Review: Dark Lover by J. R. Ward
Title: Dark Lover
Author: J. R. Ward
Genre: paranormal romance
Grade: A
Plot: The vampire society is in danger from a group of really evil, soulless creeps called the Lessers. In order to deal with this problem, there is a group of uber-alpha men called the Black Dagger Brotherhood. These men are over the top, both in their fighting abilities and in the things that have happened to them.
When Darius, a former member of the Brotherhood approaches Wrath, the last purebred vampire ever, to ask him to help his daughter Beth go through hjer vampiric transition, Wrath blows him off, and soon Darius is dead. So Wrath, figuring he owes Darius, seeks out Beth, and, well, this is paranormal romance, so they are attracted.
The Good: I really loved this book. I'm a fairly cynical reader, as anyone who has paid attention knows. A lot of this book ought to have had me rolling my eyes, starting with the names and the fact that the men are all uber-alpha and dominate. (The misspelling is deliberate there, BTW.) Plus... vampires, man! The paranormal romance needs more vampire books about like I need a bunch of holes drilled in my various body parts. But everything worked. Ward's storytelling is captivating, and I just couldn't set this book down for other stuff on my massive pile of books I'd like to finish before the end of the Bush administration. I loved Wrath, our hero, and Beth, the heroine, while not as well-drawn, certainly kicked ass. The secondary characters all had personalities apart from, "Look at meee! I am sequel-bait."
The Bad: There were a few cliches that did cross my mind. There really wasn't much to the bad guys except that they are omgsoevil!!!11 And the names--Wrath, Rhage, Zsadist, Phury and Tohrment--all took some getting used to.
Final Thoughts: Loved this book. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
Author: J. R. Ward
Genre: paranormal romance
Grade: A
Plot: The vampire society is in danger from a group of really evil, soulless creeps called the Lessers. In order to deal with this problem, there is a group of uber-alpha men called the Black Dagger Brotherhood. These men are over the top, both in their fighting abilities and in the things that have happened to them.
When Darius, a former member of the Brotherhood approaches Wrath, the last purebred vampire ever, to ask him to help his daughter Beth go through hjer vampiric transition, Wrath blows him off, and soon Darius is dead. So Wrath, figuring he owes Darius, seeks out Beth, and, well, this is paranormal romance, so they are attracted.
The Good: I really loved this book. I'm a fairly cynical reader, as anyone who has paid attention knows. A lot of this book ought to have had me rolling my eyes, starting with the names and the fact that the men are all uber-alpha and dominate. (The misspelling is deliberate there, BTW.) Plus... vampires, man! The paranormal romance needs more vampire books about like I need a bunch of holes drilled in my various body parts. But everything worked. Ward's storytelling is captivating, and I just couldn't set this book down for other stuff on my massive pile of books I'd like to finish before the end of the Bush administration. I loved Wrath, our hero, and Beth, the heroine, while not as well-drawn, certainly kicked ass. The secondary characters all had personalities apart from, "Look at meee! I am sequel-bait."
The Bad: There were a few cliches that did cross my mind. There really wasn't much to the bad guys except that they are omgsoevil!!!11 And the names--Wrath, Rhage, Zsadist, Phury and Tohrment--all took some getting used to.
Final Thoughts: Loved this book. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series.