JR Ward - The Savior

In the venerable history of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, only one male has ever been expelled—but Murhder’s insanity gave the Brothers no choice. Haunted by visions of a female he could not save, he nonetheless returns to Caldwell on a mission to right the wrong that ruined him. However, he is not prepared for what he must face in his quest for redemption.
Dr. Sarah Watkins, researcher at a biomedical firm, is struggling with the loss of her fellow scientist fiancé. When the FBI starts asking about his death, she questions what really happened and soon learns the terrible truth: Her firm is conducting inhumane experiments in secret and the man she thought she knew and loved was involved in the torture.
As Murhder and Sarah’s destinies become irrevocably entwined, desire ignites between them. But can they forge a future that spans the divide separating the two species? And as a new foe emerges in the war against the vampires, will Murhder return to his Brothers... or resume his lonely existence forevermore?

Comment: This is the latest installment in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. This is the series that made me interested in PNR beyond the basic stories where supernatural characters were the enemies of humans that were the norm for me until I started reading about this group of vampires, who instead of being turned humans were actually part of a specific type of human.

In this 17th installment, we finally have the story of Muhrder, a character that has been mentioned from time to time, always with some mystery surrounding him and his whereabouts but who now has returned to the group and wants nothing more than solve unfinished business before his path takes him to a final goal.

However, he also meets Sarah Watkins, a researcher/scientist who sees her path mingle with that of Murhder after they meet each other while trying to accomplish something they have in common which is to to solve a situation related to Sarah's job. Things aren't simple though and even less so is the fact they are destined to be important to one another... but will the BDB accept these new changes and additions to their world?

It's no mystery I've been  - and remain so - a fan of this series and I won't go too much into it because I could write and write but I think it's better to be concise about what I think.

This was a book that reminded me of the first ones, where it was mostly about the romance and the surroundings took second place but for me this didn't really work for two reasons:

1) I'm invested in the series so this "back to basics" technique felt a little flat and

2) the romance was too quick, even for this world's rules.

I think it's positive the secondary characters that were important for the main plot weren't on too much and also that the villain POV's weren't too detailed (thankfully for me) either. I know this is a general complaint of some readers, that the focus is too spread through multiple POVs and although i'm not bothered by that, in fact I like it, it was good this story was simpler in terms of how the reader was able to focus properly on what was happening.

The plot follows Muhrder and his attempts to make something right off a wrong situation years ago and the reason he was expelled from the brotherhood, something fans have known he was the only only to have gone through that for unexplained reasons. We finally have an explanation about it and although it makes sense I sort of expected something bigger.

I have to say I imagined this character's return in several ways but not that it would be as simple as this. Or, maybe I should say I imagined his personality to be one of someone harder to empathize with and to be honest I must say it was the complete opposite because he is probably one of the best male characters/protagonist of the whole series. The title is very apt for him, indeed.

His romance with Sarah has high points and I can see why they could be a good match. I'm just a little sad they practically had no time to know each other well besides attraction and bonding. I know some rules help this situation along and the "being mates" card does help but even with - for me - less POVs, I still think the romance could have had a better reinforcement.I would have liked more scenes with them discovering why they were a good match instead of a situation that pushed them into one another (and I don't mean the being mates thing).

I think there were ways for this story to be stronger but overall I liked spending time with the characters, I liked reading a little bit about other characters and if there's one thing the author accomplishes well is the teasing, the leaving of little clues here and there about this or that and speculation spreads. I'm obviously eager to read more.

I can be aware the quality of the books might not appear the same for everyone, some expectations weren't met and sometimes the author does include unnecessary stuff to situations taken for solved/definite. But I also think she managed to create a fascinating world and I confess I wouldn't be able to think about letting go of all the characters...

It was good to see Muhrder back, that's for certain.

Grade: 8/10