Psy-Changeling
paranormal romance
Series · paranormal romance
Black Dagger Brotherhood
The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J. R. Ward has 31 known books (30 published; 1 announced) and is best read in publication order, starting with Darius (2022). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Lover Forbidden. The next announced book, Lover Enthroned, is due 29 September 2026.
- Books
- 31 known books (24 novels + 7 novellas)
- Published
- 30
- Announced
- 1
- First published
- 2005
- Status
- ongoing
- Last checked
Start here: Darius (2022) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series. Announced future books are marked below.
- Book 1:
Darius
Darius (2022) is a prequel novella about an original Black Dagger Brother, numbered 0.5 in the reading order even though it was written and released years after the main series was underway. J. R. Ward intended it to be read after readers already know the Brotherhood, not as a starting point, despite being chronologically the earliest story in Caldwell's shadow war against the Lessening Society.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Darius - Book 2:
Dark Lover
Dark Lover (2005) opens the Black Dagger Brotherhood series in Caldwell, New York, introducing the tattooed vampire warriors who wage a shadow war against the soulless Lessening Society. At 448 pages, it's the intended starting point -- publication order is how J. R. Ward built this series to be read, since the cast and their history accumulate book to book.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dark Lover - Book 3:
Lover Eternal
Lover Eternal, the second Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, appeared in 2006 at 457 pages, continuing J. R. Ward's pattern of pairing one Brother with his fated mate against a backdrop of gothic violence and blood bonds.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Eternal - Book 4:
Lover Awakened
Lover Awakened holds the third spot in the Black Dagger Brotherhood sequence at 448 pages, published later in 2006. Like every entry, it follows a single couple's slow-burn romance while carrying forward the found-family loyalties and rivalries of Ward's larger vampire cast.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Awakened - Book 5:
Lover Revealed
Lover Revealed, the fourth Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, ran 463 pages when it followed Lover Awakened in 2007, continuing the series' formal vampire caste mythology and its ensemble of warriors -- Wrath, Rhage, Butch, Vishous, and the rest -- whose interlocking loyalties carry across every book.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Revealed - Book 6:
Lover Unbound
J. R. Ward placed Lover Unbound fifth in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published later in 2007 at 509 pages -- part of the soap-opera-scale expansion of Caldwell's warrior cast that defines the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Unbound - Book 7:
Lover Enshrined
Lover Enshrined is numbered sixth in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2008 at 542 pages, continuing J. R. Ward's dark, melodramatic take on paranormal romance as the Brotherhood's shadow war against the Lessening Society grinds on.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Enshrined - Book 8:
Father Mine
Father Mine is a short novella slotted between Lover Enshrined and Lover Avenged at 113 pages, published later in 2008. Like the series' other holiday and interstitial novellas, it checks in on side characters rather than one of the main Brothers -- optional reading, but it adds texture for completists following Caldwell's full cast.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Father Mine - Book 9:
Lover Avenged
Lover Avenged, the seventh Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, is one of the longest entries in the series at 736 pages, published in 2009 as J. R. Ward's cast of warriors and their rivals kept expanding book by book.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Avenged - Book 10:
Lover Mine
Lover Mine is numbered eighth in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, a 653-page entry published in 2010, continuing the fated-mate romance formula J. R. Ward built the series around.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Mine - Book 11:
Lover Unleashed
Lover Unleashed sits between Lover Mine and Lover Reborn as the ninth Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, published in 2011 at 489 pages -- another Caldwell pairing set against the Brotherhood's ongoing war with the Lessening Society.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Unleashed - Book 12:
Lover Reborn
Published in 2012, Lover Reborn is J. R. Ward's tenth novel in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, running 572 pages as the found-family cast of warriors continued to grow across the decade since Dark Lover.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Reborn - Book 13:
Lover at Last
Lover at Last sits between Lover Reborn and The King as the eleventh Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, published in 2013 at 620 pages -- one of the longer entries in J. R. Ward's continuously running vampire saga.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover at Last - Book 14:
The King
J. R. Ward placed The King twelfth in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2014 at 573 pages, continuing the gothic, hyper-alpha romance formula that has kept the series running since 2005.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The King - Book 15:
The Shadows
J. R. Ward placed The Shadows thirteenth in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2015 at 576 pages, part of the series' long-running mythology of glyph-language, vampire caste, and blood-bonded fated mates.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Shadows - Book 16:
The Beast
The Beast sits between The Shadows and The Chosen as the fourteenth Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, published in 2016 at 526 pages -- another Caldwell pairing drawn from J. R. Ward's ever-expanding cast of Brothers, allies, and villains.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Beast - Book 17:
The Chosen
At 569 pages, The Chosen marks the fifteenth installment of J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2017 as the saga's soap-opera-scale ensemble continued expanding with new Brothers and rivals-turned-allies.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Chosen - Book 18:
Dearest Ivie
Dearest Ivie is a novella slotted between The Chosen and The Thief, numbered 15.5 in the sequence and published in March 2018 at 206 pages. Like the series' other interstitial novellas, it's a minor, skippable entry that checks in on side characters rather than advancing one of the main Brothers' stories.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dearest Ivie - Book 19:
The Thief
At 480 pages, The Thief marks the sixteenth installment of J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2018 and continuing the Brothers' shadow war against the Lessening Society in Caldwell, New York.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Thief - Book 20:
The Savior
J. R. Ward placed The Savior seventeenth in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2019 at 416 pages -- more than a decade into a series that has kept its core cast's loyalties and rivalries carrying forward from book to book.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Savior - Book 21:
Prisoner of Night
Prisoner of Night is a novella slotted between The Savior and The Sinner, numbered 17.5 in the sequence and published in January 2019. It's one of several short interstitial entries J. R. Ward has used to check in on side characters between the numbered Black Dagger Brotherhood novels.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Prisoner of Night - Book 22:
The Sinner
In the Black Dagger Brotherhood reading order, The Sinner sits between Prisoner of Night and Where Winter Finds You as the eighteenth book, published in 2020 at 512 pages -- fifteen years into J. R. Ward's continuously running Caldwell vampire saga.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Sinner - Book 23:
Where Winter Finds You
Where Winter Finds You is one of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series' holiday novellas, numbered 18.5 and published in November 2019 at 480 pages. Like its companion holiday entries, it's a minor, skippable check-in on side characters rather than a numbered Brother's main romance.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Where Winter Finds You - Book 24:
A Warm Heart in Winter
A Warm Heart in Winter is a novella in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, numbered 18.6 and following Where Winter Finds You, published in December 2020 at 448 pages -- another of the holiday-themed interstitial entries J. R. Ward has slotted between the main numbered books.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Warm Heart in Winter - Book 25:
Lover Unveiled
Lover Unveiled is the nineteenth entry in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2021 at 536 pages, continuing the fated-mate pairings and gothic violence that have defined Caldwell's vampire saga since 2005.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Unveiled - Book 26:
Lover Arisen
J. R. Ward placed Lover Arisen twentieth in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2022 at 456 pages -- part of a series that by this point had spun off three companion series (Black Dagger Legacy, Prison Camp, Lair of the Wolven) set in the same Caldwell world.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Arisen - Book 27:
Lassiter
At 560 pages, Lassiter marks the twenty-first installment of J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in 2023, continuing the found-family cast of warriors and allies who carry across every book even as the central romantic pairing changes.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lassiter - Book 28:
The Beloved
The Beloved, the twenty-second book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, precedes A Bloom in Winter in publication order. It came out in April 2024 at 432 pages, nearly two decades into J. R. Ward's continuously running vampire saga.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Beloved - Book 29:
A Bloom in Winter
A Bloom in Winter is a novella in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, numbered 22.5 and following The Beloved, published in 2024 at 279 pages -- one of the holiday-themed interstitial entries that check in on side characters between the main numbered books.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Bloom in Winter - Book 30:
Lover Forbidden
Lover Forbidden is the twenty-third entry in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, published in September 2025 at 432 pages, continuing the shadow war between Caldwell's vampire Brotherhood and the Lessening Society two decades after Dark Lover.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Forbidden - Book 31:
Lover Enthroned
Lover Enthroned, credited to J. R. Ward, holds the twenty-fourth spot in the Black Dagger Brotherhood sequence and is scheduled for release on September 29, 2026, at 416 pages -- the next installment in a series that has run continuously since 2005.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Lover Enthroned
About the Black Dagger Brotherhood series
In Caldwell, New York, a secret brotherhood of massive, tattooed vampire warriors wages a shadow war against the Lessening Society, a cult of soulless slayers bent on wiping out the vampire race. Each book pairs one Brother (or an ally drawn into their world) with his fated mate, unfolding a slow-burn, often filthy-hot romance against a backdrop of gothic violence, blood bonds, and vampire aristocracy. J. R. Ward built an entire mythology around this world: a formal vampire caste system, a private glyph-based language, and a found-family cast of warriors -- Wrath, Rhage, Zsadist, Butch, Vishous, Phury, and more -- whose interlocking loyalties and rivalries carry across the whole series even as the romantic pairing changes book to book.
The appeal is the combination of hyper-alpha, often broken heroes (Zsadist's arc from tortured slave to devoted mate is a fan favorite) with a soap-opera-scale ensemble that keeps expanding: new Brothers, sons and daughters of the first generation, rivals-turned-allies, and a rotating cast of villains. Readers who like their paranormal romance dark, violent, and unapologetically melodramatic -- with a genuine long-form world to get lost in -- are the audience. The series has run continuously since 2005, spun off three companion series (Black Dagger Legacy, Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp, and Lair of the Wolven) set in the same world, and remains one of the best-selling paranormal romance franchises in print.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series?
The main series has 24 numbered novels (through Lover Enthroned, September 2026), plus the prequel novella Darius and six shorter holiday novellas (Father Mine, Dearest Ivie, Prisoner of Night, Where Winter Finds You, A Warm Heart in Winter, A Bloom in Winter).
What order should I read Black Dagger Brotherhood in?
Publication order, starting with Dark Lover. The series is continuous and later books assume you know the earlier cast, so reading in release order is strongly recommended over any chronological reshuffle.
Do I need to read Darius before Dark Lover?
No. Darius is a prequel about an original Brother but was written and released years into the series -- it's best enjoyed after you already know the Brotherhood, not as a starting point.
Is Black Dagger Brotherhood finished?
No, it's ongoing. Lover Forbidden (book 23) released in September 2025, and Lover Enthroned (book 24) is scheduled for September 29, 2026.
Are the Black Dagger Legacy, Prison Camp, and Lair of the Wolven books part of this series?
They're spin-off series set in the same Caldwell vampire world, following different (often younger) characters. They aren't required to follow the main Black Dagger Brotherhood numbered series and aren't included in this list.
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