"Dark Lover" Book Review

Paranormal romance... with vampires... and soulmates, and fighting, and an evil society of 'lessers'... yes please! The first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Dark Lover, was a great introduction to this series, and I'm so happy I picked it up—even if I am fifteen years late.

❝Some bridges you crossed on your own, no matter who drove you to the edge.❞

— ⭑⭑⭑⭑.₅⭒

My mom has been reading this book series since it was first published in 2005, but she's a pretty busy lady and she fell a few books behind. Last year, she decided to pick the series back up, and she's been telling me to read them ever since. I finally caved at the end of March 2020, and I picked up Dark Lover. The first thing I told my mom was, "why didn't you force me to read this sooner?" (She just laughed at me.)

Overall, this was a very good start to a series. The world-building is completely top notch—especially for a romance novel. The two main characters are also very interesting! First, Beth Randall is a complete badass, and the way she handles all that this new world throws at her is something to be envied. Second, is Wrath. I admit, it took me a while to get used to the name, but with all the secondary characters in this book, you sort of get used to the odd names. Wrath is the last pureblooded vampire on earth, and he's the king of the entire race. Together, their romance was wonderful to read and this was a great introduction to the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

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mild spoilers below!

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The main premise of this book—excluding the romance between Beth and Wrath—is the on-going war between the vampires and the lessers. The vampires were created by a deity known as The Scribe Virgin—who the Brotherhood and the civilian vampires all worship. On the other hand, the lessers were created by The Scribe Virgin's brother (and complete opposite in terms of morality), known as The Omega. The Lessening Society is purely evil and it is their mission to completely wipe out the vampire race. Lessers are completely soulless, they don't age, they smell like baby powder, and, over time, they lose all distinguishable features and turn completely albino. Oh, and let's not forget that The Omega literally cuts their heart out as an initiation and gives it to them in a jar. What's really interesting about this book is that you get a perspective of the leader of the lessers—the fore-lesser—so you get some insight into their inner-workings.

The Brotherhood is a league of warriors that were specifically bred for battle. It is a very elite group of vampires and getting to know them throughout the course of this book was really interesting—even if I did stumble over all their names for a few chapters after they were introduced. There is also an aristocracy of vampires, and a ruling council known as the glymera. The amount of politics at play in this series is astounding and the amount of thought that J. R. Ward had to have put into all of this is almost unthinkable. (She also gives you a glossary in the beginning that is unbelievably helpful.)

Wrath is a member of this Brotherhood, but he—as previously mentioned—is also the King of the race. The Blind King, as it were. Wrath is tasked by one of his brotherhood to look after his daughter, Beth, and to see her through her transition into a vampire. After initially being hesitant to take on this task—which I don't blame him for, he is a King after all—he takes up the mantle and ~romance~ ensues. Beth had no idea that she was a half-vampire, so it comes as quite a shock for her when this massive, brooding, vampire warrior shows up in her apartment and *ahem* immediately has sex with her. I won't lie, that was a shock, but they're soulmates so I guess I'll excuse it lol.

I also really loved the secondary characters. Butch was someone that I fell in love with immediately, and I'm so happy that he's a part of their vampire world now. (His book, Lover Revealed, is also a really great read!) Not to mention, all of the brother's are extremely interesting and the fact that we get books for literally all of them is the coolest thing ever. The familial aspects of this series are heartwarming, and all of these characters truly love one another. Not to mention, the women in this story are all badass in their own ways, and over the course of the series, the characters get more and more diverse!

One of the world building things that I wanted to touch upon was how the whole "vampire thing" works because I think it's so interesting and new and different. Vampires don't drink from humans—at all. It doesn't properly sustain them, and if they were to drink only from humans, they would have to drink a lot every single day. Vampires have to feed on each other, which is what makes the mating process so much cooler. (Not to mention, it adds a little kink to the sex scenes that I have to admit make the scenes even better.) There is even an entire group of women known as The Chosen who live on The Other Side, worship The Scribe Virgin, and live the vampire version of a pious life. This group of women are also tasked with feeding mate-less members of the Brotherhood if the need arises, and they are tasked with birthing the next generation of the Brotherhood and Chosen. Overall, it's crazy intense and crazy intricate.

I highly recommend picking up Dark Lover and giving this series a try!

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here's a thread on twitter of my initial reactions while reading!

the Dark Lover goodreads page is linked to the photo