This was an amazing take on vampires, J.R.Ward completely changed the way we think about them. It was amamzing, the whole time i was reading i could not put this book down. A must have a definitely an outstanding read. Beautifully and a real page turner. The whole story is perfect, making the slayers the bad people and the vampires the sort of good people. It takes it into a whole different light. I have nothing bad to say about this book, or any of the Black Dagger Brotherhood novels, they're all perfect.

Dark Lover
J.R. Ward
Signet, Sep 2005, $6.99, 416 pp.
ISBN: 0451216954

In Caldwell, New York, the vampires and their adversaries the Lessening Society Slayers are at war. To enable the bloodsuckers to oppose their deadly opponents, six vampires formed the Black Dagger Brotherhood led by Wrath, who loathes Slayers for murdering his parents though hundreds of years have passed and detests humans almost as much.

Wrath learns that one of his top warriors Darius has been killed by the enemy combatants. Though he wants instant vengeance he is more concerned over Darius' daughter Beth, unaware that she is a hybrid born of a human mother and vampire father. To keep her safe, Wrath must bring her into his world, that of the undead; however he fails to realize until later that she has guided him into her world of love when the legendary Omega apparently has need for her.

Though obviously an action-packed vampire romance, DARK LOVER is character driven. Readers will feel vampires and slayers exist especially the former though they are nothing like those found in the Stoker universe. Wrath is terrific as a leader and a lover while Beth proves to be his equal or as he feels his superior. J.R. Ward paints an interesting realm that fans will want to bite into in one delightful reading.

Harriet Klausner