Fates Collide as J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Legacy Series Continues with Blood Vow

The tension, romance, and suspense of J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood continue full throttle in the latest installment of her Black Dagger Legacy Series, Blood Vow. As one vampire seeks to find love amidst the ruin of their past—another is terrified that what they love most will be taken away.
My favorite part of the Black Dagger Universe—aside from the romances, of course—is the complex world full of ritual that J.R. Ward has created. Picture the show Sons of Anarchy, but replace the motorcycles with a set of Old-World style rules of engagement for how men and women, vampires and humans, and vampires of different classes are meant to interact, and that’ll give you some idea of the ride you are in for.

Vampire Elise is still reeling after the death of her cousin, Allishon, who was brutally murdered in the raids and whose death—and life—remain somewhat of a mystery. Elise admires her cousin for living the way she chose to, and not following the dictates of their vampire society, and yet…she knows Allishon’s rebellious lifestyle is what probably got her killed. Feeling suffocated by her father’s strict ideals of what a female “of worth” (ie, wealth and blood status) should do with her time, Elise has found her own way of rebelling—by registering for college courses and continuing her education….and maybe being attracted to a human.
But then her father finds out, and punishes Elise for taking such a risk…by giving her a bodyguard. Which is where Axewell (aka Axe) comes in. Axe is, to put it plainly (and to my delight) a raw sex machine. He has no attachments to anything in this world—no shellan, no other family since his father was killed in the raids and his mother walked out on him years before. He’s not even that attached to the Brotherhood…that is, until he meets Elise and decides not only to take the bodyguard job, but to have her as his own. Elise doesn’t care about Axe’s sexual past, only their future—but with too many people warning both of them that being together is impossible, it is only a matter of time before one of them begins to believe it.

In this new series, the training center the Original brothers used is now open to new recruits—which means appearances by old, beloved characters. Blood Vow features Rhage and Mary from Lover Eternal, book two of the original series. Still as in love as ever, the pair is facing a new challenge: the expansion of their family through the adoption of Bitty, a young, orphaned vampire who has not yet undergone her transition. After years of abuse by her mate, Bitty’s mother died—and even though they killed the monster who treated her and his child with such neglect, Rhage is still angry. His and Mary’s greatest hope is that the adoption will go through uncontested—which unfortunately, it does not. Someone from Bitty’s bloodline shows up to claim her, and Rhage must do everything he can not to unleash the Beast from within.
J.R. Ward weaves these two separate plot threads throughout the novel, building up the conflict in each one until they inevitably collide. The romance is as sensual and the conflicts as memorable as they were in the original series. As each couple strives for their happy ending, they examine what it means to be loyal to one’s own blood—and whether that loyalty is worth the sacrifice.