Click on just about any romance blog these days and there is a Black Dagger Brotherhood post. These books have been compared to literary crack on more than one occasion. JR Ward's newest book, Lover Avenged, is out now and I feel a bit like I'm on a deserted island.I read Dark Lover and I enjoyed it. I read Lover Eternal and I enjoyed it even more. I have Lover Awakened and Lover Revealed in the TBR pile but I'm not in any hurry to get to them. I really enjoyed Bella in Lover Eternal, but I didn't 'feel the love' for Zsadist and much to everyone's dismay when the read this, I didn't 'get' the Butch love at all and I didn't care for his love interest Marissa since she was a wuzz in Dark Lover. The ones after that didn't appeal to me at all because I'm not a fan of mulitple storylines - one of the reasons I quit Suzanne Brockman - and from what I've read, the BDB series abounds in them.
Oh I know I'm not really alone - there are others out there who haven't read this series or like me have tried them but just don't 'get' the hype of it all.
But still I'm left wondering why I don't appreciate this series the way so many do. Are there others out there who feel a bit lost when they don't relate to a series the way so many other do - say the JD Robb books? Now those I'm all on board with. Or how about the Pys-Changeling books by Nalini Singh? I'm also enjoying those and looking forward to the next on in the series. Do you ever scratch your head and wonder what you are missing?
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Ah thank you *g*- you have all made me feel ever so much better and not so alone. While many are still inhaling the BDB books, at least there are other series you may feel 'out of the loop' with. Whether it be the Sookie books, the Plum books, or the Bridgerton books (another series I didn't get) not all readers are going to get all books.
28 comments:
Yea, I know what you are talking about Kristie. That is why I will be at some point in time reading the BDB series. I feel left out because I picked up one of the books, bought it, opened it up and didn't like the glossary of terms in the front. It made me feel inferior to the book. Like I was kinda stupid to reading it; if I needed a glossary. Then I started noticing the "smack" talk between Barbara and VampFanGirl about this series and they cracked me up. Then I VampGirl shared her light of the story with me... and I figuered if I got it or not, I owed myself to read them to see what they are about. But there have a few books out there, that people have raved about and I wondered if I was an ostrich or something, because I never heard of it or didn't care for it. Feeling you girl!!! LOL!!
Hey Kristie!
I am totally out there on the island with you. Like you I read the first 2 books, enjoyed them. I though the 3rd book was okay, but after that, I just don't and still don't get it. But, we all have different reading tastes just food for instance!
I have tried and tried to read Nora Roberts over the years and again - out on an island. But that is just me.
Great Post
L
I loved Dark Lover. Loved it. Still love it.
I'm with you on Zsadist, though. While he was okay, I didn't (and still don't) understand the cult-like fascination with him.
As for Butch, he would have been much better w/o Marissa. I couldn't stand her.
So no, you're not alone.
Not alone. At first, I read to figure out where the series would go next, and then I decided I didn't care enough. And I love connected romances like Brockmann, so that wasn't it.
Heh, your Island is getting crowded. LOL
I'm with you. On the BDB series, I got up to the one before Phury. I never liked Phury and Cornholio or what ever her name was, was annoying as all get out. So I didn't read that one. I don't even know where that series is anymore because I lost interest.
About other series, I feel the same sometimes. Loved the psy/changeling series, but couldn't work up enough lurve for the new Angles/demons series and couldn't understand why everyone loved it.
Couldn't get into JD Robb books, and while I've read the first 3 Sookie books, I could easily drop that series.
So I sit with you on your island of outsiders who don't get the crack of some series...but if your island starts becoming like crack to others and gets crowded, gonna find my own island... :D, LOL
Well, I loved the first three BDB and enjoyed the next two well enough (despite the ghost thing and a couple of other things) but the sixth one was, IMO, a wreck.
Still, it's chrack, so I got the BDB Compendium thing... and felt completely ripped off.
No more BDB for me.
I've felt similarly with other series and authors, such as Christine Feehan or Elizabeth Lowell or Jayne Ann Krentz. I persevered for a bit, but got off the crazy train after a number of duds.
In other cases, I can't even get on board--like with Sherrilynn Kenyon or Charlaine Harris. I feel a bit of pressure from other readers who claim I must read these but the couple of times I've tried I have felt entirely too meh about the book to even buy it, let alone get infected with the frenzy.
We've got enough people for a party on the island. :)
Like quite a few readers, the first books I enjoyed. Then came Lover Unbound - my eyes were rolling all over the place with that one. Didn't read the next one and the current one I've requested from the library but after reading the spoilers it sounds like more of the same. So I don't think I read it either.
So you are definitely not alone Kristie!
I loved JR Ward's first 3 books in the series, but this last book, Lover Avenged will be the last I will read in the BDB.
In the new book, I felt like there was only 50 pages out of 500 devoted to Rehv and his romance, and its HIS BOOK!
I don't want to read 400 pages that don't deal with the main characters in the book.
well, I'm not on the island of no-BDB as I love that series (can't explain it...it's some sort of addiction), but I totally hear you on not feeling the love for stuff that it seems like "everyone" is into. Nalini Singh's stuff does nothing for me. The ultimate in boredom. But every few months I feel like a leper when everyone in the blogosphere goes gaga over the latest entry. I guess it just goes to show that not everyone has the same taste. *shrug*
Oh, but I am skipping this BDB entry because I'm too poor to pay for a hardback. lol. Library!
You're not alone, I haven't read any of the books you've mentioned. I just don't even have the urge to do so. I'm not a fantasy reader, so anything that has alot of fantasy mystical shapeshifting, werewolf, vampire, etc. storylines is not for me. I'm not even tempted to read Twilight. I've no interest in Nora Roberts either. I find I just get really bored with storylines I can't relate to in a realistic sense. So, no you're not alone on that island - sounds like it's pretty crowded actually!
I think the series peaked with Revealed, but I'm still addicted. If you don't like lots of storylines though, that's going to keep you from enjoying any of the series.
The other problem with the series is that the heroines are boring. Borrr-rring. I like the men enough to keep reading though.
Oh, and Cecile? please don't judge the series by the glossary. It is seriously cringeworthy.
I enjoyed the first two BDB books, but I stopped reading after the third. I didn't like the direction Ward was going in.
Another series whose popularity I don't understand is Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. I read the first one and didn't like it. Tried again with the second but couldn't even finish. I really don't get it.
Oh Kristie - I'm so there with you. Not about BDB, because honestly, I still read them, even though they consistently irritate me. I won't spend $$ on them, but I do read them.
But there are several series I don't get: Stephanie Plum, Sookie Stackhouse, and don't tell anyone but whispers I don't like Jennifer Crusie. So I feel your pain, darlin'.
I read book two and while I sort of "get" why people love the series I cannot understand how people can look past the dialogue. I'm outtie?!?!?! You feel me?!?!?! Who the hell says that? Apparently bad ass vampires too. Blah.
Although I gotta say I really feel the "hype" about this new book is really tame in comparison to when the series first launched. Books one thru three especially.
I don't think there's been a series that everyone has loved but I haven't been on board with. Although I've not started the Mercy Thompson series cuz I like my HEA at the end of my books. I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.
The BDB books *sigh* I loved the first 3 books. LOVED them. After that they were enjoyable...but I don't love them. I still, however, buy them when they come out. I can't seem to stop myself. What's up with that? lol
I totally understand, Kristie. I'm always marching to my own drum because when I see the winners of the "all-time best romances," I usually didn't like most of the top 10. :-)
I like the J.R. Ward books but don't LOVE them, which explains why I'm about three books behind in the series now.
I'm going to have to duck here, but I also didn't love the J.D. Robb books. To be fair, though, I only read the first few, and I plan to go back to them someday.
To each her own.
YES YES YES. It's called Reviewer's Angst and I get it all the time.
-I HATED the first Mercy Thompson book by Patricia Briggs and couldn't understand what I missed! It was full of infodumps and the plot made no sense!
-I HATED the first Sookie Stackhouse novel (although the HBO show is strangely compelling)
-I didn't like Julie Anne Long's "The Runaway Duke" even though half the world seems to (although I loooved Perils of Pleasure)
-I disliked "Slave to Sensation", found its language too hyperbolic and its heroine a dishrag
-"Lord of the Fading Lands" has not caught my interest yet even though I'm a hundred pages in. Gah! What am I missing? Is it just that I don't like Soulmate storylines and immortal heroes?
I get that all the time. I just have to stick to it and know that I feel what I feel about a book for a reason. In some cases, it might not be the writing at all (such was the case with my reaction to "Private Arrangements," which was marvellously written), but just that the stories don't click with me.
Girl... just when you thought you had an island alll to yourself!!! See what you find there... a whole lotta people just like you and I!!! LOL!!! This was funny to read, because here it was you thought you were alone... we are never alone in this great big world!! Love ya Girl.... Where the party is rockin on Kristie's island!
*delurking* Your island is pretty hopping now, KristieJ. LOL :) I'm done with BDB. I read all the way up to book 3 & I've book 4 in my TBR. That's it though. I've pretty much had it. The ladies are barely placeholders & the language? A little too off putting. Might get rid of them.
As for the other authors & series mentioned: can't get into NR/JDR not matter how many titles I've tried (5), I've one MJD & one Sookie, neither read yet. I've the First two books in each of Nalini Singh's series. Haven't tried Kresley Cole. Couldn't read the Twilight books.
I guess, like the poster above, I'm just marching to my own drummer. LOL :)
I've read the first four, and loved Zsadist's books, but am really struggling to gain the enthusiasm required to read the next books in the series.
Hi Kristie!
I haven't read any of the BDB books, but I'm willing to give them a try to see why everyone says they're so great! I hope they're as good as the hype!
Like the old saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Not everyone can like all the same authors, that why there's so many of them... just imagine if there was only a few books to read, how boring life would be. With my luck, they would all be instruction manuals!
Dottie :)
LOL, I can see you're not alone. I happen to be sailing with the BDB lovers of the world. However, like most I wasn't two crazy about V's story or Phury's for that matter. Regardless, being the fan I am I held tight through the storm and was happy I did so. I really enjoyed this last installment.
But don't worry, you're not alone ;)
Room for more on your island?
I read the fifth BDB book and that was it (loved the second one); I tried three times with Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series and still don't get it; JD Robb books? - No; LORD OF THE FADING LANDS didn't hit me like all the other readers;...
Then there are the series I haven't tried yet and - again - most readers seem to love, like Mercy Thompson or Sookie.
But I'm happy to report that I'm an Immortals After Dark convert after I found the first book in Cole's series far from squee-worthy. Hmm, maybe I should try with Wilson's second book in the series. ;)
Most of the series out there, I can relate to. I really can appreciate the Psy/Changeling and such. But the BDB left me bored. With all the other authors out there, I couldnt' continue with BDB after the first one.
Oh crud, and here I had forgotten the Plum series! See, I couldn't even finish the first one of those...
I haven't read everyone's comments but yes, JD Robb stumps me. I don't begrudge others but I wonder what I'm not seeing.
I never got far in the Sookie books and I'm hit or miss with the Bridgerton books.
I probably have a long list of authors I don't get but I'm blanking at the moment - OH! Karen Marie Moning and Sherilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan.
LOL, a bit late to comment, but just to let you know that you're not alone.
Me too, not a fan of the BDB... like you, I enjoyed DL, LE and Zsadist, but after that, bleh. I bought Butch's story, but haven't touched to any other books by her... Not even for John Matthew.
Authors that I don't like but everyone seems to: Karen Marie Moning, Susan Elizabeth Phillips... I've just given up trying to understand. I guess I just don't connect and there's nothing wrong with it :)
I'm also late to comment, but I don't think you're on the island alone. My theory? There's always one series that you'll hit the wall on. I have one...I'm not going to say what it is... I just think the writer is too clever for me.
I have to be honest, I've only read one Sherrilyn Kenyon book - Night Play (because I wanted to read a book in which the heroine wasn't 'perfect'). I won't pick up the others - the numer of them scares me silly!
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