BLOOD KISS (BLACK DAGGER LEGACY BOOK #1)

Title: Blood Kiss
Series: Black Dagger Legacy Book 1
Author: J.R. Ward
Genre: Paranormal

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.

Heather’s Thoughts: I've had a love hate relationship with the Black Dagger Brotherhood ever since V's book. At one point I refused to read her ever again. I was however talked into reading Payne's book, which I loved.

Since then I've gone into each book expecting to hate it, that way when I liked or loved one my feelings were honest. It also means I was free to hate it if I wanted. Believe me there have books I've not necessarily hated but not loved in this series.

From the moment I found out about this book I've been excited, as the brothers were going back to what they were when I first fell in love with them.

Unlike the last few books in her BDB series, Blood Kiss only has TWO story lines and they run parallel to each other. Butch and Marissa and Paradise and Craeg.

The first book I read in the BDB series was Butch and Marissa's...I know I know it's the fourth book and HOW could I? In my defense I'd checked it out of the library and that was the only one they had. But that was all it took, I was hooked. So to go back to Butch and Marissa and to see where they are in their mating was one of my favorite parts. What I particularly loved was how their mating has hit a rough patch, like all relationships do. Their problems aren't huge, but how each of them deal with what is going on impacted their relationship.

I enjoyed this glimpse into their relationship. And yes they deal with that pedastal Butch has Marissa on. 

Paradise and Craeg, I have a feeling about these two, and that they are going to be one of my favorite couples in this series.

When they met in The Shadows, I really hoped that they would hook-up because hello, that pulse between them leapt off the page. I had a feeling, hope really, that they'd hook up and their road to HEA would be what had me initially falling in love/obsession with this series.

It was that and so much more.

For the first time we get to see how the massacres from the Lessers affected the lower classes, and man is it heartbreaking, but it also gave us some great characters like Craeg and  Axe, who's story I can't wait for because of something that happens with him and Butch.

One of the things I liked about this book was how Butch reacted to not just all the recruits, but Craeg and Axe. It showed us how he would be as a big brother, father. There's this scene between Butch and Craeg towards the end that is just awesome.

The rest of the brothers are there, though the ones who get any real page time are V and Lassiter...except for the Magic Mike scene. There's also a hilarious scene with Lassiter and Marissa.

If you didn't just love but wanted to have babies with the first five books in the BDB series you won't want to miss this book as it reads like those earlier books.

Blood Kiss is Ward doing what she does best, give us characters we love, with story lines that have us laughing, crying and cheering.

Grade A

Heather normally reviews for TheBook Reading Gals.