, the only pure blood vampire known to exist on the planet, and Beth, a half breed, half human-half vampire, who is on the verge of transition. Wrath is asked to help with Beth’s transition when her time comes by feeding her from his vein. Wrath hates humans, tries to live a loners life, never desiring a mate. However, when Wrath’s long-time friend and the father of Beth is killed by car bombing lessers, Wrath takes on the responsibility of protecting Beth and introducing her to her vampire heritage.

The attraction between Wrath and Beth is tangible and quite erotic. The chemistry between them makes it impossible for them to deny their love for each other and for the first time, Wrath is hopeful to end the loneliness in his long life. All is bliss until the baby powder scented vampire-slaying lessers kidnap Beth.

Throughout the book we see the beautiful choreography of all the warriors as they work together to battle their race’s nemesis and later find and free Beth from her captor.

If vampires are your thing, as they are mine, then this series is a must read! Do what I did, lay down that seventeenth book in the series you are currently reading and begin the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.