Blood Kiss

Blood Kiss is the first book in the Black Dagger Legacy series by popular American author, J R Ward, an offshoot of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Paradise, daughter of Abalone, First Advisor to the King, is nervous: her father has allowed her to enter the Brotherhood’s new training program, believing it will give her self-defence skills in case of lesser attack. Paradise knows that this is not all that is involved, and wonders if she has what is needed to survive the program, let alone to excel. And the presence of Craeg – the male who encouraged her to apply for the program – is more of a distraction that she expected.

In the course of her days work at the Safe Place, Marissa, sister of Havers, mate of Butch, gives assistance to a badly injured female, but it has a profound effect on her when, despite her brother’s best efforts, the female dies. Marissa vows to find the male who fatally injured this anonymous female. Her ex-cop mate should be able to help, but her relationship with Butch is under strain.

While there are two main threads, the brothers and their mates all make appearances. Their banter is a source of humour, and fallen angel Lassiter’s antics manage to lift the mood when sorely needed. The emphasis in this book is on romance and relationships; there is plenty of sex including the phone variety, and certain characters even visit a sex club; fighting lesser is very much in the background. It will be interesting to see where this series goes. Enjoyable.