Dark Lover (J.R. Ward)

Are you a Twilight fan?  And if so, do think that maybe you're a bit too old for Twilight?  Then I have just the book recommendation for you!

If you haven't already read my embarrassing library story detailing how I ended up with this book in my hands, you should do that now. 

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward is a vampire love story with a bit of action and suspense.  Wrath is a purebread vampire who was asked by his friend (Darius) to take care of his (Darius') daughter (Beth) as she went through her "changing" from human to half-vampire.  (She's the daughter of a human mother and a vampire father, so obviously when she's about 25, she will go through her change and become a vampire.)  Although Wrath first declined the opportunity, it does fall upon him... Beth and Wrath have an undeniable chemistry from the beginning and he must do everything he can to help protect her. 

This book was like Twilight - but more hardcore in many ways.  There was a lot of detail about their "brotherhood" (that is, the vampires who are responsible for the livelihood of the vampire population) and about "lessers" (the humans without souls who are trying to get rid of the vampires).  A lot of interesting information was introduced and will no doubt be built upon in future books of The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  The information seems to go into more depth about the vampires in this book than what Twilight ever did.  Also, there is more information about their relationships in this book, making it appeal to an older audience. 

I liked the book.  I found it a bit confusing at the beginning because I was learning a lot of new 'terms,' but once you get into it a bit, it all makes sense.  It was easy to read and kept you entertained by moving back and forth between different storylines that are all somehow connected. While you are comfortable with the ending of the book (i.e. it doesn't make you want to immediately go grab the second book in the series off the shelf), there is so much left to happen with the characters that you do feel as if you need to continue in the series to find out more.

"'Life is full of wonderful surprises, isn't it?'
'It certainly is.'" (Dark Lover, J.R. Ward, p. 329)

If you're not into the fantasy and vampire thing, then this is not for you.  However, as I mentioned, if you are a vampire fan but are looking for something a little more adult, then this would be a good pick.