Lover Forbidden

The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series

De: J.R. Ward

Narrado por: Jim Frangione

The aristocracy is making a run for the throne in this latest thrilling, star-crossed paranormal romance entry in J.R. Ward’s #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

When Lyric goes out for the night, she’s not ready for a brush with death—and she’s really not ready for the male who comes out of nowhere and saves her. Her family, especially her father, Qhuinn, are so relieved she’s okay, but all she can think about is her mysterious savior.

Without telling anybody, she seeks out Devlin, and they are immediately drawn to one another. Her near-death experience has given her a fresh appreciation for life and the desire to live it to its fullest, but she has no idea that he’s hiding a secret—or that he could be the key to ending the war between the Black Dagger Brotherhood and the lessers forever.

©2025 J.R. Ward (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

SHE DID IT AGAIN !

Wow , I have been reading this series for 13 years and have been obsessed so even with book 23 I was extremely confident I’d like it I went to the q&a for it like I do every year ,my expectations are high she’s set the bar that way and man can she still deliver a book that keeps me wanting more and to still surprise me with what happens JR WARD is a Epic

Great series

This series has been one of my favorites. I love all of the characters and how the author keeps them all connected. It is a complete package with books. Suspense, happy and sad moments, characters to root for and those that you are glad the Black Dagger Brotherhood is hunting. Dev was a surprise to me and really made the story. I can’t wait to see where the author takes LW. Will keep watching for the next book to come out. Definitely worth diving into this series. Enjoyed on both kindle and audible.

Another win for the Warden!

The Warden will forever be my auto-buy 5 star author. Every. Single. Book. Lyric and Dev’s story is no different. Dev’s name kept bothering me. It has been so long since I’ve read the whole series, I couldn’t tell if his name was from one of the fallen angel books, prison books, or wolf books. But it kept ‘tickling my brain’. Well, IYKYK! And that’s all I’m saying. Now I know why! The warden always writes the perfect story for her characters. And this is no different. Plus we are left with tastes for what is to come with some of the other youth: LW, Rhamp, Bitty, and Shuli. I. Can’t. Wait. To see what’s next! There is so much I want to say but I do not want to spoil it for anyone. Just know that if you are a follower of Ward and the BDB, you will not be disappointed. And if you aren’t a follower, what are you waiting for???? (And can I just say, LW is DEFINITELY his father’s son) And Frangione did another outstanding narrating job.

Love it!

I love it but the ending felt rushed. I wish she’d stretched it out a little more.

Another great listen!

I love the descriptive writing. I laugh out loud at some of the similies JR Ward comes up with. I’ve subscribed to Passionflix and watched the portrayal of the first book and it’s one of the best renditions of book to film I’ve seen. The only thing missing is the perfect narration from Jim Frangione.

Loved it

Another great Black Dagger Brotherhood book. I love how the series is going on with the children of the original characters. And we not only get a new generation but the old characters stay relevant in the new books

The next Black Dagger Brotherhood Generation.

At first I thought that nothing could be exciting as the first generation of the BDB books. But I, a loyal fan, was wrong. Lover Forbidden was excellent.

Better than the last book

3.75 Stars 🌟

I want to first say that I have been reading this series for many years. And when I say MANY, I mean at least a decade, possibly more. Truthfully, the last several books (including the ones in the spin-off series') have been hit of miss for me. I was NOT happy with Wrath's storyline in the recent book and even more upset with the way the 30 year time jump was handled and how an EXTREMELY important event was just treated as an "oops".

But I am still a fan of this world and truly love to be able to drop back in when new books are dropped, both to learn and follow along with whatever the new storyline is, and even more importantly, to be able to get another glimpse of so many of the older characters that we have come to know and love.

One unfortunate thing for me is that I read quite a bit (in the thousands) and read a LOT of books in between book releases, so it is sometimes hard for me to remember what happened in the last book. Certain things like who belongs to whom now is getting harder to keep track of between books- because we are now into the second generations on the Brotherhood. A family tree at the front of each new book would be extremely helpful (I listened to this on audio so if there was one, I wasn't able to see it.) But usually when there are maps or glossaries in the print version, Audible will send the relevant PDF's with the purchase. But I digress.

In this storyline we meet Lyric and her twin Rhampage. Apparently, they are the kids of Blay and Qhuinn - and if I remember correctly, the children were the blooded born children from the Chosen Layla and Blay - so the twins have 4 parents- Blay and Qhuinn and Layla and Xcor. Lyric is going through an identity crisis and in the middle of an event (she is an influencer) she is saved by a stranger, one who gets her immediate interest. Too bad the problem is that he is human and she is a vampire.

At the same time there is a storyline with LW and the massive anger issues that he is dealing with. With this thread, I tried to understand his rage at everyone, specifically his father, but to me he is coming across as an entitled brat. Sorry, he just is. Trust me, if Wrath had had a choice, you'd better believe he would have found a way to get back to his family if it had been possible.

THEN, there is the storyline with Lash and the Vampire traitor Westmorlan (I listened to this on audio so forgive if the spellings of the names are wrong). That also dovetails with the threat on the life of the King.

And last but not least, there is what should be the front and center storyline - the relationship developing between Devlin and Lyric.

Are you starting to get the picture that there are way too many storylines to follow? I mean, of course we can follow, but with so many threads, there is not enough room to fully flesh out these storylines in the manner that they deserve.

With the Devlin thing. Without going into spoilers, I honestly could not remember his learning about his parents. Was this information that we were already supposed to know? Because I didn't. I was able to surmise who he was not too far into the book, but then I kept thinking, what else am I missing? Granted, there are long times between books and there are MANY books that I have read in between the new and older books, but I am getting more and more confused now that there are so many characters.

I like the storyline regarding Lyric on premise, but there were so many things that just threw me out of the story.

*The basic "insta-love" - specifically on Devlin's end.
*The whole Ahllan (sp?) thread.
*The entire storyline with the elder Lyric and why Blay had virtually NO speaking lines in the book when it was HIS Mahmen that was dying.
*Why LW would put his mother through so much fear for him, KNOWING what she had to go through for 30 years (and why he felt the need to keep his secret a secret)
*The absolute 180 degree change in Devina. Since when has she ever done anything selfless? Like, seriously???
*Well, when we are on that note, what was that whole scene at the end in the house by the lake? Is Lash even able to be killed - because it did not seem like it?

And there are more, but now I am just rambling.

So, this was not the best book in the series for me, but it was definitely better than some in the recent years. I will say that there was the requisite set up for the next book, maybe even the next couple -so there is that. And truly, when you are already over 40 books into a series (with all of the spinoffs and novellas), that tells you something. You ARE invested.

So, I will continue to faithfully continue on with this series. At least up to a point......

It's okay but not my favorite

The story is good, but the Warden kind of scattered the action between too many of the couples. She usually kept the storyline for two main couples. Now we have Lyric, Wrath, LW, Vishous... I understand she is laying the stepping stones for the other characters’ stories, but it's just too crowded, and the ending feels rushed. The timeline was consumed with other characters’ drama and not with the MCs.

Beautiful...BUT

I am a longtime J.R. WARD Fan..I miss the lengthy older BDB BOOKS! Today's Books seem rushed. Nevertheless, I will always await The next installment of the BDB Series.😍