Book Review: Dark Lover
Hello Blogisphere!
How are you doing? Well I hope!
I just finished another buddy read, this time with Misty’s Book Space. This post will focus on my individual review of the book, soon to be followed up with a little book rant with the both of us.
Our pick this time was Dark Lover by JR Ward.
Fun fact, this has been on my TBR for ages, but when Misty recommended we try this one out, I had to go all in, mainly because this had to do with vampires. They’re my favorite supernatural creature. Can you blame me?
All right, let’s get into this review!
Blurb:
The only purebred vampire left on the planet and the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who killed his parents centuries ago. But when his most trusted fighter is killed—orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate—Wrath must put down his dagger and usher the beautiful female into another world.
Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn’t there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of the Brotherhood and blood frighten her. Yet his touch ignites a dawning new hunger—one that threatens to consume them both…
Trigger Warnings: Light element of rape, Explicit Sex Scenes
GoodReads
The Review:
I gave this novel three and a half stars.
Going in, this book was slightly outside of my usual comfort level. I don’t usually read books with a focus on romance, but with the supernatural element of vampires, I was hopeful. The end result? Not bad, but not amazing either.
Our main character Beth lives a solitary life with her black cat Boo, but one night her whole life changes when a dark hulking behemoth of a man comes to her at night and flips her world upside down.
There were plenty of things handled well in this book.
Probably what worked best for me was the concept and main plot.
I love vampires, and the differences from the standard was interesting and had depth to it. They had a whole system that was very believable and I wanted to know more.
The plot in general worked for me as well. A sexy monster of a man wants to protect Beth, and it felt very Beauty and the Beast to me. Mainly what drove me forward was Beth’s journey of discovery of the truth, and although I wasn’t quite as pleased with that trek as I hoped I’d be, I still enjoyed it.
I did like the characters. Each definitely has their own set of quirks. Beth is independent and strong-willed, and Wrath is the same, so they butt heads a lot. While I admire their traits I kind of feel that once a mutual attraction was verified, the characters personalities suffered a bit. Beth kind of loses herself in this new world, but I think it would’ve shown greater strength if she held on to her world while embracing the new one as well. Wrath finds an addiction in love, but that becomes too much of his focus if you ask me, especially given that there are bad guys around trying to kill them.
After a while, there are many a sexy compliment between her and the love interest, but it gets to be a bit much for me by the end to where I just wanted them to stop being so oooey gooey in love or at least dial it down and focus on the tasks at hand.
I kind of struggled in the last quarter of this book because it felt that the main plot fell into the background a bit too much and the romance was given too much precedence, but this was an intriguing vampiric tale of love, lust, and perseverance.
I’ll definitely consider continuing this series, but it won’t be at the very top of my list.
That’s a Wrap!
Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!
Have you read this book before? What did you think? Do you have a book recommendation similar to this one? Feel free to share in the comments!
If you’d like to see other reviews of mine, feel free to check out the book review section of my blog or my GoodReads. You can also follow my GoodReads reviews here. There are some great binge-worthy books on there!
Have a great day!
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Great review!! If the romance was a little much in this one for you you definitely wouldn’t like a full on romance.
Thanks! Yeah, I dont think full on romance is my thing unless I’m in a very specific mood, ya know?
Great review! I like comparing your review to Misty’s. Seeing both perspectives gives a better overall view of the book. It’s been quite a while since I’ve read this one.
Thanks! Yeah, I think we come from different reading preferences, and this one was really interesting.
I sided more with the vampire and action/plot part of things while Misty loves the romance elements.
I love buddy reads for this reason. So illuminating!
Yes, and as you mentioned sometimes buddy reads help us to pick up books that are usually outside of our typical boxes. I’m with Misty and always enjoy a romance thrown in, but I also side with you in that I enjoy when there’s a lot more going on than just the romance. I’m currently reading book 18 right now, The Beast. And I’d have to say that some of the books have felt like they were definitely heavier on the romance, and some seem to focus more heavily on the plot with the war (and other issues that creep in) with romance playing a more minor role.
Totally! This was a great chance to broaden my horizons a bit, and I’m glad per your experience some of the books are heavier on romance and some not. It seems like the author may have found a way to balance out the series, and that an extremely hard thing to do, especially with 18 books in the series.