Manny is a human with some vampire heritage and serves as physician to the Black Dagger Brotherhood in the series of the same name by JR Ward. He's is the half-brother to Butch and Jo, distant cousin of Wrath, and mated to the daughter of the Scribe Virgin, Payne; the two of them are the main characters of the ninth book, Lover Unleashed.
Biography[]
Manny's father was Robert Bluff, who allegedly died in a car accident in 1983, and his mom was a human ICU nurse at St. Francis Hospital. She worked hard to put him through school, but the more he became like his father the more strained their relationship got.
Mentored by Dr. Ken Falcheck at Columbia, Manny became the youngest Chief of Surgery in the history of St. Francis Hospital[1]; he had no life outside of his work, which he loved, other than his racehorse, GloryGloryHallelujah.
One year after his colleague, Jane, for whom he had feelings, died, she asked him to come with her and perform an emergency surgery that was beyond her skills to perform. Since it's not in his nature to walk away from someone who's injured and in need of his help, he agreed even though he was angry that she'd lied to him because he assumed she'd faked her death.
The patient was Jane's sister-in-law, Payne, and the two of them quickly fell in love together. However, the difference in species was a major stumbling block as well as the fact that he didn't want to leave his human life behind. Shortly afterwards he lost his position as Chief of Surgery due to chronic migraines and lapses in memory caused by repeated memory wipes from the Brotherhood and discovered that when Payne glowed, she rejuvenated his cells and reversed the aging process.
When she was kidnapped by the Band of Bastards in revenge for killing the Bloodletter, his bonded male side, courtesy of his father, came out in full force. During the search for her, his relation to Butch, and thus Wrath, became apparent; Wrath issued a special dispensation allowing Manny to maintain contact with his mother.
Currently, Manny lives at the mansion with Payne and serves as emergency doctor for The Black Dagger Brotherhood.
In The Sinner, it is discovered that Butch, Jo, and Manny all share the same father, Robert Bluff. They do not share the same mother. They are also all distantly related to Wrath.
Personality[]
Sarcastic, stubborn, and temperamental, he can be a scary SOB when he gets angry, but at least he's stopped throwing things.[2] Until he met Payne, he was married to his work, which he truly loves. He is very much a "do no harm, but take no shit" type of person who will ensure that a mugger sustained no lasting injury after attempting to rob him.
Physical Description[]
Manny's built like the athletes upon which he used to operate with big shoulders, big chest, big hands[2], deep-set eyes[3], and a thick jaw.[4] He wears a gold crucifix. When he's not operating, he wears a Piaget watch.[5] There's a scar over one eyebrow.[6]
Skills[]
- Manny is one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the country.[2]
Relationships[]
Butch[]
He gets on well with his half-brother since they're so much alike.
Jane[]
He had feelings and immense respect for Dr. Jane Whitcomb, his Chief of Trauma, because she was the only one to stand up to him, but she did not reciprocate the sentiment.[7] They work extremely well with each other, both of them able to anticipate the others' decisions and avoid getting in each other's way in emergency situations.
Jo[]
Sister[]
Payne[]
He fell in love with Payne from the start, attracted to her hunger for life, but tried to keep his distance because of the difference in their species and his reluctance to leave his human mother behind. When those obstacles were overcome, he didn't hesitate to tie his future to hers.
Vishous[]
At first, Vishous didn't like him because Manny used to fancy Jane when they'd worked together at the hospital and then he wanted to kill him for falling love with his sister. Respecting V's position as Payne's brother, Manny agreed that a human and a vampire were a poor fit. In the end, everything worked out for the best: Vishous realized he had no right to dictate Payne's life and had to come to respect Manny for saving his sister's life with the surgery and then going out alone to try and rescue her when she disappeared. The discovery that Manny was somehow related to Butch and Wrath seemed to cement Vishous' change of heart over the guy.
Trivia[]
- Manny drove a silver Porsche Carrera 4S convertible[8] that he later upgraded to a black Porsche 911 Turbo convertible.[9]
- He had two versions of the 911 Turbo and upgraded to one with more unspecified interior options.[9]
- He's Italian on his mother's side.[10]
- Stripes is his favourite movie and he based his mobile surgical unit on the vehicle Bill Murray uses in the movie.[11]
- He prefers the colour blue over red.[6]
- His drink of choice was Jack Daniels,[12] but switched to Lagavulin after first encountering the Brotherhood.
- In high school, he decided to test the rumour that Coke burns the paint off of cars and used the hood of his buddy's ride for the test, which is how he got the scar over his eyebrow.[6]
- He has a subscription to Sports Illustrated.[12]
- He drinks Starbucks Breakfast Blend.[13]
- He likes heavy metal and rock.[14]
- He's good at poker, but sucks at pool.[15]
- His mom was an ICU nurse at St. Francis.[13]
- He's Catholic and attends the same church Butch does.
Appearances[]
- Lover Unbound
- Lover Avenged
- Lover Mine
- Lover Unleashed
- Lover Reborn
- Lover at Last
- The King
- The Shadows
- Blood Kiss
- The Beast
- The Sinner
- Caldwell Courier Journal. Vol II, Issue 9
- The Viper
- Lover Arisen
- Forever
References[]
- ↑ Lover Unbound, Ch. 33
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lover Unbound, Ch. 6
- ↑ Lover Unleashed, Ch. 49
- ↑ Lover Unbound, Ch. 8
- ↑ Lover Unleashed, Ch. 42
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Manny. "Point/Counterpoint with Lassiter." Caldwell Courier Journal. Vol II, Issue 9. September 9, 2020
- ↑ Lover Unbound
- ↑ Lover Unbound, Ch 36
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Shadows, Ch. 44
- ↑ Lover Unleashed, Ch. 20
- ↑ The Shadows, Ch. 35
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lover Unbound, Ch. 54
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lover Unleashed, Ch. 16
- ↑ Lover Unleashed, Ch. 59
- ↑ Blood Kiss, Ch. 18