logo

Review: Dark Lover by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1)

logo

Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1) by JR WardDark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1)
J.R. Ward

Published: 2005
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon

Rating (out of 5): 5 stars

As of late we’ve read too many paranormal romances where the story is either all character focus and no sex or all steam and no connection to the people involved. And that’s what makes reading J.R. Ward’s first Black Dagger Brotherhood novel Dark Lover so incredibly refreshing.

Dark Lover has characters you can love (even those secondary ones), an interesting world with great mythology, a plot that needs to be devoured and really hot vampire love scenes that are used to move the plot forward and not just for the sake of being dirty.

Beth is a metro reporter at a local newspaper. She’s the one who takes care of the basic police beat, which means she’s on good terms with all the boys on the force. They look out for her, feed her tips on news and are generally friends. She’s also a vampire about to transition into being what we’d typically think of as a vampire. It is going to be brutal — some don’t make it — and she’s going to need a guide with plenty of blood.

Unfortunately, Beth doesn’t know any of this. She never knew her parents, and so she has no idea of her heritage. Wrath knows though. Beth’s father’s last request was that Wrath help his daughter survive the transition.

Wrath can’t imagine him ever being caring or the one to hold someone’s hand through this process. As the king and leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, the order of warriors charged to protect vampire kind, he’s hard and ruthless. A warrior through-and-through, he sets out to protect Beth. What he didn’t expect was to fall in love with her.

Both Beth and Wrath have to come to terms with who they are in order to move forward.

All the while the Brotherhood contests with an order of vampire slayers and new police interest in their activities, especially after Beth leaves with the big, evil-looking Wrath.

Bottom line: You need to read Dark Lover. It’s dark. It’s sexy. It has vampires. And a story you won’t want to put down.

12 Responses to “Review: Dark Lover by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1)”

  1. Kelly Mueller says:

    I FREAKIN love the Brothers!!! HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!!
    SO can’t wait for Lover Unleashed……..

  2. Carolyn Crane says:

    Great review. I just had to come read it for the walk down memory lane. This is my fave of the BDB books. WHY oh WHY did I sell it to a USB!!! ????

  3. violaceous says:

    I loved this series at first, but it quickly become evident that each book follows the same formula. They’re fun though.

  4. I have this on my TBR shelf. I can’t wait to read it after reading this review!

  5. cindyg says:

    Great review. I love this series. Can’t get enough of the Brothers.

  6. mindy fangedmom says:

    Excellent review. This book series is very cool. I love what JR Ward has done with the Brothers. This series has it all! For a new reading experience, listen to this series on audio books. It is an incredible way to experience their life! thanks

  7. Tracey D says:

    After I read this book, I got hooked on this series. I really like Wrath, too.

  8. Tashy says:

    Gosh this is like the best Adult- Paranormal fiction i have ever read, well of course there is also Storm Born by Richelle Mead which is kick ass. But I really love this review because it made me want to reread the series again!!

  9. So, how many of you are starting re-reads now that you’ve had the Brotherhood take over your mind again. 😉

  10. catherine says:

    i love this book and its my fav of them all… i love j r ward books, read every single one and this is still my fav of them all. i mean the brothers are just damn HOT HOT HOT!!! i mean wrath is my fav b.c he is the king and a badass guy w. a soft heart for beth i love it. i cant wait for the next book to come out next year :(.

  11. Maria says:

    I dont know why i havent started reading this seriously I have it in my ”to read” list for months now and still Thank you for the review! I will def check it out really 🙂

  12. cindy vinzant says:

    I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood series i have them all i love wrath and Beth and all the guys

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Tweets that mention Review: Dark Lover by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1) | Vampire Book Club -- Topsy.com - [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Meli and Xells aka Bells , Vampire Book Club. Vampire Book Club…
  2. Review: Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2) | Vampire Book Club - [...] **Please note, this review assumes you’ve read the first BDB book, Dark Lover. If you haven’t, please check out…
  3. Review: Lover Awakened by JR Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #3) | Vampire Book Club - [...] book one, Dark Lover. If you haven’t read the earlier books, please check out the reviews of Dark Lover…
  4. Review: Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #4) | Vampire Book Club - [...] in book one, Dark Lover. If you haven’t read the earlier books, please check out the reviews of Dark…
  5. Review: Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #5) | Vampire Book Club - [...] haven’t read any of the Black Dagger Brotherhood novels yet, we’d suggest checking out our review of the first…
  6. Review: Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #6) | Vampire Book Club - [...] Note: As with all our reviews, we may mention events of earlier novels but won’t spoil the book we’re…
  7. Alpha Showdown Round 1: Wrath vs. Bones | Vampire Book Club - [...] know him from: Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared: Dark Lover (review | get your copy)…
  8. Love letter to Vishous (J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood) | Vampire Book Club - [...] met Vishous? You can find V in the Black Dagger Brotherhood novels by J.R. Ward. The first book is…
  9. Love letter to Zsadist (J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood) | Vampire Book Club - [...] your first appearance in Dark Lover and your oh, so succinct suggestion to Wrath that he, er… slow his…
  10. Love letter to Tohrment (J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood) | Vampire Book Club - [...] met Tohrment yet? Start with Dark Lover by J.R. Ward and quickly read your way through the Black Dagger…
  11. Alpha Showdown 2012 Round 7: Eric Northman vs. Tohrment | Vampire Book Club - [...] know him from: Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared in: Dark Lover (VBC review, Buy it…
  12. Where to Start: Paranormal Romance | Vampire Book Club - [...] today. While J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood leads the PNR recommendation section here (VBC review of Dark Lover), but…
  13. Alpha Showdown 2014 Round 3: Wrath vs. Jane Yellowrock | Vampire Book Club - [...] know him/her from: The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared in: Dark Lover (VBC Review |…
  14. Alpha Showdown 2014 Round 9: Reyes Farrow vs. Wrath | Vampire Book Club - [...] know him/her from: The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared in: Dark Lover (VBC Review |…
  15. Review: The Shadows by J.R. Ward (BDB #13) | Vampire Book Club - […] reference to previous books in the series. If you haven’t started the series yet, check out VBC’s review of…
  16. Alpha Showdown 2015 Round 7: Raphael vs. Wrath | Vampire Book Club - […] know him from: The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared in: Dark Lover (VBC Review |…
  17. Alpha Showdown Round 11: Kate Daniels vs. Wrath | Vampire Book Club - […] know him from: The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared in: Dark Lover (VBC Review |…
  18. Alpha Showdown 2015 Round 13: Mad Rogan vs. Wrath | Vampire Book Club - […] know him from: The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared in: Dark Lover (VBC Review |…
  19. Alpha Showdown 2015 Championship Round: Wrath vs. Kaleb | Vampire Book Club - […] know him from: The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward First appeared in: Dark Lover (VBC Review |…
  20. The Alpha Showdown 2015 Champion is... | Vampire Book Club - […] Kaleb had fans rally for them, but in the end the Black Dagger Brotherhood member who has not one,…
  21. Review: Blood Kiss by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Legacy #1) | Vampire Book Club - […] Brotherhood series. If you haven’t started that yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Dark Lover. You do…
  22. Release-Day Review: Blood Fury by J.R. Ward (BDB Legacy #3) | Vampire Book Club - […] series or its spinoff Black Dagger Legacy. If you don’t, we suggest reading our reviews of Dark Lover and…

Leave a Reply to Rachel McElhany Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

logo
logo
Powered by WordPress | Designed by Elegant Themes
Malcare WordPress Security