Title: Blood Vow
Author: JR Ward

This is the second book in the Black Dagger Legacy, but follows after/alongside the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

Rhage, ah Rhage. I love Rhage and Mary. They have been through so much to get where they are. Cancer, cursed, death, immortality and infertility and they have faced it all together with unwavering certainty.

Rhage is certainly the most concrete example of a bonded male, he really would do anything for his female. Mary is almost in the background in a lot of ways, she is gentle, unassuming and humble. She is the homemaker of the group, there for everyone and asks for nothing in return. But boy are they put through the wringer once again.

I really loved Lassiter in this one too, he’s definately growing on me lol and a fabulous way to end the story!

This is also the story of Axe and Elise. The top and the bottom classes, their upbringings couldn’t have been more different if they tried. Does coming from different parts of the system mean that you are too different for love? Would it make any difference to a bond?

There are some fantastic moments with both couples, new love learning it’s way, established love being tested. The strong men of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and their trainees against the world. Taking down lessers and tackling social norms, all in a days work!

Isn’t it wonderful not to have to be perfect to be loved?

Well yes it is, we are human although they are not, they still are not perfect, they are flawed and have human emotions. Don’t we all wish to be loved and accepted as we are. Is that our right? How do we find that? Will we know when we have?

There are some beautiful descriptions in this story:

A little like falling in love: a revelation that made everything more beautiful, more precious

We have all lost something, whether that is a lover, a friend or a family member, lots of people have experienced loss. Loss that clarifies and consolidates love, the ying and yang. Without one there can not be the other.

This is another beautifully written book, the storytelling is fantastic and the description is amazing. Looking forward to the next installment!

Blurb

A tough vampire warrior in training and a quick-witted aristocrat develop an irresistible attraction and work together to uncover a mystery. The second in a new spin-off paranormal romance series set in the world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Trainees at the Black Dagger Brotherhood’ training centre continue to prepare for the fight against the Lessening Society, but fighting is the last thing on Axe’s mind. Still plagued with the guilt of his father’s death, the brooding loner finds himself battling an unlikely attraction to Peyton’s bright, aristocratic cousin, Elise.

Elise feels it too – and when the two are thrown together in unusual circumstances Elise must decide whether she can trust Axe to help her uncover the mystery surrounding her sister’s death.

Meanwhile, Mary and Rhage are in the process of adopting Bitty, a young pretrans orphan, until the appearance of a young male claiming to be Bitty’s blooded uncle threatens to tear the new family apart.