Lover Mine by JR Ward

ISBN: 978-0451229854
Rating: A

LOVER MINE was one of the stories that I have been waiting for and I thought would never come. Either that or I expected to hate it, I’m not sure which was my true reality.

It’s a huge book, is it going to be good quality pages, or a book just full of stuff that will make me mad that I actually went out and paid full price for it. I went against my rule of not paying more than $10.00 for any book, but I HAD to know what happens and I couldn’t wait.

Was it the best book in the series? No, but it was close and I felt as if only one thing could have truly made it better. It is probably the one reason we all wanted to read this particular book, and that was to have John Matthew realize his true potential, who he truly is.

LOVER MINE is intense, gritty and raw. JR Ward has a knack for digging into a character and showing the reader that everything you thought you knew was wrong or way off base. Xhex is one of those characters. She turned into a character that I not only respected, but that I could connect with. Out of all the heroines in these books Xhex has to be my favorite because she is the most flawed and human amongst them.

If you have never read this series before, it’s one that I highly recommend. Some get angry because Ward has created some manly warriors who talk in more modern slang etc…I find it an endearing quality and it feels natural to me as a reader it fits with who these warriors are. Start with DARK LOVER, the first in the series as I did nothing but rave about it once I finished it.

Lover Avenged by JR Ward

ISBN:  9780451225856

Publisher:  Penguin USA

Rating:  A

I can honestly say that I wasn’t entirely sure where Lover Avenged was going to end up because the beginning felt like a big old mess.  There was just too much gibberish and wavering back and forth that I wasn’t sure which story I was reading and which one I actually wanted to read.  It took me about 200 pages to figure out that I was going to like this addition to the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Rehvenge is a character I was interested in from the beginning, much like Zsadist he had to have a story and I knew it had to matter.  Learning about Rehv’s past and how he came to be the Drug Lord of Caldwell New York is important not only to this story, but to all the preceding stories as well.

When I picked up this chunker and I wasn’t instantly mesmorized I was starting to have some doubts about this series and this author.  I was afraid that she had gone too far too fast and there was no way that her later books could possibly live up to the earlier books like Dark Lover and Lover Eternal.   Lover Avenged is a building novel as well as the story of Rehv and the sympaths.  John Matthew and Tohr begin the circle again, and Wrath has a lesson taught to him in a beautifully yet poignant way.  Fans of the series shouldn’t be disheartened in fact that should feel renewed as this latest chapter in the Brotherhood concludes.