J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood ROCKS my world… and it will rock yours, too!

And “V” (my other favorite!!! I CRIED!!!). <—- And Butch. Ohhhhhh what a story!!!!

And for that matter, Rhage (ohhhh Hollywood, you are soooooo *oomph*). And Rehvenge (he’s all bad-boy, maybe even bad-guy… but OMG in this one?? *whoooooo*).

And for that matter, The King himself. He’s my “other #1″ BDB brother. He is THE SH!T!!!!!! (Maybe imagine Jason Momoa) His book is the first (and he’s in all of ‘em, and the next book on Tuesday is HIM again) and I LOVED his book #1 like crazy and he was my first true BDB love BUT back then? I wasn’t used to such “manly” leather-bound bad-ass characters (coming off of Twilight, you see…)  Tee hee, so I was a bit perplexed at first, but OMG I FELL HARD!!!!!!!!

Yep… you are in for a wild ride.

Joy: Can I read ‘The King’ without reading the other books first??

Lisa: Joy, You probably could read The King without reading the series but I would recommend reading the first book (Dark Lover) as that is the story of Wrath and Beth. This King is the continuation of their relationship. Each additional book focuses on different characters but all make appearances. hope that helps.

Maryse: Joy, do yourself a favor and read the entire series. There are soooo many of my all-time fav books in that series, and each becomes more involved. they’ll feel like family to you soon enough. A bad-ass hot family, but family nonetheless. 

Rebecka: Cant wait for The King!! Absolutely LOVE this Series!! Z’s is my fav but all the BDB’s ROCK!!!! You are so right Maryse! If I had an extended paranormal family this is who they’d be…….uh wait-maybe not.. it’d be so wrong to drool over family

Maryse: Right… right. Not good to drool over family.  *giggle*

Okay now… just for fun, here are some examples of how I (and many of us) see some of the BDB guys (these guys are really clear as day in our imaginations, ’cause so many of us agree on the images of them):

Wrath (in Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1): He’s the King and the only true vampire from the original bloodline. I see Wrath maybe kind of like Jason Momoa here (but with even longer hair. Just look at the fury in his eyes…) Maybe even here (more dressed – leather, of course – but just as bad-assed). Oh here’s a good one! Wow…. to be the woman that THE KING chooses? Mmmm mmmm mmm. He is I-N-T-E-N-S-E!!!! (my review of Dark Lover)

Rhage (in Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 2): He’s the “pretty” one of the group, but just as tough (maybe even more so… you’ll see). He’s cocky and arrogant and gorgeous, and they call him “Hollywood” and he’s got quite the hidden secret. LOL! Back in the day, Jason Lewis was a good pick for him. I LOVED that some of these vampire guys fell for human females. As did Rhage… *sigh* THAT was fun! There may be tears, though. Just a warning. 😉 (my review of Lover Eternal)

Zsadist in Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 3) (aka “Z”): <— my absolute favorite tortured hero of all time, and is the only one my beloved “Travis” can’t beat. EVER. He is the angriest, most “hateful” of the bunch. Gorgeous, if not for his physical scars (even on his face), and tattooed, but he has the biggest FTW attitude, and wants nothing to do with anyone. Especially the one woman that won’t leave him alone. Oh you guys… his book is INSANELY awesome. Everyone sees him pretty much the same in their heads (no matter the “actor/model” they use, he’s pretty much clear as day for us hardcore Z lovers. This is a great example of how I see him (as found on this blog). Oh see this?? TOTALLY looks like it was done for this book… that’s how close to “them” it is. And this (that’s a good ANGRY/irritated “Z’ look). And this… he just can’t take us anymore. 😉 LOL! This? —> YEP!!! Are you in love yet? YOU WILL BE!! P.S. “Z” and “Travis” in my head, look VERY much alike. LOL! 😉 Like in this picture. <— This guy could equally be my “Z” and my “Travis” (my review of Lover Awakened)

Butch in Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4): a HUMAN cop, that well… finds himself mixed up in their world and I loved every step of him getting there. *nods emphatically* All of these guys have such original story lines and book after book will keep you guessing. <— Like his. He wasn’t as easy for me to “see” at first, but I think JR WARD mentioned a resemblance (or being inspired by) David Boreanaz, and that’s when he clicked for me. Yeah… I could see that, perfectly. And good job on this!! (my review of Lover Revealed)

Vishous (aka “V”) in Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 5) was/is my second favorite but SO close to my first favorite. I’d almost say IS my favorite (what a STORY, and his had me sobbing) but… nobody can beat out my beloved Z. Not even V. But that should tell you how AH-MAZING Z and V are, and how crazy you will be over their stories. When you ask “who’s your favorite brother”, Z & V are the ones you’ll hear the most. I’m not going to tell you much about his story, (’cause it’s got quite a few twists and a romantic angle or two that will really have you guessing). Plus he’s the resident BDSM’r/Dom in our group. But I will say it starts off with a kidnapping. 😉 Yep… this vampire steals a human female doctor right out of the hospital… *giggle* Okay so what does he look like? This… <— very VERY good. Oh very good indeed. Oh and this one. That’s quite remarkable. (my review of Lover Unbound)

Phury in Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 6) is Z’s TWIN!!!!! And I was verrrrry much into him throughout the entire series. He was neck ‘n neck with my beloved “Z” for the first few books but you know me and tortured heroes… I fall HARD for them, so my “Z’ won. Mind you, Phury is seriously tortured, too (considering who he’s twins with). But he is just soooooooo sweet, so self-sacrificing, so AWESOME, so physically beautiful… just so perfect. So different from Z. Night and day. The good twin and the bad twin. Well. Almost. You’ll see. I was hooked to his entire journey from book #1, and was so excited to finally get to finally get to his book. This one. I was worried he’d bump Z out of my #1 spot, but alas… he didn’t. Z will forever be my #1, but Phury sure gave me some serious heart palpitations. Good examples of my version of Phury (from way back when… Like here <— but maybe a slightly older/more mature version of this guy) or… oh OH Yes… excellent Phury right here! (here’s my review of Lover Enshrined)

Rehvenge in Lover Avenged: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood <— not fully a vampire (he’s mixed with another “being”), but a part of the crew nonetheless. Mind you, it took me awhile to warm up to this paranormal male (and all of his… proclivities). I could barely envision him as described and I was pretty upset when his book was next. I didn’t care much about “Rehv” and i didn’t think there was any way I could fall for him. Guess what? His book became one of my FAVORITES in this series (and still is, to this day). In fact, he’s my mother’s favorite (she loves the “badder guys” – you’ll see what I mean), and he’s my friend Jackie’s too. Yep… when I saw HIS book cover I knew I was done for. I could finally “see” him and I WAS SO IN!!! He is the ultimate bad-ass, and chooses to do a lot of “bad things”. But… there’s a whole other side to him, and it’s in HIS book that we truly get to know him (and fall for him. BIG TIME!!!) So yes, you already have a good “version” of Rehv up on that book cover, but here is the ultimate “Rehv” in my mind —> OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! This could be my favorite character on looks alone. WHOA. And he’s got a bit of that bad-ass “Z” ‘tude, going on, here, so you know I’m already in love. 😉 Wow… I should make this my desktop image, I can’t tear my eyes away. I won’t even need to show you another picture, ’cause that’s Rehv, right there. PERFECT! That picture is also kind of my Travis, too. LOL!!!! I’m a mess. (here’s my review of Lover Avenged)

I MEAN it, guys. I was obsessed with these books HARD-CORE when I read ’em, a few years ago, and I’m just as obsessed with them now. Maybe even more so. These are RE-READ books!!!! And you know there’s nothing better than finding a series that affects you THAT hard, that you’d totally read ’em again. And again. And again.

Get ready for a non-stop reading marathon. If you like bad-ass alpha males like I do, you won’t be able to stop ’cause you’ll be in book heaven with these.