J.R. Ward Contest… winner (five years later)
July 24, 2008
Lover Awakened… reviews
September 7, 2006
****DO NOT POST LOVER AWAKENED SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD*** please and thank you
I will try and mark if there are spoilers... try! BUT, read at the JR Ward reviews at your own risk 
JR Ward takes on Lover Awakened... kinda
should be spoiler free... chat from 9/4/06 at Romance:By the Blog
Rosario takes on Lover Awakened
JMC takes on Lover Awakened
spoilers spoilers spoilers...
C2 takes on Lover Awakened... sort of
but I can't comment cuz stop beta blogger won't let me and she doesn't allow other or anon comments 
Paperback Reader takes on Lover Awakened
some what spoilery but great review
Cindy S takes on Lover Awkened
Tags: J.R. Ward, Lover Awakened, Review are RomancelandGuest Author: JR Ward
September 5, 2006
 |
 I can't think of an introduction for today's guest author. Because really, who hasn't heard of Lover Awakened (released today!)? |
Do I even need to pull out my button?
No matter if you are lusting after the book or tired of hearing about it, ten to one, JR Ward, Black Dagger Brother Hood and Zsadist are names you have seen around.
At a time when paranormals seem to be on every author's coming soon list,
has created a stand out series with The Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Dark Lover will grab you, Lover Eternal keep you and Lover Awakened will tear you apart and slowly put you back together again.
And then leave you lusting for Lover Revealed. Lucky for us there are still more brothers out there.
And they all need a happy ever after, it is just a matter of getting through what Ward puts them through to reach it.
I have a fab Q&A to post (sez she who wrote the questions) hopefully they aren't things you have already read 20 million times.
And if they are, feel free to ask your own *g*. Ward will be popping in through out the day to answer your questions.
Or you know... say keep reading.
I do ask you that you keep any Lover Awakened Spoilers to ONE thread - Spoiler Zone.
All other threads must be spoiler free for the virgin readers who wish to remain untouched.
For more things Zsadist, Brotherhood or JR Ward... you can see her website, message board (you have to join to play) and/or yahoo group.
Thanks again to JR Ward for being a guest author and giving away such a nifty prize. She is the first author to return... it brings a tear to my eye.
Tags: Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Guests Author Day, J.R. Ward, Lover Awakened, ZsadistGuest Author: JR Ward asks… Can I get REC here?
September 5, 2006
Okay, so no big surprise here but I've got a thing for tortured heroes. And I was thinking about them the other night. Why? Maybe because Z's coming out now? Well... yeah.
But more because I reread FLASHPOINT by Suz Brockmann. I was staying over at my mom's house and I picked it off the shelf and totally got lost in it. AGAIN.
Jimmy Nash, the hero, is what I would consider tortured. I'm not going to go into the particulars because I couldn't do him justice- suffice it to say he's in a job that's a killer, literally, and he's got a hardcore past. Anyway, there is an amazing scene where he's talking to the heroine and he's struggling to express himself about some targets that he eliminated. I was like, breathless, even though I'd read the dayum book like how many times?
Why was I all in Jimmy Nash's head? Why was I up in the middle of the night reading when I should have been sleeping? Because I'm a Suz fangirl?
Well, DUH.
Yes. But fangirl stuff aside, there's something gripping about the raw emotions on those pages. Because when a tortured hero opens up, you get a lot out of him and that's what I like to see.
As a writer, I find that the most tortured heroes of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books are my favorites: Zsadist, Vishous, Rehvenge and Qhuinn, as I said. As a reader, my taste is consistent with this... so I'm curious what tortured heroes folks have liked best in the books they've read lately (and yeah, I'm kind of looking for recommendations for me- I don't read vampires really, but I'm open to everything else!)
What's doing for you? What do you suggest I check out?
Tags: Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Guests Author Day, J.R. Ward, Lover Awakened, ZsadistWard Takes on Five
September 5, 2006
[click the question to see answer]
****DO NOT POST LOVER AWAKENED SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD***
please and thank you 
First, thanks for having me! LOVER AWAKENED is Zsadist's book. Out of all the Brotherhood, Z is my favorite... (I'm also a huge V and Rehvenge and Qhuinn fan but who's counting).Z is probably the most dangerous of the Brothers. He's the one who, in the words of his twin, is ruined, not broken.
Held as a blood slave for a century, he was horribly abused and emerged violent, unpredictable and essentially soulless. The book is about him and his mate, Bella, a beautiful aristocrat, and the love they find together.
Out of the four books you have completed, what has surprised you the most?
When I started to write the series, I kind of expected each book to feel the same. I mean... in terms of tone. But they're not.
To me, DARK LOVER reads differently than LOVER ETERNAL and LOVER AWAKENED and LOVER REVEALED. I suppose it does make sense as whichever Brother is on deck sets the beat of the book and as they are different, and their conflicts are different, the stories vary accordingly. But that was a surprise. I will say that LA is the darkest of the series so far- and originally, I didn't think anything else would come close. Instead, Vishous's book, LOVER UNBOUND, is also a dark one. Rehv's and Qhuinn's will be likewise
I think that straight contemporary romance is very hard to write in a fresh manner (there are undoubtedly some who do it but I think it's hard!)At this time, in modern society, there are very few external restrictions to romance. I mean, consider the strictures of historicals for example where social rules and values prevented free sexual expression. A lot of these barriers to love no longer exist: pre-martial sex is not the no-go it once was, for example, so if you have it, you're reputation isn't completely ruined and you don't end up banished to the wrong side of the tracks.
What I love about paranormals, and why I think they are so popular, is that you can bring contemporary speech and settings into an environment where external conflict can still be imposed. For example, in the Brotherhood world, males need to drink from females of their own species. So if a male, such as Rhage, falls in love with a human, his physical need for the blood of another is a conflict that is going to have be resolved somehow. And strong conflict breeds strong emotion which can translate into a great read.
I think the popularity resides as well in the limitless world-building you can do. I mean, as long as the rules of the world are internally consistent and you write convincingly, there is almost nothing you can't do or explore. So that's why you see some really fresh, interesting takes on old myths as well as some wild, fantastic imaginary places.
I also think paranormals have gained momentum as all current fades do, creating their own kind of centrifugal force in the market place. The issue is always going to be quality, however. No matter how great a trend is, readers are not going to fooled by lackluster plotting or characters. So to answer your question: I think we can never have enough really good vampire or paranormal books. After all, it's what we're all looking for: a great read!
LOL! I haven't yet! It doesn't mean that some days I don't want to bury my head in the backyard (while it's still attached.) But I really am captivated by these books. There are other things I want to write, however. I have another series that I've planned out, but I'm sitting on it right now- with the Brotherhood books coming out every six months, I need to be really focused on them. I don't want to crack open another series unless I feel sure I can do both well.
Who is next? In fact can you give us a run down of theorder of the series?
Okay, so after LOVER AWAKENED, it's Butch's turn. The cop's book, LOVER REVEALED, comes out in March '07 and it's all finished. Vishous is up thereafter. I've just started V's book, LOVER UNBOUND- I'm about 90 pages in so far. Then it's Phury's book.At first I thought the series was going to run a total of ten books. But as I've written it, more and more people have come forward. Now? It's open ended. I mean... I HAVE to write Qhuinn's book. Just have to.
If you've got any questions you want to ask, I'd be happy to try and answer them!
