Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood, #1
Traits & Tropes: instalove; hero is blind
Genre/Setting: Contemporary/Paranormal; New York, USA
Publication Date: 11.06.05
Heat Level: 4/5
Rating: 3/5
Narration Rating: 4/5
As the only remaining pureblood vampire, Wrath is the rightful king of his people, but he eschews that role in favor or an active role as a warrior. He serves as leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood fighting against a group of vampire slayers who are responsible for the deaths of many, including Wrath’s own parents. When one of his fellow warriors is murdered by slayers, he leaves behind a half-human daughter who has no idea of her vampire ancestry or that she’ll likely undergo the change herself soon. Though he initially turned down his friend’s request to help the woman through her transition, Wrath knows he owes it to his memory to see her safe.
Beth Randall is bogged down in the monotony of her routine and feeling an uncharacteristic restlessness. An unexpected visit from a mysterious man in black leaves her with way more questions than answers and, though she’s frightened, she somehow knows he won’t harm her. Wrath has every intention of leaving once Beth is through the change, but the connection between them makes that seem more and more impossible, even if it changes every aspect of their lives.
I finally listened to this on audio and it was very different from anything else I’ve read. This book was intense, both in terms of the sometimes-gruesome violence and in the connection between Wrath and Beth. Wrath’s strength juxtaposed with all his vulnerabilities was lovely and Beth’s acceptance and reassurance of him made their relationship enjoyable and believable. These two were explosive together but they were also so protective of each other that it wound up being very sweet.
There was also a lot of world building going on in other scenes that took time away from the romance but were likely needed to set things up for the rest of the series. That said, they did at times distract me and pull me out of the story with so many added viewpoints that sometimes simply ended without any room for connection to further books. I was more thrown off by some of the odd words and wording used here, for instance, shitkickers for boots (I presume), among others, but this was a glaring one. The dialogue oftentimes didn’t seem to fit with 300-year-old vampires. Along those lines, the warriors’ names were also total crazy sauce which, although fitting to the concept, made them hard to keep separate in my mind.
Overall, Beth and Wrath were sweet together, but they were very much an instalove relationship and I would’ve liked to see more of them connecting outside their intense sexual chemistry, beyond the one good conversational scene we really got. I found the characters of the brothers to be interesting and I may go back and read them later. This series is a lot and I purposely read some spoilers because if there’s no HEA, I’m not interested. If my MCs get an HEA in this book only to be killed off later in the series, it’s not worth it to me to read because I’ll never be satisfied by a happy for now ending. Given the length of this series, that sort of disappointment seems inevitable, especially since this version of vampire is fairly fragile. At this point, I’m not here for that sort of emotional attachment, though I’m interested in reading the stories for at least Zhadist, Rhage, and Phury later on. This book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, and I don’t think it lived up to its hype for me.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2490670720
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2552223738
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