Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #1) in Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group

Jun 17, 2021 Juliana Philippa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 0-own-avg-rating-3-point-8-plus, romance-series, series-book-1, 0-reviewed, 0-own-avg-rating-4-plus, set-in-usa, 2021-reads, series, romance-series-book-1, romance-paranormal

3.75
Interesting kick-off to the series. I've heard so much about the Black Dagger Brotherhood and am glad I'm finally getting to it. Seems like this is one where you really have to read all the books, and read them in order, because the subplot is a continuous arc across them all (or at least the one from the first one bleeds into the second, and my guess is that pattern continues).

I like the world that Ward created; not your cookie cutter vampire setting and background. I kind of missed that co ...more

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Sep 30, 2009 CaliGirlRae rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, audiobooks, jr-ward-black-dagger-brotherhood-se

I had a heard a lot about this series and thought I'd dive in. I was already aware of the strange names and 'gangsta' style lingo of the 'Brothers' so they didn't really bother me too much. Okay, they made me giggle but beside that, I tried my best to gloss over them.

First the good. The narrator Jim Frangione is awesome. At first it was weird to listen to a guy narrating as most of the urban fantasies and paranormal romances have female narrators (save for the Dresden Files, which is my fave aud I had a heard a lot about this series and thought I'd dive in. I was already aware of the strange names and 'gangsta' style lingo of the 'Brothers' so they didn't really bother me too much. Okay, they made me giggle but beside that, I tried my best to gloss over them.

First the good. The narrator Jim Frangione is awesome. At first it was weird to listen to a guy narrating as most of the urban fantasies and paranormal romances have female narrators (save for the Dresden Files, which is my fave audio series by far) but he reads with such intensity that you can't help but fall into the story.

I really liked Beth. She seemed like a fun character with a good head on her shoulders (at least in the beginning) and what little we saw of her discovering her true past would have been a more interesting focus in the story for me.

I liked the world building here that JR Ward has created. It seems like she took time to really create a world and a history with her characters to give them a place to go.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like they went very far.

The bad. I'm not a fan of constant cursing and hearing this on audio made me cringe a lot. I know the Brothers are to be presented as hardcore 'gritty' gangsta types but it felt like they were only playing at it instead of really presenting their world. Ward seemed a bit to preoccupied with describing how wet and hard her characters became around each other rather than showing what type of characters they are with ambitions, brains and purpose and then introducing the attraction so they felt like living/breathing people. *looks away at someone yelling in the background* It's an eroti-what? Oh, okay. Well, see that makes sense then. Erotica isn't really my cup of tea because it tends to focus on the body parts as characters rather than really beefing the storyline up and making the characters come alive on their own.

The story's strengths lie more in the police procedural scenes and for me, that was much more interesting than anything else. I couldn't help feeling Beth's fear and tensity when she was assaulted and my favorite scene was when Wrath made her attacker pay for hurting her. Awesome scene.

The story meandered later on with so many characters as Ward tries to introduce everyone and how they fit in with each other while juggling the villain of Mr. X and also the Lessers. For a while it didn't seem like it had a direct purpose other than violent killings, random cursing and Beth and Wrath exchanging heated stares and bodily fluids. In fact, I'm still trying to think of what the point was.

I'll give the rest of the series a go since I hear this isn't the strongest of the series but it probably won't be for a while. I really liked the secondary characters like the butler (who's just a big bowl of awesome). Okay, maybe secondary 'character'. I'm slightly interested in seeing more of the background for this particular vampire mythology in this series and what conflicts may arise.

Overall, I'd say the story was a 2 1/2 while the audio itself is a solid 3. Stylistically, it's pretty light reading although there are some dark scenes that deal with street crimes and coarse language. If you're a fan of romantic suspense and are pretty new to paranormal (and want to ease in without too much fantasy coming at you) I'd give this a go.
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May 24, 2009 Treece rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites-works

How do I love this book?

Oh let me count the ways. This is a beauty.

The intro novel into the BDB universe, it rocked my world front to back.

It had the right amount of everything.

I would not change a thing.

Perfection.

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Mar 02, 2009 Meredith Barrons rated it really liked it

I heard a lot of great things about this series so I figured I would try it. This first book is about Wrath the king of the black dagger brotherhood. I am not sure that Wrath is my favorite of the brothers but I enjoyed reading the story of him and Beth. This book pretty much set up the background for the other books in the series. I would have liked more character development but there was too much background information that had to be communicated in order to understand the world of the brothe ...more

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Mar 29, 2009 Netanella rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, author-j-r-ward

My first time reading this book I was blown away by the story and the characters and the realism. I quickly read through the rest of the entire series before coming up for air. After having been away from these books for many months, and re-reading the first book now, I can can still say that all those reviews that think this book is better than the second coming...they're right. ...more

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Dec 04, 2009 RogueHireling rated it it was amazing

Its a little embarrassing how much I liked this book.

Such a delightfully sinful indulgence it was that I seriously doubt a tub of chocolate ice cream could get better results. You know those commercials where the woman is enjoying a piece of chocolate or some yogurt and looks like she is in blissful heaven. Well thats what reading this book was like.

The only thing that bothered me is that I got the book from the library and had to return it. Thankfully Amazon will send me my very own copy.

Rom ...more

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