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The Shadows
The Shadows: Number 13 in series | J. R. Ward
**Goodreads Finalist for Best Romance 2015**Two brothers bound by more than blood fight to change a brutal destiny in the heart-wrenching new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by Sunday Times bestselling author J. R. Ward.Trez "Latimer" doesn't really exist. And not just because the identity was created so that a Shadow could function in the underbelly of the human world. Sold by his parents to the Queen of the S'Hsibe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer in Caldwell, NY for years- all the while on the run from a destiny of sexual servitude. He's never had anyone he could totally rely on . . . except for his brother, iAm.iAm's sole goal has always been to keep his brother from self-destructing - and he knows he's failed. It's not until the Chosen Selena enters Trez's life that the male begins to turn things around . . . but by then it's too late. The pledge to mate the Queen's daughter comes due and there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and no negotiating.Trapped between his heart and a fate he never volunteered for, Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others - or forever leave behind the female he's in love with. But then an unimaginable tragedy strikes and changes everything. Staring out over an emotional abyss, Trez must find a reason to go on or risk losing himself and his soul forever. And iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice . . .
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bookishlyruby
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Hi everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful week!
🍹
Another weekend at the beach, another book. This time I brought The Shadows with me.
🍹
This is one of the books I've been terrified to read, but so far I'm loving it.
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What are you guys this week?

#jrward #blackdaggerbrotherhood #bookblogger #imreading #paranormalromance #smartwomenreadromance #massmarketpaperbacksneedlovetoo #romancereader #romancelandia #romancestagram

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TheSpineView
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Pickpick

This is book 13 in the series. One of the few series I have not lost interest in. I think because Ward continues to introduce new and interesting characters instead of trying to dream up new plots for the same set of characters. This book is mainly about Trez and Selena with some other characters mentioned and their stories advanced. The plot was surprising because it was not your usual HEA. Sometimes we don't get everything we want and that....

TheSpineView Made this book feel real. I also liked the character of Paradise and want to learn more about her. I am looking forward to reading the next book. 4 ⭐️ Also another book finished for the #SeriesRead2022 challenge. 2y
Tera66 I love this series! 2y
57 likes3 comments
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TheSpineView
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#BookMoods @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#CurrentRead&Selfie

Currently reading the two books pictured. The Shadows is an audio book from the library. The Transfer Problem is an ARC. I hate myself in pictures, so here is one from Friday last week riding Ready Or Not (aka Spicy).❤️📖❤️📕❤️🏇❤️🐎

Eggs Great photo! And covers! 2y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Awesome photo 🐎 ❤️ 2y
Gissy Nice photo! 🐎 👌❤️ 2y
52 likes4 comments
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GingerAntics
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@julesG okay, so here we go… all together… Queen Catra vin SuLaneh etl MuLanen dev FonLetahn
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows #ProblematicCharacterNames #SayWhat?! #Who? #Why?

BookwormAHN And thats why I get a lot of fantasy books on audio 😸 2y
GingerAntics @BookwormAHN you and me both… although I‘m not sure this counts as fantasy. Does supernatural count as fantasy? 😆 2y
BookwormAHN According to Stephen King fantasy is a broad term that covers most genres that aren't straight fiction so yes, I think it counts. 2y
GingerAntics @BookwormAHN cool, then this definitely qualifies. The names certainly make it worth the audiobook. That‘s for sure. 2y
8 likes4 comments
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GingerAntics
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Pickpick

It was cool getting to know Trez and iAm in this one. It was also cool seeing the amazing integrity and honour Wrath, the brotherhood have. The end is a real tear jerker, too. This book was also different from the previous books in the series. I‘m really hoping the second half of the series continues with this shift. The books really stand out from each other this way.
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows

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GingerAntics
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I think the biggest transformation in this book was iAm, honestly.
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows

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GingerAntics
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@julesG and we thought the brothers had some complicated names… Ward is really trying to 🤬 with us now.
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows

julesG Say what? How the hell is that supposed to be pronounced? 2y
GingerAntics @julesG god I heard it a few times in the audiobook… no bloody clue still. Plus, it will probably change in another several books anyway? 🤷🏼‍♀️ However the hell you want is my vote. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG Katie. It‘s Katie. 2y
See All 7 Comments
julesG Makes total sense. Not! 🙈🙈🙈 2y
GingerAntics @julesG 😂🤣😂 it‘s bugging me, because I genuinely can‘t remember how this was pronounced… but it probably won‘t get used often in the rest of the books so it‘s probably okay. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG GOT IT!!! Queen Cot-rah vin Sue-Lynn-ah ettle* Moo-La-nin day Fun-ler-on (*Think nettle without the n) 2y
julesG 🙈🙈🙈 2y
6 likes7 comments
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GingerAntics
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🤣😂🤣 leave it to Lassiter.
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows

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GingerAntics
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🤣😂🤣
Don‘t piss off the brotherhood, or this is how they‘ll introduce you to your king.
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows

julesG 😂🤣😂🤣 2y
GingerAntics @julesG 😂🤣😂 thought you‘d like that 2y
julesG Wait, is it pronounced Rage, or Hage? Silent X is a thing (one of the most un-silent consonants in my understanding, maybe silent R works too? 2y
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julesG I'm tempted to write A Linguist's Guide to the Blatantly Obvious Mispronunciation of Fictional Names - Or how you can spoil the reading experience by inventing names and pronunciation guidelines that just don't make sense at all. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG nope, he‘s still Rage. Now I want to see if that changes. If that changes I‘m out, too. You mess with the brothers and I can‘t even. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG I would read that. 2y
10 likes6 comments
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GingerAntics
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“Embrace the miracle that was conception, incubation, and impending expulsion.”
So much to say about this line. It‘s certainly remote and rather cold. Incubation of course brings up thoughts of Amy Coney Barrett saying women should be incubators. 🙄 Oh, so much to say about one sentence.
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows

julesG Yuck! 2y
GingerAntics @julesG right? She is talking about human views of pregnancy, so perhaps it was a flash of Ward‘s social commentary? Even this Chosen , who is fairly new to the world of humans, can see that humans think of females as nothing more than incubators? 2y
ravenlee Then there‘s the politician in Ohio who thinks that pregnancy by rape is an “opportunity” for the victim. As in, she thinks that by being forced to bear a child of violence, the victim can become the ideal woman - you know, an incubator. Because that‘s what we‘re here for. 2y
GingerAntics @ravenlee 🙄🙄🙄 I can‘t even. An opportunity!!! An opportunity for daily PTSD. An opportunity for daily flashbacks if this poor kid looks like it‘s father. An opportunity for her rapist to mess with her further when he sues for visitation rights because that‘s allowed in Ohio. You‘ve got to be kidding me. 2y
7 likes4 comments
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GingerAntics
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I‘m rather hoping Trez gets out of the weird “husband” sex slave gig and gets to stay with Selena. Fingers crossed. After finding out what his parents did to him, I was kind of hoping the queen would kill them (yeah I got problems), but them losing their social status probably does make the suffer more. Hopefully we get to hear more about that (see, problems); but first, some more sleep.
#jrward #BlackDaggerBrotherhood #TheShadows

GingerAntics @julesG suddenly, in this audiobook, Xhex (John Matthew‘s shellan) has gone from zex to hex and Xcor (head of the band of bastards) has gone from score to core. Eh. Not a fan. Zex and Score make more sense to me. Zexania sounds better than Hexania. Xcor‘s face is scored. It just makes more sense. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Apparently Ward said they were meant to be Hex and Core, so no idea why they were pronounced differently in the first half of the audiobooks. (edited) 2y
GingerAntics @julesG I have to say I haven‘t heard “cocksucker” in a while. It‘s definitely nowhere in this book… I can‘t remember if I heard it in the last one. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG primale has gone from prime-male or prime-ale to prim-all-ee. No idea why. It‘s really getting weird. 2y
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julesG Oh no! After what, 12 books??? Even if it's been mispronounced so far, they should stick to the version we all got used to. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG totally agree. It‘s really distracting. 2y
julesG Cocksucker - Qhuinn said it when Blay and what's-his-name hooked up for the first time and he got jealous. So, book 9? 2y
julesG Didn't she listen to the early audiobooks? 2y
julesG Also, why come up with the crazy names in the first place? Next we know, Qhuinn is actually pronounced Hoo-een? 2y
GingerAntics @julesG this is the 14th bloody title - 13th novel plus the novella numbered 6.5 2y
GingerAntics @julesG I think that‘s right. It was certainly in Blay and Qhuinn‘s book. I‘m not sure it‘s in The King and it‘s definitely not in The Shadows. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG I get the names being English words but slightly different. Like this is a different culture and society and these are traits that are prized sort of thing. I get that, but why pronounce them weird? If Qhuinn changes, I‘m out. That would be absolutely ridiculous. It seems to be this silent X thing. Maybe she couldn‘t have Xhex (zex) and s‘Ex (sex - the shadow executioner). 2y
julesG Pronunciation "rules" would say (okay, Italian does it. Latin did it?) that an H after a consonant results in this consonant being a plosive/hard consonant. Hence Xhex is Zex not Hex. Silent X just doesn't make sense. Not at all. And Xcore being Core ???? like nucleus? The middle of something? The stabilising muscles in your body's middle? ? Nothing stable about Xcore, he's volatile. He might see himself as the navel of the world, though. ? 2y
julesG Btw, I know it's Xcor, but my phone insists on the E 🙄🙄🙄 2y
GingerAntics @julesG even your phone takes issue with the madness. lol Yeah, when a word starts with X, it tends to sound like a Z. I just don‘t get it. Yeah Xcor as score makes far more sense. He does think of himself as the Center of the universe, sure, but score as in cut or slice works so much better. It‘s more logical. He does love his daggers. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG oh god you broke me!!! Every time I hear “Qhuinn” on the audiobook now, I think “Hoo-een!!!” 😂🤣😂 Clearly I‘ve turned slap happy. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG I can‘t believe I didn‘t think of this before. Ward doesn‘t allow fan fiction. She‘s too territorial of her work… or just that pretentious. Given the strange pronunciations, I‘m going with pretentious. The whole bloody thing is pretentious. 2y
GingerAntics THERE IT IS!!! Cocksucker made an appearance after all. Ward REALLY likes that word. 2y
julesG Pretentious fits 2y
GingerAntics @julesG 🤣😂🤣 2y
GingerAntics @julesG bloody hell, has she run out of weird names?! Now there is a Craeg… like Craig. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Next there is going to be a Bob or Will. 🙄 But it‘ll be Xwhill and Bhobh. 2y
julesG 🤣🤣🤣 2y
julesG It's probably going to be Xwhille. Why not add a silent E too? 2y
GingerAntics @julesG 🤣😂🤣 or perhaps it‘s supposed to be pronounced Willie… in that his Willie is his most prominent feature?! 😂🤣😂 names aways seem to perfectly describe the vampire in question. I wonder how Bhobh describes the vampire? 2y
GingerAntics @julesG Xwhilleg… the silent g makes the e long. 👍🏻 (edited) 2y
julesG 🤣🤣🤣 2y
GingerAntics @julesG perhaps Bhobh is a female and the o is really oo. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG then Xwhilleg and Bhobh can get together… I bet that‘s the next book coming out in 2023. 2y
julesG 🤣🤣🤣 More tea going down the wrong pipe. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG 🤣😂🤣 I‘m sorry… I think. 😂🤣😂 2y
GingerAntics @julesG you know how they are males and females because they‘re not human, so they‘re not men and women? Ward is really wedded to that. Wrath was just referred to as “a good statesmale.” 2y
julesG Humanoid non-aliens? 2y
GingerAntics @julesG precisely 2y
GingerAntics @julesG just had a thought. Xcor being score is literal. He has that cleft lip thing going on. It‘s a literal name. Core makes NO sense from that standpoint either. WTF 2y
julesG That's how I understood the name. And I think we both said so in the comments to one of the other blurbs. 2y
GingerAntics @julesG oh, I was thinking of his love for his scythe. He would score lessers as he killed them. 2y
julesG 🤣 That too 2y
GingerAntics @julesG so we have at least two literal reasons for his name to be score, and still exactly zero (and possibly a negative number) reasons for him to be core. It makes no sense. I wish she would explain her reasoning. We did find out that Xcor is the literal brother of a member of the brotherhood… well, Layla found out and it‘s going to come out in this book I think. 2y
julesG Sorry, wanted to write that I'm curious whose brother he is. Then brushed against the wrong symbols and my phone posted nonsense 2y
GingerAntics @julesG he is Tohr‘s half brother. They are both sons of Hharm. 2y
julesG Do we pronounce it "harm" or "arm"? ?? 2y
GingerAntics @julesG 😂🤣😂 that‘s still being pronounced harm. The prologue of this book is actually Hharm being a total prick at Xcor‘s birth. 2y
12 likes41 comments
review
Lauren_reading
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Pickpick

Just cried my eyes out for last hour. This book was so good, but damn- my heart was just ripped out. JR Ward is awesome.

CoverToCoverGirl I adore the BDB! 5y
47 likes1 comment
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staceynicole
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Pickpick

I absolutely love this series,
The first book was a challenge to get into but now I‘m up to number 14 and don‘t see myself stopping until I‘m finished

It‘s such an exciting and fun world

#blackdaggerbrotherhood #vampires

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Michollio
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Michollio
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📘 Dear god that woman knows how to break my heart
🍽️ Depends on the day, the food I have available, and how lazy I'm feeling
😨 A trip to Disney World when I was 8 and the Mad Hatter insisted on finding me a boyfriend
👃🏻I don't know about favorite. Maybe B&BW's Twilight Woods
👨‍🎤 Boundless Black

#FriyayIntro
@howjessreads

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Michollio
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review
Dariachick
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Pickpick

Omg... talk about book hangover im still crying with this one. READ WITH TISSUES.

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BeverleeWitvoetAbell
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Saturday night reading!! I always find it hard to put these books down!

2 likes1 stack add
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BluestockingDuchess
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Taking a break from working!☀️☀️☀️
#poolside #pool #jrward #kindle #ebook #lilly

JoScho All the pretty colors! Where are you in Georgia? 6y
Reviewsbylola Love Lilly! That water bottle is especially adorable. 6y
BluestockingDuchess @JoScho I am from Augusta 6y
15 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Velvetsun
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🔴 The footsteps he left on the white marble were red.
🔴 606
🔴 Amusement
🔴 Selena
🔴 Purple
🔴 Paranormal Romance
🔴 First -Trez. Last - Calls.
🔴 Black
🔴 JRW
🔴 Night
🔴 2015
🔴 Angela Knight
🔴 Yes
🔴 Yes. About 13 of them. 😁

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Velvetsun
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Only one day off this week. So, I'm planning on hibernating on the couch with a blanket and my book. #bdb #ineedavacation

TricksyTails Yoda! R2! Kong! 🙌😆♥️ 7y
Velvetsun @TricksyTails Well spotted! 😆 7y
45 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Lizpixie
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#TuneIntoNovember #day18 #Shadow The shadows in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series are a sub type of vampires,the s‘Hisbe, that can walk in daylight and have other abilities that “normal” vampires don‘t. Trez & IAm are brothers who escaped the community they were born in because when they were children their parents basically sold Trez into marriage(slavery) to the royal princess, which he has no intention of honoring. Two of my fave characters.

59 likes1 stack add
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InBooksILive
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Found this book the other day also at Kmart for $5. It's the only one of the series they had and I was so hoping it was the 1st one. But it's the 13th... the 13th! Why do they sell the 13th but not the 1st?! Just means I got some book shopping to do now though haha got 12 books to buy!

xMsBunny Did you buy the rest of the series? 😍❤️ 4y
InBooksILive @MrsDozer_x no I never did! I completely forgot. You just reminded me haha I've heard this series was really good too 4y
8 likes2 comments
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Lizpixie
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#RockInMay #day5 #ScenesFromAnItalianRestaurant This may be an odd choice, but one of the Shadows in this story, a black vampire, runs a very successful old school Italian restaurant in Caldwell, NY. There's quite a few scenes in an Italian restaurant in this book. I wish it was real, I'd definitely eat there!

Cinfhen Leave it to you to find a nice Italian restaurant run by vampires 🙌🏻💕🍕🇮🇹😀 (edited) 8y
46 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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sprainedbrain
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Day 2 of #feistyfeb

Maybe too obvious or literal as a choice for #shadows 😂

This is the next book I need to read in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I was keeping up so well, but now I'm a couple of years/books behind. 😞

Joybishoptx It's a lot of books! 8y
110 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Lizpixie
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#feistyfeb #day2 #shadows Had NO clue how to interpret this one, so I'm going with a book called The Shadows. Trez & IAm are brothers, they're members of a race called S'Hsibe. Called Shadows, they worked as bodyguards before running their own restaurant. Sold by his parents to the Queen of their race, Trez has spent most of his life on the run but now his heart has been taken by another & he will fight to stay free for her.

sprainedbrain My pick too! 👍 8y
60 likes1 comment
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Synder
Shadows | J R Ward

Picked this series back up recently after a few years. Enjoying it as a break from academic reading!

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Sammidnightsun
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Pickpick

Wow I was in tears

12 likes3 stack adds
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Sammidnightsun
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Love my signed copy now to finish it lol

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Aim4theNeck
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You've got to love a bit of Brother and Angel banter!

1 like1 stack add
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Louisedr
Pickpick

Love this whole series. Cant stop reading.....

Sammidnightsun Agree 😃 8y
2 likes1 comment