Darius (Blackdagger Brotherhood-Prequel) by JR Ward-review

Darius (Blackdagger Brotherhood) by JR Ward-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 5, 2023

Darius, son of Marklon, isn’t looking for love the night destiny comes to claim him. He’s also not interested in crashing his new car. But when a human woman runs out into the road and he must swerve to avoid killing her…everything goes off course.

Disillusioned by his King’s lack of leadership and the losses in the war against the Lessening Society, Darius finds purpose in protecting a woman he cannot make his own. Love finds a way, however—until the truth of what he is comes out and she leaves him in horror.

Unbeknownst to them both, Anne is carrying his young, a female who is destined to be Queen—and after a tragic reunion, he vows to protect their daughter. Resigned to perpetual sadness, he is determined to serve the memory of his beloved no matter the cost…unless by some miracle, fate sees fit to once again bring them together.

••••••••

REVIEW:DARIUS is the prequel storyline in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACKDAGGER BROTHERHOOD paranormal romance series focusing on a group of warrior vampires known as the Blackdagger Brotherhood. This is the story of Darius and Anne, Beth’s parents. DARIUS can be read as a stand alone but for cohesion, I recommend reading or having some knowledge of book one DARK LOVER.

DARIUS was first released in audio format in July 2022.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise including domestic assault, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from first person (Darius), and third person perspective DARIUS  follows the short lived relationship between Beth’s parents Darius and Anne, and the resulting birth of the vampire’s Queen.

ON the night they met, Darius, son of Marklon, rescued and saved the woman with whom he would fall in love but as a member of the vampire species, and the Blackdagger Brotherhood, Darius is unable to reveal the truth, or claim the woman who would give birth to his only young. As Darius and Anne’s relationship began to grow, Anne’s past would seek vengeance, revealing the truth about the who and what of the man with whom she was falling in love. Twenty years would pass before Anne would once again come face to face with Darius, twenty years in which Darius watched from afar as his daughter grew into the woman who would control the King’s heart.

Several of the series characters make cameo appearances: Fritz, Vishous, Zsadist, Phury, Havers, Xhex and JM, Beth and Wrath.

DARIUS is a revealing, emotional, action packed and heart breaking story of love, betrayal, acceptance and loss. The premise is edgy, haunting and tragic; the romance is tender and fated ; the characters are animated but doomed.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of over thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. There are more than 15 million copies of Ward’s novels in print worldwide and they have been published in 25 different countries around the world.

After graduating from law school, Ward began working in healthcare in Boston and spent many years as Chief of Staff of one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation. She lives in the south with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. Writing has always been her passion and her idea of heaven is a whole day of nothing but her computer, her dog and her coffee pot.

Visit the JRWard Facebook Page

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Lassiter (The Blackdagger Brotherhood 21) by JR Ward-review

Lassiter (The Blackdagger Brotherhood 21) by JR Ward-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 11, 2023

Lassiter, the fallen angel, is too good at the savior business. In his new role overseeing the fates of all vampires, he’s influenced outcomes he shouldn’t have- so the Creator is calling him home. But the angel has a reason to stay in Caldwell. He’s bonded with a mysterious female who’s seemed to appear from out of nowhere… and has powers that defy all reason.

Rahvyn is well aware that she doesn’t belong in the present. And she never intended to stay, for her true place is in the past. Lassiter proves to be undeniable, however, and she lets herself fall for the angel- until a secret he’s been keeping comes out and she fears that for him, it’s not about love, but duty.

As the Omega’s son reestablishes the Lessening Society, and the Brotherhood must resume the deadly war- an unfathomable tragedy occurs. In the aftermath, Rahvyn has to decide whether to stay and help- or save herself from an immortal heartbreak she knows will crush her very soul…

•••••

REVIEW: LASSITER is the twenty-first instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACKDAGGER BROTHERHOOD paranormal/fantasy romance series focusing on a group of warrior vampires known as the Blackdagger Brotherhood. This is fallen angel/ Scribe Virgin Lassiter, and Rahvyn’s story line. LASSITER should not be read as a stand alone. I recommend reading book twenty LOVER ARISEN for back story and cohesion-the current timeline has been building for most of the series.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

**If you have not read any of the previous, recent instalments, there may be spoilers in my review.

Told from several omniscient third person perspectives LASSITER follows several paths including the building relationship between fallen angel turned Scribe Virgin Lassiter, and Rahvyn. At the end of LOVER ARISEN Lassiter had sacrificed his soul to save the Band of B&stards warrior Balthazar, and in doing so, felt himself unworthy of love, especially the female that called to his heart but something or someone was pushing our story line couple together, a push that would end with the possible destruction or savior of the BDB.

Meanwhile, the Lessening Society has returned with a new Omega. Lash, the son of the previous Omega, was desperate for power and control but found himself falling for Devina, the demon, who using the ancient Book of Spells, called Lash back from extinction. As Lash considered his journey towards the ultimate battle for power, he never considered someone else or something else has been marked into play.

Nate, the adopted son of Muhrder and Sarah returns as he continues to pine for our story line heroine. Nate, whose life once hung in the balance between life and the Fade, has returned, his immortality no longer in question but his future questionable in the face of the return of the Lessening Society. The Lessers are growing in numbers with the return of the Omega but someone else Is building their own army of Lessers, Lessers who are now of the female persuasion.

Like most of JR Ward’s recent story lines, there are many plot lines and characters called into play. As to the numerous pathways, several events begin to unfold but not all of the Brothers are present or accounted for. By way of mention, some return in the wake of the near destruction of the vampire society, while Lassiter’s mating brings together the love and support of many of the Blackdagger Brotherhood. Two fallen angels have returned to reclaim our story line hero but Lassiter continues to have business on Earth, he refuses to abide by the Creator’s demands.

Now to the numerous unanswered questions and concerns. Is LASSITER the end of the series, or the current series ARC? Does the author have plans for a spin off? -she already attempted with the Blackdagger Legacy. The epilogue advances the series thirty-three years, where we are witness to a few of the next generation. The thirty-three year time jump leaves many unanswered questions yet reveals a couple of surprising twists: More Needings? More Young? More Brothers? More Mates? More Angels and the purpose of more fallen angels? What happened to the Lessening Society? The Lessers? Davina and Lash? And of course, the reformation of the Glymera and its’ need to rule with discrimination and power? Or with the return of the fallen angels-Adrian Vogel and Eddie Blackhawk, and of course the demon Devina (originally from the Fallen Angels series)-does the author have more stories planned for her Fallen Angels?

As to some of these questions, when an author recalibrates a series that may be struggling, they inevitably return to what was once popular and strong: the Lessers, the Omega; the Glymera for example-all part of the original BDB series and wars. Ward is not the first, nor the last, to try a recharge using previous premise and plot lines but it often screams of desperation. Long time readers and fans know when a series is struggling and bringing back what was, is not necessarily, the way to go.

The anticipatory factor surrounding the story for certain characters is always fierce and strong but there is often a let down due to the excitement and build up of a beloved character(s). I have seen this happen before in this series, and with many other authors and their own series, and the results have always been the same. Yes, there are those diehard readers and fans that will accept everything and anything but a critical eye will see what is missing; what is not there-satisfaction, realization and accomplishment. Lassiter and Rahvyn were not the primary focus of the story but Lash, Devina and the return of the Lessers, as well as Nate and the future of the BDB. LASSITER felt like an introductory story to the next chapter/arc of the series, and in doing so, lost much of the momentum that is our Fallen Angel Lassiter. Lassiter’s free spirit, sassiness and innocence is missing.

LASSITER is a detailed and complex story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, acceptance and love, secrets and lies. The premise is impassioned; the characters are numerous, animated and brooding; the romance is seductive but struggles in the face of secrets and the unknown.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of over thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling series, The Black Dagger Brotherhood. There are more than 15 million copies of Ward’s novels in print worldwide and they have been published in 25 different countries around the world.

After graduating from law school, Ward began working in healthcare in Boston and spent many years as Chief of Staff of one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation. She lives in the south with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. Writing has always been her passion and her idea of heaven is a whole day of nothing but her computer, her dog and her coffee pot.

Visit the JRWard Facebook Page

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The Viper (Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp #3) by JR Ward

The Viper (Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp #3) by JR Ward-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 20, 2022.

Framed for the grisly murder of his shellan, Kane is condemned to the notorious prison camp—unaware of the dark truth behind his arranged mating. Centuries later, when he is horribly burned while attempting to save others, he prays he’ll finally be reunited in the Fade with his mate…not knowing what revelations await him.

Nadya is a self-taught nurse who does what she can to ease the suffering of the prisoners. When Kane comes under her care, she cannot help but empathize with his condition for very personal reasons—and as the guards take him away one last time, she fears he is facing a terrible death.

After a daring rescue, Kane is offered a treatment that will change his very nature. Choosing life, for the time being, he goes back for the female who took such good care of him—but his duty to Nadya sets him on a collision course with his own past. When long-buried secrets are exposed, his self-destruction is inevitable…unless true love can save his soul.

•••••••••

REVIEW: THE VIPER is the third instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary adult BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD: PRISON CAMP paranormal romance series-a spin off/interconnected series from the author’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is vampires Kanemille aka Kane, and Nadya’s story line. THE VIPER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from third person perspectives, following several intersecting paths, using present day and memories from the past, THE VIPER continues to focus on the relocation of, and the Brothers search for the illegal supernatural prison colony used by the former Glymera to control the so-called deviants of paranormal society. No longer under the control of the once powerful Glymera, the colony has become the epi-center of drugs for Caldwell, New York.

Approximately two hundred years earlier, vampire Kanemille was sentenced to the original prison colony for a crime he did not commit. Along with hundreds of vampires and wolvens, Kane suffered abuse and torture at the hands of those in charge but a fire was about to force Kane to choose between the ‘Shade’ or something else. With the only light in his life, a severely scarred female named Nadya, Kane chooses something else, in an effort to go back and rescue the female with whom he will fall in love but all does not go according to plan when the vampires and wolvens set a plan into motion to rescue and release the prisoners inside, a plan that begins to crumble at the hands of their former jailers.

Meanwhile, the wolven Callum is falling for the vampire Apex, a vampire who once thought he was in love with Kane, but as the world begins to implode, Callum is captured, and the fall-out threatens his sanity and the man with whom he was falling in love.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several members of the BDB; the requisite cameo from the Scribe Virgin, as well as the return of Lucan and Rio (The Wolf), and The Jackal.

THE VIPER is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, ethereal magic and mystery, acceptance and love. The premise is heart breaking yet engaging-both Nadya and Kane’s back stories are dark and raw; the romance is emotional but struggles in the face of past betrayals: the characters are broken but battling to move forward.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Jackal
The Wolf

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

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Lover Arisen by JR Ward-Review & Giveaway

Lover Arisen (Black Dagger Brotherhood 20) by JR Ward-Review & Giveaway

LOVER ARISEN
Black Dagger Brotherhood #20
by JR Ward
Release Date: April 5, 2022
Genre: adult, paranormal, vampire, romance

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Possessed by the demon Devina, Balthazar is once again on the hunt for the Book of Spells—and fighting an undeniable attraction to a woman. As a thief, he has stolen a lot of things…but he never thought his heart would be taken by another. Especially not a human.

As a homicide detective, Erika Saunders knows there is something otherworldly going on in Caldwell, New York. Mutilated bodies that cannot be explained are all over her case list—and then there are her nightmares in which she’s hunted by shadows and captivated by a mysterious man who is both a suspect and a savior.

When Devina’s wish for true love is finally granted, Balthazar and Erika unwittingly become the gateway for the rebirth of an old enemy of the Brothers. Will the very thing that brings them together lead to the ultimate destruction of the Brotherhood? Or will they have to lose everything in order to save the race’s most sacred defenders?

•••••

REVIEW: LOVER ARISEN is the twentieth instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD paranormal, romance series focusing on the elite group of vampire warriors known as the Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is Band of B&stards warrior Balthazar, son of Hanst, and Caldwell New York homicide detective Erika Saunders’ story line. LOVER ARISEN can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but for back story and cohesion, I recommend reading the series in order or the previous book Lover Unveiled where Balz and Erika’s story begins. As per JR Ward’s style of writing, LOVER ARISEN follows several intersecting paths including the beginning or ending for another story line couple.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise including memories of violence and death, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers. If you have not read book 19, Lover Unveiled, there may be spoilers in my review.

Told from numerous third person perspectives including Balthazar and Erika, following several paths, LOVER ARISEN continues to focus on the take down of the demon Devina, and the search for the location of an ancient tome, the Book of Spells. Balthazar is desperate to rid himself of the demon known as Devina, a demon who has taken possession of our story line hero in the wake of our hero’s last robbery and theft. Balthazar is desperate to locate the Book of Spells in the hopes of uncovering the how and why of his current predicament but a trip to a local bookstore has Balthazar, once again, coming face to face with the woman that calls to his heart, a woman who has seen more than anyone could have ever imagined. Enter Caldwell homicide detective Erika Saunders, and the woman/female with whom Balthazar will fall in love but not before Balz sacrifices himself to stop the insanity of Devina’s possession. What ensues is the building relationship between Balthazar and Erika; the return of an old enemy 2.0; and the relinquishment of love and a happily ever after for someone else.

Homicide detective Erika Saunders knows there is something else going on in Caldwell New York, something ‘other’, something not easily explained or understood, and meeting Balthazar our heroine knows immediately he is the answer to her questions. Falling for Balthazar means being pulled into a life she knows nothing about but a life that has experienced the devastation and horrific atrocities of monsters and demons. Hoping to eradicate the demon Devina from his life and his mind, Balthazar goes on a quest to uncover the truth but desperation calls for a violent end, an end to the possibility of his own future and love.

Nate, the adopted son of Muhrder and Sarah has fallen for the young vampire female Rahvyn but a night on the town ends in disaster, and Nate hangs between the precipice of life and the Fade. Female vampire Rahvyn aka Elyn, struggles with her powers, powers that are beyond that of anyone who has come before but with her powers comes the control between life and death, and in this, Rahvyn battles between head and heart knowing to use her powers, means someone else’s choice has been taken away. Nate isn’t the only being to have fallen in love with Rahvyn but to save someone means to sacrifice someone else.

The relationship between Balthazar and Erika begins in Lover Unveiled where Balthazar has had to wipe the memories of our story line heroine. Erika is struggling to remember recent events, a black void where several hours has gone missing. Literally running into Balthazar triggers something within Erika Saunders, a trigger wherein she knows Balthazar has something to do with the missing time. Balthazar knows that Erika is his mate but his life is no longer under his control.In an effort to protect the people he loves, Balz finds solace with our story line heroine, a solace that may be short lived in the face of his position with the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Several of the Brothers make cameo appearances including Wrath, V, Butch, Rhage, and Tohr, while others by mention or recall; Jane, Manny, BDB doggen Fritz; and our beloved Fallen Angel aka Scribe Virgin Lassiter. We are introduced to Erika’s partner Detective Treyvon Abscott. Lassiter’s story line is next….yay !

LOVER ARISEN is the beginning of a new series arc for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. It is the story of family and relationships, betrayal and vengeance, love and acceptance, sacrifice and hope. The character driven premise is detailed, complex and captivating; the romance is fated and seductive; the characters are energetic, powerful and engaging.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

Don’t forget to sign-up for exclusive Black Dagger Brotherhood original content:
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JR Ward’s publisher (Simon and Schuster) is offering a paper copy of LOVER ARISEN  to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

NOTE: If you are having difficulty commenting after logging onto the site, please refresh the page (at the top of your computer).

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

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9. Giveaway is open to USA only

10. Giveaway runs from April 4-9, 2022

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The Wolf ( BDB: Prison Camp 2) by JR Ward-Review tour

The Wolf ( BDB: Prison Camp 2) by JR Ward-Review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 16, 2021

In the next installment of bestselling author J.R. Ward’s Prison Camp series, things get steamy when Lucan, a wolven forced into bartering drug deals for the infamous Prison Colony, meets Rio, the second in command for the shadowy Caldwell supplier, Mozart. After a deal goes awry, a wolf with piercing golden eyes swoops in to save her from certain death. As shocking truths unfurl, Rio is uncertain of who to trust and what to believe—but with her life on the line, true love rears its head and growls in the face of danger.

••••••

REVIEW:THE WOLF is the second instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD: PRISON CAMP paranormal romance series-a spin and interconnected series from the author’s Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is wolven/vampire hybrid Lucan, and Caldwell undercover police detective Rio Hernandez-Guerrero’s story line. THE WOLF can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion.

WARNING: Due to the nature of the story line premise including graphic violence, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from third person perspectives THE WOLF follows several interconnected and diverging pathways focusing on the search for the infamous supernatural Prison Colony that is now connected to a resurgence of drugs in Caldwell New York.Detective Rio Hernandez-Guerrero has been undercover in the hopes of uncovering the who, how and where of the uptick in drug trafficking but Rio finds herself a target of some very powerful people, none of whom are working together but all wanting something from our story line heroine. Wolven/vampire hybrid Lucan is the right hand man to Caldwell’s most powerful supplier but Lucan remains a captive of the people in charge. When a drug deal goes wrong, Lucan finds himself ‘nursing ‘ our heroine back to life, the woman that calls to our hero’s inner wolf.

Meanwhile, Detective Jose De La Cruz finds himself investigating a series of grizzly murders, all with connection to the latest influx of heroine, cocaine and fentanyl. With two of the precincts undercover detectives missing and presumed dead, Jose discovers that all is not well within Caldwell’s police force, and Jose is about to come face to face with a ghost from his past.

Connected to both of the above premise, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, believing they had shut down the infamous Glymera Prison Colony continue to struggle with the latest information that a new set up is prospering outside of New York, a set up of which no one is able to locate or uncover. Knowing our story line heroine is working undercover to ferret out the people involved in the local drug trade, the Brothers are hoping Rio Hernandez-Guerrero will lead them to the prison, so they can shut down the operation, once and for all.

THE WOLF is a complex, detailed and multi-leveled story wherein all of the pathways are interconnected and feed off of one another. Detective Jose De La Cruz plays a pivotal role in the current timeline as Butch’s former partner is struggling with his impending retirement, the missing undercover police officers, the possibility of a dirty cop at the helm of the department, and the ongoing battle to clean up the streets of Caldwell, New York. The Brothers will cross paths with Jose De La Cruz, breaking our hearts as Jose is unable to grasp the loss of his former partner and friend, a friend he knows but is unable to remember.

JR Ward pulls the reader into a dramatic, intense and emotional story that continues to focus on the turmoil and upheaval of a drug epidemic that continues to destroy the lives of everyone involved.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one THE JACKAL

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

Don’t forget to sign-up for exclusive Black Dagger Brotherhood original content:
HERE

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Claimed (Lair of the Wolven 1) by JR Ward-Review & Giveaway

Claimed (Lair of the Wolven 1) by JR Ward-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

CLAIMED
Lair of the Wolven 1
by JR Ward
Release Date: July 27, 2021
Genre: adult, contemporary, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 27, 2021

A heart-pounding new series set in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world, with a scientist fighting to save the timber wolves—and getting caught in a deadly trap herself…

Lydia Susi is passionate about protecting wolves in their natural habitat. When a hotel chain develops a tract of land next to the preserve, Lydia is one of the most vocal opponents of the project—and becomes a target.

One night, a shadowy figure threatens Lydia’s life in the forest, and a new hire at the Wolf Study Project comes from out of nowhere to save her. Daniel Joseph is both mysterious, and someone she intrinsically wants to trust. But is he hiding something?

As the stakes get higher, and one of Lydia’s colleagues is murdered, she must decide how far she will go to protect the wolves. Then a shocking revelation about Daniel challenges Lydia’s reality in ways she could never have predicted. Some fates demand courage, others require even more, with no guarantees. Is she destined to have true love… or will a soul-shattering loss ruin her forever?

••••••••

REVIEW:CLAIMED is the first instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult LAIR OF THE WOLVEN paranormal, urban fantasy series-a spin off set in the author’s Black Dagger Brotherhood world. This is drifter/handyman Daniel Joseph, and scientist/wolf behaviorist Lydia Susi’s storyline. CLAIMED can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the BDB series is revealed where necessary.

NOTE: The Wolven are first introduced in JR Ward’s LOVER UNLEASHED, and first appear in THE JACKAL.

Told from third person perspective following two intersecting paths CLAIMED focuses on the search for the truth. Someone is poisoning the wolves at the wolf reserve in and around Walters, Upstate New York, and scientist Lydia Susi is desperate to uncover the truth. With the construction of a new hotel on the edge of the wolf preserve, Lydia is determined to prove the people responsible are the same people connected to the chain of hotels. Daniel Joseph, a new handyman at the Wolf Study Project (WSP) has caught the attention of our story line heroine but someone else has targeted our heroine in the process. As the number of bodies connected to the WSP begin to pile up, Lydia is determined to prove the guilty party is part of the hotel chain, and responsible for poisoning the animals she loves. What ensues is the slow building romance and relationship between Daniel and Lydia, and the fall-out as something more sinister is working behind the scenes to take down our story line couple, and the wolves in the Wolf Study Project.

Meanwhile, Xhex, beloved shellan of the Black Dagger Brother John Matthew begins to relive the nightmares of her time at the Sympath colony, a time that is about to come full-circle. Unable to get a straight answer from her brother, she is sent on a mission that will bring her up close and personal with an experiment she thought was long forgotten. JM, Blay, Rehvenge and Vishous make a cameo appearance

CLAIMED is a slow building and twisted story of secrets and lies; of power and control; of specieism, experiments, betrayal and mistrust. JR Ward pulls the reader into an imaginative and dramatic tale of intrigue, murder, and the supernatural. The romance takes a back seat to the story line premise as the author will not be focusing on one couple per book but a continuing saga of events. CLAIMED ends on a cliff hanger-you have been warned.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy


Excerpt provided by Simon and Schuster

 

CLAIMED
Chapter 1Town of Walters, est. 1834
Upstate New YorkLydia Susi’s Destiny came for her in the veil, on a random Thursday in the early spring.
As she ran along the wooded trail, two miles into a loop that would take her through the preserve’s northeastern acreage, she was measuring the glowing line that topped the contours of the mountains. Soon, the stripe would expand to an aura, and after that, the sun would accept the handoff from the moon, and day would arrive.
Her grandfather had always told her there were two twilights, two gloamings, and if you wanted to find your past, you went into the pines in the evening as the sun went down. If you wanted your future to come to you, you went alone into the forest in the veil, during that sacred transition of night into morning. There, he’d told her, when the distinction between that which ruled the light and that which held domain over the dark was at its narrowest, when the moon and the sun reached for each other before the rotations of their orbits tore them asunder, there was when the mortal could brush up against the infinite and seek answers, direction, guidance.
Of course, that did not mean you got good news. Or what you wanted.
But life was not an à la carte buffet where you could choose everything that went on your plate—another words-of-wisdom from a man who had lived to be 101 years old still smoking a pipe and drinking a glass of sima after his dinner year round.
Why limit spring to just Vappu? he’d said.
Lydia had never believed in his superstitions. She was a researcher, a scientist, and the kinds of things that her isoisa had gone on about did not fit in with that Ph.D. in biology she’d bought on layaway from the federal government and was still paying off.
So no, she was not out looking for any prognosti-cation from the universe this morning. She was get-ting her workout done before she headed into her office at the Wolf Study Project. With the way things had been going lately, she was going to blink and it would be seven at night. Short-staffed and under-funded, everything was a fight for resources at WSP, and by the time she locked things up every evening, she was exhausted. So Carpe Cardio was her motto and why she was out in this misty darkness—
Lydia let her stride peter to a halt.
Her breath pumped in clouds that captured and held the moonlight, and as a breeze came across the trail, her body did the same with the chill, grabbing it out of the air and bringing it in under her wind-breaker.
As she shivered, she looked behind herself. The trail she was on was the widest one in the preserve, a highway rather than a street, but she couldn’t see much into the trees. Pines crowded up close to the shoulders of the packed path, and the fog wafting through the craggy trunks and fluffy boughs obscured the forest even more.
In a quick calculation, she figured she was a good three miles from any other human, two miles from her car at the trailhead’s parking area, and a hundred yards from what had caught her attention.
There, up ahead, something was close to the ground, moving.
Fight or flight, Lydia, she thought. What’s it going to be.
She reached around to the small of her back. There were two cylinders mounted on the strap of her fanny pack, and she left the Mace where it was. Clicking on her flashlight and bringing it forward, she swung the beam in a wide arc—
The eyes flashed over on the left, a set of retinas flaring the light back at her as pinpoints. The stare was about three feet from the ground and the pupils were set close together, as predators’ were.
Lydia looked around again.
“I’m not going to bother you,” she said. But like the gray wolf spoke English?
The growl was soft. And then came the rustling. The animal was prowling toward her.
“Oh, shit.”
Except . . .
Lydia kept the beam down on the fallen pine needles as she, too, walked forward. Something was wrong with the wolf, its gait wobbly and uneven. Yet the spirit of the hunter remained undeterred—and she was identified as its target.
She was about twenty feet away when she got a sense of the fully mature male. He was filled out, at a healthy weight of about a hundred and thirty pounds, and his mottled white, gray, and brown fur was thick and lush, especially at the tail. But his head was hanging at a bad angle, and he was dragging his back paws as he continued to close the distance between them.
It was obvious when the wolf was going to collapse. Though his head remained forward, his body listed to the side, his will staying strong even as his rear legs, and then his forelegs, gave out.
He landed on the soft bed of pine needles on his side, and the struggle was immediate, useless paws batting at thin air and ground cover. As Lydia drew a little closer to him, he snarled, flashing long white fangs, his golden eyes narrowing.
“Shh . . .” she said as she kneeled down.
Her hand shook as she got out her cell phone. As she called a number from her favorites, she tried to keep her breathing steady.
In the flashlight’s beam, she could see the grayness of those gums. The wolf was dying—and she knew why.
“God damn it, pick up, pick up—” Her words ma-chine gun’d from her mouth. “Rick? Wake up, I’ve got another one. On the main trail—what? Yes, it’s the same—enough with the talking, get your ass out of bed. I’m on the loop, about two miles into the—huh? Yes, bring everything, and hurry.”
She cut the connection as her voice gave out.
Letting herself fall back to a sit, she stared into those beautiful eyes and tried to project love, acceptance, gentleness . . . compassion. And something got through, the majestic male’s muzzle relaxing, its paws falling still, his flank rising and falling in a shuddering breath.
Or maybe it was dying right now.
“Help is coming,” she said hoarsely to the animal. 


 

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

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Lover Unveiled by JR Ward-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

Lover Unveiled (Black Dagger Brotherhood 19) by JR Ward-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

LOVER UNVEILED
Black Dagger Brotherhood 19
by JR Ward
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, paranormal, vampire, romance
Release Date: April 20 2021

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

Meet Sahvage: a powerful MMA fighter with a buried secret that could change the world of Caldwell forever…

Sahvage has been living under the radar for centuries-and he has every intention of staying ‘dead and buried.’ But when a civilian female sucks him into her dangerous battle with an evil as ancient as time, his protective side overrides his common sense.

Mae has lost everything, and desperation sets her on a collision course with fate. Determined to reverse a tragedy, she goes where mortals should fear to tread- and comes face to face with the Brotherhood’s new enemy. She also discovers a love she never expected to find with Sahvage, but there can be no future for them.

Knowing they will part, the two band together to fight against what Mae unknowingly unleashed- as the Brotherhood closes in to reclaim one of their damned, and the evil vows to destroy them all.

••••••••

REVIEW:LOVER UNVEILED is the nineteenth instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD paranormal, vampire, romance series focusing on the elite group of vampire warriors known as the Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is Sahvage, and Mae’s story line. LOVER UNVEILED can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from numerous third person perspectives following several intersecting pathways LOVER UNVEILED follows Sahvage, a forsaken and ostracized member of the vampire race in the aftermath of another near fatal attempt on his life but for the female savior who reluctantly aids our story line hero. Mae is a female vampire who is desperate to locate a long lost artefact but in doing so reveals an ancient evil, who they themselves, is determined to possess that which does not belong. Having saved our story line hero, Mae is now connected by blood to the man who would one day claim her as his mate.

Sahvage has been abandoned by the vampire race, lost to the ravages of betrayal and power. Believed to have committed atrocities against his own kind, and long since dead and buried for his sins, Sahvage is neither dead nor buried, and is determined to stop the female that calls to his in her search for the secret of ever lasting life.

Meanwhile, several other story line arcs begin to take shape in the aftermath of the crash of a meteorite in Caldwell, New York:

The demon Devina, whom we met in previous story lines, has returned with a vengeance pulling in both the BDB and the Band of B*stards in her search for the ultimate book of power and magic. As the number of murder victims increase in the city of Caldwell, Devina is one-step closer to locating the book and all of its’ secrets.

Balthazar ‘Balz’, son of Hanst, and a member of the Band of B*astards finds himself in a precarious situation when his latest robbery comes with a bonus tag along. Believing himself possessed, Balz begins to pull away from the only family he has ever known, and into the direct line of fire by the local police.

Nate, adopted son of Muhrder and Sarah, finds Elyn, a young female vampire who claims to be lost and without family or support. Taking her to the BDB run Luchus House for troubled and recovering vampires, Nate struggles with issues back home but refuses to reveal the source of his pain.

LOVER UNVEILED is a story of betrayal and vengeance; power and control; desperation, secrets, grief and love. JR Ward pulls the reader into the familiarity of the BDB family, their unwavering support, and need to protect the Brothers they love. Not all of the Brothers make a cameo appearance but for one fallen angel, his future is about to unfold. The premise is haunting, complex and detailed; the characters are edgy, spirited, tragic and strong.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

LOVER MINE (Black Dagger Brotherhood 8) ebook is currently on sale for $1.99

John Matthew and Xhex

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

Excerpt courtesy of Simon and Schuster

Trade Street and 30th Avenue
Downtown Caldwell, New YorkForty-eight minutes before Ralphie DeMellio got murdered, he was living the life.
“You got this,” his buddy was saying as he rubbed Ralphie’s bare shoulders. “You fucking got this, you’re a monster, you’re a motherfucking monster!”
Ralphie and his crew were on the sixth level of a parking garage that was all about the oil stains and litter, rather than any Oldsmobiles and Lincolns. The abandoned facility was just a fucking concrete bureau with nothing in its drawers, and in this part of Caldie, any kind of structure on-its-lonesome didn’t last long. Hello, BKC. Bare Knuckle Conquests was the only legit underground fighting circuit in the south-ern part of New York State, and the bout held tonight was the reason why he, his bros, and five hundred clout-chasing Insta-famers were here.
Any more selfies and it’d be the driver’s license lane at the DMV.
BKC was big-ass business, and Ralphie, as the reigning champ, was making big-ass fucking bank—provided none of these dumbasses with the camera phones gave their location away. And like, what were the chances of that.
“Where’s the coke.”
He put his hand out, and when the brown vial was slapped into his palm like a surgical instrument, he went to town. As he honked two kilos of powder deep into his sinuses, his eyes went jumping bean over the crowd. Down at the other end of the level, they were antsy, drug-ging, and putting their bets in with the organizer’s bookies. Nothing but three rounds of bare-knuckle minutes between them and the killing they expected to make.
Ralphie was a very good bet.
He hadn’t lost a fight yet, even though he had Slim Jim muscles and smoked a lot of weed. But here was the fucking thing. The bouncer- types with the boulder biceps and the jelly bellies were only impressive when they were standing still. Get them moving and they had no bal-ance, no speed, and follow-throughs like they had double vision. Long as Ralphie kept buzzing around like a fly on shit, he was unhittable as his right hook went to work.
“You good, Ralphie. You fucking good!”
“Yeah, that’s right, Ralphie, you the best!”
His crew was five guys from the neighborhood. They’d grown up together and were all related, their families having come over on the boat to Ellis Island a couple generations ago and gotten out of Hell’s Kitchen soon as they could afford it. Little Italy in Caldie was little different than the one in Manhattan, and as his father always said, don’t trust someone you don’t know and don’t know someone if you can’t walk to their house.
And there was one other person on Ralphie’s team.
“Where is she.” Ralphie looked around. “Where is—”
Chelle was back by the G wagon, posed like a Pirelli girl, her elbows on the hood, one heel stabbed into a tire rim. Her head was back, the pur-ple ends of her black hair licking the metallic paint, her pink lips parted as she stared up at nothing. The night was chilly because April was still a bitch in this zip code, but she didn’t give a fuck. Her bustier was all she had on up top, and the bottom half of her wasn’t covered much better.
Fuuuuuuck. Those tattoos on her upper thighs were showing. And the ones on the swells of her breasts. And the sleeve on her left arm.
She’d always refused to get one of his initials.
She was like that.
As if she caught his drift, Chelle slowly turned her head. Then she licked her lips with the tip of her tongue.
Ralphie’s hand went to the front of his jeans. She was not the kind of woman you brought home to mother, and at first, that was the rea-son he’d fucked her. But she was smart and she had her own hair salon. She didn’t check his phone. She didn’t care if he went out with the boys. She had her own money, she never asked him for a goddamn thing, and she had options, lotta options.
Men wanted her.
She was with him, though. And no matter what she looked like, she didn’t come on to his crew. She was not a pass-around, and anybody rubbed up on her? She was one slap away from knocking their fucking teeth out.
So yeah, after a year, Ralphie was way into her.
To the point where he didn’t care about what anyone else thought, including his traditional Italian mother. As far as he was concerned, Chelle was wifey material and that was all that fucking mattered.
“—got this, Ralphie—”
To kill the ass-kissing all up in his face, Ralphie put his hand on the center of his boy’s chest and pushed the guy back. “Gimme a minute.”
His crew knew what was up, and they turned around and faced the crowd, closing shoulder to shoulder.
And Chelle was well damn aware of what he was after.
The G wagon was parked ass in, with a couple of feet of space be-tween the rear bumper and the garage’s nasty concrete wall. Chelle went around and assumed the position, leaning back on the Benz’s boxy rear door and arching her shit. In her heels, she was as tall as Ralphie, and as her lids lowered and her breasts strained against the lace trim of the bustier, she met him right in the eye.
Ralphie’s heart was going fast, but his smile was slow as he put his hands on her little waist. “You want it?”
“Yeah. Gimme it.”
Ralphie unzipped his jeans and stroked himself as he kissed her throat. ’Cuz she wouldn’t want him to mess up her lipstick. That kinda shit would come later, after he beat the ass of whoever was going to try him tonight. But he wasn’t about to drive his truck through mud, and he wasn’t about to mess up his female in public.
Chelle moved her thong aside, and as she put a stiletto against the concrete, he pumped into her while she grabbed onto his bare shoulders.
The sex was hot as fuck. Because it turned out that if he respected the female? It made everything hotter.
As Ralphie lifted her up so she could put both her legs around his hips, he closed his eyes. The pre-fight rush, the coke, Chelle, the new G wagon from the cake he was earning at BKC, it was all power in his veins. He was the man. He was the monster. He was—
Ralphie started to come, and he would have yelled out, but he didn’t want people catching his girl like this. Instead he gritted his teeth and held on tight, dropping his head into Chelle’s perfumed neck and squeezing out curses through his locked jaw.
And then he had to say it.
“I love you, I fucking love you,” he grunted.
He was so into his girl, so into the coming, so into the feel of her coming with him . . . that he didn’t notice who was watching them from the shadows about twenty feet away.
If he had, he would have packed up his true love and his crew, and left rubber on the road as he got the fuck out of the parking garage.
Most of destiny was on a need-to-know basis, however.
And sometimes, it was best that you didn’t get a heads-up on the inevitable that had your name on it.
Way too fucking horrifying.


 

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

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JR Ward’s publisher (Simon and Schuster) is offering a paper copy of LOVER UNVEILED  to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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A Warm Heart in Winter by JR Ward-Review & Giveaway

A Warm Heart in Winter (Black Dagger Brotherhood 18.5 / A Caldwell Christmas) by JR Ward-Review & Giveaway

A Warm Heart in Winter
A Caldwell Christmas
(Black Dagger Brotherhood 18.5)
by JR Ward
Release Date: December 1, 2020
Genre: adult, contemporary, paranormal, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 1,2020

In this romantic and sexy addition to the #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series, a beloved couple has everything arranged… until it all goes horribly wrong.

Blay and Qhuinn always intended to do a proper mating ceremony, but life has a way of getting in the way. With a pair of young, responsibilities to the King, and a grueling fighting schedule, the two are exhausted and overwhelmed. When Qhuinn gives his male the proposal of a lifetime, however, they are excited for their special night and more in love than ever.

Everyone in the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s mansion gets into the preparations, and the after party takes on epic- and immortal- proportions when Lassiter forms the Party Planning Committee. The celebrations promise to be all that the couple deserves… until a Nor’easter land locks Caldwell in a fierce storm, and things go from lighthearted to deadly dangerous.

Battling nature and responding to emergencies, Blay and Qhuinn get separated, and when a catastrophic chain of events puts one of their lives in jeopardy, the night they had so looked forward could mean the end of everything..

••••••

REVIEW:A WARM HEART IN WINTER is instalment 18.5 in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD paranormal romance series focusing on a group of vampire warriors known as the Black Dagger Brotherhood. A WARM HEART IN WINTER is the continuing story of Blay, aka Blaylock, son of Rocke, and Qhuinn, aka son of Lohstrong. A WARM HEART IN WINTER can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion.

NOTE: A WARM HEART IN WINTER contains scenes of M/M sexual situations and may not be suitable for more sensitive readers.

Told from third person perspective A WARM HEART IN WINTER focuses on a winter storm that is about to shut down Caldwell, New York, and leaving a deadly path of destruction in its’ wake. On a late night call, Quinn finds himself the victim of an attack while helping a young girl after a motor vehicle accident. Fearing for his mate’s life, Blay comes to the decision that he and Qhuinn should embark on an official mating, to make their union formal in the eyes of the people they love. Meanwhile, Qhuinn’s brother Luchas continues to struggle with his recovery, in the aftermath raids three years earlier, raids that have forced Luchas to reflect on his life, and everything that has happened, before, during and after. As Qhuinn comes to terms with what happened in the past, Luchas makes a decision about his life going forward.

A WARM HEART IN WINTER is a story of family and friendships, relationships and love; of struggle and acceptance; of heart break, pain and loss. JR Ward pulls the reader into an emotional and tragic story but a story that is impassioned, genuine and real.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Facebook Twitter Goodreads / Website/

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

Don’t forget to sign-up for exclusive Black Dagger Brotherhood original content:
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JR Ward’s publisher (Simon and Schuster) is offering a paper copy of WHERE WINTER FINDS YOU  to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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