Review: An Insider’s Guide

(© goodreads)

(© goodreads)

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‚The Black Dagger Brotherhood – An Insider’s Guide‘
by J. R. Ward

Black Dagger Brotherhood # 6,5

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First Sentence:
“ ‚So, Bella looks good.‘ At the counter of the Brotherhood’s kitchen, Zsadist picked up a knife, squeezed a head of romaine lettuce together, and started drawing the blade through at one-inch intervals.“

Last Sentence:
„I get into the back of the sedan, and the butler takes us out into the storm. He drives carefully, just as I know
Tohr did.“

Synopsis:
Prepare to enter the dark, passionate world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and get up close and personal with each of the Brothers….

You’ll find insider information on the Brotherhood, including their dossiers, stats, and special gifts. you’ll read interviews with your favorite characters, including a heartbreaking conversation with Tohrment and Wellsie, conducted three weeks before she was killed by lessers. You’ll discover deleted scenes — accompanied by the whys behind the cuts — in addition to exciting material from the J.R. Ward message boards and the answers to questions about the series posed by readers. You’ll learn what it’s like for J.R. Ward to write each installment of the series, and in a fascinating twist, you’ll read an interview with the author — conducted by the Brothers. For the first time ever, you’ll see an original novella about Zsadist and Bella, and witness the miracle of their daughter Nalla’s birth and experience the depth of their love for each other.
This is a compendium no black Dagger Brotherhood fan should miss…and an insider’s guide that will seduce you as powerfully as the sexy band of Brothers and the „ferociously popular“ world in which they live.
(Source: Goodreads.com)

My thoughts about the book:
I am a fan of Ward since the first book and therefore I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time, to get also a look ‘behind the scenes‘ and to get to know more about the world of the Black Daggers. However, the whole book is hard to be rated or reviewed because every chapter or every part in it shows something different, where I’ve liked some passages exceptionally much, but others less.

At the beginning we get presented the story of Zsadist and Bella, and how they handle the birth of their daughter and afterwards also all the ohter things around and the changes in their lifes. As usual, the story shined of feelings, pain and many‚ sighs‘, but nevertheless I noticed that there was something missing … namely the thrilling action ropes which are always running beside the love story.
Every now and then when I read a Black Dagger book, I thought I would’ve liked it more if the book would focus more on the love story and less of all the other actions and characters…, but now it was shown to me that these subplots are the essence of the success of the books and why the plot is always so thrilling and fast driven. Hence I’m already looking forward to a ‘real‘ book of Ward where I get everything what I yearn for.

Moreover in this book I got an insight into the everyday life of the brothers with her Shellans. On one hand with three, four short stories, on the other hand Ward showed some extractions from the Internet forums where she appeared as the brothers and wrote for them and put them in funny situations which were great and where I was roaring with laughter while reading it.
On top of that Ward even appeared in the world of the Black Daggers by herself and made interviews with the brothers in whom she showed her relationship to them and let the reader know that the brothers aren’t only created characters for her, but friends. Furthermore Ward summarized some amusing scenes from the first 6 books and gives an insight on a new character who will appear in the next book.

What I’ve liked very much was that Ward hasn’t minced matters and has written honestly about the processes how she has created the brothers and the whole story of her unemployment up to the point where her first book became a success.
She shows the readers without any reservations how hard it was to receive the payoff, how she has rushed herself into the work and how she has handled her own self doubts. On the one hand it is interesting for readers so that they recognize how much and hard work and what a long time stands behind a book. On the other hand I was glad about that, because I write a little by myself and Ward gave me motivation and strength by her words ‘never to surrender’, ‘to be honest to yourself’ and ‘not let yourself go down’. All that gave me a new, clear mind and motivated me to stay on the ball and to never give up hope. Just do it and pray for some luck. :).
She has really helped me very much because she also showed how her proposal has looked like for the first book and what she has sent to the publishing company or how exactly she has described her plot. Certainly all that will help me very much in future and some guidelines from it I’ll peruse over and over again.

For me Ward is a fascinating, incredibly creative author who I can only admire and owe her for her great books, but she has also remained a person which is anchored on the ground and speaks honestly of her problems. With the open insight into her world and thought she has made herself even more likeable and I only hope that in the future I’ll be able just a little to write as great and creatively as Ward. She is one of my biggest heroes and I think this won’t change quickly in the next time.

Cover:
Though the Cover is not a highlight, but with these books the contents is important and not the superficial packaging.

All in all:
A book which is maybe not for everybody, because there it is also much about the development of the books and the publishing company process, but for budding authors it’s very interesting and where they can learn much from.

Rating:
3,5 of 5 points (I really liked it)

Quotes:

“Conflict is the microscope of a book. When it’s trained on a character, you see what’s underneath the narratives of physical description. You see whether someone is strong or weak, principled or apathetic, heroic or villainous.“ (J.R. on writing the BDB series)”

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Excerpts from Foren-chats with the Brothers:

“Wrath: What the hell are you supposed to ask?
Rhage: I know! Who do you like the most? It’s me right?Come on, you know it is. Come oooooonnnnn-
Butch: If its you,, I’ll kill myself.
V: No, that just means she’s blind.
Rhage: It has to be me.
V: She said she didn’t like you at first.
Rhage: Ah, but I won her over, which is more than anyone else can say about you, hot stuff.
J.R.: I don’t like anyone the best
Wrath: Right answer.
Rhage: She’s just sparing all of you feelings. (grins, becoming impossibly handsome) She’s so polite.
J.R.: Next question?
Rhage: Why do you like me the best?”

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From the part ‚Kicks and Giggles‘:

The human reached inside Wrath’s jacket and started pulling out weapons. Three throwing stars, a switchblade, a handgun, a length of chain. “Jesus Christ,” the cop muttered as he dropped the steel links on the ground with the rest of the load. “You
got some ID? Or wasn’t there enough room in here for a wallet, considering you’re carrying about thirty pounds of concealed weapons?“ (Book#1)

Rhage nodded. “The place is also big enough. We could all live there without killing each other.”
“That depends more on your mouth than any floor plan,” Phury said with a grin.  (Book#1)

He wanted to give her another word to say, something like luscious or whisper or strawberry.
Hell, antidisestablishmentarianism would do it. (Book#2)

She pulled back the sheet. Good God, his sex was . . . “It’s gotten so . . . huge.”
Butch barked out a laugh. “You say the nicest things.”  (Book#4)

Wrath smiled broadly, his fangs so very white. “What’s doing . . . cousin.”
Butch frowned. “What . . . ?”
“You’ve got some of me in you, cop.” Wrath’s smile stuck around as he slid his glasses back in. “Course, I
always knew you were a royal. Just didn’t think it went past the pain-in-the-ass part, is all.”  (Book#4)

“I came to see if you were dead.”
Jane had to smile. “Jesus, Manello, don’t be such a romantic.”
“You look like shit.”
“And now with the compliments. Stop. You’re making me blush.” (Book#5)

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Succession:

# 1: J. R. Ward – Dark Lover »»
# 2: J. R. Ward – Lover Eternal »»
# 3: J. R. Ward – Lover Awakened »»
# 4: J. R. Ward – Lover Revealed »»
# 5: J. R. Ward – Lover Unbound »»
# 6: J. R. Ward – Lover Enshrined »»
# 6.5: J.R.Ward – BDB: An Insider’s Guide »»
# 7: J. R. Ward – Lover Avagened »»
# 8: J. R. Ward – Lover Mine »»
# 9: J. R. Ward – Lover Unleashed »»
# 10: J. R. Ward – Lover Reborn »»
# 11: J.R. Ward – Lover at Last »»
# 12: J. R. Ward – The King

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copyright: http://www.jrward.com/

About the author – J. R. Ward:

J.R. Ward is a #1 New York Times and USAToday Best Selling author of erotic paranormal romance. She lives in the south with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. After graduating from law school, she began working in healthcare in Boston and spent many years as Chief of Staff of one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation. Writing has always been her passion and her idea of heaven is a whole day of nothing but her computer, her dog and her coffee pot. (Source: http://www.jrward.com/)

Visit her Website »»

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