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lakea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Racial slurs, Abortion, and Pregnancy
lmrivas54's review against another edition
5.0
Just wow
Another great book by JR Ward. This one reads like a family saga similar to Dallas, with William Baldwine in a role similar to JR Ewing. There are four siblings, heir of the Bradford Bourbon dynasty, and this one book is about Lane, the youngest. The book has all the scandals known to man, hidden beneath the façade of an imperious family. We got infidelity, unmarried pregnancy, embezzlement, loveless marriages, forced marriages, kidnapping, all making for a highly entertaining book. As always, JR Ward's writing is impeccable, the tension grows as the action progresses and makes you stay up to 2:00 AM because you NEED to finish the book!
Another great book by JR Ward. This one reads like a family saga similar to Dallas, with William Baldwine in a role similar to JR Ewing. There are four siblings, heir of the Bradford Bourbon dynasty, and this one book is about Lane, the youngest. The book has all the scandals known to man, hidden beneath the façade of an imperious family. We got infidelity, unmarried pregnancy, embezzlement, loveless marriages, forced marriages, kidnapping, all making for a highly entertaining book. As always, JR Ward's writing is impeccable, the tension grows as the action progresses and makes you stay up to 2:00 AM because you NEED to finish the book!
bhaggu's review against another edition
I totally judged some of the characters at the beginning but somehow I ended up caring for the ist of them . I really enjoyed and kept reading it
sidekicka7x's review against another edition
5.0
I really really enjoyed this! There is just something about J.R. Ward's writing that just draws me in. I loved this.
darkness223's review against another edition
5.0
Omg ...just loved it first book ive read by this author was recommended by a friend and i just loved it cant wait to start the second one
allmadreadingren's review against another edition
Featured a sulking nepotism baby who had affairs
apminaker's review against another edition
4.0
Argh!!!
I love JR Ward's BDB series so I was eager to read this one. It was an exercise in frustration. The characters are complex and a mess. The story is all pain and very little happiness and the plot is all over the place! That said... Damn me I would read the next but only because I want Gin And Sam T and Edward and Sutton to have some peace. Since I care about the characters I guess it gets four stars, but if you are expecting Ward's usual style- be warned: it ain't here, darlin'.
I love JR Ward's BDB series so I was eager to read this one. It was an exercise in frustration. The characters are complex and a mess. The story is all pain and very little happiness and the plot is all over the place! That said... Damn me I would read the next but only because I want Gin And Sam T and Edward and Sutton to have some peace. Since I care about the characters I guess it gets four stars, but if you are expecting Ward's usual style- be warned: it ain't here, darlin'.
kelseymarie's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lauratheintractable's review against another edition
1.0
I mean, I finished it, so there’s that. I often don’t finish 1-star books. But man I sure wish I hadn’t because I feel kinda gross about it for reasons that will be more clear below.
I liked the trope-filled cliché-ridden Black Dagger Brotherhood books for the most part, at least early on.Some of them were even pretty hot. I am not a snob in terms of literary standards, I am solidly Dollar Tree in my tastes.
This was just - not even guilty-pleasure good. It wasn’t Dollar Tree generic candy good. It was literally just good enough so that I kept reading, imagining there would be a payoff, that it would get better.
There wasn’t, and it didn’t.
Let’s start with the mildest objection I had:
The romance was yawn-worthy. I genuinely didn’t get it at all. What is it they like about each other’s personalities? We will never know, because all they talk about when they’re together is how hot they are for each other or how betrayed they feel because both of them suck at communication. Why are they hot for each other? No actual idea. Lane is hot for Lizzie because of this twisted misogynist notion that she’s a “natural” beauty who doesn’t wear makeup. She’s hot for him because he’s . . . hot. That’s it. We don’t even know if they like the same bands or share a yen for Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Broadway musicals. What are they going to talk about when there aren’t any obstacles to overcome? Nobody knows, not even them, because they’ve never been on an actual date.
Oh, and he is a straight up active alcoholic, honey, who has never held an actual job and who has been sleeping on his friend’s couch for TWO YEARS and spending all night playing poker. Tell me why he’s such a great f&$*^ catch? Run away from him, sugar. Run, do not walk. I don’t care if his man bits are made of magic. It is not worth it.
The real, profound objection though: the racism. This book is next-level racist.
Miss Aurora, the Black housekeeper who is inexplicably doing the Calpurnia thing in the 2000s is there as a prop. THE FIRST TIME WE MEET HER SHE IS LITERALLY IN THE KITCHEN FRYING CHICKEN. She is a caricature with no needs or desires of her own whose only function is to provide wisdom and guidance and support to the white main characters. I kept thinking, “At some point this author is going to give Miss Aurora some actual depth and character apart from how she serves as a helper to the spoiled white kids.” But that didn’t happen. Ever. Because Ms Ward was rewriting “Song of the South” decades after even Disney decided it was a little too racist. And don’t get me started on how all the successful young men in Miss Aurora’s church congregation are only successful because of sports. Apparently in her world, young Black men who attend church don’t become investment bankers or neurosurgeons or physicists or artists or chess grandmasters. Just athletes.
There is no way after reading this sort of racist ick I can see myself reading JR Ward again. I’m trying to feel less gross about it by reassuring myself that I checked it out at the library so at least she didn’t get my money.
I think it was disbelief that a writer this established could be doing this without resolving it with some end of book fix kept me going until the last page. Boy, do I wish I had stopped earlier.
I liked the trope-filled cliché-ridden Black Dagger Brotherhood books for the most part, at least early on.Some of them were even pretty hot. I am not a snob in terms of literary standards, I am solidly Dollar Tree in my tastes.
This was just - not even guilty-pleasure good. It wasn’t Dollar Tree generic candy good. It was literally just good enough so that I kept reading, imagining there would be a payoff, that it would get better.
There wasn’t, and it didn’t.
Let’s start with the mildest objection I had:
The romance was yawn-worthy. I genuinely didn’t get it at all. What is it they like about each other’s personalities? We will never know, because all they talk about when they’re together is how hot they are for each other or how betrayed they feel because both of them suck at communication. Why are they hot for each other? No actual idea. Lane is hot for Lizzie because of this twisted misogynist notion that she’s a “natural” beauty who doesn’t wear makeup. She’s hot for him because he’s . . . hot. That’s it. We don’t even know if they like the same bands or share a yen for Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Broadway musicals. What are they going to talk about when there aren’t any obstacles to overcome? Nobody knows, not even them, because they’ve never been on an actual date.
Oh, and he is a straight up active alcoholic, honey, who has never held an actual job and who has been sleeping on his friend’s couch for TWO YEARS and spending all night playing poker. Tell me why he’s such a great f&$*^ catch? Run away from him, sugar. Run, do not walk. I don’t care if his man bits are made of magic. It is not worth it.
The real, profound objection though: the racism. This book is next-level racist.
Miss Aurora, the Black housekeeper who is inexplicably doing the Calpurnia thing in the 2000s is there as a prop. THE FIRST TIME WE MEET HER SHE IS LITERALLY IN THE KITCHEN FRYING CHICKEN. She is a caricature with no needs or desires of her own whose only function is to provide wisdom and guidance and support to the white main characters. I kept thinking, “At some point this author is going to give Miss Aurora some actual depth and character apart from how she serves as a helper to the spoiled white kids.” But that didn’t happen. Ever. Because Ms Ward was rewriting “Song of the South” decades after even Disney decided it was a little too racist. And don’t get me started on how all the successful young men in Miss Aurora’s church congregation are only successful because of sports. Apparently in her world, young Black men who attend church don’t become investment bankers or neurosurgeons or physicists or artists or chess grandmasters. Just athletes.
There is no way after reading this sort of racist ick I can see myself reading JR Ward again. I’m trying to feel less gross about it by reassuring myself that I checked it out at the library so at least she didn’t get my money.
I think it was disbelief that a writer this established could be doing this without resolving it with some end of book fix kept me going until the last page. Boy, do I wish I had stopped earlier.