J.R. Ward’s # 1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood continues as a royal bloodline is compromised by a grave threat to the throne.Long live the King… After turning his back on the throne for centuries, Wrath, son of Wrath, finally assumed his father’s mantle–with the help of his beloved mate. But the crown sets heavily on his head. As the war with the Lessening Society rages on, … the Lessening Society rages on, and the threat from the Band of Bastards truly hits home, he is forced to make choices that put everything–and everyone–at risk.
Beth Randall thought she knew what she was getting into when she mated the last pure blooded vampire on the planet: An easy ride was not it. But when she decides she wants a child, she’s unprepared for Wrath’s response–or the distance it creates between them.
The question is, will true love win out… or tortured legacy take over?
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I love going back and visiting these characters again. JR Ward is a genius!
One of the greatest authors Ever! Even my daughter’s read them now and we love the world and the characters. You will absolutely love this series.
With all the turmoil of the glymera and the Band of Bastards trying to force him out of power, with the help of Beth, his wife, and all those who stand by him, Wrath, son of Wrath, finally accepts and embraces his role as King. And I absolutely loved every page.
In chess, the Queen protects the King
If you like the Black Dagger Brotherhood, you can’t help but like Wrath and feel for him. I mean he is the toughest of all the BDB warriors, he never wanted to be the King, all he really wants to do is fight against their enemies, but the fact that he lost his sight prevents him from going out on patrol with his brothers like he wants. Even though he can fight as good as anyone despite his blindness, he gets stuck in his office doing paperwork.
So many things happen in this book, not only between Wrath and Beth, but in other parts of the ongoing storylines. One of the main things that picks up in this book where the last book left off is the fact that the human thief, Sola Morte, was kidnapped at her Gran’s house. If you have read the previous books you will remember that she was hired by Benloise to spy on Assail, the drug dealer.
Assail is very interested in Sola, especially after Benloise shafted her in the payment he owed her and she retaliated by breaking into Benloise’s house, and moving one of his statues a bit off center, barely moving it, but apparently he is such a perfectionist that she knows something like that will really piss him off. Apparently she didn’t know just how much because, he had her kidnapped and brought to a house where he has people tortured to death.
Another storyline is the thing that happens to John Matthew when he gets near Beth. He feels some strange connection, then has a sort of seizure. We have seen where John Matthew is sometimes remembering things that only Darius should know. Beth is Darius’ daughter and John Matthew is his son, so they are half-siblings even though they didn’t meet until one of the early books in the series.
It is looking more and more like either John Matthew is the reincarnation of Darius or has some sort of weird connection to the dead Warrior, in addition to being his son. I have read in the wiki that John is Darius reincarnated, but frankly I think it is something else, like the the soul of Darius is inside John, but so is his own. Though what do I know? That could be the definition of reincarnation.
The storyline about the shadows, Trez Latimer and his bother iAm, is also in this book. You really have to feel for these guys. Trez was sold by his parents to the Queen of the S’Hsibe when he was young and is meant to be the stud to the queens daughter. Basically that will entail a life of sexual servitude in a gilded cage. Trez and iAm left their home for that reason, but they keep getting calls from the Queens High Priest for Trez to return.
Trez will not answer the phone when the High Priest calls, so it falls to iAm to take care of. iAm is constantly taking care of Trez, whether it be when he is downed by one of his frequent migraines or whether he is just trying to get Trez to change his lifestyle. Apparently back home they think of their bodies as temples and even have strict rites when it comes to the sexual act. Starting with bathing and keeping their temple clean. Which is why Trez is so rebellious and he does it with human women so often in just about any way and any place he can. Though now he is starting to really feel something for the chosen, Selena.
Beth wants a baby, and after seeing Wrath nearly bleed out in a prior book when he was shot by XCor, she wants it even more. She feels that then if something happened to him, at least she would have a part of him. However, Wrath knows that the death rate is high among pregnant female vampires, and he doesn’t want to chance losing Beth. They are at odds with each other on that point and the fact that Wrath is working so hard in a job he hates isn’t making things easier.
I really enjoyed this book. I had a long break between the last book and this one because it is a bit hard to read 500-600 page books with the same ongoing storylines one after the other for 10+ books, it is almost like one exceedingly long book. However, the break did me good and I am totally into the lives of the Black Dagger Brotherhood all over again. I really can’t wait to hear what happens to Trez in his book and I am especially waiting to see how (and if) Xcor and Layla get together.
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!
I had stopped reading this series awhile ago and then over the weekend decided to pick up where I left off and I’m glad I did! I love Wrath and his Shellan. This installment frustrated me some because I had thought that Wrath had gotten over not talking to Beth when he is afraid. I was glad to see other storylines develop. All in all it was a good read, if frustrating at times.
This was the first book I read in the BDB series (yes I read out of order don’t shoot me lol). And I fell in love with Ward, the series, and the characters. With the entire series under my belt I look forward to each new release.
Audiobook review: Fell in love with the King & Beth all over again! Wrath and Beth are a formidable pair! This story really sucks the reader in and sincerely pulls on the heart strings! I really liked how the story wrapped up! The narrator did a great job with providing unique voices for each character and appropriate tone inflections for each scene.
Love all things JR Ward, especially The Black Dagger Brotherhood. Read this series. You will NOT regret it!
If you don’t know the characters this is hard to follow.
He will always be my favorite.
My favorite series!
absolutely awesome!
I love JR Ward.
I absolutely loved this book and also the very first book of this series when Wrath met Beth. My second favorite in the series is Rhages book. All of them are awesome books to read. J. R. Ward knows how to capture her readers and keep them coming back for more.
I love these series
I looooove this series! It just keeps getting better and better. It was wonderful to focus on Wrath and Beth again. I read the books over and over again.
I love any of J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood books. The King is a continuation of the story that is intertwined through about nineteen or twenty different novels. J R Ward will continue the story by adding new characters and new storylines. Can’t wait for the adventure to continue. Daggers Up
Everything BDB is a must! 5
Excellent book as all in the set. They keep getting better and better. I love the fight scenes between the brothers and the lessers. I love the relationship between bath and Wrath Is somewhat unpredictable.