Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10)
Author : JR Ward
Publication: NAL, Hachette Digital
Publication
Date: 27th March 2012
Source: E-book owned by reviewer
Buy it at Amazon
and Indie Bound
Audience: Adult;
Paranormal Romance
Synopsis
In the
darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other
rages. The city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the
warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
Now back in the Brotherhood - and unrecognisable as the vampire leader he once
was - Tohrment is physically emaciated and heartbroken beyond despair. When he
begins to see his beloved in his dreams - trapped in a cold, isolating
netherworld - Tohr turns to a self-serving fallen angel in hopes of saving the
one he has lost. When he's told he must learn to love another to free his
former mate, Tohr knows they are all doomed . . .
Except then a female with a shadowed history begins to get through to him.
Against the backdrop of the raging war with the Lessers, and with a new clan of
vampires vying for the Blind King's throne, Tohr struggles between the buried
past, and a very hot, passion-filled future . . . but can his heart let go and
set all of them free?
My Review
*Takes a deep breath* Let’s get one thing straight from the
off- his name it TOHR not Thor- he is not blond and Norse, and he certainly
doesn’t own a stonkingly big hammer! *relaxes now that pet peeve is dealt with*
For those hot blooded readers who have been living under a
rock, this is the 10th book in this highly successful urban vampire series.
With this book, the WARDen has gone back to some of the brilliance that made us
all fall in love with this world in first place. There is banter, more scenes
with the old guard that we all love (I am STILL waiting for 24-hour live
streaming from the Mansion and the Pit!), and sex. Hot damn, is there some sex,
and not just between Tohr and No’One. For those of a sensitive disposition,
please be warned that there is eloquent homoeroticism in the love triangle
between Qhuinn/Blay/Saxton. What I didn’t expect was the emotional timbre of
the book- I am not a blubber but I actually cried at one particular scene
(unlike the rest of the BDB-reading universe, it WASN’T at Wellsie’s Fade
Ceremony).
The book gets of to a slow start, with Tohr on a self destruct
mission, stuck in an In-Between nothingness of his own as he struggles through
his grief. If Vampires are prone to mental illness (and we know they are given
that Ehlena’s father has schizophrenia) then I would think the Tohr is
depressed- he is hopeless, nihilistic, and life holds no colour for him. He
lives in the past, if he lives at all. Enter Lassiter (who is a complete scene
stealer throughout this entire book!) who keeps trying to get Tohr to see that
by being so inward looking, he is condemning Wellsie to Dhund (hell). Tohr is angry,
and bitter and projects that out at those around him, but the person who comes
in for the toughest time with him is No’One.
No’One is a blank slate at the start of this book. We know
about her tragic history- abduction by a sympath and rape at his hands, the birthing of Xhex, and her taking her life with Tohr’s blade. But there is
little fleshing out of her life or character as servant of the Chosen on the
Other Side. Now she lives in the Mansion, finding purpose in her life by
changing the Brothers’ linens. (On a side note, who would actually want that
job, given what goes on there? *raised eyebrow ). We begin to get an
understanding of the psychological complexity underpinning her nothingness
through her interactions with Tohr, Xhex, and somewhat surprisingly, Fritz.
The first half of the romance between Tohr and No’One is
sweetly written. They are two damaged beings, punishing themselves for the
perceived sins of the past, and completely cut off from anything resembling
emotion. They talk. They connect. They bonk. A.LOT. And it’s touching and
heartfelt…… until it isn’t . It starts to be clear that Tohr is just going
through the motions, and using No’One as some kind of booty-call. No’one, whose
self-esteem has reached its nadir, goes along with this, seeing this as some way
of paying Tohr back for what she did all those years ago. It all gets to a
point where Tohr, tired of being hounded by Lassiter and confused about his
developing feelings for No’One, tears into her in a monologue that starts with
a few home truths and rapidly crosses a line into a vicious verbal flaying. This
is where No’One (or Autumn as she has been renamed- seriously, WARDen?!?) comes
into her own, gives Tohr something to think about and retreats to Xhex’s cabin
to lick her wounds. THIS is where I cried.
Through a couple of squeaky plot contrivances the two do
eventually get it together but their pairing does raise some questions about
how it all fits in with the vampire world building rules that Ward has set up-
can you love someone without bonding them? Did Tohr and No’One (this Autumn
thing is really not flying with me) love each other the first time they met,
when he cared for her during her pregnancy?
In other news, Lassiter, Lassiter, Lassiter! I want to see
more of him. This scene between him and Doc Jane was priceless:
“I want to see the
front of you.”
“That’s what all the girls say.”
“Do you expect me to roll you over? ’Cuz I will.”
“Your mate’s not going to like this.”
“As if that’s going to bother you?”
“True. It actually makes it worth the effort.”
With a groan, he shoved his palms into the shimmering silver pool of blood beneath him, and flopped over like the side of beef he was.
“Wow,” she breathed.
“I know, right? Hung like a horse.”
“If you’re really nice—and you live through this—I’ll promise not to tell V.”
“About my size.”
She laughed a little. “No, that you assumed I’d look at you in any fashion other than professionally.”
“That’s what all the girls say.”
“Do you expect me to roll you over? ’Cuz I will.”
“Your mate’s not going to like this.”
“As if that’s going to bother you?”
“True. It actually makes it worth the effort.”
With a groan, he shoved his palms into the shimmering silver pool of blood beneath him, and flopped over like the side of beef he was.
“Wow,” she breathed.
“I know, right? Hung like a horse.”
“If you’re really nice—and you live through this—I’ll promise not to tell V.”
“About my size.”
She laughed a little. “No, that you assumed I’d look at you in any fashion other than professionally.”
The WARDen peppers the rest of the book with multiple plot
shockers involving Wrath and the Band of Bastards, and I liked the whole reworking of the Reborn
motif, in a number of different ways, but that is a real spoiler so I won’t say
anymore about it here. While I had a
couple of small niggles with this book (the aforementioned ‘Autumn’ naffness,
and the John:Xhex ‘why-can’t-their-relationship-ever-run-smoothly’ schpiel which mildly irritated me) it didn’t detract
from my overall enjoyment of this book- I simply couldn’t put it down.
GAH!!! this is killing me! I'm getting to this book this week even if I have to commit murder to do it.
ReplyDeleteIs that murder, or Murdher? ;-) It's a real treat Michelle- so what are you waiting for? I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.
DeleteGreat review! I just finished this past weekend and I loved it! I loved that quote you chose with Lassiter & Jane. Hilarious! Oh and I'm with you on the name change for No'One :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Amber! Lassiter is rapidly becoming one of my favourite characters :-)
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