Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward (Black Dagger Brotherhood #9
Paranormal Romance
March 29, 2011
Hardcover
NAL
Reviewed by Mandi
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.
Please note: Spoilers Below!!
Lover Unleashed, book nine in my beloved Black Dagger Brotherhood series is Manny and Payne’s book – or so we were told. But honestly, this book is Vishous’s. True? Vishous steals the show. Manny and Payne have a romance, but their story is nothing compared to V’s. Nothing. There is also no way this one can be read as a stand alone – you need V’s backstory throughout the entire series to get anything from this book.
I was definitely disappointed with the ending of V’s book Lover Unbound, when Jane was turned into a ghost. Not only with the ghost aspect, but I just wanted more of a closure with V and Jane but we get it in this book. V is not in a good place. Payne comes to his side, paralyzed from a sparring session with Wrath. Vishous has had no idea in the 300 years he has been alive that he even had a twin sister. The Scribe Virgin, their mother (who is not in this book which is a shame), has had Payne imprisoned. Now she is here, in his life, and the protectiveness V feels for her is out of control.
When Jane calls Manny in to help operate on her, there is that instant “mine” between them (even though Manny is a human). This does not go over well with V, as Butch and the other brothers struggle to keep him from killing Manny. As time goes on, V goes into an even deeper downward spiral. Payne doesn’t heal as she should, and when Jane attempts something shocking, he walks away – from Jane. This scene is very moving and well done. What we really get is V coming to terms with his abusive father, his negligent mother, and his role as a hellren. Yes he loves Jane, but can he overcome his past, and his current broken self to give her what she needs? Can he fulfill the new role as a brother to Payne?
Butch plays a very important role in “saving” V. I won’t go into specifics as to not spoil too much, but this issue had to be addressed. He is in love with Butch as we all know. We finally get a little more exploration into this relationship – the one we were teased with in Lover Unbound.
As the other continued fighting, the pair of them just stared at each other against the audio backdrop of grunts and metal-to-metal strikes and inventive cursing. There should be something said between them, V thought. There was just so much…to be said.
“I want it from you,” V bit out. “I need it.”
Butch nodded. “I know.”
And just to note – the “it” is not exactly what you think. Also *Mandi dies*
Before I started the book I thought how in the world will anything happen between V and Butch with both of them mated (to Jane and Marissa). But it works out totally fine. And it is not the actual scene that fulfilled me, but a scene with them later – a very quiet peaceful moment that to me, lets me breathe a sigh of contentment for these two males. I still don’t know if JR Ward gives Butch and V a fair shot – the big scene with V and Butch is kind of short. But I’m glad she does what she does.
And I have to say, I actually liked Jane in this book – crazy, right? I think JR Ward does a nice job with the emotional turmoil between these two. There is one scene where V just walks away from her – and it is heartbreaking. But I get her more. I understand her more. I like her with V now. I’m content with their relationship. And we get several dirty sex scenes with them:
“Vishous…”
“What”
His gloved hand dipped under the black satin, and she didn’t have to see where it went to be well aware he’d gripped himself. The fact that he arched back told her everything she needed to know. That and the way he bit down on his lower lip.
“Jane…”
“What.”
“Are you just going to watch, true?”
We also get some classic V and Butch moments that make me smile:
Butch clapped him on the shoulder. “Listen to me. You have the fashion sense of a park bench and the interpersonal skills of a meat cleaver – “
“Is this suppose to be helping?”
“Let me finish-“
“What’s next? The size of my cock?”
“Hey, even pencils can get the job done – I’ve heard the moaning from your room to prove it.”
Let’s move onto Blay and Qhuinn, or as they are called “Qhuay.” They had such a presence in Lover Mine I am disappointed with the lack of progress in their relationship. I hear a novella might be in the works for them so maybe JR Ward is saving up for that – but still, there is no Qhuay in this book. We get a tiny bit with Blay and Saxton. And we get a little more than that with Qhuinn and Layla (OMG – I can’t even go there right now). We get a big reveal with Qhuinn – something that will happen in the future. We need to discuss this my friends….soon.
No Lassiter or Tohr in this one. No Murhder, which surprised me since we were introduced to him in Lover Mine. There is also an odd side story of a serial murderer. Now in it, we are introduced to Jose de la Cruz’s new partner Thomas DelVecchio Jr, or Veck. I can only hope Veck plays some kind of role in the next book because otherwise I have no idea why this storyline is in it. Unless I missed something. Veck does have some strange…ways, so I assume there is more to come of him. I’m very intrigued.
We meet some new vampires, not necessarily brothers, but six men (although we really only meet three) that fight lessors. They fought under the Bloodletter until he died, and the Xcor took over. Along with Throe and Zypher, they are a secret band of “brothers” – I use that term loosely because they are not necessarily like The Brothers. They fight together –killing lessors, or humans. They are much more violent without as many morals. They have been living in the old country, but have realized, most of the lessors have moved to where the Brotherhood now reside. Xcor wants one thing – to be king. So they move near Caldwell and start to set things in motion. So, yes they fight lessors, but they are not necessarily friendly with the brotherhood. I am interested to see how this plays out. The brotherhood is aware of Xcor, but we don’t get any details of the how or why. It looks like the new conflict might be moving away from the lessors and more towards a fight with Xcor for the King.
I suppose I can’t leave Payne and Manny out. Honestly, they did nothing for me. If I had to hear Payne say “Verily” one more time I might have thrown the book. For some reason I thought Payne was going to be similar to Xhex, but she ends up more like Layla. She has a few kick ass moments towards the end but I didn’t feel like she was a warrior or a brother like Xhex is. There was just nothing that stood out about them. I like Manny – he had nice interactions with Jane. And I liked out he stood up to Vishous and his interactions with Butch are fun. But for the actual romance between these two – it did nothing for me, which makes it really hard to rate this book. Also – the way Payne ends up healing is so corny. I’m sorry – but I just didn’t get it.
While Lover Mine really took us back to the romance, away from the UF feel after book 3, this one takes us right back. In a way, I don’t want to complain because the spotlight is on Vishous. And I LOVE Vishous. Before I started this book, my one hope was that we got a lot of Vishous material. Little did I know he would be the entire book. He even announces at the end that he is officially mating with Jane (tattoo on his back etc). Seriously, this is his book.
Bottom line is – I have very mixed feelings. The book entertained me. I read it in one day. I love this series, I love the brothers, I really enjoy JR Ward’s style of writing. I love that we get tons of stuff with Vishous. I think Vishous’s story needed to be continued, but it was at the expense of the main characters. Honestly, I wasn’t invested at all in Payne and Manny, so not getting a full story from them isn’t all that heartbreaking to me. But – this is their book. And they get jipped. With the lack of Blay and Qhuinn after such a build-up in the previous book, I can’t help but be a little disappointed.
I also want to note that no one is really set up to be next in the series – and that is driving me crazy!!! I’m very curious to see who it is!!!!
Rating: C+ maybe a B-
Recent Reviews:
Rex Robot Reviews – 4.5/5
The Book Reading Gals – A-/B+
Fiction Vixen – 3/5
Babbling About Books and More – C+
Goodreads
Author’s Website. l Series Listing
Amazon l Kindle l Nook l Book Depository
**In a couple of weeks I want to do a post where we discuss in detail everything that happens in the book!!
Great review Mandi! I think you capture exactly how I felt about this book as well. I had mixed feelings and didn't really know what to think. I can't wait for the next one! GAH it's killing me not knowing who's book is going to be!!
Nice review. I'm excited for more Butch and V but I don't know I have a feeling I'm going to be depressed after reading this because I wanted V and Butch together. I'm soo not looking forward to more Jane
Oh and that Delvecchio guy is supposed to be the hero in the next fallen angels book.
Bells – I need to know who the next book is about toooooooo!
Nan- OH – I had no idea Veck is the next fallen angel hero. YAY. I like him.
I just finished this book last night and I have to say that I'm not sure how I would rate it. I agree with you on the whole Manny/Payne thing lacking and that the main story is about V. Not to mention, horses and vendettas and serial killers, oh my! I'm going to have to go back and read it again before I pass judgement, but I'm leaning toward the C range myself. Usually I head for the Amazon boards to chat about a new BDB book, but I can't even summon up the excitement to do so with this one. I still love the BDB, I'm just a little diappointed with this particular installment.
I wasn't to invested in Manny & Payne as you, I am more interested in V! I am glad he is the star of the show. What I don't get is all these side stories, the ones in LM were eh….and really no Murhder? She set us up for lots of things in LM and given what you have written here I am not sure how I am going to feel after reading it. I guess it would be a huge, I mean huge book if she did include all of those things and what she did include. I am just hoping there are so many more books to come, there is so much ground to cover! I hate loss ends :)
Mandi your reviews are amazing and you take so much time to put so much detail into them. I really appreciate your heartfelt and complete review of the books you read! Thanks so much!
Christine – I know – Seriously my mixed feelings are just all over the place. When I start to talk to those who have read it – I either get excited about V stuff, or I get upset over everything else. This just isn't Lover Mine. :(
Trish – I get she can't include everyone – I was fine with no Tohr, Lassiter, Rhage etc… but why introduce Murdher in the previous book and leave him out in this one? And why spend half of Lover Mine on Qhuay only to barely hit on it in this one?
Thanks for your kind words too!! I think I ramble in this one – but this series is my fav!! ;)
I saw spoilers and tried to turn away and couldn't! I was and still am looking forward to this book but am really disappointed there isn't more Qhuay! I am seriously obsessed with these two!
I will take everything you said in but will hold final judgement until I read it next week! I can't imagine giving a BDB book a C rating! But I guess anything is possible.
Maria – I would love to hear your thoughts!
I wanted to strangle V because the amount of times he used the word "true" made me cringe. Ugh.
Jane and V rocked this book and I think Ward closed their relationship, as well as V's with Butch very nicely.
And that scene between Sax and Blay has me aching for Qhuay, which will take years probably :(
I can only hope Veck plays some kind of role in the next book because otherwise I have no idea why this storyline is in it.
This guy is the lead role in the next fallen angels book Envy . Looks like it's his soul Jim has to save .
Great review Mandi.
I liked V & Jane's storyline. A nice closure.
I thought Payne & Manny got gypped because of V & Jane. I liked Payne though. I think she is a combo of Cormia and Xhex.
I was put off by how Manny all of sudden goes ghetto slang on us. I wanted to smack him & tell him to speak normal you fool. lol
I officially hate the word 'true' now.
Quinn confused me. I know this picks up right after LM but his thoughts & actions made it feel like months later.
What, no Lassiter? :( I'm not completely surprised that there is a hint that there might possibly be a fight for Wrath's kingship…I mean that always happens when there's a king. And I'd have to pull V's book out, but I didn't remember that he never carved her name on his back and actually mated her.
Awesome review Mandi. I can't wait for this book. And JR posted on her FB page about a week or so ago that she had a "lightbulb" moment and knew who's story was next, but of course she didn't say.
Thanks for the great review.
I was looking forward to Payne's story ever since she was introduced by J.R. Ward. I totally expected her to be a female version of V so to hear that she is more Layla (ugh!)than Xhex… hugely disappointing.
And I really was hoping for a lot of Qhuay.
I think that my reading experience is going to be a lot less frustrating knowing that I have to lower my expectations. So thank you for that!
This review about killed me. I almost didn't read it because I never did receive an ARC and my purchased copy won't be here until after April 1!!! sigh
I really need some V, true?
Jesus… Oh Mandi, forgive my english mistakes, but I just have to express myself… LOL… I love V too (just finished his book for the 3rd time), but I was kind of excited for Phayne and Manny, I like him. I can see myself loving all the V time, but also frustraded over P/M romance. I'm also confused about the XCore guys. The Warden have told us to look for new Brothers from the Old Country, now I get the feeling they are the new bad guys… Unless she uses love as some kind of redemption we're going to run out of vamps eventually… I would love to know more about Qhuay and Mhurder, but I think her balance with the main couple and all the other stuff can be a problem sometimes, she should save the teasers for the last moment possible… I can't wait to have the book in my KIndle, will be looking forward for the later discussion also.
I skimmed this one Mandi. I still haven't read LOVER MINE so I didn't want to chance on any spoilers. Thanks for the warning, btw. But I did want to see your very final thoughts and rating and DAMN! She jipped another couple?! Combined with a C+ rating totally explains my inexplicable lagging with this series. Sigh….
KB – oh man – I need me some Qhuay!!!! The angst is killing me. I like what Saxton says though….
Ann- Thank! I didn't realize that.
Tori – I agree with Qhuinn- he takes quite a drastic turn….
Lisa – yeah I was surprised they had not offically mated. No Lassiter :( I saw JR said she knows who is next..when is she going to share??? :)
Sylvia – I would love to hear your thoughts after you read this! Payne is injured through first half of the book – so that obviously hinders her toughness..but she still comes across as too…fluffy.
Amy – you will get tons of V!
Dani – I think eventually the new group of brothers will fight on their side – it is hinted that V etc knows about them..but right now they are not friends.
VFG – I LOVED Lover Mine though – so def go read it!! ;)
I liked how things worked out between V and Butch too. Ward handled that well. Great review as always Mandi.
While I'm super excited about all the Vishous and Butch and Jane time, I'm really disappointed there's absolutely no Qhuay. I need Qhuay. I'm going to develop a nervous tick if we don't get their story soon! And I'm not excited about Qhuinn and Layla, I feel sorry for her but I also want to smack her and tell her to get the hell away from Qhuinn! Qhuinn is Blay's dammit:)
Ooo you evil woman! No, I have not read your review, but I am very much looking forward to reading the book, and that will have to wait a few more weeks! So yes, very jealous of you girls who have already read this one.
I am not a fan of all the other stuff going on, I mean that ruined Rhev's book for me..though if Payne is such a disappointment then I would rather read the rest ;
I haven't been too excited for this book. Which is crazy, because it's BDB! But honestly, I was never too thrilled with a book about Manny/Payne. Neither of them are main characters, and for a while now I've been wondering how I could get invested in a BDB story without knowing the main players.
And now that you've said there's no Lassiter or Tohr, but there is a *HORRIFYING* Layla scene … yeah, I'm not too impressed.
I mean … Layla? *shivers*.
And Payne is verily like Layla? … Blergh.
I'm not sure if I can even read this one. I don't really care about anyone and I don't think I can even read anymore with Qhuinn and Layla. I almost feel like she may bail on the Qhuay storyline like with V & Butch.
I have too much angst over fictional charachters…lol
Great review Mandi. I'm still reading.
Lovely review Mandi, thank you. I've reserved this at the library so am interesting, considering the reviews, as to how I will find it.
I think Wrath should pass a law stating that verily can only be used on the other side!
HAHA I agree with Anonymous above – New King Wrath Rule: Verily can only be used on the Other side!
I did like the closure between Butch and V as far as any sense of romantic feelings, if that makes any sense. I absolutely loved Jane in this one, but I have never particularly not been fond of her. I feel this book needed to be written where JRW couldn't give V and Jane another book per say, so she used the side story of Payne and Manny to give Jane and V one anyway. Their story NEEDED to be resolved in more than one book.
I liked Manny more than you did :)
But I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the entire book was some of that dirty 3some action – not saying who not to spoil too bad but WOWY WOW.
I am hoping above hope that because Quinn's vision had no timeline what to speak of, that the vision is not necessarily what it seems.
Who is the next book???
Here is my vision:
– QUAY get their HEA novella FINALLY
– Layla and Throe get the next book (in which Quinn's vision is addressed in their book and is not necessarily what it seems to be in LU) *** because I swear to the Scribe Virgin if he does what he TYPICALLY does and etsgay her with ildchay on an accidental tryst, I WILL RAGE.
And that's my 2 dollars!
If Jane and V weren't a main attraction in this book I wouldn't have liked it so much. Srsly the way she wrapped up Manny and Payne's romance was beyond hyper speed. I'm all about Xcor *wiggles eyebrows* maybe with Layla and that other dude. Ward could have the first m/f/m BDB book!
Juicy
Ok Ok Okay
The book was about V&J.. No Joke…
M/P on the back story.
But, OMG could the 3way have been any better. I'm still thinking bout that stufffff.
And that's what keep us reading BDB.
Thanks MRS.WARD.
I have just finished lover unleashed and i just didnt feel like it really had the same edge to it as the others. I felt like there wasnt enough about Manny and Payne and too much about V and Jane, i didnt particularly like their story first time round and reading about it a second time wasnt any better. The general feeling i got from the book was that it was rushed and had been written because she never really finished off V's book! I just felt like this story has not got us any further in the BDB world and that its just a way to introduce more characters so that she can write more books, dont get me wrong i hope she does but i felt like it was at the expense of this book which after months of waiting for i felt let down! This book was almost as if Lover mine didnt happen, like other people have said there was just nothing about the other characters at all. I really feel that if she wanted to explore V/Butch/Jane this could of been done in a seperate novella. I also found that the ending of the book was quite abrupt, it was almost like all of a sudden Wrath sid one sentance and everything was done! I really wanted Payne to be a stronger character but this just wasnt explored enough. I also felt like the Scribe Virgin really should of had some place in this book! I usually finished a JR Ward book thinking i wont be able to wait for the next but this time i felt like it was a strain getting to the end of the book!
I agree Lolly! M/P was definitely not in it enough. The SV def should have been in it. Where was the exploration of their conflict together?? Payne did not feel like a "brother" at all.
I'm glad we got to see more V – but like you said, because of that, not much progression was made in the world. Xcor is being set up to become a new brother I think..is he REALLY going to fight Wrath?? Where was Qhuay since we had half a book devoted to them in Lover Mine?
So I get your frustrations. With Tohr's book next…we'll see what happens.
Hi mandi, im just not excited for Tohr's book which i hate because i love him but im hoping a novella about Qhuay will be out before the Tohr book which will satisfy my Qhuay need and also hopefully lead into Tohr's book but seen as we havent heard anything like that i doubt that it will happen!
Im thinking Xcor will be the bad guy and Throe will be the one to join the Brotherhood although i did like Xcor more toward the end. I hope she doesnt make Zypher a brother because he doesnt have the morals for it when you think about what he was more than eager to do to Payne where as Throe is being set up to be a good guy!
I think the biggest thing wrong with Lover unleashed was there was too many storylines going on at once. I get that she wants this series to be linked to the fallen angels stuff but i felt like it was just another story line to deal with. The early books in the BDB series was much more focused and for me i think that was lost in this book.
What i really wanted was more of the scribe virgin because i love that she gave up her birds for V and he was slowly replacing them yet that seems to have been forgotten. As does the Omega, i mean the Omega that has been portrayed in all the other books doesnt strike me as the type of Being to just fade off, make more lessers but not do anything distuctive!
I feel like im having a rant but im not as JR is my fave author which makes the disappointment worse!!
Lolly – She won't give a timeframe for Qhuay – she did say it will just be about them and their love with no world building and lots of man love..no closed doors. So that is a good thing! We just don't know when yet!
There is a lot going on in this book..and yet I still wish other things were in it (SV, Qhuay etc..)
She has a huge world set up…she did such a nice job with Lover Mine with the balance..she just missed that here.
I love Tohr – but not sure how I will feel about No'One..I feel like it might be a depressing book!
Excellent review. Thanks for sharing. I had a lot of the same issues and feelings that you expressed. I ended up with a 3.5/B+ because I just couldn't go that low on a book I honestly enjoyed. But it was so easy to pick apart…. Oh JR Ward… she turns me upside down!
Thanks!
OK, I'm way late on this, but wanted to read your thoughts on Manhy & Payne. I really liked the book, but felt like their story was like the secondary, not the focus of the book. And, like you, I KNEW there had to be more going on w/ Vech ~~ you know now that he's the next fallen angel story, right? And it picks up right where this left off? I was so glad when JR said that. She was also asked about Mhurder, and she said we will see more of him, but there was just only so many storylines she could have going in one book, and there was already too much going on. So I'm thinking we'll see more in in Thorment's book, which is next.
I totally concur with this review. I really liked the new characters she introduced, but also felt that Blay and Quinn were being dragged into it without much justice being paid to their story. Not to mention the weird vision about a baby with different colored eyes? My heart stopped.
I like your review, specially because you described exactly my feelings about Payne as a fighter and her romance with Manny.
I´m not a fan of the Chosen, so I skip most of their parts in any of the books, but I was expecting Payne to be more like Xhex, perhaps a little more feminine version of her, but no! of course I doubt we will ever read that Payne will say something like “ I slit his throat from ear to ear. Hard to talk” like a DUH! But I was expecting her to be more of a fighter it seems Ward lost the character she built at in that scene back when Payne charged against Wrath and her answer was “because I´m bored”. I was hoping so much more for her character, the same with the romance; the chemistry was not hard and I truly didn´t cared at all for them, maybe because after LM and the romance between Xhex/JM and Blay/Qhuinn, it was so deep and the chemistry was so big, that compared to them Payne/Many felt short of it.
I love V, so having so much of him was great, I love the bromance between him and Butch, so having that was great too, though it made me borderline on hating V, because I felt he was too selfish putting Butch in the situation of having to be him the one to “break him” when it was hurting Butch too much.. Anyway, point to this, is that the name of the book should had been Lover Unbound 2 instead of Lover Unleashed,
And I didn´t cared for any of the new characters presented, feels like an excuse to keep material to keep the series going, when in fact she has many characters already presented and with subplots still hanging that could be used or expanded, instead of putting so many new characters that will serve only to confuse more in the major issue Ward has, which is consistency!!
The truth is that this book felt short to my expectations, or maybe it was that after Lover Mine and seeing the series return to the heartfelt big emotional stories with good developed arcs for the characters like she did back in Lover Awakened and that I was so glad she got the same with LM, now with this last book, it was like going step backwards. Though, next book is Tohr´s and he has a strong emotional arc going on, so I hope she takes time to built around him and the characters that are closer to him and goes back to the greatness of LAw and LM.
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