J. R. Ward
Personal Information
Description
Jessica Rowley Pell Bird was born on 1969 in Massachusetts, USA. She is the daughter of Maxine F. and W. Gillette Bird, Jr. She began writing as a child, penning her thoughts in diaries as well as inventing short stories. She read her first Harlequin Presents novel in a rose garden when she was in her teens. She was hooked immediately. By the time she went to college, she had boxes and boxes of Harlequins and Silhouettes. Every year, her mother would ask why all those books had to live in the house and Jess would reply that if even one of them disappeared she would know. (She'd catalogued them.) Jess finished her first romance manuscript the summer before her freshman year of college. She attended Smith College and graduated with a double major in history and art history. She then received a law degree from Albany Law School. Shortly after that, she began working in the healthcare industry in Boston. She spent many years as one of the premier medical center’s Chief of Staff. While working as a lawyer in Boston, she completed two novels more and started a number of partials. In 2001, Bird married John Neville Blakemore III. Both her mother and her new husband kept telling her to send something in to an agent, a publisher, the Tooth Fairy, anyone. She thought they were nuts, but eventually got her nerve up and bought a lot of stamps. Since getting published, she has written contemporary romances as Jessica Bird and paranormal romances as J. R. Ward. She has been a Rita Award finalist, received two Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice nominations and has been a HOLT medallion finalist. New England born and bred, Jess is surprised to find herself living south of the Mason Dixon line. (But that's what happens when you marry a Southern gentleman.) She and her husband live with their golden retriever, who oversees her writing in a supervisory role.
Books
Envy
"As the son of a serial killer, homicide detective Thomas 'Veck' DelVecchio, Jr, grew up in the shadow of evil. Now, on the knife-edge between civic duty and blind retribution, he atones for the sins of his father - while fighting his inner demons. Assigned to monitor Veck is Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly, whose interest in him is both professional and arousingly personal. And Veck and Sophia have another link: Jim Heron, a mysterious stranger with too many answers ..."--Provided by publisher.
The Chosen
Love or duty -- which would you choose? Prince Severin has been brought up to put duty before all else. Now, his duty is to marry and produce an heir. He has his choice of princesses. Unfortunately, his passion is for princes. Havyn has been a slave all his life. When his powers are discovered, he finds himself purchased and freed by a Prince and apprenticed to the royal wizard, Ildar. His duty is to stay chaste to keep his powers strong. Unfortunately, his passion is for Severin. With kingdoms at war, the throne hanging in the balance, and magic in the air, can the two men find happiness together, or is duty more important than love?
Rapture
"A wonderful, terrible new virus is stalking America: Angelism. It starts like the flu, turns your skin green, and ends...in wings."--BOOK JACKET. "As the virus spreads, it creates both a new race of people who look like angels but certainly don't feel like them inside, and wing-free Pedestrians, who are left behind to wait and worry. And while the wing-inflicted play tag with the seagulls, the Peds grow envious, some even going for the jugular - either for harm's sake, or to contrive their own infection."--BOOK JACKET. "In this new world, who will fly and who will falter?"--BOOK JACKET. "In David Sosnowski's Rapture, Zander Wiles is the first victim of Angelism to go public. But his status as celebrity quickly turns to pariah; his experiences at the hands of his disapproving parents and a fickle media machine turn the world's first flesh-and-blood Angel into a bitter recluse. Alone and grounded, Zander doesn't understand that the first step to flying is throwing yourself at the ground...and missing."--BOOK JACKET. "Zander's life is in utter eclipse until he meets bestselling Angel therapist Cassie O'Connor. Using skates and tough love, Cassie teaches Zander how to face, squarely and deeply, just what he is. Along the way, she also teaches him how to fly."--BOOK JACKET.
Devil's cut
"When Edward Baldwine is arrested for his father's murder, life for the Baldwine family is thrown into disarray. Tensions at Easterly, the family estate, are already high--the family's bourbon business is hanging on by a thread and Miss Aurora, head of Easterly's kitchen and surrogate mother of the Baldwine children, is in the ICU. Lane Baldwine, the younger and more successful of the Baldwine siblings, has taken control of the Bradford Bourbon Company with Lizzie, head of staff at Easterly, by his side. The two struggle to keep spirits up at the estate. But when a shocking family secret is revealed, Lane begins to uncover the truth about their father's death and makes a discovery that could irrevocably alter their family's fate"--
Lover Unveiled
Sahvage has been living under the radar for centuries -- and he has every intention of of staying “dead and buried.” But when a civilian female sucks him into her dangerous battle with an evil as ancient as time, his protective side overrides his common sense. Mae has lost everything, and desperation sets her on a collision course with fate. Determined to reverse a tragedy, she goes where mortals should fear to tread -- and comes face-to-face with the Brotherhood's new enemy. She also discovers a love she never expected to find with Sahvage, but there can be no future for them. Knowing they will part, the two band together to fight against what Mae unknowingly unleashed -- as the Brotherhood closes in to reclaim one of their damned, and evil vows to destroy them all...
Lover reborn
Tohrment, a Black Dagger Brother, is given a second chance at love and life after losing everything.
The Shadows
Sold by his parents to the Queen of the s'Hisbe as a child, Trez escaped the Territory and has been a pimp and an enforcer for years. On the run from a destiny of sexual servitude, he's never been able to rely on anyone...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. Now Trez must decide whether to endanger himself and others -- or abandon the female he loves. When tragedy strikes and changes everything, iAm, in the name of brotherly love, is faced with making the ultimate sacrifice....
Lover Arisen
Possessed by the demon Devina, Balthazar is once again on the hunt for the Book of Spells -- and fighting an undeniable attraction to a woman. As a thief, he has stolen a lot of things…but he never thought his heart would be taken by another. Especially not a human. As a homicide detective, Erika Saunders knows there is something otherworldly going on in Caldwell, New York. Mutilated bodies that cannot be explained are all over her case list -- and then there are her nightmares in which she's hunted by shadows and captivated by a mysterious man who is both a suspect and a savior. When Devina's wish for true love is finally granted, Balthazar and Erika unwittingly become the gateway for the rebirth of an old enemy of the Brothers. Will the very thing that brings them together lead to the ultimate destruction of the Brotherhood? Or will they have to lose everything in order to save the race's most sacred defenders?
Crave (Fallen Angels #2)
Isaac Rothe is a black ops solider with a dark past and a grim future. The target of an assassin, he finds himself behind bars, his fate in the hands of his gorgeous public defender, Grier Childe. His hot attraction to her is a totally wrong place/wrong time kind of thing—and that’s before Jim Heron tells him his soul is in danger. Caught up in a wicked game with the demon who shadows Jim, Isaac must decide whether the solider in him can believe that true love is the ultimate weapon against evil...
Blood Vow
The Black Dagger Brotherhood continues to train the best of the best to join them in the deadly battle against the Lessening Society. Among the new recruits, Axe proves to be a cunning and vicious fighter—and also a loner isolated because of personal tragedy. When an aristocratic female needs a bodyguard, Axe takes the job, though he’s unprepared for the animal attraction that flares between him and the one he is sworn to protect. For Elise, who lost her first cousin to a grisly murder, Axe’s dangerous appeal is enticing—and possibly a distraction from her grief. But as they delve deeper into her cousin’s death, and their physical connection grows into so much more, Axe fears that the secrets he keeps and his tortured conscience will tear them apart. Rhage, the Brother with the biggest heart, knows all about self-punishing, and he wants to help Axe reach his full potential. But when an unexpected arrival threatens Rhage and Mary’s new family, he finds himself back in the trenches again, fighting against a destiny that will destroy all he holds most dear. As Axe’s past becomes known, and fate seems to be turning against Rhage, both males must reach deep—and pray that love, rather than anger, will be their lantern in the darkness.
Deseo
Seven deadly sins. Seven souls that must be saved. One more no-holds- barred battle between a fallen angel with a hardened heart and a demon with everything to lose. Isaac Rothe is a black ops soldier with a dark past and a grim future. The target of an assassin, he finds himself behind bars, his fate in the hands of his gorgeous public defender Grier Childe. His hot attraction to her can only lead to trouble-and that's before Jim Heron tells him his soul is in danger. Caught up in a wicked game with the demon who shadows Jim, Isaac must decide whether the soldier in him can believe that true love is the ultimate weapon against evil.
Forever
For Lydia Susi, there is no sweet sorrow in saying goodbye to the man she loves ... As an operative for a clandestine arm of the United States government, Daniel Joseph always expected to die an early death. He just assumed it would be out in the field--not in a laboratory hospital bed. With his time running out, he refuses a potentially lifesaving treatment to focus on making sure that Lydia finds her wolven clan ... Marshaling his strength, he must call on all of his training to protect his love ... even if it means her moving on without him.
Lover mine
JOHN MATTHEW HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE HE WAS found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was -- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war between vampires and their enemies, he will need to call upon both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate -- and rescue his one true love.
The angels' share
In Charlemont, Kentucky, the Bradford family is the crème de la crème of high society--just like their exclusive brand of bourbon. And their complicated lives and vast estate are run by a discrete staff who inevitably become embroiled in their affairs. This is especially true now, when the apparent suicide of the family patriarch is starting to look more and more like murder ... No one is above suspicion--especially the eldest Bradford son, Edward. The bad blood between him and his father is known far and wide, and he is aware that he could be named a suspect ... Then, at the very brink of the family's demise, someone thought lost to them forever returns to the fold. Maxwell Bradford has come home. But is he a savior ... or the worst of all the sinners?
Lover at Last
"Qhuinn, son of no one, is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, shunned by the aristocracy, he has finally found an identity as one of the most brutal fighters in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. Even as the prospect of having a family of his own seems to be within reach, he is empty on the inside, his heart given to another ... Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it's about time: The male has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young--just as Qhuinn has always wanted for himself. It's hard to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. As he's learned firsthand. Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions, but as the battle over the race's throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn finally learns the true definition of courage, and two hearts that are meant to be together finally become one"--
