Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1) by JR WARD [REVIEW + GIVEAWAY]

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, a.k.a. 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.





5 Recruit me Stars

I love JR WARD and I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood (BDB) series. Blood Kiss is a spin-off from the BDB series. You do not need to read the BDB books, however you get the full effect if you do. Blood Kiss is part of the Black Dagger Legacy.  These books will focus on the new recruits to the BDB.  You still get plenty of the original characters and of course a new love storyline. So it’s like having your cake and eating it twice!

Most of the book is about Paradise and Craeg, but just like JR WARD fashion she writes heavily on secondary characters and a huge chunk of the book is focused on Butch and Marissa. Again, I totally loved this.

Paradise is an aristocrat, but she’s not the typical one. She doesn’t want to simply keep house clean and make babies, no, she wants to fight, protect and serve. She recruits into the BDB training program and lands a coveted spot.

Craeg is a commoner, he has no title or status, but a chip on his shoulder. He’s strong and has the presence to be a leader. He makes it into the BDB training program and out of the two females that made it into the group he only has eyes for Paradise.

I gobbled this book up like mad. I couldn’t put it down and I read it in one sitting. JR WARD has a way in sucking you into these fantastic worlds. Like I said, I love the BDB books and Blood Kiss held up to any expectations I had. Blood Kiss felt like it got back to the original BDB roots, where everything is fresh and the drama is there, but at a minimal.

I adore Paradise. I love how strong, independent and strong-minded she was. I loved that even though she’s very rich and she could have any guy she wanted, she had a crush on Craeg. I couldn’t get enough of Craeg, he’s charming, and a mean guy and the Hero you want to punch and suck faces with at the same time. He doesn’t want anything to do with Paradise because he doesn’t do relationships. He’s on a mission and nothing is going to stop him, but Paradise’s kindness and persistence is hard to say no to.

Paradise and Craeg’s attraction towards each other was off the charts hot. My favorite thing about JR WARD books is all the tension she creates! I was salivating as I was reading.  I enjoyed the explosive chemistry they had.

“Do you like playing with fire girl? … Because if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to burn you to the ground”

During all of this Butch and Marissa face some relationship obstacles and it doesn’t drive a wedge between the two, but it definitely creates friction and yummy story-line. I love that JR WARD continued the couple’s story and it made the relationship in my eyes more real. Butch still has issues in never feeling good enough for Marissa and Marissa deals with Butch sometimes irrational behavior.

Overall, this book was delicious. I am completely 100% satisfied and it just makes me want to reread the BDB series again.

An ARC was provided


Paperback Giveaway on my Facebook Page HERE 



PURCHASE
AMAZON (KINDLE) | AMAZON (HARDCOVER)

J.R. Ward is a #1 New York Times bestselling author with more than 15 million novels in print published in 25 different countries around the world.  A graduate of Smith College, she currently lives in Kentucky where she has learned to enjoy and appreciate all things Southern.  Prior to becoming an expat Yankee, she worked as a lawyer in Boston and spent many years as the Chief of Staff of one of Harvard’s world-renowned academic medical centers. 

Ward has always had a passion for writing.  After a decade of drafting stories in her spare time, she became a full-time novelist, and her first published novel, Leaping Hearts, was released in 2002.  Under the name Jessica Bird she wrote nine contemporary romances, and then got the idea for a darker, sexier series with paranormal elements, featuring a group of warrior vampires.  The Black Dagger Brotherhood was born.

The reader reaction to the series was immediate, spectacular and obsessive.  The fourth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Lover Revealed, hit the New York Times mass market fiction bestseller list and since then, Ward’s novels have held the #1 spot on the New York Times hardcover, mass market, eBook, and combined print/eBook fiction bestseller lists and have debuted in the top 5 on the USA Today bestseller list.

This summer Ward introduces a new contemporary series set in her adopted home state of Kentucky with the novel The Bourbon Kings.  The series will follow the intertwined and scandalous fortunes of several ultrawealthy Kentucky families who have made their fortunes from bourbon.
J.R. Ward lives with her husband, daughter and their beloved golden retriever, as well as many other dogs, in Kentucky.  Visit her popular website and fan community at www.jrward.com and facebook.com/JRWardBooks.

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J.R. WARD


 

REVIEW of Books #1 Through #11 -> HERE

Dark Lover #1  AMAZON | Lover Eternal #2  AMAZON | Lover Awakened #3 AMAZON
Lover Revealed #4 AMAZON | Lover Unbound #5  AMAZON | Lover Enshrined #6  AMAZON
Lover Avenged #7  AMAZON | Lover Mine #8  AMAZON | Lover Unleashed #9 AMAZON
Lover Reborn #10  AMAZON | Lover At Last #11  AMAZON | The King #12 AMAZON
The Shadows #13 AMAZON 


AMAZON (KINDLE) | AMAZON (HARDCOVER)

4 comments:

  1. I'm loving this one <3 Great review, JR!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the review! I have to read, as I am new to JR. Loveeeeee!

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  3. I can't wait to read this book!!! Love the Brothers, so anything that continues their world is awesome!

    ReplyDelete