Dark Lover by J.R Ward

My Rating: 4 stars Read: December 2008 I enjoyed this book once I got past all my preconceived vampire notions courtesy of a "twilight" series obsession. Ward's vampires gain their sustenance from the blood of a vampire of the opposite sex, possess immense physical strength, can dematerialise, vaporise if they go out in the sun & can be killed if you try hard enough. Many are unaware they are vampires until they go through their transition in their twenties. Initially I found the different orders of vampire, wiithin the vampire species concept hard to get a handle on - civilian vampires, vampires of the aristocracy, warrior vampires, Wrath, the only purebred vampire, Beth the half human - about to go through transistion vampire. However, halfway through the novel the erotic scenes between Wrath & Beth (hero & heroine) more than allayed my concerns. The diverse classes of vampire have wide-ranging characteristics & varying degrees of strength, weakness & powers. The Black Dagger Brotherhood consists of six warrior vampires who defend their race against the Lessers, soulless vampire slayers who have been recruited by the Omega (an evil supernatural being.) The Brotherhood is all that stands between the civilian vampires and the extinction of the vampire species. For me Dark Lover read like a gritty crime novel, it was action packed, in a macho way, savage in parts & erotic rather than romantic. Some of the prose was a bit roll-your-eyes corny - "His throat was raw, and it felt like he'd french-kissed a blowtorch." but all in all I enjoyed the read and will try more in the series. I do want to see how the others in the Black Dagger Brotherhood fair. If you like this review vote for it on Goodreads