Reviewer: Casee The King by J.R. Ward
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #12
Also in this series: Lover Unbound, Lover Avenged, Lover at Last, Lover at Last, The Shadows, The Beast, Lover Enshrined, The Chosen, Lover Mine, The Thief, The Savior, Where Winter Finds You, The Sinner, Lover Unleashed, Lassiter
Publisher: Signet
Publication Date: April 1st 2014
Point-of-View: Third Person
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 591
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Series Rating:
Long live the King...
After turning his back on the throne for centuries, Wrath, son of Wrath, finally assumed his father’s mantle—with the help of his beloved mate. But the crown sets heavily on his head. As the war with the Lessening Society rages on, and the threat from the Band of Bastards truly hits home, he is forced to make choices that put everything—and everyone—at risk.
Beth Randall thought she knew what she was getting into when she mated the last pure blooded vampire on the planet: An easy ride was not it. But when she decides she wants a child, she’s unprepared for Wrath’s response—or the distance it creates between them.
The question is, will true love win out... or tortured legacy take over?
After turning his back on the throne for centuries, Wrath, son of Wrath, finally assumed his father’s mantle–with the help of his beloved mate. But the crown sets heavily on his head. As the war with the Lessening Society rages on, and the threat from the Band of Bastards truly hits home, he is forced to make choices that put everything–and everyone–at risk. Beth Randall thought she knew what she was getting into when she mated the last pure blooded vampire on the planet: An easy ride was not it. But when she decides she wants a child, she’s unprepared for Wrath’s response–or the distance it creates between them. The question is, will true love win out… or tortured legacy take over?
This book could have been an ending to a series that has gone on for a bit too long. The series started with Wrath and Beth and could have come full circle, ending with Wrath and Beth. Somehow, I don’t think that is what the author intended.
As usual, there were your slew of secondary characters. Wrath and Anha (Wrath’s parents). Trez and the Chosen Selena. Assail and Sola. iAm. Introducing a new character s’Ex. Yes, you read that correctly. John Matthew. The only one I found interesting was Wrath and Anha. The rest, after giving it the old college try (what does that even mean?), I skimmed or even skipped entirely.
When it came to Wrath and Beth, it was really fascinating. J.R. Ward showed the end of the happily ever after isn’t always, well, happy. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows. Wrath is King and he despises the responsibility that comes with it. Day in and day out, all he does is administrative duties that come with having to be the King of his race. Going completely blind is a handicap that had devastated him in a way that he hasn’t even shared with Beth. He can’t see his wife, not even the outline of her. He can’t protect her in the slightest way. He can’t fight. He feels impotent as a man. He is chained to a desk, being King to a race that only want to usurp him.
Beth knows that Wrath is unhappy, but she has no idea the extent of it. Over the last year, spending time with Zsadist and Bella’s baby, she has decided that she wants one of her own. She is perfectly aware of how strongly Wrath feels against having their own child, but she feels he will come around. She couldn’t have been more wrong. In fact, he feels so strongly against it, he drives her out of the house and to her father’s. I was shocked that Beth left Wrath, even for the short time it was. It did open the door for them to communicate. Wrath communicated to Beth how unhappy he was and why. It was heartbreaking because Beth can’t do anything about it. He also apologized, but insisted that he couldn’t lose her by chancing a baby. Beth in turn told him that it had been a year since she had come to the realization that she wanted a baby. They both then realized together how far apart they had gotten. Mates or not, they could be unhappy. It was a revelation to them and to me as a reader.
In the end, I think this series has run its course. It’s a trainwreck for me. No matter what happens, I always get the book. So when the next book comes out, and I’m sure it will, I’m also sure that I’ll read it. However, these are library reads for me now. Books that I won’t waste my money on. Like I stated before, ending the Black Dagger Brotherhood series with The King would have been perfect. Full circle. Alas, it was not meant to be.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Black Dagger Brotherhood
Totes agree that this series should have been over a long time ago. But I liked the Wrath-Beth parts of the book, the rest I just skipped over, like you.
Still, 600 pages for a book, and half of that is mindless filler on characters no one really seems to care about. It’s sad.
That’s exactly what the rest of it was…filler. She didn’t resolve any of it.