A fond return to the Black Dagger Brotherhood

When you return to the pages of a treasured book it’s just like coming home.

When you read the words of a favourite author you’re instantly lulled by their familiar style and tone.
And when you buy a new book you can’t help but feel the excitement as you open the cover and devour that first page.

So, imagine if you will, returning to a series created by your favourite author to read the latest instalment in a long tale that you’ve followed, without fail, since the very first book.  It’s like returning to your childhood home and to be welcomed by the open arms of those you love the most and yet never see enough of.

This was me when I finally got my hands on Lover Unleashed, by JR Ward; the ninth book in her paranormal romance series, the Black Dagger Brotherhood; not counting the companion book The Back Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider’s Guide (which of course, I also own). 

I have followed the Brotherhood since the beginning, when I fell in love with their blind king, Wrath.  And in every book since I have continued to find room in my heart for each Brother as their story was told.  At first names of the Brothers, like Wrath, Phury, Rhage and Tohrment, took a little bit of getting used to.  But now I’m so familiar with their names I hardly notice they mean anything else.  And their books dominate the top row of my bookshelf; pride of place!

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is, at its core, a series about vampires.  But don’t judge it on that basis alone.  If you do you are not only selling the series short, but you’re also pigeon-holing it with a shed-load load of stories about crazed blood suckers and sparklies… which is nothing like the Brotherhood and that quite frankly don’t deserve to share shelf space with them. 

Traditionally, it must be said that pararom—to paraphrase—has been marketed towards women; with its doe-eyed, naïve heroines and broody, hulking males coming to the rescue in a market flooded with over-sentimental vampires.  Where is the incentive for men to read about that?  But with the Black Dagger Brotherhood, there’s so much more to the books that it could easily bring this genre to bookshelves of men as well.  If any pararom series can entice more male readers it’s this one. 

The Brotherhood are vampire warriors, protecting their race from the evil Lessening Society and maintaining a low profile to avoid human detection.  They fight hard and the battles are always graphic and gory.  They play hard too, with black leather, shit kickers and lots of weaponry as their favourite fashion items.  They drive the slickest machines and have state of the art technology to help them in their quest.  The terminology is distinctively masculine, hard-ass and full-on.  The stories move fast and keep you hooked.

Ward is a creative genius.  She paints scenes so vividly that rather than feeling like you’re reading a book you see it all play out in you head like some fantastic, high octane action movie

And that before there’s any mention at all of the sex, which no paranormal romance would be complete without.  And the Brothers are the best at that.  They get it hotter, harder and hornier than any other series I’ve read.  There’s no holds barred and JR Ward isn’t afraid of exploring the more taboo subjects either.  With some stories exploring BDS&M and also gay sex that other authors might play the safety card and avoid.  Even the vanilla gets a little sauce with these guys.  It’s not all rough and tumble, but there’s certainly something for everyone.  And with the women, each one unique to their man, the author brings a mixture of tough and vulnerable, sexy and sensual that you can’t help but like.

When it comes to paranormal romance, as a reader and writer of this genre I’d be lying if I said every book in a series is original.  Because no matter the paranormal species or the situation its in, it is a romance so there will be repetitive elements such as: boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl gets spooked, boy backs off, girl realises feelings, boys gone missing, girl gets scared etc. etc.  You get the picture.  Basically there’s always going to be lots of sexual tension and angst within the plot.

However, with Ward’s Brotherhood there is still plenty of originality in each new story as she subtly expands the world she’s created, cleverly weaving characters into the plot over many books and always making sure the whole cast is involved in every tale whilst always bringing her readers something new and engaging.

In Lover Unleashed it’s the first time we’ve been introduced to a female vampire main character, Payne.  She’s just as gloriously strong and determined as any of the Brothers and as such easily earns her place among them.  But even so, when I first learned Payne would be the lead vampire in this story I was sceptical and wondered if I would enjoy it as much. 

I’m over the moon to say I did indeed love Payne’s story.  She is a fantastic character.  Not only does she fit right in, as if she’d always bee there, but her story was just as hot and exciting, and in some cases more so, than some of the Brother’s we’ve read about so far.  Her lover was a character we’ve met in previous books and there was plenty of action focused both on them and on sub plots that will no doubt be expanded in future books

I thoroughly enjoyed this story.  The first time I opened the book I took just over two hours to plough through two-hundred and fifty pages; they passed in a blur.  But, like a fine wine you have to savour things and as the wad of pages left to go got thinner and thinner I found myself reading slower and slower to preserve my enjoyment.  Something I do every time I have such a fabulous read in my hands.

If you’ve never met the Black Dagger Brotherhood I strongly recommend you look them up.  With each new book that JR Ward gives us we are taken deeper into their world and made to feel more like a part of their family. 

• Dark Lover – Wrath                           Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1)
• Lover Eternal – Rhage                       Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 2)
• Lover Awakened – Zsadist                Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 3)
• Lover Revealed – Butch                    Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4)
• Lover Unbound – Vishous                Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 5)
• Lover Enshrined – Phury                  Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 6)
• Lover Avenged – Rehvenge             Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 7)
• Lover Mine – John Matthew            Lover Mine: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood
• Lover Unleashed – Payne                 Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 9)

And don’t forget the series companion: The Back Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider’s Guide which is filled with interesting facts about the Brotherhood and a wonderful story about Zsadist and his mate Bella and their little daughter Nalla.  It’s worth buying for that novella alone, but is also filled with so much more that no Brotherhood collection could possibly be complete without it.

What are you waiting for?

Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 9)