From the Bookshelf of SOS: Serious Overload of Series…

The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood #12)

J.R. Ward

Start date: June 1, 2014

Finish date: June 30, 2014

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in April 2014" June BOM …more
[close] Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in April 2014" June BOM

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 14 topics — 259 comments total

Book of the Month

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* BOM: Group Read History [2025]
By Steph , Serious series addict · 10 posts · 22 views

last updated Sep 27, 2025 10:28PM

* BOM: Comments & Suggestions
By Steph , Serious series addict · 38 posts · 229 views

last updated Mar 15, 2012 06:15PM

showing 10 of 29 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Apr 01, 2013 Shawna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-romance-couple-hh-pairings, pregnancy-fertility-baby-kids-drama, hero-besotted-so-smitten-its-sexy, hh-aristocracy-nobility-royalty, hh-physical-mental-disability-ill, 5-stars, sizable-packages-size-matters, favorite-romance-series, hh-blind-eyesight-impaired, brothers-sisters-cousins-family

5 stars – Paranormal/Vampire/Urban Fantasy Romance

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2014 Rachel Willis rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampire, books-read-in-2014

I'm not really sure where to go with this one. I loved it, I hated it. I had to force myself through parts of it and then physically put the book down so as to not spoil myself.

I do know that I've been a bad reader. This is Banned Books Week. I should be reading books that have been banned. Instead, I found myself unable to peel away from the pages of The King. I repeatedly tried coaxing myself out of the world of the BDB but nothing worked. I finally made peace with my decision to finish readi I'm not really sure where to go with this one. I loved it, I hated it. I had to force myself through parts of it and then physically put the book down so as to not spoil myself.

I do know that I've been a bad reader. This is Banned Books Week. I should be reading books that have been banned. Instead, I found myself unable to peel away from the pages of The King. I repeatedly tried coaxing myself out of the world of the BDB but nothing worked. I finally made peace with my decision to finish reading it. After all, BBW is all about disregarding rules about reading. No one can tell me what NOT to read and thus, no one can tell me what I should be reading either.

Okay.

Maybe I'm a little guilty.

But it was worth it.

Beth and Wrath are my favorite couple. No damage, no bull, just love and wonder and just... Sigh. All things nice and gooey about this series. Revisiting them has been something I hoped would happen since I put down their first installment.

This go round was no disappointment for me. I liked that I didn't have to read a bunch of crap from the lessers' POV. Beth and Wrath = hot. There were a few things I'd hoped for that didn't happen (like paying attention to the Brotherhood as opposed to focusing on so many new characters all at once).

I may be getting old (scary) but I did miss focusing on the established relationships. I mean, why does it only have to be hot at first? Why can't it still be something of interest later?

Assail and Sola were good together (I'm sensing another BDSM couple), Trez and Selena need to hurry up and do it already, and I'am could cook me dinner anytime. That said, I really want Lassiter to get some. Plus, I want to know what Butch is up to, how Payne is dealing after the Layla thing, and what Blay and Quinn plan to do about the birth of Quinn's kid.

Layla... She's kind of pissing me off with her wavering crap. She's committing treason, basically. The smart thing to do would be to bringg Payne along and kill him. If not Xcor, someone is going to shake up that happy royal family and I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of that weak Chosen.

I really don't like her. ...more

Like · see review

Mar 25, 2015 ☘KathyD☘ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-fantasy, event-readers-on-the-river, book-kindle, character-alpha-male, audio-audible, genre-romance, genre-romance-series, genre-paranormal, au-ward-j-r, zz-2015

I really, really wanted to give this a 5-star rating, but I had an issue with how the story went at a slow pace for the most part and then seemed to go on hyperdrive. As always, I love seeing how the different stories expand and begin. I also really loved seeing more of the history. Overall a great read!

Reread March 2019
I have really enjoyed rereading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I have just a few more books to go before I hit new-to-me brothers, but I’m glad I took the last year or so t I really, really wanted to give this a 5-star rating, but I had an issue with how the story went at a slow pace for the most part and then seemed to go on hyperdrive. As always, I love seeing how the different stories expand and begin. I also really loved seeing more of the history. Overall a great read!

Reread March 2019
I have really enjoyed rereading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I have just a few more books to go before I hit new-to-me brothers, but I’m glad I took the last year or so to get to know the brothers again. This book sort of starts the series over again...in a way. The central couple is Wrath and Beth who have been an established mated couple since the first book, Dark Lover. The past couple of books have shone a light on established couples so we can see more of the day-in-day out of “happily ever after,” so focusing on Wrath and Beth amidst the turmoil from the Band of Bastards and the Glymeria is a great way to push off into the next phase of these books. Another interesting aspect of this book is the parallel that runs with Wrath’s parents’ story. While the basics are known about their death, little has been known about them as individuals. Wrath’s parents had a beautiful story, it sucks that it was cut short so tragically.

As much as I love being back with Wrath and Beth, there is a little too much going on in this story at times. I, for one, love that Ms. Ward runs multiple storylines in one book. Another reason I’m glad I did a reread is because I’ve been reading about one Brotherhood book a month, so the details stay fresh...thus, I’m good with the story going in a few different directions. The issue I have in this book is that some of the directions seem forced; there isn’t a natural flow from one storyline to the next as there is in other books.

With The Savior coming out next week, I am super anxious to catch up to where I stopped so I can read the few books in the series I haven’t gotten to yet. I have one Legacy book that is new, two novellas, and three full-length novels...I will totally get to them this year, but it’s killing me to go one book at a time! ...more

Like · see review