Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1) by J.R. Ward

Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1) by J.R. Ward

This is an new adult paranormal romance novel (Rated NC-17)

♥♥♥♥1/2

(Four and a half Blood Hearts)

Book Summary

The legacy of the Black Dagger Brotherhood continues in a spin-off series from the #1 New York Times bestselling author…
Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself…be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated—and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power…on the field, and off.

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My Review

So this book starts off a little slow, which is reasonable in a new series. There is world building that needs to be done. But oh, wait. This is the same BDB world. So for me, it was slow. I’ll also admit that I didn’t like the flow between changing of POV in this book.

I think personally I missed the lessors or some side story that keeps the plot moving. That’s not exactly what we got here and it took me a while to get on board.

However, once I did, I loved it. I love all the characters especially V who is forever mine (step off). There were times where I thought his presence would have been interesting (say a specific club Butch goes to). But in the end, the story flowed well after a slow start.

I think I love Craig like a lot. He is that combination of male that turns all my buttons to red alert. Yum.

I have to hand it to this author. She made the predictable unpredictable. I was so wrapped up in the story I didn’t see the who done it. After the reveal, I was like that was so obvious. But JRW did a wonderful job of not making me see it. Which is a feat.

And oh Lassiter. I love him too. (Not as much as V). You  will have some laugh out loud moments and maybe some sad ones. But definitely super hot ones.

I should mention I'm not sure where the title fits into this story. I almost feel like this book and Kresley Cole's new one Sweet Ruin mixed up their titles. I think if they switched, the titles would make more sense for each of their books.

Overall, I loved it. If you are a fan of the BDB series, you should like this one. I wouldn’t suggest anyone to start here though. There is too much you would miss out in backstory. However, I don’t think you would be lost. I just think you would get more out of if you started with BDB first.

Audio Review

Jim Frangione is a wonderful narrator. However, he mysteriously changed the name Zex (John Matthew’s shellian) to pronouncing it as Hex. I’d forgotten he did that in the last book and found myself wonder who Hex’s was until John Matthew’s name was mentioned. Maybe she was always Hex in the written book. But as someone who has only listened, this was hard change. Plus, this book, Jim seemed not to differentiate the characters as much as he usually does with the inflections in his voice. There were a few parts, I couldn’t tell you who was speaking as there weren’t dialogue tags and no context clues to go off of. Oh well. Other than that, I still enjoyed the narration.

My book boyfriend Craig. 

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The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood #13) by J.R. Ward

The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood #13) by J.R. Ward

This is an adult paranormal romance novel (Rated NC-17)

 ♥♥♥♥1/2

 (Four and a Half Shadow Hearts)

Book Summary

Two brothers bound by more than blood fight to change a brutal destiny in the heart-wrenching new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by #1 New York Times bestselling author J. R. Ward.

Trez “Latimer” doesn’t really exist. And not just because the identity was created so that a Shadow could function in the underbelly of the human world. Sold by his parents to the Queen of the S’Hsibe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer in Caldwell, NY for years- all the while on the run from a destiny of sexual servitude. He’s never had anyone he could totally rely on... except for his brother, iAm.

iAm’s sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing- and he knows he’s failed. It’s not until the Chosen Serena enters Trez’s life that the male begins to turn things around... but by then it’s too late. The pledge to mate the Queen’s daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating.

Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others- or forever leave behind the female he’s in love with. But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything. Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever. And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice...

My Review

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I enjoyed seeing life through Selena’s eyes. I didn’t think I would like this book about the Shadows. I just didn’t care all that much about them. I love the brothers and there are so many characters, it’s hard to love them all equally.

However, Ward knows her audience. Much like Quinn and Blay (sorry for spelling, I listen to the book not read), book there is so much other going on that it doesn’t feel really like the Shadows book at all.

But in the end, Ward made the Shadows very interesting and I found myself very intrigued with them. I always wondered if iAm was gay and we get our answer in this story. She also made a bit of joke about that (him being gay or not) in the story. My guess is Ward herself didn’t know his sexual orientation until this book.

Also, I was left wondering if Trez and iAm would be like Phurry and Zadist. Would iAm continue to be the sexless martyr like Phurry was to Zdasist. And Ward makes a joke about that too. I will say that the outcome of the Shadow twins is different than the outcome of the brotherhood twins.

One of the best parts is that all the brothers make an appearance in this story. But one in particular. Rhage hasn’t had a second storyline like some of the other brothers. And he is very much in the forefront of this book. So much so, I worried for his safety.

Vishous, my absolute favorite brother, also makes several appearance but not as much as Rhage. Quinn and Layla show up. My secret wish was that Layla would tell Quinn what she hungered for. And since Blay and Quinn shared women in the past we would get some much needed threesome action going on, lol. But that’s never going to happen much to my dismay.

Someone new makes an appearance and I think of John’s storyline when he shows up. Lucas is in the story and I thought that he and Precious (I think that’s her name) might get together. I won’t say whether or not it happened.

And if Layla was in the book, you know Xcor was there. And well, I want to beat both of them with an honesty stick to get their shit together. All I can say is that they both should start telling the truth.

While reading, I worried because people talked about controversy. And I did my best to stay away from spoilers, which was a good thing. I will say I had a hard time with what happens in the story when it happens. But there was enough story left that I had a chance to simmer down before the story was over. So I’m okay, sad but okay.

Overall, another great installment of the brotherhood. So much is going on; I wish there had been more pages. Oh well.

Audio Review

Jim has read this book from the beginning I think. So I wonder why he changed some of the pronunciations. I don’t read this book, so when he starting calling Xcor (Core instead of Score) for a while I didn’t know who he was talking about. Then he called John’s mate Hex instead of Zexs. I get that a shadow also was called Zexs (pronounced that is), but for a while I was left wondering who Hex was and had my memory left out someone.

My book boyfriend Trez (& iAm) they are twins.

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*Disclaimer - I am not the owner of this picture. I found it on the web for causal fun use on my blog for which I receive no compensation. If this picture belongs to you (you are the copyright owner) please let me know and I will remove it.

The Fallen Angel Series by J.R. Ward

 The Fallen Angel series by J.R. Ward

This is an adult paranormal romance series (Rated NC-17)

♥♥♥♥

(Four Fallen Hearts)

Blurb from Covet

(partial)

Seven deadly sins. Seven souls to save. This is the first battle between a savior who doesn't believe and a demon with nothing to lose!

Redemption isn't a word Jim Heron knows much about-his specialty is revenge, and to him, sin is all relative. But everything changes when he becomes a fallen angel and is charged with saving the souls of seven people from the seven deadly sins. And failure is not an option.

My Review

If you are expecting the Black Dagger Brotherhood (BDB), you won’t get it. Despite several books being set in Caldwell, and some of the characters from BDB making cameo appearances whether in name or in description, the vampire world or lessors don’t make any impact in this series at all.

In fact, except for the first book and one other, the vernacular (slang) isn’t much used. In the first book, the main guy of the book uses the slang somewhat. And in another book, JRW slips up and Jim talks and dresses somewhat like a brother for a hot second. But then, he’s back to his normal self.

Overall, because it was the Fallen Angel series, I expected Lassiter to make an appearance. Sadly he did not. Although we get a hint of his story. We also get teased to believe that these two series will collide with Lassiter at its center in another spin off or in the BDB series.

Other than that, the writing style of JRW was ever present. How she multilayers stories into one to keep you guessing and wanting more is apart of this series as well.

Personally, I wish we would have gotten more with Nigel and Colin. I love the m/m thing, plus they are angels which really speaks a lot to love is love no matter what.

My favorite book of all in the series is ENVY. I think this book kept me going onto the end. We get insight into Adrian and Eddie’s bromance and Nigel and Colin’s romance. And I’m a lover of all things m/m, so yeah. Too bad, we don’t get much more after that. Yes, there is a bit, but nothing like in this book.

I was disappointed in the ending of the series. Yes, there were a lot of satisfied conclusions. But I think one of them, I hoped for a different outcome. It was probably for the best the way it happened. But I still wanted for more.

My book boyfriend is Adrian.

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*Disclaimer - I am not the owner of this picture. I found it on the web for causal fun use on my blog for which I receive no compensation. If this picture belongs to you (you are the copyright owner) please let me know and I will remove it.