"You couldn't soar it you didn't leap."

FINAL DECISION: Two romances that feel like romances rather than an add on to an ongoing story. Although very sexy, both of these romances were sweeter emotionally than I expected with less angst and drama.

THE STORY: This book has two stories.  First, the story of Peyton and Novo. Peyton is an aristocratic vampire who expected to find a worthy female of his class to marry and carry on his family legacy. The female, he wanted, however, rejected him in favor of another male. Instead, he is intrigued by Novo who is definitely not what he expected to want. A fellow trainee, Novo is brash, very sexual and not at all aristocratic. But she has secrets that keep her from opening up. Second, is the story of Saxon and Ruhn. Saxon was rejected by the male he chose for himself. But when Ruhn comes into the Black Dagger household, Saxon finds himself attracted. Ruhn, however, may not want to explore the possible connection between himself and Saxon.

OPINION: This was a book that was evenly split between the two couples and didn't have any extraneous stories to take away from those two romances. There is also common threads between the two romances: both have one person who has a tragic past and suffers from feelings of lack of worth; and both have some crummy father figures.

I enjoyed these stories because although there are dark aspects of the pasts of these characters, the stories themselves are less dark than many of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. The stories were lighter in many ways and happier. The couples get together quicker than I expected and have to work through their problems together.

Although I enjoyed the recruits' romance story, I was most satisfied with Saxon finally getting his happy ending. We get the chance not only to know more about him and see him getting the opportunity to be more than just a plot device. Ruhn is an interesting pairing for him and I enjoyed the sweetness of their interaction (and the hotness). The weakness of that story for me is that there is almost too fast a connection between them (especially because Ruhn has not had a relationship with a male before).

Peyton and Novo have a more traditional romance (well as traditional as could be expected in the Black Dagger universe. Like the other trainee stories, their romance has a bit of a new adult feel to it as opposed to the Black Dagger Brotherhood couples. Their problems seem smaller and more manageable but no less important. I thought they were funny at times, but intense and sweet at others. (And seriously hot).

I enjoyed this book very much, it feels like a relief from the intense drama of the main series and has a more romance feel to it.

WORTH MENTIONING: The book contains a couple of public sex scenes.

CONNECTED BOOKS: BLOOD FURY is the third book in the Black Dagger Legacy series which is a spinoff of Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I think the Black Dagger Legacy books at least should be read in order because of the developing relationships. With the cross-over with the Black Dagger Brotherhood, however, a reader is better served by reading the entire two series in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

Ok so I admit, I don't always pre-order BDB books, and I don't think I've EVER reviewed one (because come on, Ward is doing just fine without my input), but I felt the need to remedy that after reading this book because Ward surprised me. Here I was thinking, I had her pattern down -which I promise isn't a put down; I keep buying BDB books because even if the world building isn't your fav, and you roll your eyes a little at some of the forced in pop culture constructs, Ward writes such beautiful compelling, dark characters. I can't even think of another Author who's done it so consistently and often, therefore, Ward gets my hard earned bucks. Originally, I pre-ordered because I was really interested in Novo, and Ruhn's characters (and of course I've always loved Saxton) and I figured with Peyton that there was some kind of redemption coming so I was even on board to like him by the end. Imagine my surprise when one of my favorite parts was being inside Peyton's brain with his hilariously clever musings dripping with sarcasm... I don't think I've ever laughed or smiled so much in a BDB book (sorry Rhage and Lassiter) and it was immensely enjoyable (and, yes, even refreshing). Not to say the other characters didn't deliver- really liked getting to know Ruhn especially and seeing Saxton find his one and only. Normally, I like one story line slightly better than the other, but I found myself equally eager to read whichever POV Ward decided to throw at me, which again has never happened. Go Ward! Def a re-read in my future...

I have been a J.R Ward fan since the beginning. I have really enjoyed the first couple of books in this spin off series. This one however was just Blah... I love Peyton and Novo but it was missing the ACTION/FIGHTING. The scenes where you feel like you are there in the streets with them. It was just one conversation to the next. I will have to agree with other fans and say the price for a digital download is just a little much. I will still read her books because I am invested but i will wait until my local library has them to download.

I have never given 3 stars to JR Ward and I hesitated for the longest time. I am a HUGE BDB fan and I have loved this series so much. Loved getting a glimpse of day to day life with brothers and the new developments. However, this book fell very short for me. It was predictable ( possibly due to the fact that the ending was given away in all the previews to this book. She’s not done that before. Teased and pretty much gave you the end result but always left enough to get you excited. ). This one lacked a lot of true drama and suspense - again due to the postings of who gets their happy endings and all the mush.
There was a great scene in a van that made me feel like the true BDB was peeking through but then it was gone and turned into such a predictable love story.
Novo has been a bad ass since the beginning - Ward should have left more of that personality , even with the change and discovery. She’s done it before with V and others.
I will continue to read this series and the BDB series with hopes that the WARDen can get back on track and give us more of what we are accustomed to. I know it’s a big world and there are a lot of developing story lines but PLEASE don’t lose that special magic that hooked us in the beginning.