The Saucy Wenches Book Club

"It was just...for frick's sake...why couldn't the "normal" she'd gotten have been more like a good steak dinner, or a night where, instead of worrying about life and death or goddamn portals to Purgatory, she watched reruns of The Big Bang Theory and ate Oreo ice cream out of the carton?"

Immortal by J.R. Ward
Source

Rhage raised his hand. "Pastor Ass-hat, I have a question." 

"Yes, my son, you ARE going to hell." Lassiter made the sign of the cross and then looked around.

― J.R. Ward, The King

"It is my fault," Saxton said roughly. "And accordingly, in front of you all, I tender my resignation and removal from the bar of solicitors. It is unforgivable that I missed this--"

"Fuck that," Wrath said with exhaustion. "I do not accept your-"

"My own father is the one who did this. Just as bad, I should have researched this. I should have--"

"Enough," Wrath snapped. "If you follow that argument, I should have known all along, because my sires are the ones who drafted that shit. Your resignation is not accepted, so shut the fuck up about all the quitting and sit the fuck down. I'm going to need you."

~J.R. Ward, The King

The female's voice was a low growl right in his ear. "We both know that you can get out of this if you choose to. In the blink of an eye, you can overpower me--you more than proved it back in the gym."

"And the second?"

"If I got to you once, I can do it again. And maybe next time I won't waste my breath trying to prove the fact that I'm your equal."

"I am the King, you realize."

"And I'm the daughter of a deity, motherfucker." 

~J.R. Ward, The King

So it's April already and our Goodreads book group is frantically trying to whittle down their TBR's. We know this is an impossible task. Each month we have four Books of the Month. It provides us with a great way to read books we might not normally read. (stop recommending so many great books. Do you know how many first-in-series I've read in the last year and half?) Just kidding. I love being exposed to authors I never knew existed. We like to have four books as it gives everyone a chance to hopefully find one they would like to read.

So let's take a look at what we are reading this month. Please note book blurbs are included in the descriptions below.

"Give me your hand."
Qhuinn obeyed instantly, as if Blay's command ran his body more than his own brain did.
When something slid onto his finger, he jumped and looked down.
It was a signet ring.
Blay's signet ring. The one the male's father had given him immediately after his transition.
"You are perfect the way you are." Blay's voice was strong. "There is nothing wrong with who and what you have always been. I'm proud of you. And I love you. Now . . . and always."
Qhuinn's vision got wavy. Hard-core.
"I'm proud of you. And I love you," Blay repeated.

Lover at Last
~~J.R. Ward

Generally speaking, "in" did not play with the big boys. In fact, it barely had much of a definition at all, and, in the course of its working life, was usually nothing but a bridge, a conduit for the heavy lifters in any given sentence.

There was, however, one context in which that humble little two-letter, one-syllable jobbie was a BFD. 

Love.

The difference between someone "loving" somebody versus being "in love" was a curb to the Grand Canyon. The head of a pin to the entire Midwest. An exhale to a hurricane.

Now I know why he...

As Blay sat on the floor of the exam room with Qhuinn's loose-as-a-goose body in his lap, he couldn't for the life of him remember what Layla had said next. Had it been "loves you"? In which case, well yeah, he knew that the guy loved him as a friend and had for decades. And that didn't change a thing.

Or had it been the addition of the "in."

~J.R. Ward, Lover At Last

Qhuinn got down on one knee. Just dropped right onto the depiction of an apple tree in full bloom.

"I don't have a ring. I don't have anything fancy in mind or on my tongue." Qhuinn swallowed hard. "I know that it's out of the blue, but I love you and I want us to --"

For once in his life, Blay had to agree with the guy--enough with the fucking talking.

With a decisive shift of his body, he leaned down and kissed all that conversation right into silence. Then pulled back and nodded. "Yes. Yes, absolutely, yes..."

J.R. Ward -- Lover at Last

I thought it was time for some Man Candy!! Some Black Dagger Brotherhood Man Candy, to be exact. We haven’t been the first, and I dare say we won’t be the last, to tackle the colossal task of trying to put faces to J.R. Ward’s larger-than-life characters.

It’s Spring 2013–what actors/celebrities are in our minds at this moment in time? Will these people still be the front runners a year or two from now, or will someone new come along to bump them off the list? This is all purely subjective–and just for fun–so sit back and enjoy my grueling, labor-intensive efforts to find just the right yummy men from all those currently beckoning to us from our television, movie, and computer screens. You’re welcome!


Disclaimer: All the Brothers are huge, gorgeous alpha males with enormous penises that can go for hours. If the actors I’ve selected aren’t at least 6’5” and 250 lbs. in Real Life, we’ll need to use our imaginations, because there aren’t many heartthrobs out there boasting those proporti…

Instead of doing a general book review, I asked the Wenches who read Lover at Last by J.R. Ward to give me a brief paragraph about their thoughts on the book. Let's just say, we aren't exactly glowing in our praise. Lover at Last was highly anticipated by followers of the pairing of Qhuinn and Blay. Affectionately, we call the duo Qhuay. Qhuayzies (as followers are called) have waited a long time for Qhuinn and Blay to have their HEA. However, as you can imagine, sometimes expectations do not live up to the reality.

Look after the jump for our initial impressions.

In a quick shift, she shot around his body, jumped back into her car, and slammed the door.
He moved just as fast. Surging in through the open window, he turned her head and kissed her hard, his mouth taking over, the drive to wipe clean any trace of that human male making his sex pound.
She kissed him back. With equal strength.
As his shoulders were too big to fit through the window, he wanted to claw through the steel. He had to stay where he was, however, and that made him even more aggressive, his blood roaring in his veins, his body straining as his tongue entered her, his hand snaking behind her neck, burying in her hair.

~~J.R. Ward, Lover at Last

Interview...with the Wenches!! BDB style

Some of us are so excited about the release of Lover at Last, the newest novel in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, that all we can think of is our favorite males in Caldwell, N.Y. And since I'm a firm believer in sharing this love, I thought that a post was in order! When I look back to the time when some of the Wenches began reading BDB, what struck me right away was how each of the girls fell for different brothers for such different reasons. We all connected to a brother pretty quickly and have never really strayed. Anne has always been Rhage's girl, Barb always has preferred Rehv, and Zsadist has owned my heart since I first saw him on paper. So what is it about these brothers that make us swoon? I decided to pay a little cyber visit with my lovelies and ask them for the particulars, the ins and outs of how and why they fell in love with our favorite males of the BDB. Check out the BDB Wench interviews after the jump...

"I got you, Bella." Zsadist's voice. Low. Full of strength. "You're safe. You're out of there. And you're never going back."

He had come for her. He had come for her...

She started to sob. The car seemed to slow, but then their speed redoubled. 

Her relief was so great, she slid into blackness.

~ J. R. Ward, Lover Awakened

What'll You Do When You Get Lonely and Nobody's Waiting By Your Side?
The Chosen Layla is not a very popular character right now, at least not in my corner of the Black Dagger Brotherhood (BDB) fandom. To put it bluntly, she's the witch-with-a-capital-B who manipulated Qhuinn into fathering her child and is keeping him and his true love Blay apart.

I'm not happy with how it all went down, and Layla isn't on my Top 5 or Top 10 or even Top 15 list of favorite females in the series. But I don't blame her (too much) for her actions as she went into her needing. And I certainly don't think she's solely responsible for the "situation" as we go into Lover at Last (hello, Qhuinn, I'm looking at you, too).

To review, in Lover Reborn, John, Qhuinn, and Layla returned to the BDB compound while Autumn was in her needing. Layla thought she was immune because of the time she spent on the Other Side but she was wrong. Soon after her return, her needing ca…

I’ve been a big fan of the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series by J. R. Ward for about two years. Although I love all of the Brothers, their shellans, and soldiers, Qhuinn and Blaylock have a special place in my heart. Qhuinn and Blay were the reason I discovered the m/m genre. I started shipping them in Lover Enshrined. It was in this book that Blay confessed his love for his best friend, Qhuinn. Qhuinn said he didn't feel the same way, but his actions told us different.
They pulled apart, looked into each other's eyes...and something shifted..."Just once," Blay said softly. "Do it just once. So I'll know what it's like."...Oh, it was sweet. Blay's lips were incredibly sweet and soft. The tongue probably wasn't supposed to be part of it, but there was no helping that.Fast forward to Lover Mine, and we found out that Qhuinn has feelings for Blay, too. Unfortunately, Qhuinn isn't ready to deal with his feelings, and Blay moves on and starts da…

What better way to prepare for the impending release of the next Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, Lover at Last by J. R. Ward, than to relive some of our favourite scenes in the previous books?! Some of these scenes were selected by multiple Wenches, others are just personal favourites. One is. Clearly. The. Wench. Favourite. It won't be hard to tell which one!
After the jump, see which scenes made us ooh, ahh, and pant for more.

"When was the last time you were out on a date, Blaylock?"
"I . . ." Blay took a long draw on the cigar. "It's been a long time."
"Whatever have you been doing with yourself? All work, no play?"
"Something like that." Okay, unrequited love wasn't exactly in either of those categories, although the no-play was certainly covered.
Saxton smiled a little. "I was glad you called me. And a bit surprised."
"Why?"
"My cousin has a certain . . . territorial response to you."
Blay turned his cigar around and stared at the glowing tip. "I think you vastly overread his interest."
"And I think you're politely telling me to mind my own business, aren't you."
"There's no business to mind there." Blay smiled up at the waiter as the guy put two port glasses

- J. R. Ward, Lover Mine

"Chains," Rhage repeated, while standing in the middle of the Pit's living room.

V looked over the top of his computer screen. "Like what kind?"

"The ones you'd tow a car with."

Butch came in from the kitchen, Bud in hand, sandwich in the other. "Hey, big man. S'up?"

"I want the two of you to chain me to my bed."

"Kinky."

"So do we have something we can use, V?"

Vishous repositioned his Sox hat. "The garage. I think there are some in the garage. But Rhage, man, what are you thinking?"

~ J.R. Ward, Lover Eternal

March Book Releases


March is a busy month for the Wenches. There are books being released in three much-beloved series. And, in a horrible variation of Sophie's Choice, two of these highly anticipated books are being released on THE SAME DAY!

Speaking of which, Wench Veronica has some strategies for getting through all of these releases, if you are feeling a little overwhelmed.

But, I'm here today to give you a little recap of the previous book in each series and discuss what some of the other Wenches and I are looking forward to with the newest additions. Which books are these, you ask? First is Frost Burned, by Patricia Briggs, releasing on March 7th. This is the seventh book in the lovely Mercy Thompson series. Then, on March 26th, comes our cruel twist of fate: The second in the Night Prince trilogy by Jeaniene Frost, Twice Tempted, and the long-awaited addition to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Lover at Last, by J. R. Ward are released.
After the jump, there's a s…