Lover Forbidden

The latest installment in J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood paranormal romance series is set in a world where vampires live secretly among humans in and around Caldwell, New York. Their species is protected by the Black Dagger Brotherhood, an elite group of warrior vampires, and governed by Wrath, the Blind King. For decades, the vampires have waged war against the Lessening Society, an order of reanimated, soulless humans called lessers led by Lash, the son of the now-destroyed Omega, a malevolent entity. The novel weaves together plotlines involving love, family grief, identity, and conspiracy.

A prologue set nearly thirty-two years earlier establishes the emotional foundation. Qhuinn, a Black Dagger Brother mated to Blaylock (Blay), enjoys Sunday Last Meal at Blay's parents' house with the couple's infant twins, Lyric and Rhamp. Blay's mother, the elder Lyric, has made her signature lasagna with cottage cheese instead of ricotta to suit Qhuinn's taste. Qhuinn reflects on how complete his life feels, contrasting this warmth with his childhood rejection by parents who shamed him for his mismatched eyes. His thoughts turn to Wrath's assassination by a bomb, and a protective growl escapes him at the table.

In the present day, the younger Lyric is an influencer with nearly five million followers under her brand "Lyrically Dressed." She stands outside Bathe nightclub before a subscriber event, burned out and feeling like a paper idol. Her manager, Marcia Rotterdam, pressures her to attend the Resolve2Evolve (R2E) conference run by Valentina Disserte, while rudely dismissing Lyric's friend Allhan, a pretrans male (a young vampire not yet physically matured). When Allhan flees, Lyric chases him into the street, where a massive R2E billboard torn loose by high winds hurtles toward her. A construction worker named Devlin (Dev) sprints from a nearby site, shields her with his body, and lifts the billboard overhead. Lyric is transfixed but cannot recall his face afterward. She returns his hard hat, and he drapes his work jacket around her shoulders and introduces himself. Lyric tells Marcia she wants out but honors her obligation, completing the event wearing Dev's coat.

That night, Qhuinn and the Brotherhood escort Wrath to the confiscated mansion of Whestmorel, an aristocrat who has gone underground after threatening the throne. Wrath's senses detect a hidden room behind the study fireplace, where they find a tortured male, the only lead on Whestmorel's conspiracy.

A parallel storyline introduces the younger generation. L.W., heir to the vampire throne and son of Wrath and his mate Beth, is volatile and reckless, ditching his bodyguard Shuli mid-hunt. L.W.'s rage stems from growing up believing his father was dead for thirty years, watching his mother grieve while a magical projection of Wrath maintained the illusion of leadership. L.W. confronts the recently returned Wrath, accusing him of ruining their lives. Shuli, meanwhile, harbors a secret love for Lyric.

Lyric returns Dev's jacket and the two begin a courtship. Dev demonstrates an uncanny ability to read her emotions. Over Lebanese food at his apartment, Lyric tells him her granmahmen (grandmother) is dying and that the elder Lyric urged her to live fully while she can. They agree to a dinner date but do not sleep together; Lyric confesses she cannot risk a one-night stand, and Dev respects the boundary.

When Lyric catches the scent of a lesser near Dev's building, she calls Rhamp, who arrives with L.W. and Shuli. A firefight erupts; Shuli is injured, L.W. is shot in the leg, and police cars converge. Afterward, L.W. confides to Shuli that he is going blind, his father's degenerative condition, and asks Shuli to join a covert mission to destroy Lash before his vision fails. They recruit Rhamp as their third.

Dev and Lyric's relationship deepens through a dinner date and the R2E convention. At the convention, Dev's internal thoughts reveal that Valentina Disserte is actually his mother, the demon Devina, operating under a new identity. Dev is the offspring of Devina and Lash, and has spent a decade hiding from both parents. Backstage, Dev drops his concealment and confronts Devina, who shows him her true form and claims she no longer wishes to harm anyone. Dev asks her to tell Lash to stop the war.

The elder Lyric's condition deteriorates. At the bedside, Rhamp freezes at the scent of death, but Lyric coaxes him forward. He whispers the childhood name "Nana." Lyric promises her granmahmen she will take care of the family, and the elder Lyric takes her final breath. Separately, Lyric visits the Sanctuary, the vampires' spiritual realm, and meets Lassiter, the fallen angel who oversees it. He tells her that her purpose is coming and she must "resolve to evolve." She then materializes at Four Toys HQ, the Brotherhood's IT center, where Allhan's transition strikes violently. She feeds him blood carrying the pure lineage of her mahmen (mother) Layla, a member of the Chosen, an order of pure-blooded females. Allhan survives.

Meanwhile, Whestmorel arranges a meeting with Lash and proposes an alliance: He will reveal the location of the Audience House, Wrath's official seat of rule, in exchange for being installed as ruler of the vampires. Lash departs without accepting, leaving Whestmorel contaminated by a black substance.

The night after her grandmother's death, Lyric goes to Dev's apartment. They make love for the first time. When a lesser kicks in the door and recognizes Dev, saying Dev's father has been looking for him, Dev snaps its neck. Lyric sees his eyes shift to navy blue with black rims and realizes he has hidden his true nature behind a magical mask. The downed lesser, still animate, shoots at L.W., and Lyric throws herself in front of the bullet. Dev uses his life-force to restart her heart. Lyric briefly enters the Fade, the vampires' afterlife, where her granmahmen tells her it is not yet her time and hints that Dev possesses the magic she needs. Revived, Lyric tells Dev she never wants to see him again.

Dev offers to transport L.W., Shuli, and Rhamp to Lash but, warned by a vision from Lassiter that the vampires could die, sends the fighters away and confronts his father alone at a glass house on Lake George. Dev absorbs Lash's dark magic and redirects it, blasting Lash into the frozen lake. When Lash reconstitutes and charges back, Devina appears, shields Dev and Lyric (who has materialized at the house, drawn by the spark of Dev's essence within her), and hurls herself at the incoming wave of evil. After driving Lash off, Devina instructs Lyric to push the piece of Dev's essence back into him, cleansed by her vampire mortality, which will strip him of his immortality and his parents' dark legacy. Devina bids her son a final goodbye. Lyric wills the life-force back into Dev, and he awakens mortal, with vampire nature threaded through him and no trace of his demonic heritage.

Two weeks later, Lyric assembles her granmahmen's lasagna for Sunday Last Meal in her grandparents' kitchen. She and Dev have moved in to care for her grieving grandfather Rocke. Dev has been accepted by the family and the King after disclosing his parentage; Rhamp's testimony that Dev saved Lyric's life helped secure that trust. Lyric has begun weapons training and is helping Layla expand her jewelry business. By the hearth, she briefly sees her granmahmen's apparition smiling at the lasagna and at Dev. The family settles in, and Lyric dusts parmesan over the dish, continuing her grandmother's tradition and honoring the deathbed promise. The war remains unresolved, and Rhamp's covert mission with L.W. and Shuli promises further danger ahead.