After I finished Lover Unbound, the first thing I did was read Lover Revealed again. And then decided to start with Dark Lover – followed by Lover Eternal, Lover Awakened and then yes… Lover Revealed *again*.
To end with a reread of Lover Unbound…
My planning blows because I was doing historical guest days at the time so my head was so not wrapped around what was going on here at the time. The whole time I was rereading, I was thinking of things to talk about. Themes, characters, actions that made sense or didn’t and just ‘stuff’. The book doesn’t release until September 25 and J.R. Ward will be on blog September 26.
So I figured what the hell… lets discuss the Black Dagger Brotherhood…
We will have a post for each book, then a post on the females, the brothers and finish with a wish list. We can even have prizes. Do keep in mind this is just one of my many random ideas and any books given away will most likely not be signed (for that you need to be around on her guest author day) and with J.R. Ward’s schedule and active message board I doubt she will show up in any of these posts or be on board before September 26.
For all I know it will be just gwen and me talking to ourselves – while wendy laughs at us.
THE RULES:
1. NO SPOILERS FOR LOVER UNBOUND
2. In order to win (whatever I post is the prize for that post) you must leave a valid email address. I will try to keep it open to all but will note if the prize is US only (dude we don’t charge for the stuff we do here or run ads). And will make a note what the prize is in the body of the post – if nothing else some will be ebooks – that I can hopefully give out all over. You can enter by commenting in any “Let’s Chat: Black Dagger Brotherhood” post until 2am CST September 25, 2007 (unless otherwise noted on the post).
3. You can post as many times as you like and will be entered for each post – as long as the comment fits the post (and/or comments in the post). Meaning ‘me too’ every other comment will not count as an entry. AND If there is more than one person who live with you/uses your computer please email me [redwyne @ redwyne . com] – otherwise I will toss the names out when it comes time to draw winners.
4. This is a long way from pollyannaville but be respectful of ALL opinions. We not only respect your right to disagree, we want you to voice your views.
5. We want to discuss the books. We want to discuss the characters. We want to think about their actions and where we see/want/wish them to go. Hell you can just sqqquuueee over your favorite brother if you want but personal discussion or questions of J.R. Ward are not the aim here. You can email her.
6. If you have never read the books, expect spoilers for all of the novels EXCEPT Lover Unbound, V will of course be in the discussions but only up to what we know from the books. We will have reviews going up of the books, as I have only done Dark Lover. We will do one or two on Lover Unbound but closer to the date of release.
We can and will add to the rules as we see fit.
To start… rank ’em (at the end we can see if you change your mind 😉 ). !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In order, starting with your fave ‘overall book’ and work your way through the four released novels. You can give your reasons if you want or wait until we post about the book. Then tell us your most reread book.
Order of the books from my most fave (rating’s aren’t here I will rambling on more in the book posts 🙂 ):
Sept 2006 
March 2007 
Sept 2005 
March 2006 
BUT my most read is:
I love, love, love me some butch/marissa. And Z is such a hard read for me. But man I love him, like a fat kid loveseses cake (tm karens)
So what about you?
**prize awarded for this post will be an unsigned copy of Lover Unbound, to be awarded when I get my copy or when after the 25th date will be announced for the close of contest sometime next week**
What a fun month to look forward to. My favorite was Lover Eternal. Rhage and Mary’s story was so compelling and sensual, and made me laugh and cry. This second story got me really caring about the Brotherhood and was a great lead in to Zsadist’s story.
My fave is still Dark Lover, & Wrath! The book that started it all and made me salivate for the rest!! Then Lover Awakened, Lover Eternal and Lover Revealed.
Most re-read is Dark Lover
Okay, I’m starting off by breaking the rules. I can’t really rank the individual books. But I do have favorite STORYLINES.
1. My favorite storyline is Butch and V’s relationship. Oh man, those are two complicated men and V’s feelings for Butch just took it to another level. Although J.R. SOOOOOO had me believing there was going to be sumpin’ sumpin’ between them! Alright, I admit I didn’t have much hope for m/m, but I thought for sure we’d end up with a Butch/Marissa/V menage.
2. John’s storyline and the “is he or isn’t he Darius?” question. I repeatedly want to shout “HE’S DARIUS! Are you BLIND?!” (Oops, no offense Wrath, OK?)
3. Butch’s storyline from the beginning. In a way, I was kind of disappointed in the end of Lover Revealed because I thought Butch was far more interesting and complex as a human.
4. Torhment has lost his soul mate. Now what? We’re all used to HEAs, so it will be interesting to see what happens when Happily Ever After ends tragically.
5. Why didn’t Darius have an “H” in his name? No, seriously. Why was his name so different? This is actually my number one question about this series. Oh, and since John already has an “H”, will he get to keep his name?
Hands Down Lover Eternal is my favorite which I have re-read 4 times. Then Lover Awakened, Lover Revealed and the first in the series Dark Lover.
But my favorite favorite character is the doped up impotent one- REHV!!! 2009 in hard cover!!!
I could go on and on about this series…me want Lover Unbound so bad….. 🙂
My favorites in order: 1) Lover Revealed for its completeness; 2)Dark Lover, the beginning; 3) Lover Eternal, for Mary, John and the Beast; 4) Lover Awakened, too much torture.
BevL: Have you visited J. R. Ward’s message boards? I think that Darius lacks an “h” because his mother was not a “Scribe Virgin,” but an aristocrat.
Kay
I loved Lover Eternal for its humor. Well, I found it funny, anyways. But I loved, consumed, completely drowned myself Lover Awakened. Such a wonderful book.
My favorites in order: Lover Awakened, Lover Eternal, Dark Lover and Lover Revealed. Most re-read? I haven’t re-read any of them, though they are stacked up for me to start consuming to gear up for the next book!
My favorites are a tie between LA and LR, depending upon how I feel at the time. I love Butch! But I think Marissa is a weenie and hated how she dumped Butch when he joined the Brotherhood. Her epiphany about how she was acting just like Havers was nicely done, but I just couldn’t warm up to her and felt Butch deserved better. Of the heroines, I think Bella was my favorite.
I think it’s cool how the names of the books reflect the storyline. Mary becomes “eternal”, Butch is “revealed” as a brother, and Zsadist becomes “awakened”. Sounds like “unbound” is what happens to Vishous based on what we know about his kink tendencies. 🙂
Sybil, I am soo jealous you’ve read Lover Unbound. I hate for fall to get here, I’m a summer person, but the book release makes it almost worth it.
My favourite is Lover Awakened – without a single doubt!
Lover Awakened goes first for me and then things get fuzzier. I think I’d put Lover Eternal next followed by Lover Revealed Dark Lover. The thing is that Lover Eternal is a book that I sometimes love(I have a big old soft spot for Rhage)and other times really don’t, depending on my mood and how manipulated I feel by the ending.
I’m just getting into these books as I’m trying to get over my boredom with vampire paranormals and I have to say, this has been the cure! My library unfortunately did not have Dark Lover so I’ve had to start with Lover Eternal but I’m really enjoying it! Particularly John who I know is secondary so far but he’s intrigued me greatly.
All in all, getting excited to start the next book in the series which fortunately my library did have.
1 Z Lover Awakened
2. Butch Lover Revealed
3. Wrath Dark Lover
4. Last but not least Rhage Lover Eternal.
Z in Lover Awakened – Z never really changed into a different person. He was still Z and always would be. I loved that about him and it’s my favourite and most read book.
Rhage in Lover Eternal – who would have thought I could fall for a ‘pretty boy’ but this one falls just behind Z.
This is where things get weird. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Butch but I just didn’t like his story and like someone else said, he was more interesting as a human. I felt the love between him and Marissa before their story but not during it. So, not crazy about it.
Since Dark Lover with Wrath turned me into the fangirl I am then it would have to be his book that’s third.
I’m not sure how I feel about V’s upcoming book. Maybe cause like others I felt there were more emotions between V and Butch that we aren’t allowed to see. Hey, maybe even they are suppressing them 😉
After that I think it’s Rhev book that I look forward to the most.
CindyS
This is incredibly hard to do b/c I didn’t dislike any of the books. It’s a matter of which book did I like more than another – if that makes sense?
I would have to rank them like this: Dark Lover, Lover Awakened, Lover Eternal and Lover Revealed.
I am looking forward to V’s book – but what I really want to see is what happens to Phury!
me too katiebabs, which is why we are doing this *g*
SuzG that is completely the question! Rank them starting with your FAVORITE of the FAVORITES and going down.
As of right now for me my least fave is LE. Saying that… LE is still a B+ for me. *g*
Aw but Sybil, you have read and know all! 🙂 I am so jealous of you! Now with this contest, I feel the need to re-read the books again so I can get my fix!
I would rank Lover Awakened first but suspect I would like the newest one since V is alway my favorite character.
But to be honest, Dark Lover started it all for. Way back when I so disgust with “Vampire Romance” I almost didnot pick this one up. That would be a shame.
But my bookstore happened to order a lot of this book and do a promotion so I decide to risk another vampire romance.
four books past and I think this series is the best paranormal series I have ever read.
So even I rated Dark Lover as the last I will alway put this book first.
I think it is time for my rereading this series
From Kay:
Now see, Kay, that might be one of my problems. I don’t remember ANY of their mothers being Scribe Virgins. And, no, I’ve never been to her message boards. Aren’t they private with members-only viewing? I seem to recall someone mentioning that somewhere.
You have to register to view the message board. But as far as I know it isn’t thing more to it than that. They are moderated and kept at a strict PG-13 rating which seriously cracks my shit up.
The books aren’t for kids. The board is about the book and the characters. I have asked her before but I forget what she said. Although I think that is prolly normal for a fanboard. No real clue…
I guess this board is not PG-13 since shit is okay to use!
I am over at that board all the time and it gets silly having to use fruit instead of terms like penis and vagina! LOL
And yup, her books are definitely more R rated than anything!
Well hell, they say shit on tv. But really… here? I couldn’t care. There are nc-17171717 excerpt up here.
nc 17171717? 🙁 what sex scenes would that entail? (tree sex?… which I still can’t get over)
I will on comment on my behalf and no the rest of my computer sharers.
I have read all of JR’s book so far and I would have to say that my fav is the 1st book Dark Lover. To me this book of course is the beginning of the explaination of the overall premise of the books..how the brothers came to be, etc. Wrath is one great character especially I love that he can overcome his sight problems and still be a powerful leader. The next fav book is with Rhage and how he decides to live with his inner beast. I really didn’t get into Butch’s storyline, I am not sure if it was that his character didn’t have the intensity/or “suffering” of the Brotherhood characters.
Believe me, if I became a member of Ward’s (aka “The WARDen”)message boards, anyone with minimal computer skills can do so. Go to the Web site, click on “Message Boards”, follow the instructions.
Sometime in the not too distant future, a Black Dagger Brotherhood compendium is due to be issued. It should contain much of the esoteric lore that has been sprinkled through the books and the message boards.
Kay
My favourite has to be LA. The way she handled Z was true to his character – his feelings of unworthiness, etc. Also I LOVED the epilogue. The image of a big, hard, scary guy with his baby girl is just too sweet. And considering how tortured he was in his life/book, i thought it was the perfect ending.
While I enjoyed Butch and V’s friendship, John’s development and the glimpse of Bella and Z, I thought the romance between Butch and Marissa let it down. So LR is third with DL coming in second. Last is LE – well Rhage did cheat on Mary. We know he felt he HAD to, but he had sex with another woman while Mary waited in his room.
Lover Eternal was my favorite. The angstmuffin ratio was over the top on that one. 🙂 Lover Awakened is a close second, but I kept wishing that one was more about Bella/Z than the big Lessers storyline.
My most favorite was Lover Revealed. My least favorite (and I’ll make some enemies with this) was Lover Awakened. In order of preference:
LR – grade A+
DL – grade A
LE – grade A-
LA – grade C
I just didn’t like LA. I even re-read it (something that my quasi-eidetic memory gets super bored with) and still didn’t like it. I didn’t hate it. I just didn’t like it and I really wanted to.
Now for my fav Brothers and their shellans:
1. Rhage
2. Butch
3. Vishous
4. Zsadist
5. Wrath
6. Phury
7. Tohrment
1. Beth
2. Bella
3. Marissa
4. Mary
When I saw the photo of the LU cover you posted I thought that you might have posted a review and some spoilers. Will we get that before Sept 25? V is my least favorite brother and I was hoping to read some reviews before deciding to buy or not.
My favorites:
1*Lover Awakened–this one is miles above the rest for me. A+
2*Dark Lover.B
3*Lover Eternal.B
4*Lover Revealed–this one is miles below the others for me. I gave it a C- IIRC
I have only read Dark Lover so far, so I can’t comment on the series as a while. I picked it up after hearing all the buzz about Ward. Usually, I’m disappointed by buzz-y books, but she really delivered. I really, really enjoyed Dark Lover. One of the top five books I’ve read so far this year.
I’m pacing myself with the others though. Maybe by the time I get to the September book, she’ll have a couple more out. . 🙂 Although, aren’t the next ones moving to hardcover and going to be pubbed a year apart now?
One (minor) complaint I’ve heard from some folks is that the heroes often overshadow the heroines, that the women just aren’t as strong and interesting as the men. Anybody have a comment on that?
My favorites:
1. Lover Awakened
2. Dark Lover
3. Lover Revealed
4. Lover Eternal
I am so looking forward to Lover Unbound! I quit the boards a couple of months ago. I couldn’t stand it anymore…
Was I the only person bored with Lover Awakened?
Gwen, I’m more surprised that LR was your favorite. I loved LA, but I could see where someone might not. Are you a big Butch fan?
Sybil, you lucky gal! I want it now. I’m really curious how this heroine will be. Any Phury in this one? Throw me a teeny bone, please!
Okay, My ranking:
1-Lover Eternal–annoying heroine and all
2-Lover Awakened–everything worked well, secondary characters etc.
3-Dark Lover–instantly addicted
4-Lover Revealed–meh, preferred the secondary characters to the primary romance
I wanted to slap Marissa on a regular basis, but Butch’s story rocked me. I think Ward did a much better job developing Butch’s modern-day character than she did Zsadist’s, and that made all the difference to me.
The females in Ward’s BDB books have been historically weak and, to me, not likeable. We’ll see what she does with the next one.
I wasn’t bored by Lover Awakened, but I wasn’t too impressed either.
The order of my favorites:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Dark Lover was amazing to me. I don’t know if part of it was that I wasn’t expecting what I got. But I was blown away. I still love it and have re-read it too many times to count.
I hate Marissa. Despise her. Loathe her. I think Butch deserved better.
I don’t buy the weak thing. There is less time spent with them and they are less developed maybe… but
Beth – fought off her attackers, kept her shit together and really saves Wrath (along with Marissa – of course after wrath saves beth) at the end or his ass would have been toast.
And is seen through out the series as ‘ruling’ along side Wrath
Mary – is by far the one we saw the least of outside of her and Rhage but she was busy dying. I would have much rather seen rhage/mary then other stuff. I am happy with most of LE.
Bella – I don’t think you can read LA and honestly see Bella as a ‘weak’ character. She was selfish I guess to continue pushing herself on Z but he was sending was serious mixed signals. And she had been through a hella lot with the whole kidnapped buried in the ground thing.
I am not sure if she is clueless as far as Phury goes or if she has decided to deal with it by just pushing through it .
Marissa is by far my favorite female. She is the most developed from the start of the series. She is a reflection of her class in the beginning. All she was every told she was to do was be Wrath’s mate. Something he never wanted so you have a 300 year mind fuck in the work there. Her crash and burn so do speak in LR is awesome and her campfire is one of my favorite scenes.
The fact that she takes control of her life and the job she is given shows how much she had grown from the person we meet in Dark Lover.
Jane… I loved jane.
Yes there is a shitload of Phury in LU. Is that really a spoiler? hmmmm one of the things I hate most about LU is what happens with Phury. LOL ok that is just cruel huh.
Yes Gwen it is just you. LOL
AAAAH!! What happens? I know, I know, can’t tell. I don’t think that telling us he’s in it, is a spoiler in and of itself. I really grew to love Phury in LA.
Even though LR was my least favorite of the books, Marissa is my favorite heroine, because I think she was the most developed outside of being the object of adoration. For the other heroines, it was a journey into the world of the BDB, but for Marissa it was a journey outward, finding herself outside of the narrow parameters she was raised within. Does that make sense? She had annoying moments, but I appreciated the change.
Favorite Brothers in order:
1. Phury
2. Vishous
3. Rhage
4. Zsadist
5. Wrath
6. Butch
7. Tohrment
Heroines:
1. Marissa
2. Bella
3. Mary
4. Beth
I didn’t mean “weak” as in weak people or weak demeanors (though Mary was a bit mewling in that regard). I mean “weak” as in underdeveloped. If the characters were aged based on their development in the book, they’d all be 11 years old. Beth might be 13.
My head says Lover Eternal I think this was the best written story of the series so far.
My heart says Lover Awakened because I’d been waiting for Zsadist’s story since he made his first appearance and said ‘Get off my d***’
Lover Revealed has been my least favourite so far.
So ranking them
Lover Eternal = Lover Awakened
Dark Lover
Lover Revealed.
And the book I’ve re-read most often, it’s a tie between the top two, but Lover Eternal probably wins.
LOL I don’t know what do you want to see? Beth is the youngest *g*. Everyone else has a 100 or so years on her I think. Well not the pretrans.
Where I would be happy to see quinn, bay, lash and co go to brotherhood 90210 and get their own series cuz I really couldn’t care about them. Other than the fact I am ready for John to know who the fuck he is… of course I soooooooo don’t like where it looks like that is going either…
le sigh… I am just never happy am I? I would say Lover Unbound is the first book since Dark Lover that I read front to back the first read. Where as with every other book I ended up skipping shit and catching it later in 2 or 5th reread.
hmmm well that isn’t really true cuz I read the end first, which I wouldn’t recommend doing but I HATE it when people tell me that shit and do it anyway so…
Personally I think I want Rhev book the most but I think that is cuz Phury’s book scares me.
Ok, my favorite books, in order:
1. LOVER AWAKENED. To me (I understand that some people can think otherwise), that was the closest JR got to perfection. Most likable heroine. Most tortured hero. Most touching love story. Best plot twists. Best ending. The book that made me a BDB addict.
2. LOVER REVEALED. Strangely, this is also the book I feel had the most flaws, objectively speaking. Yes Marissa’s character grew, but she kept putting unnecessary obstacles in the path of her relationship with Butch and it annoyed me to no end. The break-up/make-up pattern she and Butch had grated on my nerves. And I was disappointed by most of their sex scenes. But LR is still one of my favorites (and the one I’ve read, by very far, the most often) because of Butch and V. Just…wow. That relationship totally blew me away. Such a strong bond between the two men, I’d even say such a NEED for each other, it fascinates me. Plus, the scenes were they hugged, locked eyes or that bite were titillating as hell.
-LOVER ETERNAL. Truly, it’s almost a tie between DARK LOVER and LOVER ETERNAL, but I put LE first because that’s where I realized how truly unique the series was. I loved the introduction of John as a character and I was thrilled by Bella and Z’s encounter and budding storyline. And I loved Rhage’s reverence for his Mary.
-DARK LOVER. Putting it last is similar to saying there’s a sort of chocolate I like less – and I’m a chocolate junkie :). DL remains better than most of the books out there. But still, at first read it’s the one I enjoyed less, because at the time I didn’t see much originality in it and the Brotherhood reminded me too much of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunters. But I loved it more every time I re-read it.
Do I need to say I can’t wait for Lover Unbound? And I’m a little worried, Sybil, because when you spoke of Phury you said it was “one of the things you hate most in LU”, which seems to imply there are other things you hated…
Hey Sybil,
Why does Phury’s book scare you? Because of what Ward has planned-meaning no more gentleman, esp. in the sack?
REHV…. I so love him like you do…. He will be in alot of Phury’s book so I hear 🙂
And apprantly, Rehv’s mate has been in the books already, and I have no clue who it is? 2009!! 🙁 waaaa….
Syb, now you’ve got me worried about John Matthew, too. I’m just hoping no one ends up with Rehv’s buddy who was described as hermaphroditic. That gave me the willies. And when you mentioned pretrans, I thought of transexuals. I am really looking forward to Rehv’s book too. I like him a lot, though I don’t quite undertsand how he’s walking around if he’s all numb.
JM/Qhuinn/Blaylock=Saved by the Bell:the New Class.
My favorite was Lover Awakened, also the one I reread the most. But when I reread that one, I then have to read them all.
After that,
2) Dark Lover
3) Lover Eternal
4) Lover Revealed
I was very disappointed in LR – I didn’t think the sex was hot at all (I mean first time, drunk, WTH?) and yeah, Marissa annoyed me. But I adore Z and that Z and Bella-chase scene made my day big-time. I’d pay hardcover price, just for that scene alone.
The couples I think she wrote the best were Beth and Wrath and Z and Bella. LR also had that nice scene where Wrath had to be held back while Beth fed Butch. Niiiiiiiiiiccce. Marissa and Butch, I just didn’t feel it.
LOL saved by the bell! much better…
okay when I say one of the things… yes there are a few things I dislike in every book. In fact with just about any other author I wouldn’t be reading anymore but I give ward a lot of wiggle room to make it better.
My fear, for me, is I will hit a line to where too much is just too much. No clue about the ‘no more gentleman’ thing. I am assuming it is a message board comment?
Hell I was just looking the amazon thread and people are puffy about the publisher weekly review having spoilers. Where as I read it didn’t really think it was spoilerish.
oops rehv whatever… I don’t want his buddy to end up with anyone either. My god people I thought I was over thinking shit just trying to put together a few posts on the books. There are like serious out there theories on shit. LOL I should do a ‘best rumor’ you have heard and ‘worst’ thread. Jesus I need a hobby.
LOL so am I the only one who loveses Marissa and Butch.
In fact really, really I think so far I have loved all the pairs. So a big part of me just wants to tell my head to shut up and go with it cuz I end up liking it at the end of the ride.
I could do without the triangles. The Marissa/Butch/V and Z/Bella/Phury thang… but that could be cuz I am a pussy and just don’t like to see the hurt.
Oooh, I’m so jealous of you, Sybil! I’m very much looking forward to V’s book, especially after how strongly he figured in LR. In fact, in many ways, I wished V and Butch would have had their HEA, but I guess that’s not gonna happen….
My ranking of the books:
1. Lover Eternal – This was the first BDB book that I read and it hooked me. Even now when I go back and reread them, it’s my favorite. I’m not sure why, but I am a total sucker for the plain-girl-gets-the-uber-hot-guy storyline. Rhage is such an interesting character in all of the books, I think. He’s usually the one with the wise-cracks and seems the most approachable. There is something really attractive to me about a hot guy who knows he’s hot but who is sensitive and humble. At least, that’s the vibe I got. Definitely my favorite so far.
2. Lover Awakened – They don’t make heros much more dark and tortured than Z. And I thought that Bella was an amazingly strong heroine. She not only lived through a horrible torture experience but was able to deal with Z’s complex mix of mental/emotional messes. She really is the one rescuing him. Oh and that scene of Z with his baby girl…totally gets me everytime.
3. Dark Lover – You gotta love the Blind King. Maybe if this had been the first book of the series that I read, it would be my favorite. I’ll never know. I do know that it has improved upon re-reads. I think that Wrath and Beth have been developed over the course of the four books so far (the bits where Wrath had to be held back during Butch’s change were pretty hawt if you ask me) so it is interesting to go back and read “their” story after reading the rest.
4. Lover Revealed – I think that this actually ties with Dark Lover for me. I liked it; it was good. It’s just not my favorite. I liked Butch and Marissa more in LE and LA, actually. And like I said above, I was kinda rooting for V and Butch even though I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I don’t dislike Marissa, but I did get pretty annoyed with her when she kept making up stupid reasons to keep her and Butch apart. That said, I actually thought the “first time” scene was good. Very a-typical for a romance novel…no endless orgasms and multiple rounds of crazy monkey secks straight out of the gate. That and it gave Marissa and Beth an excuse to have female bonding time.
And now I am craving V’s story and I’m REALLY intrigued by Rhev. I hope the next month goes by fast!!
So now I’ve gone and read the PW review. Is that nasty Scribe Virgin up to her old tricks again?
I am sooooooooooooooooo not touching that
Oh well, can’t blame a girl for trying.
My favorite is Lover Awakened. I love Z.