Title: Dark Lover

Author: JR Ward

Published: September 6th, 2005

Rating: 5/5

Last month, I was looking for something new to get lost in and a good friend of mine recommended the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. I had never heard of it, but once I saw it was a vampire romance series, I just knew I had to give it a shot. One of earliest memories with reading was when I first read Interview with the Vampire. Instantly, I was entranced by the world of vampires in a way that Twilight never fulfilled for me.

Now I loved the Twilight series, but it was such a different kind of story and much less adult themes as what I was used to. Young Adult books reach me on a whole different level, but my true love for vampire novels was born from the dark lust and seedy worlds that they thrive within,.

I’m not sure how I survived this long without the Black Dagger Brotherhood. My life will never be the same now that I have taken the twist and turns and fallen into the world that JR Ward created.

In Dark Lover, we meet Wrath and Beth, the main characters that permeate this love story.

The book is filled with chance happenings and long-term story foundation creation including the death of Darius (AKA Beth’s father) which brings the two characters together. The deep and immediate raw passion between these two from the very start will bring you to your knees, needing to gobble up every single page until you’re finished with it.

Not only is there sex and romance, but the story had me hooked from the beginning. A band of brothers, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, is a male vampire group (warrior brotherhood) made up of a very special breed of vampires who are chosen to protect their race. The vampire race has not been surviving well and their known enemies, the Lessers (an undead species that is their mortal enemy), are becoming stronger and more of a challenge.

But as Wrath and Beth explore their attraction for one another and Beth goes through her very own transition, more adversity will be revealed and the future of the vampire kingdom will change forever. I loved the incorporation of half-breed vampires like Beth. Humans that are born to a human female and a vampire male (which is rare, even in their world) and have a slight chance of survival.

The action never stops in this story whether its the battle being fought between vampires and lessers, or the battles being fought between Beth and Wrath.

I cannot recommend this series enough, but if vampires and romance are your “cup of tea”, then I suggest you start this series right away as you will NOT be disappointed one bit.