Dark Lover

2.5 stars
What to say? What not to say?

I started this series backward with a book a lot of folks who've read the series since its inception think of as not being a not very good book (Lover Reborn), then read Lover at Last just because ... So, when I came across this book on the library shelf, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to actually read the first book in the series and see what I was missing, when the series was good. Turns out ... I wasn't missing anything.


Dark Lover is the epitome of cliched romance. It was like the author had all these little boxes to tick in her head when she started writing it and by golly, she hit just about everyone of them:

• A female lead who has never spent time with a man who did it for her, show more thereby confirming her status as a heterosexual woman? (It's there in the text!) | Check
• A dark, brooding male who never thought to have the love of a good woman? | Check
• A group of manly men who need the female touch to heal their wounded souls and thereby setting up the rest of the series? | Check
• And etc.

I was actually enjoying the book despite the above list, really. It's mindless fun, you know? However.

There's a difference between romance and lust. Several romps in the sheets and no discussion between the leads does not a relationship make. The biggest discussion between Wrath and Beth? When she tries to convince him he was not a coward for something that was not even his fault. (Wrath's father locked him in a cupboard to protect him from the Lessers who killed Wrath's parents.) Is there a relationship between Wrath and Beth that does not include a bed? Not that I could see. Never once do I see them just sit and talk about life or cuddle with each other. Yes, they're compatible in bed, but are they compatible in the ways that actually count? Yet, by the end of the book we're supposed to see the love between these two people as something great and good. Huh-uh.

In reality, as often happens in these types of books, everyone is more interesting character-wise than the lead pair and I found I wanted to know more about Vishous and the butler, Fritz (who deserves his own series of short stories). Other characters, on the other hand, not so much.

Mr. X is a very thin character at best. He's supposed to be this vicious, psychotic killer who will do anything to kill vampires, but this side of him never really materialized. We never got to see him at work, other than his use of tranquilizers to catch young vampires by attracting them with the blood of dead prostitutes. And both times he bungles the catch! His handling of Billy Riddle made him almost fatherly and gentle, which really did not seem to fit in with the exterior he's supposed to exude. And though Mr. X succeeds in kidnapping Beth, he never gets around to doing anything to her except tie her to a table in preparation for violence. Billy Riddle was worse than useless in the event. The complete lack of tension at this point was disappointing.

I found the whole thing about the Lessers rather laughable. They never materialized in the story except as background noise. As I wrote in my review of Lover Reborn, they just seem to exist to give the guys a way to show off their massive torsos and incredible muscles.

Butch, the cop, is a piece of work. His thinking processes the first time he meets Marissa, Wrath's former shellan, are extremely distasteful and, to be honest, disgusting. I was floored by the way reacts to her, thinking she's a high class prostitute, while at the same time lusting after her. He accuses her of being a prostitute aloud, then, when he apologizes when she reacts with shock, she accepts his apology? Really? I don't know about anyone else, but I would be very offended by such thinking and not want to be in the same room with such a person. Yet, since this is romance and fantasy at that, Marissa not only forgives him right away afterward, but wants to go on a date with him and will eventually fall in lu-er-love. Ew. Just ... ew.

It's frustrating to have listened to this book in anticipation of something enjoyable. Instead, I discovered that, if I'd started reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood with this book, I would never have gone beyond it. Sigh.

Best quote:

Wrath: look at how their (human) folklore portrays our species. There's Dracula [who Wrath resembles!] for C*****'s sake, an evil bloodsucker who preys on the defenseless. There's piss-poor B movies and porn. And don't get me started on the whole Halloween thing. Plastic fangs. Black capes. The only thing the idiots got right are that we drink blood and that we can't go out in daylight. The rest is bulls***, fabricated to alienate us and stimulate fear in the masses. Or just as offensive, the fiction used to create some kind of mystique for bored humans who think the dark side is a fun place to visit. [emphasis mine] (pg. 195, Signet 2005 edition)

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Beth Randall has been living in Caldwell, New York, working at an unsatisfying job at the local paper. Being kept away from the large stories, Beth is starting to feel like she needs a little bit of adventure in her life. Enter Wrath, one massive, gorgeous and dangerous purebred vampire.

Believing that she is an orphan, whose parents died shortly after she was born, Beth has always thought she was a normal human being. But when Wrath tells her that her father was a vampire who just got killed by a group of lessers (vampire hunters), her world is turned on its head. Neither Beth nor Wrath expect to fall in love with each other while they adjust to the changes their lives are taking, but things don’t always happen as you would expect show more them to…

The Review
Let us just take a moment to reflect on a couple of things. First, what have I stated over and over again that I am totally sick of?

Urban Fantasy books that centre around romantic vampires
And what are the biggest things that I absolutely hate in books?

Depthless women who are essentially Mary Sues
Brooding and/or emo male leads.
Books where the plot seems to revolve around characters trying to have as much sex as possible, to the detriment of real plot and real character development.
Women who will give up all their morals or personality as soon as omg hot guy comes along.
Vampire sex. Lots and lots of vampire sex. Because omg vampires are so romantic and sexy and not scary at all.
Books where the main character comes across something that TOTALLY BLOWS THEIR MIND (omg, vampires are real?! And I’m turning into one?!) but a page later is totally okay and awesome with it, and doesn’t have to struggle with the fact that omg everything they thought wasn’t true totally is.
Basically I don’t like flakey characters or stories that focus solely around sex without any plot or character development or romantic vampires. So…. if this book had most of the stuff that I don’t like or am sick of, WHY COULD I NOT PUT IT DOWN?!

What is it about this book that made it consume my brain from the moment I started it until the moment I finished it? What on earth is in this book that has done this to me? OMG brain is blown.

Because I don’t know what it was that I loved about this book! I feel like a hypocrite loving it! And it’s a little embarrassing admitting exactly how much I loved it. Because I did. Even though there was so much about it that I hated. Like! Like the two main characters!

There are SO MANY people who LOVE this series and I have a feeling I’m going to get some comments telling me about how awesome this book is and how awesome Beth is and omg how could I think she isn’t a strong kick-ass female? But… I just didn’t get that from the book. As soon as Wrath came into her life, it was like her whole world all of a sudden revolved around him instead of around the sun. She lost her individuality in the span of a day.

And Wrath… can we say “tortured hero”?!? How much did he remind me of Heathcliff? And how much do I hate Heathcliff?!

But… but for every thing that I hated about this book, there was something in it that kept me from putting it down, that kept me turning the pages and actually wanting to know how things turned out.

The only thing that I can put my finger on that I loved was Butch, Beth’s cop friend. Even after Beth hooked up with Wrath, after he met Marissa, he still cared so much for Beth’s safety and well-being. He had nothing in life to live for, but his character growth when he met the Black Dagger Brotherhood was awesome.

I think that if the book was not about Wrath and Beth that I would enjoy it. And so the fact that the other books in the series don’t seem to have Wrath and Beth as main characters seem like a positive to me. Let’s just see if I can get over the whole “romantic vampire” bias that I’ve got going on.

The Bottom Line
This book consumed me while I was reading it, and yet I still cannot figure out why. It actually embarrasses me how much I loved it. I have a feeling I’m going to continue on with this series, but will probably take a break for the time being and attack some of those other books that have been sitting on the TBR pile for a while. show less

There is nothing good about this book.

The story is a badly written, smut filled “romance” with an asshole hero and a heroine who makes women look like idiots who can’t control themselves around men.

My biggest issue is with the Brotherhood itself. The vampires in this book are big, listen to rap, and dress tough, but their names are really dumb. Why are they adding letters to their names to give them vampire street credibility? Vampires have their own traditions, customs, and language. Their names, however, read like those of pre-teen goth girls picking names for their future children. There is even one human, but it has an uninteresting name: Butch.

Despite the amount of explicit sex in these books, they do not feel very erotic. show more There was an extremely unlikely love-at-first-sight experience in the book followed by smut. Unlikable characters lead to no emotional investment in their fate. My honest opinion of this book is that I have read far better fan fiction online.

Still baffled by everyone else’s glowing reviews. Dark Lover features terrible writing, clichéd romance, and male characters with teenage-girl speaking styles. For fans of trashy romance books, this is perfect, but for those who enjoy horror and fantasy, skip this nauseating, sophomoric read. show less

This is the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series which has at least nine books planned. I was a little tentative to start this series because it is long and is romance heavy (I am more of a straight urban fantasy fan). I keep hearing how wonderful it is though so I thought I would give it a try. I am glad I did, I was pleasantly surprised with how well this world was built and how well-rounded the characters were.

Elizabeth works as a journalist when she is attacked one night on her way home from work. She fights off the attacker but is shaken. Later that night she approached by a large dangerous man who says he knew her father, his name is Wrath and he has promised Elizabeth's father that he would protect her. Elizabeth show more doesn't know it but she is on the brink of changing into something not-so-human and Wrath is the only one who can walk her through it. Wrath is part of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a Brotherhood of royal vampires sworn to protect humans and civilian vampires from the evil Lessers. With the violence rising on the streets more is going on than just Elizabeth's change. Wrath and Elizabeth are drawn to each other in a way neither has ever known before; but to be together they have to survive the growing danger of the Lessers.

Is this a romance? Oh yeah, it is definitely that. I was expecting that and just hoping that my eyes wouldn't roll out of their sockets with the improbability of it all. I was actually very surprised at what a great story this was. There is a solid and intricate plot here, a very interesting world and mythos, and in general just a very intriguing and engaging story. There is quite a bit of action, mystery, and violence throughout so the urban fantasy lover in me was satisfied. There is also a larger story here than just Wrath and Elizabeth's. This is the story of an ancient race on the brink of extinction.

While Wrath and Elizabeth do have the whole love at first sight thing going on, for the most part their relationship is fairly down to earth and believable. Despite Wrath's excessive alpha-maleness he respects Elizabeth and admires her and is willing to compromise with her. Elizabeth is not your normal swooning heroine. She is independent and puts Wrath in his place when he tries to strong-arm her with his over-protectiveness. The essence of it all is that they are perfect for each other. There are a number of mind-boggling hot sex scenes in here, they manage to be sexy yet have a level of tenderness to them that pulls at your heart strings. I was listening to this on audio book and at points the tension between Elizabeth and Wrath was so thick I forgot what I was doing and just stared off into space listening intently. It was just that engaging of a story. Elizabeth and Wrath have something that goes beyond chemistry and it is a wonderful thing to read.

Was it too much romance for me? At times it was. The descriptions of rippling stomachs and velvety thighs had me rolling my eyes a time or two; so beware if you are approaching this from the urban fantasy genre there is that some of that horrible romancy description thing going on. It wasn't too bad though. It bothered me a bit how Wrath and Elizabeth were immediately drawn to each other, but as their relationship became more down to earth I was able to forgive that.

I will say that the Black Dagger Brotherhood is one group of seriously emotionally screwed up men. Part of me is drawn to all their messed up emotional baggage and curious at how they will continue to defend their race while trying to sort through all of that. I will be honest it is kind of like those gossip magazines, some of these men are just so close to being train wrecks I just can't help but be curious as to what will happen.

Overall I can say I thoroughly (if a bit guiltily) enjoyed this book. The chemistry between Wrath and Elizabeth is out of this world and the two characters have a lot of dimension to them. There is a lot of action, danger, and violence here which soothed the urban fantasy lover in me. The world is interesting and solidly built. I feel like Ward is actually interested in this world she is writing about and it shows. I had previously read the Alien Huntress series by Gena Showalter and just couldn't get into it; that series felt like the world was only an excuse for the erotic scenes, this series doesn't feel like that. So, yeah, I will be reading more books in this series. My curiosity just won't let me leave the rest of those Black Dagger Brothers quite yet. show less

This review first appeared on A Weebish Book Blog.

I’ve been on a re-reading old favorites like crazy this year, especially since I’m determined to catch up on my series, such as the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I’d just finished Nora Roberts newest release and wanted to lose myself in a familiar, well missed world so I checked out DARK LOVER at the public library. Unsurprisingly, it spawned a BDB binge read that I can’t say I’m unhappy about.

When Darius, close friend, fellow BDB member, and the only other member with a correctly spelled name is murdered, leaving his half-breed daughter clueless about her lineage, Wrath is forced to usher her into the world of vampires or leave her to die a pain-filled death at the tender age of show more twenty-five.

"As far as he was concerned, there were only two good positions for a human. A female on her back. And a male facedown and not breathing."

Meet our tortured hero:

Wrath is King of the dwindling vampire species, leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, and strongly believes he’s unqualified for both titles. He’s an almost completely blind, bitter, leather-encased terror whose self-hatred almost rivals Zsadists.

He’s also a major asshole… until he stalks meets Beth.

"“You are beautiful,” he whispered. His subtle accent made him roll the R over his tongue, almost as if he were purring.

Well that stands to reason, she thought. When he touched her, she felt beautiful."

Meet our Mary Sue:

Beth is our idealized heroine. Her life as a beat reporter at her small Caldwell newspaper is going nowhere, she has few friends, and zero prospective partners. She stunningly beautiful and the men in her life worship her but she’s got eyes for no one… until she meets Wrath.

*cue eye roll*

Yeah, the tortured hero and the Mary Sue are a dime a dozen in the romance world. And yet, I gave them four stars. Why? It’s hard not to love them. I certainly did. Beth is a strong, take-no-shit heroine and the perfect mate for a vampire like Wrath. She buffs out all his edges in the hottest ways possible. Despite my complaints, they made an excellent beginning for the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

But my favorite character? Fritz. The butler. He’s so adorable and happy to serve. I want a Fritz.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the hell out of DARK LOVER and that’s really all that matters in my book. It made a wonderful reintroduction into the world of the BDB. If you’re a paranormal romance junkie who likes their characters fanged and haven’t read this series yet, where have you been?! show less

Well, as a self-confessed stalker and worshipper of Tatiana's reviews, I had serious reservations about this book. In fact, I had serious reservations about the whole series. Yeah, yeah, we all have different tastes but I can't help it, in my opinion Tatiana has got it completely right every time. However...

I liked this one. It was never ever going to get 5 stars, simply because it was always inevitably going to be compared to the Fever series with it being in the paranormal romance genre, but I did enjoy the read. Wrath was no Jericho Barrons (aka immortal sex on legs) but I liked that he had a back story rather than being another typical two-dimensional vampire to add to the ever-growing pile. And I loved the Brothers, their show more inter-chemistry with each other and Butch was what can only be described as cute - for serious want of a better word.

I just don't know why so many authors think that a romance must be all "Oh, my love, you are everything to me..." and "Their eyes met and suddenly there was no one else in the world but the two of them". Sorry to bring it up again, but I absolutely loved how there was none of that crap in the Fever books, it was deliciously sexy and they obviously loved each other in a way that Karen Marie Moning didn't have to point out in every single sentence... because it was so wonderfully obvious! One of my favourite parts is when Mac discovers who was really behind her sister's death and Barrons comes in all grumpy and cynical until she says his name. And that whole wonderful part where he just talks to her and understands... he never says "you are the only reason I want to live" but you know how deep he feels for her. Now that's literary romance for you.

Okay, so before this review is completely taken over with my obsession love for the Fever series, back to the BDB. Beth is a so-so heroine, I'm hoping she improves. She's gutsy and not a pushover, which I like, but she's also a bit lame. The author needs to give her more of a personality (like someone whose name begins with 'M' in a series whose name begins with 'F'), so far I don't dislike her but I'm going to need to care if I'm hoping to continue with this series. Which I am. It's not a bad start at all and I'm looking forward to exploring the other brothers, especially Zsadist - what is that guy's story?? He intrigues me most of all. He isn't pretentious, he isn't a hero, finally something gritty to get my teeth into. Let's see where it goes from here. show less

Sometimes, you just need to read something so outside your normal comfort zone and/or something that forces you to just sit back and enjoy the story. There is no lesson to learn, no study of human nature to observe, no reflection on relationships to ponder. Everyone needs to read a novel like this occasionally. For me, J. R. Ward's Dark Lover was just such a story. Sexy and violent, it was a refreshing change for the more serious fare I've been reading for many months.

Dark Lover is not your every-day vampire story, and these are not your every-day vampires. With kings, civilian vampires, lessers and the Brotherhood, Ward has created an entirely new species, one that contains an entire society, complete with histories and politics and show more procreation. Monogamous and/or married vampires are an added twist that prevents the story from becoming too predictable or fluffy. I had actually tried to listen to this novel via audiobook several months ago, but the narrator just did not work. He made everything too serious and dramatic, much like the voice-over guy for movie trailers. After 30 minutes, it became almost farcical. I'm glad I stopped when I did because I'm not certain I could have made it through the bedroom scenes without laughing hysterically. It would have definitely destroyed the mood.

Dark Lover is the perfect summer romp, engaging and not too mentally strenuous. There is no hidden agenda other than to enjoy the characters brought to life by Ward's capable pen. While it is not a series I will run right out and obtain immediately, it filled a void for something fun I did not know I had, and I will be sure to pick up the second novel in the series whenever I need something similar. show less