Wednesday 8 June 2011

Review: Lover Unbound - J.R. Ward

In Caldwell, New York, war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Now the cold heart of a cunning predator will be warmed against it's will....

Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous, son of the Bloodletter, possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father's war camp, he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time - until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that cannot include her....

The Black Dagger Brotherhood Series:
The Story of Son (novella set in the BDB world but about completely unrelated characters)
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound
Lover Enshrined
The Black Dagger Brotherhood: An Insider's Guide
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine
Lover Unleashed
Lover Reborn
Lover at Last
The King
The Shadows
The Beast (2016)

The Fallen Angels Series:
(This is a spin off series set in the same world with a slight crossover of characters)
Covet
Crave
Envy
Rapture
Possession
Immortal

Black Dagger Legacy:
(A second spin off series that stars the original characters from BDB and the new recruits they're training)
Blood Kiss

Visit J.R. Ward's website for more information

Review:
I've been a fan of Vishous since early in the series so understandably I was looking forward to his story but unfortunately Lover Unbound didn't live up to my expectations. I've always liked the way J.R. Ward includes several different plot lines in the books so that although the focus is on the main couple we are also getting to know future heroes better and building up anticipation for the next book. However this time around I felt like there were so many other things going on that V & Jane's romance was too far in the background. I wanted to see more of this couple together and because I didn't I was left feeling unsatisfied with their romance.

The story started off strongly with a really interesting revelation about V's parentage which had me hooked, I couldn't wait to see how it played out but I was disappointed with the treatment V receives from someone who is supposed to care for him. I can't say who without spoilers but so I'm just going to say I had some serious hate going on for his newly found family member! They had managed to redeem themselves a little by the end but I would have liked this to happen sooner. I was happy with the way V and Butch resolved their relationship issues and glad to see closure on that part of the story line but I wanted more action with V and Jane. Don't even get me started on the ending or I'll be here for hours (it was unbelievably frustrating!) but you'll have to read the story for yourself to find out if you agree with me or not.

For me the best part of this book was getting to see more of John Matthew, Blaylock & Quinn. I love all of these characters and can't wait to get to their books! While I like Phury I felt he took over too much of the story but perhaps that is because I'm re-reading the series now and I already know that Phury's story is my least favourite (in fact I'm not even sure if I can bring myself to re-read it!). I honestly can't remember disliking his parts in Lover Unbound so much the first time I read it so hindsight isn't always a good thing.

Overall while I still love the Black Dagger Brotherhood series I am disappointed that V didn't get a better story, I feel like if we'd spent more time with him this could have been a brilliant book. Having said that it is still worth reading Lover Unbound if you're a fan of the series, even if it's more for the continuing stories of the other characters. If you haven't already started the books I would definitely recommend reading the series in order though, you really would miss out if you picked it up halfway through.

Source: Purchased

Other reviews of this book:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

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