Hello everyone!
So I'm back to reading about vampires, which, really, shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. Every once in a while, I'll stumble over some book or book series that will give me my needed bloodsucker dose, although admittedly not everyone does it with as much fanfare as JR Ward, I think.
If anyone has been keeping track of my blog (which I hope you have, but oh well, fingers crossed!), I've been a Ward fan since a very good friend of mine introduced me to the series.
Or, well, the story goes like this: she kept on talking about it, and I sort of kept it in the back of my mind, that I have to read these books, but at the time I didn't have my ereader yet, so it was a bit of a problem until I figured out I could convert the files to PDF, which could then be read on my poor phone (the thing might have died a thousand deaths over one book ... I am still chagrined over that) to my heart's content.
And I was hooked.
Not only are these vampires badass, six-foot-sixers, the lot of them, with black belts in martial arts and zero clue in social behaviour, but they're also sexy as hell.
No surprise to anyone, then, that when the spin-off series was announced, I squealed.
The original series, Black Dagger Brotherhood, currently has thirteen books and the fourteenth is up to be published this April (and it's about Rhage again! Can anything be better than Hollywood in all his beastly glory?!), but in the meantime, Ward decided to tide us over with something else.
Blood Kiss was her way to do it.
It's the first book in the brand new book series, titled Black Dagger Legacy, and unlike the mothership which is based on the Brothers and their mates, this one is about the reopened training center and the young vampires these oldies take under their wing to teach all about the War and fighting and stuff.
At this point, I should probably offer links to my previous two posts, about Lover Avenged and The Shadows, where you can get up to speed with the terminology and what we're doing in the story.
Briefly, though: Wrath, the King (aka son of Wrath, sire of Wrath), needs more soldiers to dish out death among their enemy, and to do this, he has to break the age-old rules that state who can become a member of the Brotherhood, opening the training center for pretty much everyone.
This is where our story begins.
Actually, there are two separate stories in this book, but intertwined so you don't really feel like one takes away from the other.
Story numero uno: the training center, where Paradise, daughter of Abalone, who just so happens to be First Adviser to Wrath, son of Wrath, sire of Wrath (I'm sorry, I can't get enough kicks out of this title), has applied against the better wishes of her father, along with a number of others, including but not limited to Craeg, Boone, Novo, Anslam, Axe, and Peyton. The reason I only mention these is because only these seven make it through the rather deadly initiation, and Paradise is the last one standing at the very end of an endurance test. Then comes the actual training in weapons, fighting, tactics, etc. etc. but this wouldn't be a Ward book without some romance, no?
No.
See, Parry has a thing for Craeg, and has since he first walked into her life asking for an application form. In close proximity, everyone can see the attraction - and the bonding potential - but Craeg, a working class male with a vendetta against the glymera for causing the death of his family, doesn't really come across as boyfriend material. It doesn't stop him from having steamy phone sex with Parry, though, let's be real.
Let's also be real about the fact that EVERYONE tries to help out and get these two together. It's pretty comical.
Eventually, Craeg and Parry do end up in bed together (or, in this case, a private bathroom), but the thryst is cut short because Peyton needs help, and Craeg realizes Parry is glymera, so he's pissed off (at this point though, he's done a lot of apologizing for being antisocial and an idiot, so we know he'll apologize for this eventually, too) and storms away, only to be right on time to save her life from Anslam when the guy tries to kill her.
This is where we introduce story numero due: Marissa admits a very badly beaten and injured female to Safe Place, but the female dies, their only clue being a weird looking key she left behind. Butch is brought into this investigation, and we get to see some additional dynamic between the couple as they struggle through their first real hurdle: Butch wants to treat Marissa as an angel, but she feels like she's once again in a box with no windows because he won't let her do certain things. This comes to a head during the investigation of the murder, though eventually, through communication where Butch opens up about his Catholic upbringing and his previous job as homicide detective, they end the story stronger than before.
Also, they solve the murder: Anslam liked it rough in bed, but went too far one time, and since Parry found a photograph of his, well, she was next on his list. Luckily Craeg was around, right?
Double luck that he's the same size as Butch, because the Brother totally dresses him up for a festival Marissa chairs, and at which he will be escorting Parry. Paradise's father, Abalone, it has to be noted, is more than overjoyed that his daughter has found love, because it's what he always wanted for her, not an arranged match like the glymera usually goes for, and he couldn't be more accepting of Craeg - the guy ends up with his future father-in-law's ceremonial sword (priceless family heirloom) on his hip for the escort duties.
And of course, Wrath, son of Wrath, sire of Wrath (you know you love me) ends the book on a high note by awarding Craeg a title for 'his services unto the Crown' (aka, you rubbed my back, I'll rub yours, and oh hey, you can marry Parry now, no problem about the snobs, you're welcome).
I did mention everyone had way too much fun with match-making, right?
We might not get to see all the brothers at once in this book, but we get enough of a feeling of them, and that one scene where they sit dejectedly outside the cinema waiting for the girls to finish watching Magic Mike was priceless. Not to mention, they have WAY too much fun with this training stuff. How many teachers do you know who would place bets on which of the brawling students was going to win the fight?
Rhage and Butch, everybody.
Honorary mention: Tohrment
“Why can’t I use my laptop to take notes?”
“Because the tap-tapping of a keyboard makes me want to get my shotgun. Do you feel like having a cranial leak tonight?”
If you have yet to start reading these books - please do so! Not only are they sexy, but they're incredibly funny, entertaining, and shed a different view of vampires to anything I've read so far.
Plus, who can say no to these brothers?
xx
*image not mine
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