J.R. Ward is back at it again with another installment of our favorite badass vampires in Caldwell, NY. I started reading this series in its early days and it continues to keep me interested. There is a large sense of nostalgia ever time I pick up one of these books. Fighting for the one we love is what we need to see and it is here. In the most recent few books of this series Ward has been setting up a whole new evil. It has been brewing and waiting to boil over. Well, it is cusping over the rim and our boys in black leather are about to get caught in the sizzle and steam.
This story was great. We have our tortured (literally) soul Balthazar who meets Erika (workaholic cop with a tragic past) when neither of them is looking for a relationship...let alone with a person from a completely different world from their own. The love story is great and I think we are all look forward to Lassiter's book with all the patience as Rhage's beast possesses...

You’ll never be disappointed by J.R. Ward
I’ve been in love with the Black Dagger Brotherhood for at least 15 years now. Lover Arisen is book 20 in this series, and all 20 are must reads! While I’ve devoured this series book after book for years, this is the first time I listened to one of them. I was pleasantly surprised by the audiobook experience.

Jim Fragione is a phenomenal narrator
I would love to see Jim’s face the moment he read “thunder c#nt” 🤣😂🤣. That is one of my new favorite sayings! In all seriousness, Jim Fragione is the utmost professional book narrator. Like I mention in my tiktok below, Fragione has a tone reminiscent of Anthony Hopkins. Its a voice of which you truly want to listen. He had a way of reading love scenes that only made you giggle a teeny tiny bit. Also, he hits all the curse words just right. I was able to listen at a 1.5 speed and retain his quality of narration.


Speaking specifically to Lover Arisen, we’re on the path between a human and vampire lover. The Vampire Balthazar is being possessed by pure evil in the form of a woman named Devina. While I like her name, she’s awful. Anytime Bal falls asleep, she gets to him in his mind where she sexually assaults him. The assaults’ are not explicitly described which I can appreciate but this does need to be a content warning for readers. If this wasn’t your first book of the series then you’d already have been warned of Devina’s ways in the previous book.

While Bal falls in love with Erica, he also has to work to rid himself of Devina’s possession and protect Erica from her wrath. As we know and love, the Black Dagger Brotherhood gets involved to help. Every book in the BDB features side stories with characters we have loved from years past. Everyone is so woven into these books that readers feel like they’re getting a long epilogue of sorts. It’s wonderful!