The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the “utterly absorbing” (Angela Knight, New York Times bestselling author) Black Dagger Brotherhood series and The Savior brings you the next sizzling and passionate paranormal romance in the Black Dagger Legacy series. As a trainee in the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s program, Boone has triumphed as a soldier and now fights side by side with the … now fights side by side with the Brothers. Following his sire’s unexpected death, he is taken off rotation against his protests–and finds himself working with a former homicide cop to catch a serial killer: Someone is targeting females of the species at a live action role play club. When the Brotherhood is called in to help, Boone insists on being part of the effort–and the last thing he expects to meet is an enticing, mysterious female…who changes his life forever.
Ever since her sister was murdered at the club, Helaine has been committed to finding her killer, no matter the danger she faces. When she crosses paths with Boone, she doesn’t know whether to trust him–and then she has no choice. As she herself becomes a target, and someone close to the Brotherhood is identified as the prime suspect, the two must work together to solve the mystery…before it’s too late. Will a madman come between the lovers, or will true love and goodness triumph over a very mortal evil?
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I have always enjoyed this paranormal series, the original and this spin off. This book is a good continuation of the story lines.
J R Ward is one of my favorites. Black Dagger Brotherhood & Black Legacy are books I NEVER miss!!
This was entertaining, in this book Boone that is a member from the glymera and a trainee from the black dagger brotherhood falls for a civilian Helania.
He meets her while working with Butch in order to catch an assassin that is killing females ik a very cruel way.
If you like Jr Ward then you’ll love this.
I could not put this one down and I think its JR’s best work in a long while. You start to really care about the characters and I hope we will read more about them in up coming BD Legacy books.
I’ve been a fan of the Black Dagger Brotherhood since I bought my first J. R. Ward books, a combined hardcover of Dark Lover and Lover Eternal from the Doubleday Book Club in either 2006 or 2007. Needless to say, while I’m no longer in the book club, I haven’t missed a release in this series yet. I had just finished The Savior when Blood Truth arrived in my PO Box, so the timing couldn’t have been better.
The Legacy series reads more like a New Adult genre, but I enjoy them every bit as much as I do the original BDB books, especially when the latest book picked up right where The Savior left off. This is Boone’s story, one of the young trainees working with and learning the ways of the BDB soldiers. It was every bit as exciting, captivating, and beautifully written as all of Ward’s books are. I do have to cop to one totally unexpected giggle on page 392 when the family is seated and passing around “silver trays and porcelain BOWELS” of food…it’s referred to as “an eclectic meal,” but that really did feel over the top!
Loved the book, the ending was perfect, and typos happen. I highly recommend this one!
Love the Black Dagger Brotherhood as well as the Legacy series. Smart, steamy and funny. Can’t get enough of J. R. Ward
This book was amazing! I love BDB! Boone and Helena meet under horrible circumstances. He was sweet and romantic, but also super smart. Butch had more in this story too. I was glad to see him have more to him other than the warrior. He was more investigator in this story. Oh, and Syn!!! I can’t wait for more of that vampire!
I finished this book last night and I’ve been trying to figure out how to put my thoughts in words but its been difficult. The BDB books are some of my favorite books by any author, but the Black Dagger Legacy books, while supporting of the main books, just doesn’t always do it for me. Boone loses his father after shadows attack him because he was being a traitor against The King, Wrath.
Girls are being killed at a club in downtown and Butch asks Boone for help in investigating to find the killer. Helaine lost her sister to the killer and has been looking out for other women at the club, until she finds the third body in the basement. At first they think that one of the Bastards are responsible but Wrath, being the lie-detector scenter that he is, they realize that its someone else. Boone’s father left all of his estate to the main butler of the house, but guess what “the butler did it” not only is the best phrase of the entire book but also changes Boone’s life.
I felt like Boone was trying to get sympathy for his father and draw it out even though he wasn’t upset about his father’s death. The Brother’s while trying to help Boone grieve I think they kind of instigated his confusion in how he felt. I think this may have been a necessary book in the Legacy series but I wasn’t able to get fully invested in the story like I usually am.
J.R. Ward never disappoints! Her voice, world-building, and realistic characters (even if they are vampires) hold my attention. I am forever anxiously waiting for the next book!
J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood has always been my jam, so it’s natural that I would take to the Black Dagger Legacy now that all of the original brothers have had their time in the spotlight. This book shares Boone’s story, and what a story it is. I am perpetually in awe of how Ward brings a new and nuanced story to light for each and every member of the vampire rice that she chooses to spotlight, and I am always intrigued by the introduction of new characters whether they be a main character, a love interest, or peripheral characters who contribute to the stories crafted by Ward about her special breed of vampires. The intrigue is riveting and the romance is off the charts, steamy. Immerse yourself in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world. You will not come away unsatisfied!
Part four of the Black Dagger Legacy books, Blood Truth, is the tale of the final trainee Boone. After an injury takes him out of the field, Boone works to solve a murder case. During the investigation, he meets Helaine and is instantly drawn to her, as she is to him.
Boone and the rest of the trainee group for that matter, have escaped the glymera’s aristocratic confines, which thrills me to no end. It appears the largest conflicts come from their old world, prejudice beliefs, and the next generation is rising above it. Boone struggles with this in his household, but Helaine supports him in coming to terms with it. The couple has great chemistry, and they meet at a time when they both require a change in their lives.
Although the core focus is not on the Brotherhood, they are still present throughout Boone’s story. I enjoy that every legacy book assumes a minor pause from the main BDB story arc. I enjoy the trainees interacting with the Brothers away from the war. Blood Truth, for example, is predominantly a murder mystery. Butch puts his detective shoes on, and it is delightful to experience. I have a secret hope he can eventually go back to that full time.
J.R.Ward’s world of vampires is one of the best in the genre. These books possess a unique voice, are suspenseful and witty. I typically find little wrong when reading from the Black Dagger Brotherhood world. I did experience some minor annoyance during Blood Truth with the convenient wrap up of the murders and a lack of thorough explanation, but I can live with that. Everything else lives up to my expectations.
I was so excited to dive back into the BDB (Black Dagger Brotherhood) world. I was quickly lost in Boone’s plight and seeing his journey. J.R. Ward never ceases to amaze me and this book was captivating. There was so much going on that the Brotherhood was having to track down and keep an eye on, and as a trainee, Boone is right in the thick of it. Despite his world crumbling down around him, he had the Brothers and a new friend in Helania. I enjoyed seeing where the newfound friendship would go and I was holding my breath, waiting for the next murder. I wanted them to find out what was going on in that club! I couldn’t read this book fast enough and yet never wanted it to end. I loved getting lost in a new chapter within the Brotherhood and all that surrounds them. Be sure not to miss this read!
I absolutely loved this book & loved Helaine & Boone. It was also great having Butch back in detective mode investigating the murders & having the Brothers in the book (you have to love Rhage, V & Butch together). There were some inconsistencies (Butch dematerializing) but JR Ward is now aware. I want to see more of their story, hope to see them & the rest of the trainees in future BDB books!
Favorite Quotes:
In the back of his mind, the tally of his sire’s neglect and condescension was like an electric meter going haywire, the count spiraling up into the stratosphere…
You are amazing. I know . . . I know that sounds like a line, but it’s not. You bring me to my knees and lift me up at the same time. It’s the definition of magic.
My Review:
I have been hearing this author’s name for several years – first as murmurs then loud rumblings and finally as shouted raves; but until now, I had never stopped to read one of the many books from her rather large shelf of offerings. Silly me, what was I thinking? I’m kicking myself… This was fantastic. Despite the need to read slowly while occasionally needing to check the handy and thoughtfully provided glossary of her creatively contrived lexicon, it was well worth the effort. I was quite taken with the cleverness and agile craft of her complex yet captivating world-building.
Being a paranormal novice I had been hesitant to delve in, knowing I was starting the second generation of a long-running and highly venerated series and I would be swimming in alien waters. And, I’m lazy when it comes to extensive world-building. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised, scratch that, I was downright gleeful with my discovery! Even though I found myself sliding into a completely unfamiliar mythology from any vampire lore I’ve ever come across, I had no difficulty following the complexity and didn’t experience the expected struggle in navigating or comprehending the foreign structure of their society and various nomenclatures.
The storylines were action-packed, well-crafted, and laced with sharp wit, keen insights, and evocative observations. I was enthralled, riveted, and highly invested throughout. Ms. Ward’s bewitching and engaging writing style whisked me right inside the core of her secret clan as if I had been granted the vamp power to dematerialize and transport myself there. Her characters were peculiar, curiously enticing, and uniquely compelling – even the creepy and disturbing ones.
I am a new convert to the Black Dagger Brotherhood and will confess that the last serious vamp book I recall perusing was by Anne Rice in the late 1980s. I am totally enamored with J.R. Ward’s delightfully creative and mesmerizing arrangements of words as well as this new species – they drink hot cocoa and eat ice cream! I may have been turned – I now consider myself a paranormal reader in training.
With this book JR Ward has almost gone back to the original script for BDB and it was awesome. I felt she had managed to get the right mix between our characters of the Legacy series and the original Brothers. Although essentially a PNR I felt there was more than enough meat in this murder mystery to keep any reader who loves paranormal engaged. We really get to truly see Boone and the life he has had, I also didn’t see the twist in the tale until it hit, that’s a great author right there.
There are a number of threads in this book that will lead us to further publications and I personally cannot wait for Sinner and find out all about Syn (Ok he’s a Bastard rather than a Brother but it works for me).
For me this was Ward at her best and I loved it.
4.25 stars–BLOOD TRUTH is the fourth instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACK DAGGER LEGACY paranormal, romance series focusing on an elite group of warriors in training. This is Rexboone ‘Boone’ son of Altamere, and Helania’s story line. BLOOD TRUTH can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. The Black Dagger Legacy Series is a spin-off from, and runs parallel to the author’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Several characters cross-over for cohesion and history.
Told from several third person perspectives including Boone and Helania, BLOOD TRUTH follows the search for a killer; a possible serial killer who is targeting young, female vampires at an underground club (Pyre’s Revyval) catering to vampire wanna-bes. An anonymous phone call to the Black Dagger Brotherhood pulls Boone into his first murder assignment, an assignment that brings our hero face to face with his fated mate. Enter Helania, a vampire female who is searching for person who killed her only sister. What ensues is the building relationship between Helania and Boone, and the potential fall-out as the killer is closer than anyone could have imagined.
Boone knows loss having suffered his mother’s mysterious death, and the recent murder of his sire but meeting Helania stirs something within Boone he could never have imagined, something that would bring our couple closer together towards their own happily ever after. Helania has struggled in the eight months since her sister’s murder. Desperate to learn the truth, Helania goes ‘undercover’ at the local club in search of the person responsible for destroying her life.
Meanwhile, Boone’s life at home spirals out of control when a number of the Glymera (rich and powerful vampires) are murdered including the man he has come to call father. As Boone prepares to send his father into the ‘Fade’, our hero will discover that his father kept many secrets, secrets that are about to be revealed.
The relationship between Boone and Helania is one of immediate attraction but Helania becomes a suspect when Butch O’Neal’s experience as a detective tells him Helania knows more than she is willing to reveal. Protective of the female he will come to call mate, Boone’s need to bond will be overridden by Helania’s need to remain independent and strong. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
There is a large and familiar ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including several members of the Black Dagger Brotherhood (Wrath, Butch, Tohr, V, Rhage, Dr. Havers, Doc Jane, Saxton) as well as the ever popular doggen Fritz; BoB’s Zypher, Syn and Balthazar; the re-appearance of Boone’s fellow trainees, as well as Boone’s friend Rochelle; his father Altamere, and the numerous members of the Altamere household including his father’s butler Marquist.
BLOOD TRUTH is a story of betrayal, revenge, family and blood. Secrets are revealed; vengeance takes aim at the innocent and young. The premise is engaging, entertaining and energetic: the romance is seductive and intense; the characters are familiar, dynamic, and colorful.
Love all the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. This is the 4th in the “legacy” series – the next generation. Interesting plot twists and unexpected turns in the road kept my interest.
“Boone’s smile was a sunrise that illuminated not just his face, but clearly his soul, too. “Well,” he whispered against her mouth. “If that isn’t blood truth . . . I don’t know what is.”
Little else gets my excited as when it is time for JR Ward to release a book. Whether it is her previous work under “Jessica Bird”, her Bourbon Kings trilogy (LOVED THESE), or even the Firefighter book (books?!). There is only one that makes me plan my day around it though, and that is her Black Dagger Brotherhood books.
If I’m being honest, I do re read most of these books every year. It’s something I save for the days when I’m snowed in, and Mother Nature is taking over everything. The ones that I visit the most? That would be the first 12 books. I do realize this world need to evolve, and it needs to progress so it doesn’t become stale. I get that. I do, but where is the “original spark”. Where is the “thing” that made these book….THESE BOOKS. If you have read these books, and been following along, well you will get what I mean. This is my only complaint.
I enjoyed this book – I really did. I love the spin off books, the new characters, and the fact that she put these books out for us. I am not dismissing any of that. I just what the BDB magic back. That’s it. I hope you read this one. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Boone was special, seeing the brothers was everything, and it felt like coming home when I was reading this book. Don’t skip this one.
Dear Warden,
I hope you know that we love these books. That we love this series. That has not changed, at least not for me it hasn’t. I think most of us just miss the passion the original first 12 books had. They still own a piece of my heart. The isane angst that Blay and Qhuinn had building up over those few books leading up to Lover At Last. That is still, to this very day, one of the best storylines I have ever read. Those two are still with me to this very day. They are sitting in the place of honor in my heart. The rest of the brothers are as well, but nothing compares to my boys Blay & Qhuinn. The final bar scene between those two, you know which one, it still plays like a movie in my head. I miss that writing. I miss those intense emotions you pulled from us with your writing. I know you still have it in you. I know you’re still as talented as you were then. I just hope you find your way back to “The Warden” we have come to know and love. I’m not going anywhere, and I’ll still be here for every release.
Love,
HP
PS…Ok, I am going somewhere. I lied. I’ll see you at the next BDB book launch party.
“. . something above, in the night sky, got his attention. Way up in the heavens, a brilliant shooting star was traveling in an arc . . . that made a perfect smile formation directly above them.”
I think this may be my favourite of these Legacy books so far. The focus was on the romance, which was nicely balanced with the murder investigation. There was no emotional drama going on with the Brothers on the sidelines that would’ve distracted from the main story. I liked Boone and Helaine, and they made a good couple. I sort of guessed the bad guy fairly early on, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the book at all. All in all, a great read.
(As an aside, the Piatkus ebook edition I read had appalling formatting errors. Lines were merged and cut at random, so that half the time I had to guess who was saying what. That was somewhat distracting, but the book was good enough to continue reading despite.)
It’s hard for me to write a Spoil free review when it’s about the BDB stories, they are so real, all of the characters feel like family to me as they are to each other. So I’m doing this one on what I felt coming from Boone’s story, that was compassion, injustice, recompense, and love. All of those words formed this story of a wonderful young man that hopefully will be a brother one day, he deserves it.
I also have to mention Jim Frangione the narrator who brings these characters to life, they wouldn’t be the same without you.