Synopsis

Set in present day Caldwell, New York ‘Dark Lover’ is the first in a series of novels about the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is an ancient order of warrior vampires who defend their race against the lessers, vampire slayers who have been recruited by the Omega (an evil supernatural being who wants all vampires destroyed.) There are six warriors in the Brotherhood and these warriors are all that stand between the civilian vampires and the extinction of the vampire species at the hands of the lessers.

In the Black Dagger novels the vampires are a separate species to humans, to be a vampire you have to have been born carrying vampire blood. At the start of their lives vampires seem like humans, they have no special strengths and can go out in daylight but they go through a dangerous transition to vampire hood in their mid twenties. Although vampires can drink the blood of humans it has little nutritional value for them and they need to drink the blood of other vampires (of the opposite sex) to survive. A human bitten or drained by a vampire doesn’t rise as a vampire – they are just dead.

The vampires are few in number due to the legions of slayers hunting them down over the centuries, high infant mortality and the rigors of the transition to vampire hood that not all vampires survive.

The story focuses on the romance between Wrath, the only pure blooded vampire left on the planet, and Beth a human/vampire half breed who is about to undergo the transition from human to vampire but isn’t aware of her vampire heritage.

There are a lot of obstacles in their path. Wrath hates humans and doesn’t want a mate. Beth finds it hard to believe in her vampire heritage and doesn’t want to need Wrath. That would make their relationship difficult enough without them being the prime target for the lessers who are hatching a new strategy for wiping the vampires off the face of the earth.

The Review

This is the first novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a series paranormal romance books written under the pen name of J. R. Ward. It is not the author’s first novel because she has already written several romance novels under the name of Jessica Bird but I believe it is her first paranormal novel. Either way it’s a great book!

To help the reader understand the vampire words and terms there is a helpful glossary at the start of the book, which is great to fill the reader in on the background, but the book is so well written that you don’t need to keep looking things up in the glossary.

The action in the book is fast and exhilarating making the story a real page turner. The brothers like rap music, fast cars, black leather, knives, guns and martial arts and have this whole alpha male macho thing going on, yet as characters they are all intriguingly flawed and have weaknesses as well as strengths.

Dark Lover has some wonderfully erotic scenes between Wrath and Beth. Unlike some romance (and vampire) novels the sex scenes are not used to prop the story up when poor plotting means that there isn’t much else going on. In Dark Lover the erotic parts are blended seamlessly with the romance, the vampire fantasy world and the action parts of the story making it a book that will satisfy a wide female audience.

I particularly liked Dark Lover because it is the start of a new vampire romance series. It is an exciting, original and well written book. I always get excited when the first book of a new series is this good because it makes me hopefully optimistic that further books on this series will be equally good. I am intrigued to find out whether the vampires win their battle against the Omega and his lessers and how the lives of the other brothers play out. More please!

Dear Reader, Being trapped in a bedroom with a woman is a grand thing. Being trapped in hundreds of bedrooms over two thousand years isn't. And being cursed into a book as a love-slave for eternity can ruin even a Spartan warrior's day. As a love-slave, I knew everything about women. How to touch them, how to savor them, and most of all how to pleasure them. But when I was summoned to fulfill Grace Alexander's sexual fantasies, I found the first woman in history who saw me as a man with a tormented past. She, alone, bothered to take me out of the bedroom and into the world. She taught me to love again. But I was not born to know love. I was cursed to walk eternity alone. As a general, I had long ago accepted my sentence. Yet now I have found Grace-the one thing my wounded heart cannot survive without. Sure, love can heal all wounds, but can it break a two thousand year old curse?

Quick Glance Guide

Finding information you need is not always easy. This short index provides a list of common tasks discussed inside this book. Browse the table of contents or index for detailed listings and consult the specified chapter for in-depth discussions about each subject.

Perhaps the most famous of Lawrence's novels, the 1928 Lady Chatterley's Lover is no longer distinguished for the once-shockingly explicit treatment of its subject matter—the adulterous affair between a sexually unfulfilled upper-class married woman and the game keeper who works for the estate owned by her wheelchaired husband. Now that we're used to reading about sex, and seeing it in the movies, it's apparent that the novel is memorable for better reasons: namely, that Lawrence was a masterful and lyrical writer, whose story takes us bodily into the world of its characters.

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Arabella Tolsworthy

Against the background of an England torn by civil war, religious persecution, and political treachery in the turbulent era of Cromwell and the Stuart Restoration, Philippa Carr has set the passionate story of Arabella Tolworthy, whose loves and destiny are inextricably linked to the plight of her nation.

The dethroned Charles I had met the executioner's ax with regal calm, and as Oliver Cromwell tightened his Puritan grip on English church and state, thousands of royalists fled their confiscated lands. Among them was young Arabella, her family seeking safe harbor in France where they hoped to serve the exiled royal heir, Charles II. Separated from her parents, confronted by the unaccustomed hardships of political banishment, she finds solace in the company or the ravishing and charismatic actress, Harriet Main. Little does Arabella suspect the threat Harriet will pose to her future happiness.

Nor does she envision the tragedy that lies ahead when dashing Edwin Eversleigh, Cavalier and heir to a titular fortune, makes her his bride after a whirlwind courtship. For in the deceptive peace following Parliament's Restoration of the Crown, a widowed Arabella returns to England bearing a new scion of the Eversleigh estate.

Suddenly, her quiet devotion to the memory of her beloved is shattered by the arrival of Edwin's cousin Carleton, whose bitterness at being deprived of his inheritance seemingly only Arabella can allay. The reappearance at Eversleigh Court of the conniving Harriet further jeopardizes Arabella's spiritual bond with the past. Only amidst the cataclysmic suffering wrought by St. Giles Plague and the Great London Fire does Arabella find courage enough for a personal renewal, which may help her make her sepatate peace with England.

The brothers are back – the latest installment in J. R. Ward's sizzling #1New York Times bestselling series.

J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood novels have introduced readers to a 'different, creative, dark, violent, and flat-out amazing' (All About Romance)world. Now, as the vampire warriors defend their race against their slayers, one male's loyalty to the Brotherhood will be tested – and his dangerous mixed blood revealed.

Rehvenge has always kept his distance from the Brotherhood – even though his sister is married to a member, for he harbors a deadly secret that could make him a huge liability in their war against the lessers. As plots within and outside of the Brotherhood threaten to reveal the truth about Rehvenge, he turns to the only source of light in his darkening world, Ehlena, a vampire untouched by the corruption that has its hold on him – and the only thing standing between him and eternal destruction.

Even within the vampire brotherhood, Zsadist is feared. Still bearing the scars from a tortured past, he is renowned for his unquenchable fury. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion-until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.

As Primale of the Chosen, the fiercely loyal Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of his race. But his first mate, the Chosen Cormia, wants not only his body but his heart for herself. As tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, Phury must decide between duty and love.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetite. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin.

Possessed by this dark side, Rhage fears the times when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him. When Mary Luce is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world, she must rely on Rhage's protection. Knowing that Mary feels the same intense animal attraction, Rhage must make her his alone…

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown. Taken in by The Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was-or his true identity.

Xhex has long steeled herself against the attraction to John Matthew. Until fate intervenes and she discovers that love, like destiny, is inevitable.

In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. The city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Now back in the Brotherhood — and unrecognisable as the vampire leader he once was — Tohrment is physically emaciated and heartbroken beyond despair. When he begins to see his beloved in his dreams — trapped in a cold, isolating netherworld — Tohr turns to a self-serving fallen angel in hopes of saving the one he has lost. When he's told he must learn to love another to free his former mate, Tohr knows they are all doomed . . .

Except then a female with a shadowed history begins to get through to him. Against the backdrop of the raging war with the lessers, and with a new clan of vampires vying for the Blind King's throne, Tohr struggles between the buried past, and a very hot, passion-filled future . . . but can his heart let go and set all of them free?

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world-to engage in the turf war with the lessers. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. And if he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers.

But fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him.

The ruthless and brilliant brother Vishous possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time-until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that does not include her…

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

FORBIDDEN TEMPTATIONS

Serena Kelley is an archaeologist and treasure hunter-and a woman with a secret. Since she was seven, she's been the keeper of a powerful charm that grants her health and immortality… as long as she stays a virgin. But Serena isn't all that innocent. And when a dangerously handsome stranger brings her to the brink of ecstasy, she wonders if she's finally met the one man she cannot resist.

FATAL DESIRES

Wraith is a Seminus demon with a death wish. But when an old enemy poisons him, he must find Serena and persuade her to give him the only known antidote in the universe-her charm. Yet, as she begins to surrender to his seductions and Wraith senses the cure is within his grasp, he realizes a horrible truth: He's falling for the woman whose life he must take in order to save his own.

Twin detectives Ben and Chase Dawson have been sent to investigate an unusual murder at a resort owned by Julian Lodge. Julian wants them to protect the prime suspect, a young submissive who was the last person to see the victim alive. The job seems simple until Ben and Chase discover that the beautiful submissive they both desire has a dark past.

Natalie Buchanan came to the Willow Fork Tranquility Spa seeking sanctuary after escaping the clutches of a twisted sadist. Working as a massage therapist at the resort has given her a chance to heal as well as access to the spa’s secret dungeon. But when one of her regular clients ends up dead on her table, Natalie fears that the monster she once escaped has come back to claim her.

As Natalie rediscovers the beauty of BDSM with her twin Masters, all three will be forced to confront her past.

Note: There is no sexual relationship or touching for titillation between or among siblings.

Eager to start a family, Caroline Sommerville marries Dominic Santos in a whirlwind courtship. Then the unthinkable happens: her husband becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his business partner.

With Dominic on the run from the police, Caroline is his last hope. Though she's only known him a short time, she's certain he was framed.

But there's so much about him she doesn't know. And when a damning secret in Dominic's past surfaces, Caroline has to decide whether she believes in the man she married. Is he the murderer he's accused of being? Or is he the husband who needs her trust – and love?

When Kate Collison, to help her ailing father, completes his portrait of the powerful Baron de Centeville, her only thought is to be a dutiful daughter. But when the Baron presents her to Parisian society as the painter, Kate finds herself basking in the recognition . . . until she discovers that the Baron has plans for her -- shocking plans that will change her life unless she can fight the Baron with his own weapons...

Set in 1930s China, this is a true but tragic tale of romance, sexual desire, and untimely death. Beautiful, intelligent, and schooled in the Daoist arts of love, Lin is married to a provincial university professor. Julian Bell, son of Vanessa Bell, and darling of the Bloomsbury set, has arrived in China, hungry for experience. Their mutual attraction leads to a passionate phy-sical and spiritual sojourn in Beijing. Unable to realize their love in a society divided by cultural conflict and the threat of war, they eventually part: Julian to fight for the Loyalists in Spain and Lin to contemplate suicide in her husband's house.

他的脸触到她的面颊，好烫，她的嘴唇很红。他轻轻吻她的脸，脖颈，寻找她的嘴唇，他的一只手从她的腰摸到她的肩，移到前面薄薄的旗袍覆盖着的乳房，她无法遮掩的坚挺起来的乳头，马上使他冲动起来。他们被激情燃烧得透不过气来…

虹影的《英国情人》属于苏童一路，她把人物的心性刻划得相当充分，她的叙述不断地对人物的感觉体验和内心活动进行辩析，但又不繁琐，始终保持一种明晰和流畅。从这一意义来说，虹影的小说叙述功夫已经相当到位，没有什么理由不认为她是一个称职而出色的小说家。

In Can Xue’s extraordinary book, we encounter a full assemblage of husbands, wives, and lovers. Entwined in complicated, often tortuous relationships, these characters step into each other’s fantasies, carrying on conversations that are “forever guessing games.” Their journeys reveal the deepest realms of human desire, figured in Can Xue’s vision of snakes and wasps, crows, cats, mice, earthquakes, and landslides. In dive bars and twisted city streets, on deserts and snowcapped mountains, the author creates an extreme world where every character “is driving death away with a singular performance.”

Who is the last lover? The novel is bursting with vividly drawn characters. Among them are Joe, sales manager of a clothing company in an unnamed Western country, and his wife, Maria, who conducts mystical experiments with the household’s cats and rosebushes. Joe’s customer Reagan is having an affair with Ida, a worker at his rubber plantation, while clothing-store owner Vincent runs away from his wife in pursuit of a woman in black who disappears over and over again. By the novel’s end, we have accompanied these characters on a long march, a naive, helpless, and forsaken search for love, because there are just some things that can’t be stopped — or helped.

The Barnes Noble Review

In this captivating historical romance about Stephanie Laurens's intriguing Cynster family, an unexpectedly perilous house party is the setting for an equally unexpected love match between Simon Cynster and Portia Ashford. Simon has known Portia for ages, and his natural protectiveness toward her has always encouraged her defiance. Their clashes have only gotten worse since his sister wed her brother (in On a Wicked Dawn). But, when Portia decides it's time for her to explore the passions that inspire men and women to marry, she needs a tutor who is both discreet and accomplished. Despite Simon's rakish reputation, she knows she can trust him absolutely…if she can persuade him to go along with her wild plan. What she doesn't know is that Simon has also decided it's time to marry, and he's prepared to employ all his seductive wiles to persuade Portia to become not just his paramour but also his wife. In a family known for bold warriors and passionate lovers, Simon Cynster is about to prove himself The Perfect Lover. This volume also includes a teaser chapter for Laurens's exciting Bastion Club series, scheduled to debut in the fall of 2003. Sue Stone

Mason is an enforcer, keeping magical practitioners on the straight and narrow. His 'dog' Louie, is a faithful familiar who's proven over and over that he's a practitioner's best friend. But this time, Louie's in the line of fire when practitioners in San Francisco accidentally unleash a monster into the world.