Blood Kiss started off with so much potential. I actually had no intention of reading it until I enjoyed Paradise's POVs so much in The Shadows. The first half for me was solidly 4 stars, Paradise was great, the trials for the training programme and introduction were exciting. Admittedly, it was not BDB, but this was supposed to be something different and I'm glad Ward gives us as a reader the ability to dip in and out without major plot points going through both series. However, the second half was all about Paradise/Craeg and them getting it on. Like, I know Ward focuses on romance, but the BDB series has so many other elements that make it a strong series. Primarily the action, the snark, the big world things and Blood Kiss just became about the romance, which is where I was a tad disappointed.

The romance itself was a little lack-lustre, it started off quite strong and then rapidly declined.

I mean Paradise, a aristocratic female from the top of the glymera, losing her virginity in the bathroom of a shady club, I just don't buy it

. I felt like it was a little rushed, and I get people think with their sex brains, not their actual brains when they get attracted, but I didn't quite get sold on it.

Also, how easy Paradise' dad seemed to accept Craeg as non-aristocratic because it was a 'love match' he'd always wanted

. There just seemed to be lots of little things that were annoying and felt like sloppy writing.

The only outside area we got was the Butch/Marissa relationship and I've never been the biggest fan of their relationship and characters anyway. They always seemed a little too straight-laced for me, and this was reaffirmed in this spin-off. They were drawn into the main storyline as a murder went down of a young-female, who somehow managed to make it to Safe Place. Butch who was leading the training programme then had these divided loyalties between his cop days and his BDB position. It could definitely have become much more of a crime/romance thriller with this element, but alas the connection ended at the word murder. There seemed to be an awful lot of loopholes for me in their whole storyline.

How did they BOTH make it into the Sex Club when people knew they weren't members, and Axe said he could about get Butch in.

Overall, I felt like their input and this storyline didn't really add much to the BDB series.

I know BDB and Ward's books are not the pinnacle of amazing writing, but I expect better consistency and more thought in the characters. Overall, BD Legacy was a fun spin-off, but it wasn't anything more. It was thankfully shorter than the BDB books which stretch up to 700 pages, but I think I would not have minded if we'd have gotten more about the training programme, more about Paradise (not the Paradise that only thinks about sex). I might try the next BD Legacy book, but I'm not 100% sold. For those wanting to read any of Ward's books, I would recommend starting with the BDB (Black Dagger Brotherhood) core series as it's A, so much stronger and B, you'll get minor spoilers about relationships/people etc if you read this instalment.