This week is a fascinating example of how changing a few details can sometimes make all the difference on a cover, or no difference at all.  Just a few minor changes to J. R. Ward’s LOVER REBORN tightened up the whole composition to make a good cover great, but changing the entire cover model wasn’t enough to get TANGLE OF NEED a thumbs up in my book.  

Black Heart by Holly Black 

Description: Cassel Sharpe knows he’s been used as an assassin, but he’s trying to put all that behind him. He’s trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He’s trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy. But with a mother on the lam, the girl he loves about to take her place in the Mob, and new secrets coming to light, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong becomes increasingly blurred. When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, he needs to sort out what’s a con and what’s truth. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet—this time on love. No Author Comment Available.

Series: Curse Workers #3 Artist: N/A Goodreads: Link	Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Release Date: April 3, 2012 Source: Tez Says
Julia’s Thoughts	Abigail’s Thoughts
This run of covers is much less cinematic than the ones with real models, a much more fantasy feel.  Given the edgy feel of the series, I think the live action covers fit the series better.  This one is rather generically YA.	This has to be the UK cover…it looks nothing like the US versions, but I still think the purple almost disco vibe is a wrong fit for this series in any country.

Previous Covers in This Series

Title: Dark Lover Author: J. R. Ward Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal Romance Excerpt: Yes Source: Bought Reviewed by: Abigail Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages Publisher: Signet (September 6, 2005) ISBN-10: 0451216954 ISBN-13: 978-0451216953 Sexual Content: Several graphic sex scenes. Attempted rape with semi graphic details.   My Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.

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Description

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood...

 

The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed - orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate - Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead...

 

Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn't there, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both....

Review

I get more recommendations from other bloggers to read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series than all other books combined.   I was promised brutally hot vampires, fascinating mythology, classic romance, and a keep you up all night story.  It was a lot to live up to, and DARK LOVER didn’t disappoint.

 

The Black Dagger Brotherhood are a group of lethal vampires who protect their kind from lessers, humans who have traded their souls to Omega in exchange for immortality.  Humans don’t really enter into the equation usually except as collateral damage, and contrary to popular myth, vampires only feed from each other. 

 

The leader of the BDB is Wrath.  He’s big, bad, and ruthless.  He cares about no one except his brothers, until he meets Beth, a half human about to go through her Transition into a vampire.  She awakens a protective side of himself he never knew.  I honestly was expecting Wrath to be actually a little evil.  Despite all his threats and everyone else’s warnings, I found him to be more bark than bite.  I was a little let down by that (I’m hoping some of the other brothers will prove to be more wicked—at least initially). And I would have preferred a more gradual romance, but as far as instant attraction goes, the futon scene when Wrath and Beth first meet is crazy hot. 

 

For once the hype was right.  The BDB series looks to become a new favorite for me.  We meet all the Black Dagger Brothers in DARK LOVER, some more briefly than others, but underneath all the smoldering sexuality and gruff exterior, they each hold the promise of redemption.  I already know I’m dying to read Zsadist’s story (#3 LOVER AWAKENED).  I plan to be fully caught up by the time the ninth book in this series, LOVER UNLEASHED, comes out on March 29, 2011.

 

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	Love Vampires ALL ABOUT ROMANCE Vampire Book Club