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180 of 189 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Despite three story arcs and some bizarre stuff, this is an excellent addition to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, April 29, 2009
*No Spoilers*
As a fan of this series I expected a lot with Ward's first foray into hardcover especially now since she moved beyond the original six brothers. Despite my misgivings with the last few books, the seventh book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series delivers and then some. Lover Avenged is chock full of romance, action and suspense. A worthy addition to my shelf, but I did have some problems.
There are three main story arcs unfurling simultaneously, these include Rehvenge/Ehlena, John Matthew/Xhex and Wrath.
Rehvenge and Ehlena's romance is excellent. Pairing the dedicated, caring, put-everyone-above-myself goody two shoes nurse with the drug-dealing-pimp/club owner who happens to be sympath works. And although Rehv was not as bad-a** as in previous books and Ehlena a bit too saccharin sweet, their love story was believable. I only wished that it took up more than a third of the book.
Secondly John Matthew(who seems to a favorite with Ward) takes a major role as well. The recently transitioned vampire struggles with emotions pertaining to his obsession with Xhex (the mannish zena-warrior-princess head of security at Rehv's club Zero Sum), his inability to get through to his recently returned "father" Tohr and his lack of definition of self. He also racked with a sense of loss, it seems that everyone has abandoned him, first Wellsie, now Tohr. With that he feels doesn't belong to anyone or anywhere. His emotional journey is played out and sets up for the next book.
Finally fans of Wrath will by sighing in sweet bliss with the Dark Lover (book 1) hero's role in Lover Avenged which takes up a surprisingly huge amount of pages in the book. Wrath struggles with being the King of Vampires and perhaps makes some poor choices, the consequences of which he has to deal with.
Other worthy mentions are Lash and Tohr (and of course his sidekick Lassiter). Both play significant secondary roles. Minor roles are taken up by Tez, iAm, Payne, Blay and Qhuinn.
On to my gripes. There are two main problems which I had with this book, and thus the four not five star review. Firstly the main romance, which I enjoyed thoroughly, does not take center stage, unlike the first books of the series. This is supposed to be Rehv's book but his love story is overshadowed at times. Second is the shock factor. I don't know, maybe its just me, but some of the stuff written felt like it was put in there to shock the average romance reader and served no purpose otherwise. Some of it bordered on bizarre as well. I mean scorpions?. Really?
Other than that its an excellent book and I highly recommended. If your a fan of Wrath and John's by all means buy the book. But if your only looking for Rehv I would wait it out and borrow it from the library or a friend first.
New readers to the series don't even bother, you'll get lost easily and the first books in the series are definitely worthy of your attention.
Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1)
Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 2)
Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 3)
Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4)
Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 5)
Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 6)
The Black Dagger Brotherhood. An Insiders Guide
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105 of 118 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning in more ways than one! 5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies!, April 26, 2009
Readers lying in wait for Rehv's story will not be disappointed. With more than one surprise, fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood will engulf LOVER AVENGED and then go back and reread it once more!
Rehvenge is living in two worlds - a half breed. His vampire half is the leahdyre of the council and his other half, the side he must keep hidden, is symphath. Symphaths are forbidden to live in vampire society and it is against the law to not report one. Feared for their abilities to manipulate the minds and emotions of others, a symphath is banished upstate to a hidden colony as soon as their symphathic abilities are revealed. As a major drug lord in Caldwell, Rehvenge must straddle the line between good and evil on a daily basis. He has people who depend on him so when he is approached and asked to execute a vile plan, Rehvenge does what he does best and that is to get rid of the problem quietly and efficiently. If only getting rid of blackmailers was that easy.
Knowing his life, his hidden nature, and his dependence on anonymity, Rehvenge has no business even contemplating a relationship with Ehlena, a nurse he can't get out of his mind. Her compassion and innocence strikes a cord in Rehvenge and makes him wish he were a better man. What he never realizes is that in Ehlena's eyes, he is a man worthy of forever.
In all honesty, I was scared to read LOVER AVENGED. Simply petrified. Having been a fan of the Black Dagger Brotherhood since the release of DARK LOVER, I had no earthly idea how Ms. Ward would be able to redeem a man such as Rehvenge in my eyes. But she did. She did so thoroughly that I am shocked I never saw the man he was underneath the superior attitude and trappings of wealth. He was a son, a brother, and a lover. That isn't all - he was so much more. Readers will simply be wide eyed at the strength and fortitude of his character.
LOVER AVENGED also deals with more than Rehvenge - I was shown plot twists and intrigues and I couldn't read fast enough. Surprises were read, tears fell from my eyes - more than once I might add, and I simply adored this amazing book.
Releasing in hardback, Amazon Kindle, and Audio CD with a paperback release in mere months, LOVER AVENGED is going to fly off the shelves. It is boldly written, passionate, and often hard core. The Lessoning Society hasn't given up the fight - but the brotherhood hasn't either. Rehvenge and the Black Dagger Brotherhood are heroes through and through.
Natalie S.
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78 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Romantic, Hot, Suspenseful and Funny...what more could you ask for!, April 28, 2009
I must say that I started this book not really "feeling" Rehvenge. Not so much the look, the attitude or the person I thought he was. Once it was all over, I was as in love with him as any of the other leading men in Ward's other novels. How the heck did she do that? By crafting a beautiful, romantic and believable plot that had me glued to the book from beginning to end.
I loved Ehlena, who was strong and beautiful. The perfect match for Rehvenge who we learn through the novel is very deserving of an awesome mate. Happily, the brothers are truly back in this book, with all the hilarious banter we've come to look forward too, as the Brotherhood goes through some major changes and comes out of it together, stronger than ever.
I have to add that Lash makes a kick-butt bad guy and he's taking the "lesser parts" from something you had to get through to get on to more of the "good stuff", to something that you can't wait to get to.
And to many of her past readers that felt as though her last few novels were not "romantic enough", I believe we can see here clearly that every character in the BDB world is different and that Ward has done them all justice in a way that was true to that character. Sometimes is was all mushy and romantic, other times is was gritty and disturbing, all the time it was well written. These are NOT formulaic romance novels. Thank goodness!
With that said, this story has tons of romance, is often sweet, and has the constant intensity and excitement we've come to expect of Ward's books. There were a few side plots that were critical to the story and also very satisfying, especially to long time followers of this series.
I can't recommend this book enough for lovers of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, fantasy and well...reading! You'll wish it had 1000 pages.
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