Tag Archives: Brian O’Neal

Literary Review: The BDB An Insider’s Guide by JR Ward

After JR Ward completed the first six books in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series she took a “break” to write “An Insider’s Guide”, this includes not only a few interviews with the Brothers from BDB but also tips and notes as she wrote through the first six novels in the series.

  • Kicks and Giggles
  • The Brothers on the Board
  • Slices of Life from the Board
  • Question and Answer with JR
  • Time Line of the Brotherhood
  • Table of Abbreviations
  • The Old Language
  • The Brothers Interview JR
  • In Memoriam
  • Excerpt from Lover Avenged

    • Father Mine: A Novella of Zsadist and Bella and Nalla
    The novella caught my attention first, well considering it was the first thing in the guide is that really a surprised? For anyone that remembered Lover Awakened, between the end of the primary story and the Epilogue there was a period of time that was skipped. While snippets of this ends up being filled in over the course of the following three books (Lover Revealed, Lover Unbound and Lover Enshrined)… the piece that is missing is the period of time between the birth of Nalla and what happens in the Epilogue of Lover Awakened.

    What this novella does is not only fill in that missing piece of the timeline but ties it all back to what was already written in the epilogue and continuing for a moment thereafter. Although the novella focuses on how Zsadist comes to terms further with his past as a blood slave and how to approach his newborn daughter with that news… there are a few snippets here and there that ties in with a few of the other Brothers in the Brotherhood.

    When I first read / listened to Lover Awakened to the end, I felt that Zsadist had quite a bit story left in his, particularly when it came to his daughter. So I was rather pleased when I read this novella and realized that JR Ward did exactly just that and developed more of Zsadist healing period and confronting the demons when it came to his daughter. Now Lover Awakened made a lot more sense to me.

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    Literary Review: Lover Awakened (Book 3) by J R Ward

    Title: Lover Awakened
    Author: J R Ward
    Series: Book Three
    Format: Audiobook

    The third book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series focuses on the darkest Brother of group: Zsadist. With a past that others could never conjure up in a million years and a devil may care attitude on his life and future, Zsadist appears to be the Brother for whom everyone seemed to believe redemption doesn’t exist.

    A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.

    Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her…

    When I listened to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series for the first time, Zsadist’s story was the one that I couldn’t listen to all the way through. There was just so much going on that I simply couldn’t stomach it. It wasn’t until I was listening to the series the second way through that I was able to listen through the book all the way through and I was glad that I did.
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    Literary Review: Dark Lover (Book 1) by J R Ward

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    Title: Dark Lover
    Author: J R Ward
    Series: Book One
    Format: Audiobook

    So, I have been listening to another paranormal romance novel, well series really… in this case it is the start of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J R Ward. Currently in its 10th novel / 11th book, it was introduced to me by a friend of mine not long ago due to our love of paranormal romance / fantasy.

    Since traditional romance novels tend to be very stale and bland for me nowadays I was needing something with a little bit of spice. Did I ever… with a well thought out mythology and background this series had so much that I could totally sink my teeth into (pun totally intended). The first six books in the series revolves around the six “Brothers” of a race of vampires, whose primary goal is to protect their race from prying eyes and extinction.

    The first book in the series focuses on the point of view of Wrath, the leader of the “Brothers” and the reluctant king. He has long ignored his birthright in favor of being a warrior and had always felt comfortable in that role. Also nicknamed “The Blind King”, Wrath is a male vampire completely ill at ease with his birthright and has a lot of male pride.

    When his friend’s (Darius) death wish was for Wrath to watch over Darius’ half-breed daughter Beth and ease her into the possible transition of becoming a vampire, Wrath does so reluctantly only for the wheels to turn him towards his destiny. Then again Beth was very reluctant when it came to Wrath:

    Perfect date material. A vampire with the social equivalent of road rage.

    Available Summary:

    In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There also exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Among them, none relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood…

    The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed- orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate – Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead…

    Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn’t there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both…

    I could go on and on about the series and the mythology, but why repeat through the motions when others have already done so. You could find the links at my “Literary” page under “Entertainment“. I would suggest going to Book Thingo where they have actually supplied details about each of the individual books in the series as well as extra information from the rest of the series:

    Book Thingo: Black Dagger Brotherhood Cheat Sheet Part 1
    – The Scribe Virgin and her single act of creation
    – What is the Black Dagger Brotherhood?
    – Black Dagger Brotherhood: Wrath, son of Wrath
    – Class Structure and Civil Unrest
    – Wrath the Fair

    There are nine Cheat Sheets at the moment, one for each novel in the series (minus the Dossier). What was really nice about the cheat sheets is that they tend to follow the series in order for the most part. Giving the reader a chance to follow along and understand the absolute necessary pieces from each Cheat Sheet and building them as you read through the series.

    Since the cheat sheets do a really good job of not only talking about the individual novels but the storylines of the primary characters throughout the series… the most I’ll do is introduce my own thoughts and opinions of the book in question:

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