The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series:Dark Lover (Book 1) || Book Review

Hello bibliophiles, today I will be talking about a series I came across through Goodreads when I was looking for something intense, thrilling, and 'edges-of-seat' kind of book to read. If you are a paranormal and supernatural lover you have to stick around for this.

I came across The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series written by J. R Ward a year ago I added it to my wishlist to be read and then finally a month ago, I started to read the series. You know there is this saying that says, 'Reading can take you to a different world of adventure' and I can confirm this. Reading this series took me into a world of adventure and it was exciting and thrilling for me. The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series is a paranormal series with three other spinoffs from it which are; Black Dagger Legacy, Black Dagger Brotherhood Prison Camp, and Lair Of The Wolven. The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series is the first series you start with before getting to the other series if you want to read the series.

I feel this series is about the storytelling of the relationship between God and the devil but in a darker way (good and bad). The series starts with a little tale of how the vampire race came to be with'The Scribe Virgin' as their god/creator. The Scribe Virgin is a being of light and love to the vampire Race but then there is a dark force called 'The omega' who is determined to ruin all the creation of The Scribe Virgin out of hatred and grudge. By doing so, The omega creates his race called the Lessers. The Lessers are like the vampires but are also referred to as the walking dead because they look pale, black blood runs through their veins, they smell like baby powder and they don't eat nor sleep.

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series revolves around highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, the pure-blooded breed, the Brothers came to be and they possess immense physical and mental strength more than the ordinary vampire or civilian Vampires without class.

Dark Lover (Book 1)

^Source

Starting with the first book in the series which is titled, ' Dark Lover', the adventure begins. This book was published on the 9th February 2005 with 393 pages. As I started reading this book I was hooked from the beginning and I could put the book down until I finished it that same day. This book is captivating, thrilling, dark and it's steamy.

This first book revolves around two main characters; Wrath, a six and six-foot-tall male, the only last purebred vampire on earth, the king of Black Dagger Brotherhood, and the Vampire race. A male with intense and aggressive raw power and also referred to as the blind king, but he can also see through anyone with his Vampiric senses. Beth, a reporter, a crossbreed of both a human and a vampire purebred, the daughter of Darius who is one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood members, and a beautiful young woman who isn't aware she was a half-breed vampire until one day the truth creeped out.

The book started with Darius at a bar with two members of the black Dagger Brotherhood waiting for Wrath to show up to ask him for a favor. Wrath came and Darius begged him to look after his daughter and also see her through her transition into a vampire if anything ever happened to him. Unfortunately, after the meeting, Darius died in his car that was rigged with a bomb by a lesser from the Lessening Society. This incident shook the whole Black Dagger Brotherhood members all around including the cold-hearted Wrath. That day, Wrath swore to avenge his brother's death and honor his last wish and favor that he had asked of him before his horrific death. The battle line was drawn between the Lessening Society and the Vampire race.

However, the story continues with more twists and mysteries as Wrath began to feel something different inside him from the moment he laid his eyes on Beth, Darius' half-breed daughter. Her scent poked at the hardest part of him, which made his skin grow tight and his blood go hot. On the other hand, Beth's life had changed since Wrath came into her life. Though she was scared of him, but there was a need in her that screamed for her to trust Wrath with her life and let him help her through her transition. Every vampire transition happens at the age of 25 in which the process is usually brutal and it requires that they have a vampire around to feed and to help them through it.

As Beth's life turns around, her friend Butch, a human police detective was caught in the middle and he was taken into the Black Dagger Brotherhood circle as he knew too much to be left with the human race. The question is, will Wrath avenge Darius' death? Was Wrath able to honor his brother's last wish? Will the war between the Vampire race and the Lessening Society stop? You have to read the book to find out more.

My Review About This Book.

This book is the kind of book I would compare to an action car-chasing movie because of how thrilling and intense it is when I read it. This time around, I can say I got what I searched for. Everything about the book is off the hook, the action scenes, language, comedy relief, the romance, and finally the narrative and descriptive techniques. All these are what make this book and series exceptional.

From the looks of it when I started reading the book, it gave off this strong vibe of a male writer/ narrator but later I discovered the writer was a woman after I had read four books in the series. I was shocked and curious. Then I made up my mind to explore and read her other books. Her style of writing is unique, and simple to understand, she has this unique signature of leaving her readers in thrilling suspense. As she writes, you feel like you are in another world or like you are watching a movie. She has this effect on her readers because of how she describes her scene graphically, allowing her readers to have the feeling of being in the scene live.

This book was written as the foundation of the series where all the characters that would matter in the featured books were explored a little. The plot of the book was well written as it contained the necessary features a good paranormal/thriller book should have. The setting of book was set in the 20th century where all the recent happenings were slightly involved with the storyline.

Now let's talk about all the genres she included in the story to make it thrilling. Crime (When Darius was assassinated by the Lessening Society), Mystery (discovering who killed Darius), Romance (Beth and Wrath unexpectedly mated regardless of his cold heart), and supernatural (The Scribe virgin and The Omega grudge against each other). J. R Ward did an amazing job bringing together all these genres to give her reader an exciting ride as they read her books.

Recommendation and Rating.

Rating this book, I will give it 4 stars and 8 out of 10. I will also recommend this book and series to paranormal and supernatural lovers. If you are looking for a thrilling paranormal with bloody/gore scenes and graphic steamy scenes then this series is for you. Check it out and you won't be disappointed.

Warning: Don't judge a book by its cover or Critics/reviews. Go for it! This book has graphic content 🔞 and is not to be read by teenagers of 13years old below. Also, if you get upset with bloody/gore content don't read this book.

Thank you for visiting my blog 🤗