J. R. Ward is the pen name of Jessica Rowley Pell Bird Blakemore, the bestselling author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Gripping and darkly passionate, the paranormal romance series focuses on a group of vampire warriors who must defend their race against those who are out to destroy them. Ward has more than fifteen million books in print worldwide including The King, The Shadows, and Lover at Last. She is also the author of the Fallen Angels and The Bourbon Kings series and writes contemporary romances under the name Jessica Bird.