Book Review: Lover At Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood #11) by J.R.Ward

Lover at Last by J.R. Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book and feel that the relationship between Quinn and Blay has been a long time coming. Initially, I found this book a little hard to get into. I guess, because the in the last few books Blay and Quinn have basically been avoiding each other, didn't feel like there was a natural flow to them getting back onto speaking terms as it were.

I think it was nice to see Quinn finally find a family in this book. Not just with Blay but with the Brotherhood. After a few installments showing him as someone with know real home or place to belong, I liked seeing how the realisation that he was surrounded by people he could call family, and how it would change and develop his character.

I have o say that the plane scene was probably my favourite part of the book (honestly you should read it just for that!)

I'm still not sure what I think of Layla. I think it must be something about the Chosen, because I didn't know what to think of Cormia either.

I do think that there are a few loose ends that never quite got tied up:

What happened to Payne? Did she go back to the Sanctuary for a bit and become her normal glow-y self again or is she with out her power now?

And what happened to Luchas ? Is he all fine and dandy now? Who is he staying with? I have this gut feeling that Wrath isn't going to be inviting him to stay in the house with the Brothers.

Over all a good book.

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Book Review: Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10) by J.R. Ward

Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It was about time that we got to Tohrment's book. I think there is only so long that you can have a character drowning his sorrows in the background.

This is really about Lassiter making Tohr move on with his life and let Wellsie go. She's stuck in the In Between and will be until Tohr can move on, but he only has a limited amount of time to do so before Wellsie and their baby are stuck there permanently. It had always been Lassiter's mission to make sure that this happens, so he works at putting Tohr and No'one (a.k.a Autumn) together. I like how this resulted in a slight rift between Tohrment and John Matthew. I know that sounds mean, but I think John having the kind of reaction that most kids have when their parents divorce and get a new partner, the sense of betrayal, makes it seem more believable. I think that the relationship between Tohrment and John has always been that of a father and son; so I think that if John hadn't acted like and felt this way something would have felt off.

I wasn't (and still aren't) sure about what I think of No'One/Autumn as a character. I don't dislike her character, but I don't necessarily like her character either. Sometimes she would come across as quite sure of herself, and fight to get what she wants and yet at other times she wouldn't. At times she could come across as easily spooked and a bit nervous and other times she would seem more confident. So I'm on the fence when it comes to my feelings for this character.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, so if you have read the series so far then I would certainly recommend that you continue with this one.

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Book Review: Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #9) by J.R. Ward

Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This has been one of my favourites in the series so far (along with Lover Eternal and Lover Unbound). This one had a bit of a calmer story line than some of the others; more focused on the interactions and relationships between the characters and how they deal with the strains on their relationships. This was Payne's book, but I think it was as much Vishous and Jane's book as it was about Payne and Manny.

I knew at the end of Lover Unbound that we hadn't seen the last of Manny, but always wondered how his story was going to find it's way back into the land of the Brotherhood. This book was really about four relationships; first Payne and Manny.

Manny is brought in by Jane to help fix Payne's back injury and in the process falls completely in love with her, but knows that he'll be lucky if the Brotherhood let him go, and if they do he won't be allowed to remember her. As well as this he is very much aware that Vishous (Payne's twin) doesn't like him. Likewise, Payne takes an instant liking to Manny and also knows that they will never be allowed to be together. I like Payne as a character. She has that sense of innocence and naivety at being in this new world that she has very limited experiences of, as well as being very sure of herself, stubborn, with an independent streak that comes with her being a fighter.

Second you have Vishous and Jane. I think with all the books in this series we get to see how these couples meet and then leave them with their 'happy endings' to go and live happily ever after, so I like how in this book we get to revisit the relationship between V and Jane now that their honeymoon period is over as it were. The realisation for V that he has had a twin sister for the last 300 years and never knew, and the decisions that Jane has to make as part of her job, bring some of his demons to the surface again. We then see how between them they have to deal with their issues and whether or not that brings them closer or pushes them apart.

Third Manny and Jane. Considering that a year has past since Manny thought that Jane died and suddenly she shows up asking for his help, this looks at how that have to rebuild that working relationship and how Jane has to help Manny to understand this new world that he has been thrown into. Lastly there is the Vishous and Manny relationship. V hates Manny. Manny hates V. this is one of those 'can they put their feelings aside' situations that results in some amusing scenarios.

This book also introduces Xcor and the band of Bastards. Another group of vampires that want Wrath off the throne and the Brotherhood gone. It will be interesting to see how this story line will play out and what it will mean for the Brothers; because they didn't have enough problems already.

I really enjoyed this book and would certainly recommend it if you have been following the series.


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Book Review: Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood #8) by J.R. Ward

Lover Mine by J.R. Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. Again there was so much going on.

This story line I feel, has been a long time coming. Over the series so far we have seen this relationship form and then just as we think things are going somewhere, Xhex pushes John away and into the arms of a new friend called Jack Daniels. At the end of the last book, Xhex was kidnapped by Lash while they were all on a mission to rescue Rehvenge form the colony. Lover Mine is about how Xhex is found and the aftermath of what Lash did to her and Xhex and John realising that they are meant to be together (That may sound sappy, but read the book, and you'll see what I mean).

This book had a lot of backstory between Darius and Tohrment and how they became friends. This part also explains Xhex's birth. We have previously been told that she was raised not knowing / not being told about her Sympath side but it was never explained how she ended up with that family to start with. So this bit of history of how Darius and Tohrment met is important in discovering this piece of Xhex's past.

There are also developments with the relationship between Quinn and Blay. It'll be interesting to see what direction that this will take.

If you have been keeping up with the series so far, I highly recommend that you continue with this one.

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