Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Laura’s Review of Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood #7) by J.R. Ward



Basic Summary: Caldwell, New York, has long been the battleground for the vampire and their enemies, the Lessening Society.  It’s also where Rehvenge has staked out his turf as a drug lord and owner of a notorious night club that caters to the rich and heavily armed.  His shadowy reputation is exactly why he’s approached to kill Wrath, the Blind King and leader of the Brotherhood. 

Rehvenge has always kept his distance from the Brotherhood even though his sister is married to a member, for he harbors a deadly secret that could make him a huge liability in their war against the lesser.  As plots within and outside the Brotherhood threaten to reveal the truth about Rehvenge, he turns to the only source of light in his darkening world, Ehlena, a vampire untouched by the corruption that has its hold on him and the only thing standing between him and eternal destruction.


What I Love About This Book:   I don’t know why I’ve been waiting for this story for a long time.  For some reason I really like Rehvenge, and to finally get to a love story that involves his sexy ass!  YES PLEASE!!!!

I also like that the book kind of opens up with Wrath and the fact that he is a main player is awesome in this story because I haven’t really had his POV for a while in this series.  I like that they are kind of putting old characters back in this book not just moving forward. To me it gives cohesiveness to how all these people relate to one another, and almost brings you full circle as well.  This is the first book where the love story did not deal with a brother directly so it was nice to see that their points of view will still be included in a plot line.


                My heart for quite some time has gone out to Rehvenge because he is in a constant battle with himself every single day, and the side effects of trying to hide half of his nature has been taking a real toll on his body and mind.  Not only is being blackmailed by a Princess who he has to have sex with once a month while she poisons him with scorpion venom, he has to take dopamine multiple times a day, and can’t walk without a cane because he couldn’t feel the ground.  I have always had a soft spot for the antihero, and that’s probably why I have love him so much as a character in this series.   He’s a drug dealer and a pimp, he kills, he tortures among many other things and although he does it for the money it isn’t because of his greed.  He has a mother to support, and a staff to pay and take care of.  His life is so tainted by all this dark and evil, when he finally comes across Ehlena it’s like a breath of fresh air.  His circumstances have trapped him into a cycle that offers not kind of living at all.



 Ehlena a woman whose father is schizophrenic is trapped by circumstances as well, and that immediately makes you love her.  She always wants to do the right thing, and wants to take care of everyone which is why she became a nurse.  There is such a heart touching part, where she comes to his apartment but immediately leaves, and he walks into his dining room where he set a nice candlelit dinner for two, and she’s not there and your heart just breaks for him.  It was definitely an “awwww that’s so cute” moment (kind of like a sad puppy picture). 

             Another element of this book that I loved was the story with Wrath and the fact that the upper society glymera want him dead really brought the Brotherhood back together.  A lot of the past books lately they really haven’t been all together in a scene in a long time and it was nice to see that again.  It really brought the underlying message of this series.  That there are ties that are stronger than blood sometimes and those mean just as much if not more, and all these relationships in this series proves this over and over again.   This book deals a lot with Wrath’s mindset about his position on the throne, and him finally accepting his role as the vampire king, and can he find some sort of happiness as king.

“No stronger allies, no greater friends, no better fighters of honor could a king behold than these assembled afore me, mine brothers, mine blood”

Cons:  I love these books a lot, but I feel like the love stories in these books kind of drag on in the beginning and the middle, then fast forward at the end.  I kind of wish there was less struggling between any two of the characters and more scenes where they are together.  There is so much going on these books that even though each book deals with two characters falling in love it’s just part of the story and there is bigger picture plot that links the series together.  That’s what I love that about these books, that there isn’t just all hearts and butterflies, but because of that I feel like the love stories get dragged along.  I didn’t feel like there was enough of Rehv and Ehlena together and establish more of a relationship before all the drama starts between them.




Overall:  This is great book if you are a fan of the series because it has brought the overall theme of brotherhood back to the series that maybe hasn’t been around for quite some time.  If you love antiheroes then this is the book for you because it fulfills all those wonderful sex fantasies you may have about bad boys!  I love Rehv, I have since his character has been in this series and it’s great to see him find his happily ever after.  

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