Lover Avenged: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood

Great story. Fan of series. Fast shipping.

I just read this book in record time. For its size and my busy schedule, getting it read in less than 4 days was an achievement, and a testament to how hard it was to put this book down.I don't need to bore fans of this series with details and descriptions of the characters, because if you've been paying attention through the first several books of the series, you already know all that. And if you're just coming into this series now, do yourself a huge favor and go back to the beginning and read all the other books in order before you read this one.With that said, what I liked about this book was how the author stripped down Rehvenge's and Xhex's characters. I also was thrilled with the reintroduction of Tohr (continued from the last book, so this isn't a plot spoiler) and delved deeper into his life and integration back into the Brotherhood. And the setup for John Matthew's character for the next book has me looking forward to what happens with him and how he gets himself out of his funk. I will not spoil the plot twists in this book, but there were many...and they all made for such enjoyable reading. A couple I kinda saw coming, but most caught me by complete surprise.More specifically, I liked the author's witty analogies like, "...he was Kissinger without a president when it came to politics: all analysis, no authority," which started me off right on page one of chapter one. And it just got better from there. I laughed out loud numerous times - something I only seem to do with this series of books. The humor is exquisite! It kinda slaps you in the face when you least expect it, catching you off guard with a chuckle. Every page has a spark of wit or wry humor, which makes the BDB series so entertaining and refreshing, and brings the characters to life.Also, I know the BDB is classified as paranormal romance or erotic romance (erorom), but I've read a lot of books in this genre. The BDB is NOT even remotely in the same league as most erorom. It is in a league of its own. Here's why: With other erorom I've read, the story seems to revolve around the sex. The protagonists seem to hate each other -- are repulsed by each other -- and yet they end up in the sack and fall in love, anyway. The writing isn't very clever and the plots are usually openly apparent. In comparison, J.R. Ward has created in the BDB a story and a world that has depth and dimension, and then she puts in a little spice and icing with some good (very good) sex scenes. The sex is written AROUND the storyline, rather than the other way around with all the other erorom I've read. With the BDB, the sex is a cohesive part of the story - not the reason for the story. The characters are genuinely drawn to each other, and the only reason they hold back is due to their individual flaws...so you don't get those hokey, not believable, insanely absurd I-hate-you-but-I'm-going-to-have-sex-with-you-anyway-and-fall-in-love-with-you scenes. PUH-LEEEAAASE! Yawn, snooze, ho-hum. BOOOORRRRING! Honestly, I've become so bored with other erorom that seems to force the story around all the sex that I can't read it anymore. Not so with J.R. Ward's BDB. I can't put her books down --- because I want to see how it's going to end, not because I want to read all the sex scenes (which I'll admit are pretty juicy...Ward can sure build up the tension between her fated-to-be-together characters...and as a reader, I'll confess it can be very exciting to read *wink*wink*).My only criticism of Lover Avenged is that there wasn't the usual sneak peak of the next book at the end. I love whetting my appetite for the next book with these little "previews," but alas, it was not to be with Lover Avenged. I'll just have to wait for the next book to be released so I can get my BDB fix.

Plot Summary: Rehvenge's gangster lifestyle keeps his mother living in style, and holds his blackmailer at bay. As a half-symphath, Rehv frequents the vampire's medical clinic to acquire the drugs that cloak his sinister impulses under a chemical shroud. His favorite nurse, Ehlena, lives in poverty with her schizophrenic father, enjoys her work, and is unaccountably drawn to Rehv. Women usually scatter like bowling pins at his approach, but Ehlena's Florence Nightingale instincts force her to heal Rehv, inside and out. Rehv holds himself back, knowing that his dark, dirty secrets would crush Ehlena's fledgling compassion.Hot damn! It's a good thing I don't get to read books like this one everyday, or I wouldn't accomplish anything, ever. What's ironic is that several months back, my sister and I both agreed that we had no interest in hearing Rehvenge's story. I mean, the guy is a drug dealer, a flesh-peddler, and a vicious gangster. Not exactly my idea of hot and sexy. How on earth is redemption possible for someone who has no inclination to leave the dark side? Building a good romance for this guy seemed like an exercise in futility, and I was secretly hoping Ward would just give us John Matthew's story instead.Well, I was wrong to give up on Rehv like that, and my eyes feel like cotton-balls because I was getting all teary-eyed every few pages. I'm probably dehydrated at this point, and who knows what my mascara looks like. But I enjoyed every single minute of it. Most of the time I'm like a stone and few books can squeeze any water from my cynical side, so getting my eyes to drip like a leaky faucet is quite an accomplishment. Either I'm more of a cream puff than I want to admit, or Ward's storytelling managed to pierce my emotional rhino hide.I've become so accustomed to Ward lasering in on one couple per novel, that I have begun to notice a shift in her style, and she's casting a much wider net with her latest books. I was amazed at how many pages were devoted to other storylines, the most prominent being Wrath, John Matthews, Xhex, and of course, Lash. If you've been hoping for more details from any of those quarters, this book will satisfy those unanswered itches with a full body rubdown. With this much baggage to handle, it explains why the book clocks in at a robust 527 pages. Much more is happening than a simple romance story, and I can't think of any other series that pulls off this kind of breadth and depth while juggling this many complex characters. I find it impressive that this results in an airtight epic, rather than a muddled mess of disjointed junk. It would be so easy for this to fall apart, and Ward is one of the few elite authors who are talented enough to make it work.I don't know about you, but book six, "Lover Enshrined," felt like a downer to me, and I cracked this book with some trepidation. Ward left a lot of debris laying around after setting off her bombs in book six, and frankly I was shell shocked. The good news is, "Lover Avenged" starts to build up hope again, which is precisely what I was longing to read. The brothers are still far away from winning this war, but I got to shake off that hopeless feeling of despair like a dog emerging from a pond. It felt darn good.On a side note, I'm an impatient dork because the Kindle edition is only $10 bucks, and I paid twice that amount with shipping for the hardcover. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. (I'm beating my head on the desk until I forget this mistake.)

Finally! I love the club crew and glad to get some backstory and some development and much love for them.

Enjoyed this book!it's a good read -follows the story well.

La Ward non si smetisce, libro da leggere tutto in una volta.Finalmente la storia di Rehv, il Reverendo, e la Sua Elena...

Ce septième volume de la confrérie de la dague noire est consacré à Rehvenge, qui n'est pas un des frères mais appartient à leur entourage. C'est un homme "mauvais": il gagne sa vie grâce aux drogues, aux filles, aux boites de nuit qu'il possède et il est à moitié sympath. Les sympaths sont des êtres dangereux, ils sont violents et ont des pouvoirs psychiques puissants. Voilà pourquoi les sympaths doivent être dénoncés pour être exilés, loin de la communauté des vampires.Pour échapper à l'exil, Rehvenge tente donc de garder sa double nature secrète. Seulement, il est la victime d'un chantage depuis vingt-cinq ans et doit payer durement le silence du maître chanteur. Et une autre personne connaît sa vraie nature !Ce livre nous dépeint un vampire qui a un coté terrible, mais qui a également un courage énorme et est prêt à se sacrifier pour les siens. Son histoire d'amour avec Ehlena, une infirmière, est au centre de ce livre. Si j'ai trouvé cette histoire d'amour trop "simple", j'ai adoré le caractère de Rehvenge, même si j'aurais aimé que son coté sombre soit plus noir encore.Deux autres intrigues prennent beaucoup de place dans ce tome : d'abord Wrath, et c'est avec plaisir qu'on retrouve le héros de "Dark Lover", le premier volume. Il devra affronter une épreuve personnelle et j'ai adoré. Et puis (encore) John Matthew, qui, enfin, abandonne ses lamentations, perd son innocence et devient plus froid, plus dur. Il était temps, il commençais à m'ennuyer.Un petit plus : pour une fois une femme forte arrive sur le devant de la scène (Xhex, le bras droit de Rehvenge). Ouf. J'en avais un peu assez des Blanches-neiges !Dans l'ensemble, un excellent tome. Pas le meilleur de la série, mais il reste excellent, surtout pour un septième volume.

Love Rhev's character, but not a fan of the violence and sex with the Sympath queen. There was a lack of balance in the love story, such violence could have done with more eloquent love scenes with his true love. The female lead was supposed to be a woman of class and at some of the scenes, she spouted the F word like it was second nature, completely out of character.

Kept me captivated the who way through..loved it