Lover Unleashed, JR Ward
Lover Unleashed by JR Ward
The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series
reviewed by cfmom Lisa
Summary: Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.
When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.
As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.
Oh, how I wish I liked this book more than I did. I realize that statement just might get me shot by the overflowing fans of the Brothers, but please understand that while awesome in moments – I felt as a whole this book didn’t quite live up to all the hype that surrounded it. Maybe it was the hype that caused it to be underwhelming for me. All I know is that this book, while enjoyable, was not among my favorites. Being a major V fan you would think I would be over the moon for this book because it was packed with more V than Payne, rather ironic since it’s supposed to be Payne’s book. The problem of where the book fell short for me isn’t really cut and dry either. I don’t think the problem was Manny and Payne’s instant connection. That was par for course with series. I don’t think it was the abundancy of V, Jane, and Butch because that whole sitch really was amping up for a while and was bound to blow. I don’t think it was the complete absence of No’One, even though she was supposedly allowed to come over to this side to watch over Payne, and yet didn’t do a bit of watching. I don’t even think it was the Band of Bastards, or the lack of explanation regarding the weird sudden surplus of lessers, or the devolving of Qhuinn. Nope. I don’t really think any one of those things pushed this book to the bottom of my favorites pile, but collectively? Yeah – all that stuff had a lot to do with it.
This book was good in the same way that all JR’s books are. However, the way that the many storylines usually weave seamlessly together to form a cohesive point – well, I felt that this time there was a lot of disconnect. We got glimpses of the Brotherhood we’re familiar with – mentions of First Meal, chilling out in the Entertainment room (loved Rhage and the popcorn machine), the fighting of the lessers (loved that Rhev was with them), and peeks of battle wounds and TLC administered. Still, there was so much that I felt didn’t connect. I felt the Band of Bastards, while they will prove to be entertaining and add a much needed jolt to the continuing storyline – were a weird sideline insertion here. To have Xcor to be filled with such a one minded purpose in his search for Payne so that he can kill her because she killed “his” father, and then in a few paragraphs he just lets all that anger go? Whoa. Xcor had been described as so much less forgiving up to that point that it felt weird to see him just kinda deflate. Sure, Payne explains that he wasn’t the Bloodletter’s son, and that she had every right to kill her the Bloodletter as his blooded daughter because of what he did to her twin ,V – but I still expected some kind of battle there after centuries of Xcor planning Payne’s brutal end. And then Xcor’s Band of Bastards still agree to follow him in his quest to overthrow Wrath when it’s very clear that many of them would rather not follow his ways? Just weird and a bit convenient for me.
Payne and V’s almost complete lack of communication bothered me. There should have been a lot more interaction between them in this story. He never knew he even had a twin, and now suddenly here she is. She knew about him, but thought he was dead and all they do is exchange a handful of words throughout the entire book? What. The. Fuck. I get that V has trouble dealing with that kind of personal stuff, and because of all the whispering and hype before the release of this book I was expecting V to do some really horrible things. Sorry, but I loved him. I felt each and every one of his actions throughout this book were so true to his inherent character that I was never angry with him. I was heartbroken when he told Jane to get out without really understanding what Jane had tried to do to save him (and frankly a little pissed at Jane though I understood she was between a rock and a hard place). I was heartbroken when he knew he needed Butch to break him down and dom him. I was heartbroken when Butch knew exactly what he needed to do to get V there, and yet didn’t hurt him physically leaving the evidence behind to prove it to V afterwards. I was heartbroken that V feels he’s losing Payne to Manny before he even really gets to know her. And I’m really hoping that’s not the case. I’m hoping there’s a relationship that builds as the series continues. I want to know why Payne thought he was dead. A confrontation with their mother together would’ve been really fantastic and explosive. Twin powers unite! Suspended animation for all those years? Yeah, not only would V be pissed beyond belief at that but I can totally see him lighting up that tree those birds sit on in retaliation. And yet….nothing.
Wrath and Payne’s exchange? It happened but we didn’t get to see/read about it. Given their relationship in the past books, I felt that there should’ve been more than just a gloss over. All we got was that she got permission to go out with Manny as long as she scrubbed him which she of course didn’t do. Duh.
Qhuinn devolving from his hardcore self into a pansy pining after what he can’t have? I guess someone had to take over that role since JM is now happily mated to a Xhex we can’t even recognize at this point.
No mention of the Moors? No mention of Tohr and his reconnect with No’One after all that backstory build up in Lover Mine? No mention of where the hell all these lessers are coming from or if the punk kid from Lover Mine is still the forelesser? No Omega? No Scribe Virgin? And what was up with the total Fallen Angel setup? Hello overlap.
Okay, so yeah, I’ve voiced some complaints here. It wasn’t my favorite of the series. Not by a long shot. But I’m still addicted to this series in ways that will last long past my bitter taste of this one book. I anxiously await the many, many answers I’m sure will come with time. JR’s got me sucked in good, and after all whether I liked it or not – it’s her world, her characters, and her story. Period.
Until next time,
~Lisa
I loved the book. Love love loved it. But I also agree with all of your frustrations. I would like to have seen more of everything you talked about. I still insist the book could have been about 150 pages longer and we would have gotten more of what we wanted.
I think, with it being such an intricate series, that there are some stagnant storylines that have to be told before the rest can go forward. I think this might have been one of them. I hope we get some more explanations in Tohr’s book.
But for the record. I totally heart Throe. *le sigh*