Ever since the birth of his daughter, Nalla, Zsadist has been regressing further and further into the life he led before he met Bella, his beautiful shellan. He has been waking up in cold sweats due to nightmares from his past, hasn’t made love to his wife, and won’t hold his baby girl, for fear that he might hurt her. While Nalla’s presence had consisted of only joy and excitement in first … couple months of her life, now it seems to be driving the couple apart. Bella is afraid that she and Nalla just may need to leave her hellren.
But then Zsadist gets injured on a mission to fight the lessers and because he hasn’t been feeding from Bella, almost loses his life. Could this near-death experience create the motivation to pull this couple back together? Or has the gap between them spanned too far for redemption?
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This was the story of Zsadist and his downward spiral after the birth of his daughter Nalla. Z was so worried the entire time Bella was pregnant because a lot of vampire females die in childbirth and she was already having a difficult pregnancy. Both he and Phury thought that if he lost Bella he wouldn’t have anything to live for.
Bella lived and had the baby, but afterward Zsadist wouldn’t go near the baby. He wouldn’t feed from Bella and was having horrible nightmares again about being a blood slave. This is the story of how he gets form that state to happy with his life and with his family. Zsadist is my favorite of all the brothers so it is great to finally see him get over all his pain and suffering and just finally be happy.
One of the very best series out there!! Highly recommend these well written stories and characters!! JR Ward’s is outstanding at building and blending this incredibly sexy, paranormal world!
Love this short story!
In this Black Dagger Brotherhood novella, Bella isn’t happy with her marriage. Zsadist still suffers from horrendous nightmares and thinks about his time as a blood and sex slave far too often. She gives him the space he needs, but he’s withdrawing from her and their infant daughter, Nalla. Though he’s protective of them, he no longer kisses Bella, and he refuses to hold or even touch his daughter. The rest of the Brotherhood and the shellans in the household adore Nalla, but Bella is prepared to leave Zsadist for good if he doesn’t shape up and be the hellren and papa Bella needs him to be.
This is such an emotionally charged story. Zsadist has grown a lot from his introduction in the first book, Dark Lover, and even more from his main story, Lover Awakened. He’s still on the road to recovery, but his fear is dragging him back to the darkness in his mind.
For first time readers, I really think you should read the prior books to understand this one. However, for readers of the series, you won’t be missing anything if you skip this novella. Still, I recommend it because it’s a sweet story. I love this couple!
5 Stars
Ever since the birth of Nalla, Z has been regressing further into his past life. He won’t hold her, touch her, or say she is his. The birth of a child should have made Z and Bella closer but its pushed them farther apart. Bella is considering leaving Z when he becomes injured on a mission. The injury pushes them back together and makes them talk and work through the past.
It’s no surprise that Z has issues with his new life. Bella is everything to him and he almost lost her with this pregnancy. He doesn’t take that well and for Z everything is extreme. I liked that Bella stood up for herself and her child. She loves him but she wasn’t going to ruin her daughter’s life because of it. Z needs those harsh decisions sometimes to snap him out of his obsessiveness with his past.
As always, these two are my favorite and I hated seeing them suffer but knew it would make them stronger in the end. These two worked through their problems and Z is going to therapy now, which is amazing. Sometimes things need to hit a breaking point for life to be fixed and that is how it was for these two. I really want more Z, Bella, and Nalla stories now.
I get lost in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. No one does it better that J. R. Ward!
This is a must read if you loved Lover Awakened. Z and Bella are still my favorite couple to date. They have issues and struggles. It makes them more relatable, more realistic. To me, their story will never end. Ward could write three more books about them and I guarantee that they would be just as touching and beautifully written as the first.
Speaking of the writing, it was wonderful. I could quote the whole book. Every line was filled with emotion. It was perfect.
I’m so sorry. I love you. Please forgive me. Can’t live without you.
I also loved seeing the shellans play a role in this book. Mary and Doc Jane were just as wonderful as Bella and Z. Seeing them help Z was heartwarming. I loved Jane’s tough love.
Here’s my deal. Wrath’s appointed me as the Brotherhood’s personal physician. You screw around with eating and feeding and sleeping such that it impairs your performance, I will bench your ass.
YOU TELL HIM JANE!
5 stars!
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I totally enjoy all of J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood books. This one did not disappoint.
I loved Zsadist and Bella’s story and I was so excited to read this novella!
It was really interesting to see how Z was doing after Nalla’s birth. Sadly his torment and his past’s demons won’t let him be happy. My heart broke for the three of them and especially Bella since her mother’s instincts and her love for Z were clashing.
Book 3 was definitely my favorite so far and this novella gave us the opportunity to see farther into Zsadist and Bella’s life and what’s really been happening between them. They have come a long way! I hope we get to see more of them and Nalla in the next books!!
My heart is so happy! I am thrilled that J. R. Ward revisited Zhadist’s story and gave him even more of a happily ever after. He’s my favorite brother! I loved it!
Zsadist settling into fatherhood and fighting his demons. A beautiful read!
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Zsadist and Bella are two of my favorite characters in the BDB series. Your heart breaks for Zsadist in this book with his inner struggle about his past. Excellent book and very emotional.
I’m completely addicted to everything jr ward has written. The black dagger brotherhood series is amazing on so many levels.
Zsadist is my favorite male of the black dagger brotherhood, so reading more about him is a guilty pleasure of mine, I’m thrilled to read that he is overcoming his past and is starting to feel whole again, this is a must read if you love him as much as I do.
I loved this! Zsadist and Bella are probably my favorite BDB couples and I was so thrilled to read more about them. Beautiful, heart-rending and satisfying despite the short length. Loved this!
OMG I can’t take all the yumminess of Z. I’ve melted into a big puddle of goofy fangirl happy goo. To say this little bitty Novella was epic seems weak for the way it made me feel. This story was beautiful, moving, and totally nailed me in the feels. I loved every single minute of it. To read about Z and Bella having their problems after Nalla was born and work through them coming out stronger on the other side…..OMG it was heartwarming. Z was having a lot of problems with his pasts and Nalla and I loved how he turned it around and became a amazing father. I also loved him and Bella who had been having their own issues being able to be alone as a couple since the baby was born come together. And when they did there was enough heat to melt my kindle. Great read! Perfect! I want more Z, Bella, and Nalla, and I wish this one was longer!
Pretty short, as is normal for an “in between” however I truly loved it. I’ve made no secret that Zsadist is a personal favorite of mine, I kinda love him, so getting more of his story was fantastic. I love how it showed some past stuff in flash backs too so we got what had been going on with them in other books. I’m very happy with this little novella.
I ADORE the novels of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The characters area so well developed that you identify them as people. Addictive. Gritty. Hilarious. Heartstoppingly sexy.
I really had to read this before moving on to book 7, mainly because this is not really a necessity I would say, but it for lovers of Bella, and Z fans. I love this couple, and you do learn more about Z as a character which did it justice, and this book was something that I feel was needed. Overall this was well needed in this series, and im glad I read it