Tag: Paranormal Romance

Covet

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Covet by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Fallen Angels
Volume Number: 1
Genres: Angels, Contemporary, Demons, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-22821-5
Rating: 3.5/5
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Synopsis from the Book

Redemption isn’t a word Jim Heron knows much about – his specialty is revenge, and to him, sin is all relative. But everything changes when he becomes a fallen angel and is charged with saving the souls of seven people from the seven deadly sins. And failure is not an option.

Vin diPietro has surrendered himself to his business – until fate intervenes in the form of a tough-talking, Harley riding, self-professed savior, and a woman who makes him question his destiny. With an ancient evil ready to claim him, Vin has to work with a fallen angel not only to win his beloved over…but to redeem his very soul.

Personal & Info

I don’t remember how I came across this. I think it popped up as a recommendation on Goodreads because I’m reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Upon researching this series, the first thing I saw was people asking the relevance to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I’m not sure of the extent, yet, but this is definitely noticeably crossed. Timeline-wise, it’s recommended to read this series in tandem with the Black Dagger Brotherhood based on publication dates.

The series can probably be read without reading the BDB series, but if you choose to read it in tandem, like I am, Covet would be read after Lover Avenged. They mostly alternate except for after Rapture, at which point there are two BDB volumes before the next Fallen Angels book. Then it goes back to alternating every other single for the last two.

This review was originally typed based on memory in order to get some content on the site when it first went up. I have since reread the book, and will be rereading the other volumes as well. As a result, the reviews might receive tweaks or updates to improve them with a fresher memory.

Content Warnings

-Alcoholism
-Child Abuse
-Domestic Abuse
-Guns
-Kidnapping
-Sexual Content/Themes
-Violence

Characters

Jim Heron, the main character, is an ex-military special ops man, currently living his life aimlessly. The forces of good and evil choose him to act as a tie breaker in their endless war.

Adrian and Eddie, keeping it simple to avoid spoilers, are construction workers on Jim’s crew. They are the closest thing Jim has to friends. During my first read, I thought Adrian was annoying. He’s sassy, tone deaf, and often called an asshole. Eddie is more the stoic quiet type to balance out Adrian’s chaos.

Vin diPietro is a wealthy business man, whose soul is in need of saving. Jim’s construction crew is working on building his massive mansion.

Devina is Vin diPietro’s girlfriend.

Marie-Terese is a love interest who works at the Iron Mask. I think she first appears in a Black Dagger Brotherhood novel as a background character.

Trez, Marie-Terese’s boss and owner of the Iron Mask, is one of the characters introduced in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and appears multiple times throughout the book.

Nigel, Colin, Bertie(Albert), and Byron are the archangels leading the “good” side of the war. Nigel is essentially the team captain, while Colin seems to be the hotheaded more logical realist that keeps them all grounded.

Story & Thoughts

There is no mention of vampires in the entire book, but references to the BDB series constantly pop up in other ways. This book takes place in Caldwell, New York, the same place as the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Characters from the BDB books pop up everywhere, mostly by description, but Trez is just blatantly a side character in this. Trez is not a Brother, but he is a fairly significant character in the BDB series. Marie-Terese was straight-up literally introduced in the BDB series. I chose to read these as recommended, by publication order with the BDB series, and I think that was the right thing to do, so I will continue to do that.

An angel named Lassiter was introduced in, I think it was Lover Enshrined. He hasn’t had a big role in the BDB series yet, but I feel like reading these in tandem gives better insight into angels on both fronts. How they operate, what their abilities are, how their powers work, etc.

The story has a slow start, as most first books in a series do. It takes at least a good quarter of the book to really get going. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I enjoyed the story.

Even though Jim is the main character, he shares the spotlight. The romance of the book has nothing directly to do with him. He makes a joke at one point about playing cupid, and that kind of is his job. Part of his influence to save Vin’s soul is making sure he’s in a healthy romantic relationship.

After my reread, I don’t think Adrian is as annoying as I originally thought. He’s definitely a strong personality. However, if you think about it, as an example, if his singing is so bad, there’s nothing stopping them from just turning off the radio. Plus, he redeems himself multiple times and takes accountability for his actions.

I think it’s a little strange. If Jim is supposed to be a neutral party, someone demons and angels can both agree on for their savior candidate, why should he become a fallen angel as the synopsis says? Doesn’t that make him obviously lean one way over the other? It would make more sense if he stayed human. I guess it could just be that might have been the only way to keep him in the game.

Lover Avenged

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Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 7
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-22857-4
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

Rehvenge is used to living in the shadows and dealing with the roughest nightwalkers around – including the Black Dagger Brotherhood. His fearless reputation is why he’s approached to kill the race’s king, and his bad side is dying to rise to the occasion. As his secret identity as a sympath is threatened, he turns to the only light in his ever darkening world – a female vampire untouched by corruption and the only thing standing between him and eternal destruction.

Personal & Info

At this point, all the primary Brothers have been covered. Now close friends, recruits, and/or family (if they have any) of the Brotherhood are getting some of their own books. My notes for this one were practically non-existent, and I read it last November, so I’ll do my best.

There’s a coded message in the vampire language before chapter one. In case anyone is curious and/or does not have the Insider’s Guide, which I will not be reviewing, I’ll put a direct translation here. I didn’t check for punctuation, and I’m not going to go back and see if there was any. Yes, the typo in the text below was there. I translated it as is, according to my own physical copy.

NO STRONGER ALLIES
NO GREATER FRIENDS
NO BETTER FIGHTERS
OF HONOR COULD A
KING BEHOLD THAN
THESE ASSEMLED
AFORE ME MINE
BROTHERS MINE
BLOOD NO STRONGER
ALLIES NO GREATER
FRIENDS NO BETTER
FIGHTERS OF HONOR
COULD A KING
BEHOLD THAN THESE
ASSEMBLED AFORE ME
MINE BROTHERS MINE

Content Warnings

I’m just keeping a running list of content warnings that have been in the series so far, from what I can remember. If you’re reading the series, or considering reading the series, and you have sensitivities, you might want to know these. The list so far: abuse, attempted rape, drugs, kidnapping, sexual themes, rape, and violence.

Characters

Rehvenge is not a brother, but he is the lead for this book. I’d say he experiences lots of character growth.

Ehlena is a the love interest. She’s a nurse who works at Havers’ clinic, and a member of the glymera whom has fallen on hard times.

Wrath struggles with his role as king, wishing to be out in the field with the Brothers, and life throws him a curve ball.

John Matthew’s book is next, so he’s pretty significant in this one as the final prep for that is taken care of.

Xhex is very obviously going to be John’s love interest, and as a close friend of Rehv, she plays a big role here, and we get to learn a lot more about her as a character.

Lash looks like he’s going to be the primary villain for a while, big promotion from small time bully.

Story & Thoughts

I felt like this one dragged a little in the middle, not a lot, just enough to notice.

It was interesting to see the softer side of Rehv. Before this book, he was always portrayed as an intimidating drug lord, or an overbearing and overprotective older brother.

We started to get an idea of Rehv’s life in some of the previous volumes, but we get an even deeper delve in this one. Because Rehv is half sympath, he must deal with that side of his nature. He can’t be happy with anyone the way things are either, so he must remedy his blackmail situation, and do something about the sympath colony. All while choosing a side: the king, or the council.

More drama ensues around John, Blay, and Qhuinn. Honestly, their sections are part of what I look forward to in every book. It’s unfortunate those parts are minor background plot building. I’m sure they’ll culminate into something later. I just hate the wait.

Notable Issues

I think some details are getting a little warped. Books 1-6 solidly described lessers as smelling like baby powder. This book kind of got away from that a bit, specifically in the early sections.

The mechanics on being able to sense people via feeding has been rather non-specific. I haven’t been reading these immediately consecutive, so my memory might be a little off, but I thought both people had to feed in order to be able to both sense each other. Like, in an earlier volume, Phury fed off Bella, right? And because of that, she could sense where he was. And the BDB ritual includes all the Brothers ingesting the blood of each member, so they can all sense each other.

That leads me to be confused on why it seemed, in this book, using the Phury/Bella example, it was portrayed as, hypothetically, Phury being able to sense where Bella would be. I apologize if my explanation is confusing. I’m trying to explain without using a spoiler as the example. It just seems like the mechanics have either been changed or not specifically explained. If it functions the way it seems to in this book, then it makes the ingestion in the BDB ritual seem pointless.

Lover Enshrined

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Lover Enshrined by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 6
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-22272-5
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood’s bloodlines alive. As primale of the Chosen, he is obligated to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive, and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.

As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body but his heart for herself. She is drawn to the noble responsibility behind the emotionally scarred male. But Phury has never allowed himself to know pleasure or joy. As the war with the Lessening Society grows grim, tragedy looms over the Brotherhood’s mansion, and Phury must decide between duty and love….

Personal & Info

As with the others, I read this over a year ago, and my notes are essentially nonexistent. I’m doing these regardless to get caught up to the volume I’m currently reading. I will do my best based on skimming and memory. It’s been a while, though, so don’t expect anything amazing.

Content Warnings

I’m just keeping a running list of content warnings that have been in the series so far, from what I can remember. If you’re reading the series, or considering reading the series, and you have sensitivities, you might want to know these. The list so far: abuse, attempted rape, drugs, kidnapping, sexual themes, rape, and violence.

Characters

Phury is the Brother for this book. He’s the final of the original six. After this one the series goes on to include new recruits and/or close friends of the Brotherhood.

Cormia is the love interest for this volume. She was introduced in the previous book, Lover Unbound, as the Chosen intended to be the first mate of the Primale.

Zsadist, because you can’t have a Phury story without Z. Phury had to put up with his trauma crap, now Z has to put up with Phury’s trauma crap.

Rehvenge, because he’s been Phury’s dealer since day one, and his book is after this one.

John Matthew continues his plot building. He has a very obvious crush.

Qhuinn, we get to see deeper into his home life. It’s not pretty.

Lash continues to be a bully.

Story & Thoughts

I like this book, but it definitely has its problems. It attempts to tackle drug addiction as a theme for Phury. He’s been smoking something called red smoke since early on in the series. I specifically recall the earlier books describing red smoke as less dangerous and less potent than marijuana. That information was completely thrown out the window here.

Red smoke is his primary addiction, and is shown to be much worse than marijuana, if you know anything about it. This inconsistency put a damper on the whole book for me. It changed a fact to create drama for the story. Phury is portrayed as a legitimate drug addict despite previous information. It’s used as a means to encourage him to try something harder. If you’re sensitive to drug related stories, this book might not sit well with you.

My notes say I found parts repetitive, but I can’t remember if that’s the drug related parts specifically or not. If it is, then it’s likely referring to relapse sections. Relapses are a realistic thing and all, but they’re not always engaging to read.

John, Qhuinn, Lash, and Blay all have significant story in this volume. I remember looking forward to those sections more than Phury’s.

Sympaths get more in depth coverage in this volume, too. Rehvenge’s book is after this one, so this book covers all the necessary story preparations for that. There’s also a closer look at his staff, like Xhex, Trez, and iAm, who all work at his club. This does not mean his employees are sympaths, it just means they’re relevant to him specifically, because they are his trusted inner circle.

Lover Unbound

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Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 5
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-22235-0
Rating: 3/5
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Description from the Book

In Caldwell, New York, war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Now the cold heart of a cunning predator will be warmed against its will….

Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous, son of the Bloodletter possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father’s war camp, he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time – until a destiny he didn’t choose takes him into a future that cannot include her….

Personal & Info

I like this one, but I don’t think it’s as good as two through four. Like the others, I read this about a year ago. My notes for this volume are practically nonexistent, so I’ll do my best with skimming and memory.

Content Warnings

I’m just keeping a running list of content warnings that have been in the series so far, from what I can remember. If you’re reading the series, or considering reading the series, and you have sensitivities, you might want to know these. The list so far: abuse, attempted rape, drugs, kidnapping, sexual themes, rape, and violence.

Characters

Vishous is the lead Brother in this volume, which I think is a good thing, because Butch was the book before this one. I’m glad V doesn’t have to wait a long time after Butch to find happiness.

Dr. Jane Whitcomb, or Doc Jane, as everyone will come to call her, is the love interest. She experienced a family tragedy when she was young that encouraged her to become a doctor. Her personal ethics as a medical professional are strong.

Butch, can’t have a V story without Butch. He may have found his own love, but the bromance lives on.

John Matthew will likely be important in every book until his own novel. He’s not usually plot heavy important, but the build up of his story is likely important. Qhuinn and Blay, too, because the three of them are like a packaged deal.

Phury’s book is next so he’s getting more plot building. Phury plot stuff means more Zsadist plot stuff. Phury still pines after Bella while Z’s relationship with her just keeps getting better.

Cormia is the chosen of the Chosen. She is supposed to be the first mate to the Primale of the vampire species, but she doesn’t want the job. I won’t say more about what any of that means to avoid possible spoilers.

Story & Thoughts

There were only one or two tiny encounters with the Lessers. It’s like this book was a complete break from the usual villains being involved in anything. Every book before this one had significant Lesser activities throughout. It seemed odd with it missing.

The Brotherhood, and Vishous’ backstory are the primary focus for this volume. As with Lover Awakened, this volume has some heavier abuse themes. V did not have a good time in his father’s camp.

The pacing of romantic and erotic events seem a bit fast. I think Stockholm syndrome plays a big part in it.

Ever since John was introduced, a mass sprinkling of details and plot building for him has been going on in the background. His sections are some of my favorite parts. I love how Z takes the time to go for walks with John and talk with him. It’s very adoptive dad of him.

I’m baffled by the constant mentioning of the need for more warriors, yet the members of the Brotherhood are constantly given permission to have Shellans who can’t bare children. It’s not all of them. Wrath and Beth, for example, could feasibly have children. But it seems like most, if not all of the Brothers, don’t have any living family, so they are all the last of their lines. It makes me wonder if they should, or will, take more than one mate in the future. I doubt it, but the lore says males can do that. It seems a shame to let their lines die out if they are so important.

Lover Revealed

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Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 4
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-22968-7
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. But now an ally of the brotherhood is about to encounter his own dark desires….

Butch O’Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he’s the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world – to engage in the turf war with the lessers. He’s got nothing to lose. His heart belongs to a female vampire, an aristocratic beauty who’s way out of his league. If he can’t have Marissa, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers….

Fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he’s found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back. But even her love may not be enough to save him….

Personal & Info

Again, for the third in a row, my copy has a different Signet logo.

It’s been over a year since I read this one. Unfortunately, my notes are practically nonexistent, so I can’t guarantee I will have much to say. I remember I like this volume. I gave it a 4/5, but I think I like Lover Eternal more, which also has a 4/5.

Content Warnings

At this point, I’m just keeping a running list of content warnings that have been in the series so far, from what I can remember. If you’re reading the series, or considering reading the series, and you have sensitivities, you might want to know these. The list so far: abuse, attempted rape, drugs, kidnapping, sexual themes, rape, and violence.

Characters

Butch is the male lead for this book. He’s not a Brother, but he’s been around since volume one, so I suppose he deserves one. It would make little sense to keep him around if he didn’t get his own story at some point. If I recall correctly, Butch opens up about his not so great family to teach us a bit more about his background.

Vishous and Butch have a hard core bromance going, so it would be hard to have a Butch story without significantly including V.

Marissa has also been around since the first volume. I felt bad for her, so I’m glad she gets her own love story. She’s had to wait far too long.

Havers, Marissa’s brother, obviously would need to be in a story where she is significant. He’s not a character I ever liked, and he doesn’t make himself any more likable in this volume.

Rehvenge will probably be a consistently mentioned character since his sister Bella is with a Brother from the pervious book. He has connections in multiple parts of the story, because he also deals red smoke to Phury.

John Matthew seems to be significant in every book. There’s a slow build going on with his story leading up to his book, which is…volume eight, according to a series list.

Xhex is introduced early on in this one. I can’t remember for sure, but I don’t think she was mentioned much, if at all, before this volume. She is head of security at Rehvenge’s club.

Qhuinn, I think, is introduced in this volume. I couldn’t find his name from skimming until now, so that’s what I’m assuming. He and Blaylock are best friends, and will be around John a lot, because it seems they are the friends he’s made in class.

Story & Thoughts

I’d say this is the first book where the Omega makes a move personally. Or at least a significant move not orchestrated and carried out by his army. Is it really to his advantage? I’m not so sure.

Butch and Marissa make a good couple, but they’re terrible at communicating. Most of their drama stems from lack of communication. It’s a cliché in romance. They work it out eventually, because as a romance it has to have an HEA, but I think it’s strange how difficult a time they had being open with each other initially.

Honestly, I would have also been fine with V and Butch being paired. I think they would have made a good couple. They already have good banter and a blatantly obvious bromance.

John’s had a crappy life. It’s unfortunate he has to deal with depression and bullies right when things start looking up.

Lover Awakened

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Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 3
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-21936-7
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book

In the Shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, a deadly turf war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion and terror his only passion – until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for each other begins to overtake them, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives them to the brink of madness. Now Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past and find a future with her….

Personal & Info

I’ve noticed some of the volumes I have don’t match any other cover images. I want to be accurate to which edition I read, so I’m taking a picture of the books for the ones of which I can’t find an accurate representation. For this particular series, it looks like a chunk of the copies I have contain a different Signet logo than other copies. I think, maybe, the copies I have use an outdated logo.

This volume is another one of my favorites. I don’t think I can choose between Lover Eternal and Lover Awakened. This one has a lot of abuse themes in it, so if you don’t like that kind of story, you might not like this volume. However, this one appears to be a fan favorite from what I’ve seen.

Content Warnings

At this point, I’m just keeping a running list of content warnings that have been in the series so far, from what I can remember. If you’re reading the series, or considering reading the series, and you have sensitivities, you might want to know these. The list so far: abuse, attempted rape, drugs, kidnapping, sexual themes, rape, and violence.

Characters

Zsadist is the primary Brother for this volume. We get to dig past his temper and hard shell to see his traumatic past and how he copes. The supposedly scariest and most intimidating of the Brothers has a softer side, and we get to see it.

Bella, who previously just wanted to dance with danger by flirting with Zsadist in the last book, has some trauma of her own. If there’s someone out there for him, it’s her. I think her recent experiences make her more suited to him. She may not have been a good match before.

Rehvenge, Bella’s brother. I can’t remember if he had any significant role in the first two books, but he’s in this one, so I should probably add drugs to the trigger warnings. Can’t have Rehv in the books without drugs.

Tohrment, this book is both a great and terrible time for Tohr…

Phury, you can’t have a Z story without Phury. They are far too close for that to be permissible.

Blaylock will be significant later. He’s one of John’s classmates.

Lash is an a-hole, whom, unfortunately, will be significant.

Story & Thoughts

This series keeps getting better as it goes. This volume has drama as Zsadist and Phury are so similar as twins they even have the same taste in women. Their history is revealed in a series of flashbacks cluing the reader in on Zsadist’s traumatic past, and Phury’s quest to find him. It’s impossible to learn more about one of them without including the other. They’re twins and therefore their lives are eternally linked.

I think this book is as much about Zsadist’s character development as it is the romance. Z has leaps and bounds of character growth, and so does Bella. Two traumatized people learn to help and love each other. Of course, the love part gets an assisted boost as the series shows a needing for the first time. It’s pretty extreme.

Substantial plot building has been laid out over the course of the first three volumes, and I’m interested to see where things go. I’m hooked on the series, and don’t plan to stop reading any time soon.

I thought I adjusted to the terminology and slang in this series. I was proven wrong in this volume. In John’s sections, he mentions the use of “ji” for martial arts. I’m certain this term is incorrect. It should be a “gi.” I did some googling to make sure. It bugged me every time I read it, and it will continue to bug me every time I see it.

Sometimes I think words are abbreviated for no reason other than to make characters or the writing sound cooler. This guy was using binoculars, but they were constantly referred to as “binocs.” I’ve never heard anyone call them that. I don’t know if it’s a common term abbreviation, but I suspect not.

This book was very close to a 5/5, but I couldn’t get past enough small oddities to approve that score.

Lover Eternal

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Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 2
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-21804-9
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He’s the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover – for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the times when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships, is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage’s protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage’s intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves….

Personal & Info

It’s been a little over a year since I read this, but I clearly remember it’s one of my favorite volumes in the series so far. I want to catch up on these reviews before I continue reading the series at volume eleven, so I’m going to do my best to try to make some coherent sense despite the lengthy gap of time between now and when I read this.

Content Warnings

I’m not sure how important content warnings are. I know they’re important to some people, and others don’t care. There are a few things in this book that might raise some flags for certain types of people. I’m not used to covering content warnings, and I can’t remember everything that happened in the book. I’ll just keep a running list of all the possible triggers I’ve seen (that I remember) in the series as I go. Remember, I haven’t read this in about a year, so I might forget or miss some.

Triggers in the series so far: attempted rape, rape, sexual themes, violence, and kidnapping.

Characters

Rhage is the primary Brother for the romance in this book, and probably my favorite of the six. I definitely like him more than Wrath. Rhage can be a little creep-o sometimes, but I love most of his interactions with Mary, and getting to know his character better.

Zsadist a.k.a Z, gets a more in depth introduction in this book. His book is the one after this, so this one sets up events for that one.

Mary Luce is obviously the love interest. She’s a cancer survivor who works at a suicide hotline. Her house sounds super cozy.

John Matthew is a significant character, with a traumatic backstory, introduced in this volume. The most important thing to know about him that is not a spoiler is he speaks with sign language.

Bella…I don’t remember her family name. Not important, she’s Bella, that’s all that matters. Bella is a lady vampire introduced in this volume. She wants adventure, or a bad boy in her life.

Mr. O is a new guy on the villain’s side. He’s kind of creepy. I’ll leave it at that.

Story & Thoughts

I think this book is better than volume one. That’s usually the case with most series, because the first volume typically has a lot of work to do with character introductions and world building. The story starts out quicker than the first book. Characters are introduced faster, and they meet sooner. All the setting groundwork and initial character introductions are already done, so the pacing for this volume is better.

As with the first book, there are plenty of sexy bits. I’m sure you can expect that as a running theme considering the erotica genre.

I’m not entirely pleased with the ending. No spoiler, but this one is open ended. It sets up the next book, so there’s a major cliff hanger to lead into it. The love story for the volume is completely finished, though.

After reading the first book, I’m used to most of the edge and cringe speak. This one feels overall less edgy and less cringe. The way Vishous always says, “True?” at the end of most of his dialogue is hard to get past, though. At this volume, I was still adjusting to that. I think I did get used to it eventually (since I’m farther into the series at the time I’m typing this).

The Cat Proposed

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The Cat Proposed by Dento Hayane
Genres: BL, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Supernatural
Intended Age Group: 16 & up
Publisher: Tokyopop
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 9781427867483
Rating: 4/5
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Description from the Book

Matoi Souta is an overworked salaryman tired of his life. On his way home from a long day of work one day, he decides to watch a traditional Japanese play. But something strange happens…He could have sworn one of the actors had cat ears!

It turns out that the man is actually a bakeneko – a shapeshifting cat from Japanese folklore. And then, the cat speaks: “Starting today, you’ll be my mate!”

Personal & Info

I heard Tokyopop has been releasing some good yaoi/BL stuff, and this is a stand alone manga, so I got it to try. This was at the top of my list when I decided to make my blog. I was too tired to read it for a while, so I mostly just flipped through it on occasion until I got around to it. I love the artwork.

The color picture in the front is the same as the cover image for the first chapter, but they have subtle differences. For example, the shape of Souta’s eyes, and Kihachi’s smile shows teeth in the color image, but has none in the black and white image. Kihachi’s fingers also look different between the two. I think one of them was a redraw. I have no issue with this, it was just something interesting I noticed.

Characters

There are four significant characters in this book. Kihachi is the cat. He’s the dark haired guy on the cover. I both loved and hated his design at first. After reading, it’s just love now. I’m pretty sure he’s my favorite character in the book, too. Kihachi loves stories, and is a professional story teller. The synopsis is a little misleading, because it’s worded to make it sound like Souta finds him at a play. It’s not a play, and there are no other actors, it’s a story telling event.

Souta is the overworked guy wearing a tie on the cover. Overworked is an understatement when describing Souta. Contemplating death to get some sleep is pretty extreme. He’s basically worked himself into the ground and didn’t realize it because adrenaline was keeping him going. I thought he was the cat character at a glance, because he’s the one doing a cat pose. He’s just a kind and shy dude. The tie should have given him away as the overworked salaryman.

Yamabuki a.k.a The Ryokan Cat, is a nosey bakeneko with two different colored ears.

Kikkyou is an eccentric old bakeneko lady.

Story & Thoughts

I hadn’t heard of a bakeneko before, but I certainly wasn’t expecting a human sized bipedal cat. The description certainly did not imply that. If you already know what a bakeneko is, it’s likely not a surprise. If you don’t, the book does explain it. However, the bakeneko have their human ears at the same time as their cat ears, that’s pretty weird. They have interesting traditions for interspecies marriages, though. I think Souta is slightly permanently altered from the experience. I can’t think of any other reason a human would be able to literally purr.

The story was cute. It’s an adorable tale of finding love unexpectedly. Each chapter is a “story” so there is no solid time table to know how long they were together between each. This also makes it feel like it progressed quicker, even though it’s paced quickly already.

There are some forward thinking ideals mentioned early on (good things), like gender/sex being insignificant for mate choice, and thinking of people for who they are instead of what they are. It also touches on encouraging a healthy balance between life and work. As someone who lives in America, the toxic work ethic hits a bit close to home.

This isn’t really a spoiler as much as it is pointing out a trope. There’s a lack of communication that causes most of the drama. For various reasons, both characters neglect to tell each other what is really important. If you don’t like stories that use that trope, this probably isn’t for you.

I came across the word bakemono in chapter 5. I wasn’t sure if it was a typo or not, so I looked it up. It was not a typo. It means a state of transformation or shapeshifting. So, in case anyone else wondered.

There’s a bonus chapter in the back called, “The Story of Their First Night Together.” It’s not long, and I think it belongs sandwiched somewhere in chapter seven. It’s an intimate scene, but it doesn’t show anything graphic. It has a lot of sexual implications and heavy breathing. The rest of the book doesn’t have anything like that. It’s the only scene you get for anything past kissing.

The image of the tuxedo cat and the sparrow on the back cover makes a lot of sense after reading the book.

Dark Lover

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Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 1
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet Eclipse/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 0-451-21695-4
Rating: 3.5/5
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Description from the Book

In the Shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood…

The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed – orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate – Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead…

Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn’t there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both…

Personal & Info

The blog does not line up well with my reading of this series. I was a ways into it before I even started thinking about making a blog. At the time I’m typing this, I’m ten books in, and actively reading the series. However, I feel like I should include the series in my reviews, so I’m going to try to go back and look at my pitiful notes and muddle my way through to get caught up.

I’d heard this series was good, but I never went out of my way to buy it. That is, until I found a deal on getting the first several volumes cheap. I jumped on the opportunity, and I don’t regret it. With this in mind, you can be sure the editions I have, for at least the first few, are likely outdated. I don’t think you can even find this edition in stores anymore. If you go looking for this book, you’ll find an updated cover that looks nothing like this one.

Content Warnings

I’m not sure how important content warnings are. I know they’re important to some people, and others don’t care. There are a few things in this book that might raise some flags for certain types of people. I’m not used to covering content warnings, but I’ll do my best for this. Remember, I haven’t read this in about a year, so I might forget or miss some. Anyway, here they are: attempted rape, sexual themes, violence, and kidnapping.

Characters

Beth and Wrath are the main characters here, obviously. I remember I like Beth. Wrath did a few things that could be considered creepy. I think Tohr was also significant. He was the only one Wrath trusted to keep an eye on Beth, because Tohr is already married. If you like dominant and possessive men, this is definitely for you.

Some of the other brothers, if not all (I can’t remember), were introduced. I’m almost positive it was all of them. Their names couldn’t possibly be any “edgier.” They’re so edgy it’s comical. Here are their names: Wrath, Tohrment, Rhage, Vishous, Zsadist, and Phury. I got used to it after a while. Most of them use abbreviations, so that helps.

There’s a loose cannon cop named Butch, always a good trope.

Mr. X is the villain of the story, and by villain I mean the right hand man of the guy who is the real villain, but we don’t exactly see the real villain much. His perspective gives us insight into how the slayers, or Lessers, as they are called, operate.

Story & Thoughts

Story-wise, I think the book started a bit slow. There were, maybe, 4-8 different perspectives for converging events, so there was a lot of ground for plot and lore to cover before things got good. To try to name some of the perspectives, I think they were Beth, Wrath, Marissa, Mr. X, Butch, Havers, and José de la Cruz. If there were more, I can’t remember, and I don’t care enough to check the book more thoroughly. If you get confused by books that have multiple perspectives being swapped all the time, this might not be for you. I personally like books that tell stories that way. I don’t know why, I just do, so it didn’t bother me. However, in regards to the pacing and plot prep and everything, I wasn’t expecting two thirds of the book to go by before Beth’s transition.

There are plenty of sexy bits in the story. Most of the time they contribute to the story or character development in some way. That’s why it’s considered erotica. To be an erotica, the sexual parts of a story have to be important to the plot. They definitely are for this, even if some of them weren’t exactly the most natural or reasonable implementations (refer to what I said about Wrath doing a few things that can be considered creepy).

I have to say, this book was also memorable because of the writing. There were typos, but there are bound to be typos in any book, especially early editions, like I think this one was. Some of the word choices though, were odd. I don’t have any examples off hand, but some of the slang is very dated. Maybe it wasn’t at the time this was published, I’m not sure. The slang was definitely dated enough to be cringe-worthy. I couldn’t help giggling while I read.

Something else to know, there’s a glossary in the front of the book. Ward created words for the Vampire language that will be frequently used. They’re easy enough to remember, but if you forget, it’s there to refresh your memory. Some words are similar to the English language, that’s intentional. I can’t remember if it’s in this book or another, but they clarify why that is.