TEST
To begin, if you haven’t read any of J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series and you plan to start, please don’t read any further because this review does contain series spoilers.
Still here? Let’s get to the big question: Does J.R. Ward deliver on the Vishous book? From my perspective, she sort of does. Pretty much. I wasn’t, however, as blown away as I really, really wanted to be. And, taking into consideration that V is my favorite of the Brothers, it’s fair to color me a teeny bit disappointed.
If you read the excerpt at the conclusion of Lover Revealed, you know that V’s mate is Jane Whitcomb, a brilliant trauma physician. Jane meets V when he lands in her emergency room close to death. Soon enough Jane realizes that V is…well, not human since he possesses amazing recuperative abilities, not to even mention a six-chambered heart. But the plans by the Brothers to wipe her memory clean after they take the healing V out of the hospital are scuttled when V insists they kidnap Jane and take her with them. There’s just no ignoring those Bonded Male stirrings.
To be totally honest, there is a plot development on page 37 and another one that follows upon the first that I really don’t want to reveal here – hey, I wouldn’t have wanted to know – so I’m forced to be sketchier than normal on story details. Suffice it to say that Jane is taken to the Mansion where she tends to V and quickly realizes for herself exactly what he is, while also finding herself unable to deny the powerful attraction she feels towards him.
What works here? J.R. Ward does a terrific job of helping us understand just how and why V turned into a sadist. And, even more importantly, she doesn’t magically “fix” him through the power of love – something I totally did not want to happen. Things evolve here, but in a believable and emotionally satisfying way. V is, indeed, “unbound,” but not quite in the way you might imagine.
And, huzzah, huzzah! There is absolutely no Lesser POV anywhere in this book. I truly hated those passages – they just seemed beyond ugly – and I regularly skimmed them, so for me this is a huge bonus. Though I can already hear voices on the Internet howling that J.R. Ward gave into readers here, in my view the author manages to scuttle the repulsive stuff while still doing a good job of keeping the Lessers sufficiently menacing.
What doesn’t work? Well, frankly, I’m still fixated on the Butch and V relationship, one that remains far more compelling to me than either of the women with whom they Bond. Jane is one of J.R. Ward’s better heroines, but she’s still just not as interesting as V – or Butch, quite frankly.
And, though I can’t go into details because it would be a major spoiler, I’d be willing to bet that there is destined to be a Big Internet Hoohah with regards to the ending. For me, I’m okay with it. That Big Problem in human-vampire relationships is always a hurdle and, God knows, I don’t have a better idea. But, to be honest, I still think that Butch and V belong together, so maybe I’d be slightly less okay with the ending if I believed slightly more in Jane and V’s relationship.
One more heads up. Cormia, the heroine of Lover Enshrined, the next book in the series, is a Doormat. Flat out. Professional, as a matter of fact. And not to mince any words, I found the chapters from her POV – and, believe me, they are numerous – to be nauseating. (Sad to say, I really mean that.) J.R. Ward has a h-u-u-u-g-e redemption job on her hands and, since I don’t think she ever sufficiently redeemed Marissa in Lover Revealed, I’m not very optimistic.
So, bottom line? I loved V going into this one and I still love him. He is an amazing, layered character who completely deserves the happiness he earns when he finds true love. Whether he found it here or in the last book, however, remains open to question.
Grade: B
Book Type: Urban Fantasy Romance|Vampire Romance
Sensuality: Hot
Review Date: 15/09/07
Publication Date: 2007
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.