Blood Vow by J.R. Ward 4 ✭

Title:	Blood Vow
Author:	J.R. Ward
Publisher:	Ballantine Books
Series:	Black Dagger Legacy
Genre:	Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Publish Date:	December 6, 2016
Sold by:	Random House LLC
Pages:	472
Ages:	18 +

Rating: ✭✭✭✭

The Black Dagger Legacy really is a thing before this spin-off series came up. You still have people who bring up the original characters in forum posts and book clubs. They are characters that you can't forget. They stick with you. Those characters and the intense storylines are why I keep buying Ward's books. It is a Legacy on its own. I feel like this is important to bring up, now that I am two books deep into the spin-off series. I am seeing how Ward is continuing the world while bringing something new. It seems like each book with being half and half. Half some of the new recruits storyline, and half of the old crew storyline. 

I liked Rhage and Mary. I still do. I believe there is a book of theirs that I have not read yet in the OG series. I think it takes place before this book. So I am missing some stuff. I haven't read the OG series from The King and anything after. So this was a perfect way for me to catch up. I got to see how their relationship has changed, and how they have their new little addition. The complications that happen while they are trying to adopt little Bitty is a good family problems story plot. BTW, Bitty is my cats' name... So anyways. The OG brotherhood has all been together for a while, so having these normal problems showing up in their lives and getting to see them is nice. Butch and Marissa, it was the space that happens between married couples sometimes overtime. Rhage and Mary it is the child and adopting crisis.

I am not sure if I like the split between the two groups. They sort of feel split from each other completely. I don't feel the closeness between the new recruits like you feel from the brothers. I mean they're a "brotherhood" and I don't feel that bond between these recruits at all. I don't know if it is because they haven't developed enough story yet, or if its because so much of the writing is focus on something not related to them at all. Maybe if the book was longer. I don't know. I felt the same way with the last book. This is what sticks me in the 3 stars to 4-star feeling. I go for 4 because the writing is good.

Um so to finally get to the two characters this book is suppose to be about... They are good characters. Elise reminds me of Beth I think from OG. Axe is unique. He is a little goofy at times, and completely dark at times.

You should check out a Free Sample read below of Blood Vow. 

You don't even have to leave the page!

Blood Kiss by J.R. Ward 4 ✭

Title:	Blood Kiss
Author:	J.R. Ward
Publisher:	Berkley
Series:	Black Dagger Legacy
Genre:	Paranormal Romance
Publish Date:	December 1, 2015
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Pages:	428
Ages:	18 +

Rating: ✭✭✭✭

I just can't quit J. R. Ward. No matter how a book may leave me sometimes wishing I could, I just can't. I always hope for better in the next one. Better character connections, better display of emotions, or better story advancement. Something like that. With Blood Kiss, I am actually looking forward to reading more about the new recruits. Now, I'm not knocked out of the park like I was with Consumed by Ward. But I am interested in continuing. For example, with the main Black Dagger Brotherhood series, I am stuck on The King, and can't finish it. I don't even remember the two books prior to it really either. I have just lost interest in the events of the story, but not the characters. So it's nice reading new "events" with the who recruitment process and still seeing some OG BDB.

I was stuck between a 3 and a 4-star rating for this. I think it has to do with my unpopular opinion, to be honest. Craeg is a good male character for this story. I feel like at the end of the book his character could really have been a little more conflicted. I feel like there could have been a little more emotional build-up to the HAE end there. It wasn't bad. If it was supposed to snap into HAE like it did because of the saving the day moment, then I feel like not the emotions then more internal talking about how it snapped into place. 

Paradise is the Marissa I wanted. Although, we don't want a giant world full of similar type casts for EVERY book in a huge series right. So I respect Marissa for who is she as a person and how she fits into the world. Paradise is just more interesting to me. She is a young woman in the Glymera world who is supposed to be this pretty trophy with a good pedigree. But she wants to push herself to more. It turns out she is blindly capable of the recruit program. She makes it in and is the top of the class and it barely seems like it registers to her. Until later, there is an internal monologue that she intends to be true to the program. I wish there was a little more to read from Paradise and Craeg for sure.

Unpopular Opinion: I have never been a fan of Marissa and Butch. I was just never super into them. I feel like this book made me tolerate them more. And I also appreciate that it was like a character redo. Like Paradise is the new Marissa. Same for Craeg. Half of this book is about Butch and Marissa. So it took to be from near the end of November to read this book, till about the end of January. That is so many months, but again, I just can't quit Ward. I just have never been a fan of them. If it was a book just about them I would have rated it lower. They go through some mundane emotional struggles that are kinda of redeeming to read. A developed relationship with some problems. But I am just not a fan of them. Sorry.

Overall, I feel like this is a decent start for a spin-off from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I liked the new characters introduced. I liked the conflict that does happen within the story, and that it isn't just more Lessening Society.

You can check out the beginning of Blood Kiss by J. R. Ward below,

without having to leave the page!