Blood Kiss

FINAL DECISION: Loved this one. The combination of the new adult/next generation type story with Paradise and Craeg and a revisit with Butch and Marissa both gave the story continuity with the Black Dagger Brotherhood and the freshness of a new series not dependent upon the overarching storyline of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. THE STORY: Paradise, the only daughter of the vampire king's First Advisor, should be living a cloistered aristocratic life, but she wants something more. She has convinced her father to allow her to enter into the Black Dagger Brotherhood's training problem to learn to protect herself. Doing so goes against all sex and class expectations of Paradise. The training is incredibly difficult both physically and mentally but also because one of her fellow recruits has caught her eye. Craeg is from a middle class vampire family and has his own reasons from joining the program. That purpose does not include getting romantically involved with Paradise. But the heart wants what the heart wants. OPINION: I had expected that this book would exist in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world but would be almost entirely separate -- wrong. With the inclusion of the Butch and Marissa story, this book is very closely tied to the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The combination of these two stories give this book a closeness with the main series and yet also has a next generation feel. Paradise and Craeg are clearly of a different generation than the characters in the BDB. Their concerns, their values, their thoughts are shaped by the war with the Lessers including the large scale deaths of vampire families caused by them. That event has changed the cultural values of these younger vampires. Paradise is the perfect example. Raised to be a pretty object, she is restless and wants something more than the life that she was expected to live. More independent, more self-determinate, more willing to take on non-traditional roles and actions, Paradise is blazing her own trail and that includes finding her own male. Craeg is of the working class generation (one we haven't seen in the BDB). He is now alone in the world after the Lesser attacks. He is a natural leader and intends to use his training to get revenge for his family. He doesn't want any attachments which is why his fascination with Paradise dismays him. I liked the different pace of their relationship as their concerns are more personal, more coming of age first romance type. Their problems are quieter than the more angst driven BDB stories. I enjoyed the change and I think their classmates also have interesting stories which bodes well for the future of this series. WORTH MENTIONING: The secondary story involved Butch and Marissa, a violent death of a female vampire that needs investigating, Butch's issues with sexual roles of women, and Marissa's dealing with her own past. CONNECTED BOOKS: BLOOD KISS is the first book in the Black Dagger legacy series. This series is a spin-off of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. This series is still intimately connected with the Black Dagger Brotherhood even though its focus is on the new recruits but new readers could try this out as a first book. STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

Blood Kiss: Black Dagger Legacy, Book 1 Written by: J. R. Ward Narrated by: Jim Frangione The legacy of the Black Dagger Brotherhood continues in a spin-off series from the number-one New York Times best-selling author.... Paradise, blooded daughter of the king's first advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood's training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself...be herself. It's a good plan until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it's very clear that the brother in charge, Butch O'Neal, aka the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life. And that's before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated - and left wondering whether she's strong enough to claim her own power...on the field and off. Since I last saw J R Ward, at the King’s signing I’ve been on pins & needles for this book. The BDB has been one of my loves and I’ve been disheartened by how others have reacted to her writing since Payne’s story was released. In truth, I haven’t seen a shift in her writing, I believe she is writing what she sees in her mind; her sales have climbed not plummeted, so I don’t think she is wrong. The release of the Shadows brought to the forefront what many, including myself frown upon, the death of a character. Again in truth if this was not a novel but real life, there would not be a happy ending for each couple. I still have my reservations because I read to relief my daily stress and remove myself from reality. So there was much debate among fans as to ever picking up another one of her releases, including the Bourbon Kings, which shocked the paranormal fans, because it wasn’t paranormal. I love the way the Warden writes and expresses her characters, I also was a big fan of Dynasty and Dallas, and so the Bourbon Kings was great for me. But this release, Blood Kiss, is giving the very insatiable BDB fan in me what I need...a hit...a drag of my drug. The Warden did not disappoint, it also helped that I’m a Butch girl! Yeah, my boy was front and center in this story. Butch has come into his own as a vampire and a member of the Brotherhood; Marissa is finding her feet with the changes in hers. I love to see how their relationship has grown, the normalcy of it, if you can call vampires normal. The sex is hot! We get to see most of our boys making life at the mansion common place. Magic Mike movie night included! Latex, a sex club and solving a murder included! So, I went on and on about my boy Butch and his Mrs., but this story is actually about starting the next generation of the Brotherhood. Craeg and Paradise are our young modern couple. They are much younger than the founding members of the Brotherhood bring the values of the 20 set into focus. They also bring with them the prejudice of their upbringing and results of the raids. Paradise is a well bred Glymera girl with beauty grace and intelligence; Craeg is very blue collar, remind you of a certain couple? They have many relationship issues to work out but despite the issues the sex is hot! Paradise is attempting to overcome the gilded cage she’s been placed in by the society she lives in, thank the Scribed Virgin for her dad; while Craeg is suffering the pain of having lost his family not just due from the raids but the Glymera’s betrayal of the common vampire. I love this couple. Paradise is determined and spunky, waiting to claim life. Craeg is no slacker; he takes the program by the horns blasting everything that challenges him. He is a diamond in the rough learning to shine. The end of this story isn’t exactly HEA, it’s more of a “to be continued”. J. R. Ward gives us young blood that needs to be developed in an ongoing series in the mist of the Brotherhoods Training Center. She promises us more glimpses into the day to day in the Training Center as well as the Mansion. As always, I look forward to her stories. Did I mention the sex is hot! The Beast is next, Rhage & Mary revisited releases in March 2016. The Oracle (Maria Mercedes) All synopsis are published by the publishers via Amazon, Goodreads or Barnes & Noble. The Oracle Reviews: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=123753774330889&id=100001193049256#!/TheOracleReviews http://theoraclereviews.com/ Reviews can be viewed on The Oracle Reviews, Good Reads & Amazon. The Oracle Reviews purchases some titles, while others are provided via Netgalley, or the authors themselves. All opinions and reviews are our own, honest & from the heart.

non ho parole. o meglio. ce le ho e come! Libro fantastico, decisamente all'altezza dei precedenti. Continua la saga e l'autrice non si smentisce. non vedo l'ora che esca in italiano.

Al ser una saga intermedia de la hermandad pensé que sería aburrido y muy al contrario, que hermosa historia! Quiero leerlas todas. Además volver a revivir el romance de Butch y Marissa es un plus que no tiene precio. Completamente encantada con la saga

Excelente série. Adoro todos os livros. As histórias, que se passam em Caldwell, Nova Jersey - EUA, se desenrolam e se misturam livro após livro no universo criado pela autora.

Paradise hat es trotz aller Widerstände ihres Vaters ins Trainingsprogramm der Black Dagger Brotherhood geschafft. Als der wichtige Tag endlich gekommen ist, lernt sie die anderen Kandidaten kennen. Unter ihnen auch Peyton und Craeg, den sie sehnlichst erwartet hat. Die Aufnahmeprüfung hat es in sich. Die Neulinge werden an ihre körperlichen Grenzen und darüber hinaus gebracht. Nur ein Zehntel aller Teilnehmer wird auch tatsächlich angenommen. Paradise schafft es und ist stolz auf ihre Leistung. Neben ihr haben es auch Peyton und Craeg ins Team geschafft. Als die Ausbildung beginnt, erkennt sie, dass sie ihrem Vater nicht die ganze Wahrheit darüber erzählen darf, denn das Training ist hart und sehr körperlich, das würde ihm überhaupt nicht gefallen. Paradise empfindet den neuen Abschnitt in ihrem Leben sehr befreiend. Endlich darf sie Dinge tun, die sie eigentlich in ihrer gesellschaftlichen Stellung niemals tun dürfte. Deshalb sprengt sie auch die Ketten ihrer eingeschränkten Gefühle und lässt sich auf Craeg ein, obwohl er ihr von Beginn an klar erklärt, dass seine Rache an den Mördern seines Vater Priorität hat. Meine Meinung: Wieder einmal muss ich mir selbst die Frage stellen: Warum habe ich so lange gewartet das Buch zu lesen? Am Englischen kann es wirklich nicht liegen, denn sobald ich mal begonnen habe, bin ich sofort mitten drin und tue mir überhaupt nicht schwer! Wie auch immer - endlich ist es gelesen und kurz und knapp: Ich mag diese "Spin-Off Serie" Ich bin mir gar nicht so sicher, ob ich sie tatsächlich als eigenständige Serie sehen will. Es kamen alle bekannten Figuren vor. Die Brüder sind im Trainingsalltag involviert. Rhage hat ein paar wirklich witzige Miniauftritte, Tohr organisiert das Ganze, V glänzt wie immer, Lassiter benimmt sich daneben (ist auch nicht neues - aber ich liebe ihn dennoch) und Butch hängt den Oberlehrer raus. Er und Marissa nehmen einen größeren Part in der Geschichte ein. Zusätzlich erhalten wir weitere Einblicke in ihre Arbeit im Safe House. Ich wiederhole mich, Black Dagger zu lesen, ist für mich wie Heim kommen. Ich setze mich mit den Mitgliedern der Familie an den Tisch zum Last Meal, wechsle in den Nacht - Tag Rhythmus, leide mit allen mit und freue mich, wenn es gute Nachrichten gibt. Ich bin ein Fan und werde es sicherlich noch länger bleiben. Der nächste Teil soll im Dezember 2016 erscheinen und Blood Vow heißen.

Omg I have never read a book so fast that I literally couldn’t put it down. So many amazing parts with a lot of ups and some downs but by far a really good book that is apart of the BDB series