Blood Kiss

Black Dagger Legacy, Book #1

By J.R. Ward

ISBN# 9780451475329

Author’s Website:  http://www.jrward.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

I was so excited when this book showed up on my doorstep a week or so ago.  Sealed with a kiss (or two) and came with my invitation to the training program!  I was pumped and got to make some of my friends jealous for getting it early too.  All perks of the job:)  I couldn’t wait to tear right in and immerse myself in the Black Dagger World once again.

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is finally bringing back their training program!  And, this time anybody who wants to can apply, regardless of pedigree or gender.  And, Paradise can’t wait to show everyone what she’s got and to prove she has what it takes to fight alongside the best of them and help her race.  As long as her father doesn’t pull her from the program that is…

The Brotherhood quickly narrows the field of over 60 trainees down to just seven with their grueling tests.  And, what do you know? Paradise not only makes the cut, but is the last trainee standing!  Also making the cut is her friend, Peyton, and the sexy commoner that came and got an application from her at the audience house, Craeg.

Craeg and Paradise both have an instant attraction to one another, and he even bonds with her.  But will it all come crashing down around them, once he finds out the truth she’s been keeping from him?

Meanwhile Butch and Marissa are having their own relationship problems.  They’ve become distant as of late, neither knowing exactly how to fix it.  But they come together now to try to figure out who beat the unrecognizable woman who crawled (yes CRAWLED) to Safe Place, the one that Marissa and her staff, and even her brother, where unable to save.

I really enjoyed this book!  I absolutely loved the relationship between Paradise and Craeg and this book left me wanting more of them!!  I found myself rushing through the Marissa and Butch scenes just so I could get to more on Craeg and Paradise!

Craeg was a commoner, losing his entire family during the raids brought him to the training program so he could learn what he needs to know and be able to avhenge their deaths, especially his father who was locked out of the safe room in the home he was working at the day of the raids, left to be slaughtered. Craeg knew from the start that Paradise would be a distraction, but his brain just couldn’t override his body’s desires when it came to the blonde bombshell.  He was sexy and level-headed (except when it came to members of the glymera, but who can blame him?) and I absolutely adored him.

The original Black Dagger Brotherhood series has added so many storylines into it that it can be hard to keep up, and we’re starting to see less and less focus on the main couple of each book.  So it’s nice to see it scaled back down in this series.  We mainly just saw Craeg and Paradise and Butch and Marissa.  And the girls movie night (along with the boys’ reactions) was a hoot!  I also think this series will be great for adding new blood into the brotherhood.

There wasn’t as much sex in this one as I’m used to in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world, but I expect that will change in the future.

I couldn’t put this book down and I can’t wait for the next installment or to even see who the next installment is going to be about.  My guess is Peyton, but time will tell.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for for supplying a free copy of this title as part of their ongoing blog tour*