Dearest Ivie

Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book #15.5

By J.R. Ward

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

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Ivie works as a nurse for the race’s public clinic.  Havers had recommended her for a private job helping a dying vampire onto the Fade.  Unfortunately, the woman in charge of hiring for the position dismissed her for being too young.  Ivie and her cousin, Rubes, met at a human cigar bar to let Ivie drown her sorrows.  While there, Ivie caught the interest of a sexy aristocrat, Silas.  As she prepares to leave, Silas makes his interest abundantly clear.  Ivie turns him down, but finds herself meeting him the following night.

Silas and Ivie had a great first date and the chemistry between them is off the charts.  Things between the two progresses faster than Ivie had expected.  Then, Silas drops his bombshell.  He is leaving for the Old Country in a month.  The distance is too great for them to continue once he leaves, but they are determined to get the most out of the time they have together.

That is until the truth Silas has been hiding comes out and Ivie’s world comes crashing down around her.

This was an okay read, but not one I’m dying to read again.

I was a bit shocked that the entire story is from Ivie’s point of view, which is pretty unusual for Ward, especially in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series!  This is meant to be an emotional read, which I usually love.  This wasn’t the tear-jerker that some of her earlier books were for me though (e.g. Lover Eternal-Rhage’s book), but she did get me with the scene with Ivie at the hospital with her dad.

I thought it was cruel of Silas to get involved with Ivie knowing what would soon be happening in his life.  Yes, you have a horrible fate ahead of you, but why cause someone else’s heart to break in the process?

And, apparently you can make medical decisions for someone in the vampire world without any true legal ties to them, by just saying you’re their mate, despite the fact that you *just* started dating them.

This was an okay book, but from my review, you see it obviously has its flaws as well.  I never was a fan of novellas though, so that could be part of my problem with this book.  I know several others have really enjoyed this book though, so if you like the series, give it a chance!