THE CHOSEN (Black Dagger Brotherhood #15) by J R WARD

**Spoiler Free Review**

‘He would not sacrifice the Chosen Layla for anyone or anything. Not even to save himself.’

I inhaled the latest instalment from the BDB; every year as soon as the next book is released I go into hiding, that’s what a year of excited anticipation and being scared of spoilers does to a reader like me. I immerse myself completely into the world of the Brotherhood yet again, their continued fighting for peace as well as their ongoing personal lives where new relationships are formed and conflict threatens the old.

‘Sometimes. Though, for destiny to work, it had to make sure you were blind going into things. Otherwise, you would turn your wheel and hit your brakes…and avoid your fate like the plague.’

Once again I laughed, cried and fell in love all over again. I felt extremely frustrated at times, excited and worried. Going through the entire wheel of emotion is a rite of passage through every book devoured in this fantastic paranormal series. All the threads of storylines were once again riveting and ongoing making me desperate once more for the next one. The sarcastic humour and quirky writing at times was once again present making it feel like I was coming home.

‘Love was like life itself, she supposed. No matter how much of it you were blessed with, when the end came, it never felt like enough.’

This story was about Xcor and Layla; yet -as always- the side stories continue and new ones emerge. This one was always going to be a hard read as it was unfathomable as to how Layla would fare. I enjoyed reading their story; it truly was one of beauty and truth. Though I do have to admit that for me there were a  few series contradictions that surprised me in this one, however they took nothing away from my enjoyment and as always there’ll be sense in the madness.

‘Sometimes kindness and love could be just as difficult as violence to witness. Sometimes, when you were on the outside looking in, watching two in-sync people was a scene from a horror film, the kind of thing you wanted to look away from, forget about, banish the memory of – especially when you were about to go to bed for the day and facing hours upon hours of being alone in the dark.’

So many new revelations came to light – one extremely surprising one which I can’t wait to see developed! Whilst I did shake my head at times in pure frustration, I still loved what I read and overall ended up loving yet another two days spent with my favourite vampires and their extended families. I cannot recommend this series highly enough; it never fails to completely overshadow anything else going on in my life during those two days of compulsive reading. The Black Dagger Brotherhood feel like family, friends and they’ve had my heart since I picked up the first book a decade ago. Now I count the days to Assail & Sola’s story; The Thief, which is coming in 2018.

“Wherever I go, you shall ne’er be far from me. Wherever I sleep, you shall be beside me. What I eat, I shall share with you, and when I dream, we shall be together once again. My love, you are not gone from me ever, and I shall not take another. Till the very night I die.”