• Dark Lover

  • The Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1
  • By: J. R. Ward
  • Narrated by: Jim Frangione
  • Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (10,804 ratings)

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Dark Lover  By  cover art

Dark Lover

By: J. R. Ward
Narrated by: Jim Frangione
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Publisher's summary

The first novel of J. R. Ward's New York Times best-selling Black Dagger Brotherhood series features a unique take on vampire lore and heavy doses of sensuality.

The vampire Darius fears for the life of his half-breed daughter, who is unaware of her unusual destiny. To oversee her transformation, Darius seeks help from Wrath, a dangerous loner and the world's only purebred vampire.

©2005 J.R. Ward (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Featured Article: Seek Out the Strange and Supernatural with the 45 Best Paranormal Audiobooks


The folklore of just about every human culture is rife with stories that feature talking animals, shape-shifters, demons, witches, spirits, and more. Whether you arrive seeking horror, thrills, romance, or fantasy, there’s a title here for you. And with a slate of narrators that includes famous actors and award-winning voice artists, it’s impossible to go wrong with any of these picks.

What listeners say about Dark Lover

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7,184
  • 4 Stars
    2,157
  • 3 Stars
    857
  • 2 Stars
    334
  • 1 Stars
    272
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,888
  • 4 Stars
    1,707
  • 3 Stars
    880
  • 2 Stars
    284
  • 1 Stars
    214
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6,271
  • 4 Stars
    1,617
  • 3 Stars
    637
  • 2 Stars
    249
  • 1 Stars
    192

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Awsome title even for the Men

I know this is a romance novel, but I will tell you her style is alot closer to Urban Fantasy than Romance. She is an awsome writer and this is my favorite series even though I am a guy. Have read all the books and this kicks the series off in a great way. Very different world of Vampires, much different than the Dracula or Anne Rice visions of Vampires. Check this book out, it is dark and at the same time the character development is AWSOME. check it out.

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137 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Pleasantly Unoriginal

This book has a decent storyline but its like the author just plucked things from a few other fantasy series out there and added a new villan race to make the series unique in some way. I fell asleep several times while listening...partly because of the story and mainly because of the narrator. Yea, that's the other thing--'to each his own' and all that but play the sample first. Now imagine that voice with an "OK" but not great great storyline...not awful, just harder to focus.

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39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Author & Fantastic Series

Sometimes a person reads an author and is so captivated by that author a need to devour everything they have ever written arises. This is one of those rare and precious authors. The Black Dagger series is worth a read and a re-read. She crosses boundaries of age, sex and violence with delicate precision. To say this series of books are frantic page turners is not even adequate to express how my friends (and me) were not able to put these books down to do normal life stuff. Enjoy and share with others this fabulous set of books from this extremely talented author.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • D.
  • 03-05-22

Goofy, but still fun.

Story was interesting enough for me to listen to the whole thing but mostly because I'm usually committed regardless of how silly a book is. I only quit if the narrator is so bad it makes me mad. The sexy parts were okay, but I can't stand the amount of erotica that has a woman climaxing with a pump or two - I don't care how hot the guy is or how turned on we are - that's just not a thing. But there was a lot of incongruous stuff I also found just goofy. By the descriptions these guys are biker-looking, but listen to rap? And their names are completely ridiculous.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My Guilty Pleasure

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love this series. It's my guilty pleasure. I love the characters, the stories and the narrator. Can't wait for number 11 .

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Don't understand the hype with this series.

I struggled to finish this book. The narration was awful, so many long pauses and not in a good way to cut to another scene or chapter. The story was basic as were the characters. The dialogue was ridiculous with the slang used, made it feel childish and the sex scenes made me eyeroll with the descriptions. Maybe the books get better as you read on but I don't think I want to invest any more time, especially with this narrator. There are so many better series out there for PRN like Night Huntress, Immortal Guardians and Alpha Omega just to name a few.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Can't get enough!!!!!

This book is So good! I love the couple and the Brotherhood! Can't wait till book 2

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful Paranormal Romance

Well written and very entertaining. The band of brothers are so beautifully damaged. Being introduced into their world through the eyes of a human, Beth, made the experience even better.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite series!!

I absolutely love the BDB. My favorite paranormal romance series!! I love the interaction between the brothers.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Yep, I'm hooked!

If you could sum up Dark Lover in three words, what would they be?

COMPLETELY-TOTALLY YUMMY!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Dark Lover?

The engaging characters and story

What does Jim Frangione bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The depth! This isn't just another fanciful teenager vampire story. ;-)

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