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Lover Unbound
Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 5

J.R. Ward

   
                 

      

  

 

  

    

      

  

 

  

    

  

 

  

    

 

   

 

 

Publisher:
Signet

Release Date:
September 25, 2007

Genres:
Paranormal Romance
Vampire

ISBN:
eBook
No ISBN
Print
9780451222350
Kindle
No ISBN

Bookmark Rating:
5 Bookmarks!

Reviewed by
Jennifer Ray

Review Posted:
May 2008

 

With the temporary loss of his premonitions and telepathy, coupled with the loss of his best friend Butch to coupledom, Vishous is floundering.  A gunshot wound in a battle with a Lesser leaves him mortally wounded at just the point in his life when he isn’t sure what he has to live for, landing him right in the emergency room of the beautiful doctor who can give him every reason to survive.  The beautiful HUMAN doctor.  There is always a catch, isn’t there?

Dr. Jane Whitcomb can’t quite believe her own eyes when she operates on the strange patient on her ER table.  She’s never seen anything quite like what she finds inside his chest cavity, and is determined to capture every moment for the medical books.  Being prepared for anything is what makes her an excellent trauma surgeon.  She isn’t quite prepared, however, for her enigmatic and fearsome patient to capture HER.

Only half-conscious when his Brothers retrieve him from the hospital recovery room, V knows only that Jane must come with him.  And so the Brothers heed his wishes, toting the hapless doctor along as easily as a sack of flour, completely against her own wishes.

Although imprisoned with her patient against her will, Jane is determined to give him the best care she can provide.  It isn’t long before they become much more than just patient and doctor.  But a human and a vampire can’t mate, can they?  And even if they could, V’s vow to the Scribe Virgin will most certainly keep them apart forever.

It was just last year that some online friends insisted I read J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  They made it sound so intriguing I quickly snapped up all of the books that had been released at the time, and then promptly devoured each back to back!  Ward immediately found herself on my pre-order list, and her subsequent releases in this series have held her place there.

I’ve loved each of the books that she has released in this series, each quite possibly more than the last, although I have to admit the one in my hands right now is usually going to be my favorite!  LOL  Still, the fifth book in this saga, Lover Unbound, will probably hold its position as my favorite yet for a long time, and not only because it is her most current release.  Ward reveals so many secrets about various characters in this edition, including the lead male, Vishous.  My jaw dropped when I learned along with V exactly who he is.  My heart broke along with Jane’s as we relived his past torment with him.

Understanding what V went through as a child, the tortures and betrayals he has lived with from those closest to him in the past, makes his fierce and unwavering loyalty to those he loves and trusts today all the more understandable.  The deficit of caring he has suffered makes him cling all the more tightly to those in his life now, such as his best friend Butch and now his mate Jane.  Of course, this same protectiveness extends to the other members of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and their Shellans.

Jane is the perfect Shellan for V, with her no-nonsense attitude hiding depths of passion available only to her fated Hellren, Vishous.  He admires her efficiency and strength of will even as he desires to break through the rigid demeanor that makes her the successful trauma surgeon she is to find the soft woman hidden deep underneath.

I won’t lie to you – there are some heart-stopping moments in this book.  Fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books know that Ward’s stories can deliver some of the most devastating punches quite unexpectedly.  I sobbed uncontrollably when I read the third book, Lover Awakened, and will readily admit that book left me more than a little ragged.  I loved the story, but I wasn’t prepared for the tragedies that came with it. 

But that book prepared me for the rest of this series.  I now read Ward’s stories with the knowledge that anything can happen, and it may not be what I expect or want, but it will always make for a wonderful story and sometimes a great cry.  And so it is that Lover Unbound has its own calamity, one guaranteed to make readers put the book down while they get themselves under control.  Whatever you do, do not stop reading the book.  No matter what you think, have faith that Ward leaves this story with a more than satisfactory, albeit unconventional, ending.  Truly, once I finished this book and thought about the way it ended, I could see no better way for it to conclude, under the circumstances.  Ward succeeded in finding a way to keep our couple together without resorting to repeating what she has already done in previous books from this series and delivered a story that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat from cover to cover.  And for me, there is nothing better than a book that manages to surprise me, as long as the author makes it believable for their world and their characters.  J.R. Ward has succeeded admirably on this score and I, for one, am standing and applauding at this gutsy entry into her popular series!

 

NoteThis review was originally written by Jennifer Ray for another review site.  It is being reposted at Wild on Books.

 

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Lover Unbound:  Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 5 by J.R. Ward

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