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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After denying the crown for years, Wrath finally takes the throne with his mate, Beth, at his side. The crown comes with heavy burdens and a lot of enemies. What he doesn’t expect is to have to make heavy choices between his crown and his personal life.
I love Wrath and Beth so getting another book featuring them made me happy. That said, this was not a book filled with how happy they are. This was a book filled with marital problems, arguments, resolutions, and finally happiness.
Beth has been hanging out with the pregnant chosen Layla trying to start her own needs because she wants a baby. Unfortunately, Wrath is against this and makes it clear to her. After a lot of conflict and discussion they work through this issue though and she does end up pregnant. This wasn’t the only issue for these two though. His kingship comes into question because of her not being a full blooded vampire which leads to some desperate measures being taken.
While I don’t usually like conflict between an established couple I actually enjoyed this one. Seeing them fight for the kingship finding ways to thwart the glymera just showed how powerful their bond was, even when upset with each other. Of course, in the end everything works out for these two. I really can’t wait to see more of them in future books, especially with LW. Wrath is just a great dad and I need more scenes of him in dad mode.
I can’t wait to read the next book and see what is going to happen with the shadows.
This book is awesome. J. R. Ward has the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series, Fallen Angels Series and The Bourbon Kings Series that are my FAVORITE! She is an awesome writer. She also writes under Jessica Bird. I highly recommend these series. Especially if your like romance, friendly vampires who find their true love and some bada** fighting the enemy.
Best book of the series. Must read for jr ward fans. Love the characters.
This was absolutely fantastic! There’s drama and heat, love and excitement, friendships and family, and so much heart. It was an exceptional story! Long live The King!
The Black Dagger Brotherhood books are awesome!
Beginnings and ends. Every book in this series keeps you guessing until the end. Beginner stories that may or may not end in the next book and the end of a story as far as a resolution. All characters pop up in the various books. Just love this series and I just can’t pick a favorite.
i LOVE EVERYTHING THERE IS TO LOVE ABOUT THE BDB WORLD!
J r ward series is fantastic
The book started off a little slow for me and that’s because there were several story lines that were starting. The action picked up about 100 pages in and was a roller coaster ride of emotion from there. I absolutely LOVED Wrath and Beth’s storyline. I was worried because they had a big fight at the beginning of the book, but their love for each other and willingness to work things out strengthened their relationship.
I love how Wrath handled the kingship and I am equally excited to see what direction the series goes now with the huge changes Wrath has made, personally and politically, for the vampire race. I love Beth’s character. She is a strong woman and even when all hell was breaking loose, she was determined to find a solution. We are also treated to flashbacks of Wrath’s parents starting from their first meeting to scenes that coincide with events in Wrath and Beth’s storyline.
Assail and Sola’s story broke my heart! Assail admitted to himself that he loved her and even let his bonding scent out when she was around (which I LOVED). However, their happily ever after is still yet to be determined. Sola has suffered from her attack and kidnapping and wants to get far away from a life of crime as possible. Assail assures her that his business dealings will not touch her but Sola doesn’t want to take the risk. Sola and her grandma leave Assail’s home for Miami and both (Assail and Sola) are heartbroken, yet too stubborn to be together right now. I hope they both snap out of it soon because I love them together.
Trez and Selena’s story line I didn’t like all that much. Trez wants her, hell even as a Shadow, he has bonding scent for her, but with the s’Hisbe tribe on his back and all the countless women he’s had sex with over the decades, he feels undeserving of Selena. Selena surprised me by totally digging on Trez and wanting to experience all his body has to offer her. They spent a lot of time in the book going back and forth about not being good enough and tradition and all that junk. When Trez finally says the right thing to drive Selena away, he is surprised when it actually happens but is devastated at losing her. It will be interesting to see where their paths travels from here.
Layla and Xcor. Man, I was confused with their storyline. It felt like it didn’t fit in with the book for some reason. I love the idea of Layla and Xcor together and in the previous books, Layla has been drawn to Xcor and vice versa. In this book, however, Layla is terrified of Xcor but she offers her body to him in exchange for him leaving his aspirations for Wrath’s throne alone; which Xcor agrees to in the end. What I loved most about this storyline was Xcor admitting to himself that he was in love with Layla. I hope it works out for them because I’d really love to see the two together, despite the complications of Layla’s impending pregnancy and Xcor’s rift between himself and Throe. Oh yea, Throe didn’t like the decision to stop going after the crown and was very vocal about it to Xcor. I think we may see some trouble from Throe in the future and I can’t wait to see how it will be revealed!
We are introduced to some new characters in the BDB world. Saxton’s dad, Tyhm is a complete asshole and I hope something heavy and medieval falls on top of him. There’s also s’Ex, the s’Hisbe Queen’s executioner who is charged with bringing Trez back home to fulfill his duties as a stag to the Queen’s daughter. We didn’t see much of s’Ex but I have a feeling, he will be prominent in future books. And then we meet Abalone, the son of the male who helped uncover a plot to murder Wrath’s mother while she was pregnant with him. Abalone is a standup guy and even though he was bullied into going against Wrath, he came clean and ended up gaining Wrath’s favor and becoming the king’s chief cleric and essential in Wrath’s new direction with the race.
The book is amazing. I love the series and I love the characters. It is difficult to give every character in the series page time, but we were able to see most of the ones we love, as well as a disturbing Lassiter in an Elvis jumpsuit and matching mile-high hair.
Another brilliant addition to the series!
Love the series, very well written all time favorite series and author
I loved this book, strong characters and great story line. Ya just gotta love the brotherhood.
I love the brotherhood of the black dagger series. Wrath is the best king ever.
This book was better than I expected, it was interesting to read about Wrath predicament between giving his shellan what she wants and protect her by refusing to have a child because pregnancy in his world is really dangerous for females.
It was also interesting to read about the glymera’s prejudice against vampires that have one human parent.
I’m also intrigued by the shadows and Xcor.
I love Wrath and Beth
I love this series! I want more!
I’m totally in love with the Black Dagger Brotherhood….
When you read this book you have to read Whole series they are the best the characters keep you so intrigued you want more of them
I loved the Black Dagger Brotherhood series! I can’t begin to express how much I truly enjoyed the world that J.R. Ward has created, and the characters in these books. MUST READ!
Oh my god, I love Beth and Wrath. I was absolutely thrilled about revisiting one of my favorite couples in the series. I’m totally ignoring the side plots that usually bump my rating down simply because of how awesome it was to read more about our royal couple PLUS we FINALLY get some heartwarming moments between John Matthew and Beth. FINALLY!
I loved The King! It was so good. I love when long running series retouch past favorite couples. The King of course is about Wrath and Beth with little bits of the whole gang sprinkled in. And as with all Black Dagger Brotherhood books there are other story plots going on in this book as well. We have Assail and Sola, Xcor and Layla, Trez and Selena, and a surprising plot line of Wrath’s father and mother Wrath(Sr) and Anha. Can I just say that Wrath’s parents were so sweet and Wrath Sr was sexy. I totally see where the son gets it. I loved getting to see Wrath Sr fall so hard for Anha and make her his one and only. It was a little bitter sweet though since anyone following the series knows that Wrath Sr. and Anha are horrifically murdered in front of their pretran son. I still loved getting to know them and see the parallels between the father and son. I knew when I finished the last book that Wrath and Beth were going to be having some problems since Beth caught baby fever and Wrath didn’t want a child.
Even though I hated seeing Beth and Wrath fight, I loved seeing them grow in their relationship. All couples have ups and downs and I felt J.R. Ward keeps that real in this series. I totally got were both Wrath and Beth were coming from. I loved that even though Wrath was scared to get Beth pregnant he decided to go for it anyways. Although she was already 4 months pregnant and they just didn’t know it. And OMG the way Wrath acted when he found out they were having a son was so cute I was smiling like a crazy woman. Now having a child wasn’t the only problem Wrath and Beth were having in this book. Xcor was at it again getting the glymera to declare that Wrath can’t be King because he mated a half breed and their heir wouldn’t be full blooded vampire. I hated Beth’s guilt over something she couldn’t help, and I hated the glymera more than ever for them using his love to try and strip Wrath of his throne. I loved that Beth was the one that came up with the solution. Vampire mate divorce and a human wedding. The human wedding which was done by Lassiter was hilarious but very sweet too. I also loved Wrath embraced his blindness in this book. He accepted himself and really grew as a mate, father, and King.