Hello everyone!
Time for yet another book blog and, as this spring seems to be in the sign of them, I have been re-reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood novels from the beginning (although yes, I have started them prior to spring; even I can't read that fast!). Right about now I'm at a pause around numbers ten and eleven, which for any book series is a whole lot, actually.
Thinking about it, I need to dig really hard to try and remember any other which would have been so successful with an original series to come to these high numbers and still continue to write.
But that aside, I mostly stick ith these books because they're a very good, entertaining and relaxing read. Do they have drama? Of course. They also have a whole lot of romance and subplots that mean you have to keep your wits about you and keep track of what's happening through the whole four or five hundred pages, but that's the magic of book reading anyway.
I've done quite a number of J. R. Ward reviews at this point and I just keep coming back, which does mean that eventually I'll have them all bagged up nicely, with tags to go along.
I'm definitely looking forward to that day!
In the meantime, let's jump right in to Lover Reborn.
Aside from Lover Enshrined (the link to that review, and others, can be found down below, as always), this has to be my favourite book. Why?
Tohrment.
He is absolutely my favourite brother and has been ever since his first appearance back in Dark Lover when he's still got all the twists and turns of his fate to walk through.
See, Tohrment is the only originally mated vampire, having lived with his shellan, Wellesandra, for over two hundred years now, quite happily might I add. But that's at the beginning of the series. By the time this book drops, Tohr has been bereft of his mate (who was killed by a lesser, taking their unborn child with her) for a good long while already, even if it's just a blink to a vampire. Which means he's just a shadow of his former self really, since the male vampire's mate is his beating heart.
To recap: the war with the Lessening Society hasn't really slowed down any, except some of these bad guys really need a brain transplant since they put the S in stupid, but oh well. The Brotherhood has by now strengthened in numbers, all of the Brothers are happily mated, and there have been additions to the battle lines with some other vampire individuals.
Including, but not limited to, Lassiter the angel (or is it fallen angel?).
The guy brought Tohr back to the land of the living, but Tohr isn't really living, if you look at him closely. He's mostly just getting by so that he can pass peacefully into the Fade where his mate and son wait for him.
Except, that's not quite the case.
Tohr's love for Welsie is so strong that it's actually preventing her from entering the Fade, and she's caught in a place called the In Between, which is tailored to each individual, never the same, but the end result is universal: if you don't get out of there in a timely manner, you might just end up there forever, which is worse than going to hell, really. You mostly just stop existing.
So Tohr needs Lassiter's help to figure out how in the name of the Scribe Virgin (who is a no show this entire book) can he do that.
This does include another vampire, by the name of No'One, who is the mother of Xhex, half-sympath and mated to John Matthew, Tohr's adopted son.
Tohr initially balks at the idea of even getting close to her, but thing is, he wants his shellan to find peace, so he's going to need to find a way to keep on living even without her. And luckily for Ward, there's this little caveat for the vampire species which says vampire males MAY take more than one mate, whether this means at the same time or during the course of their lives, who knows? But it's there, even if it's hell-a painful.
See, Tohr loved Welsie with everything he had, and No'One is just not her, but she agrees to try and help him get his fallen mate to where she belongs. In the course of this process, Tohr not only regains his former strength and size, but also his life as he begins to fall in love with the fallen aristocrat.
While the two vampires are struggling to get to a meeting point where things wouldn't be so hard all the time (no pun intended!), there's another issue on the horizon. Well, more than one.
John and Xhex are headed straight into counselling stage because John's bonded mate comes out to play which means Xhex is about two steps from being caged, as she calls it, and forbidden to do anything at all, especially what she does best: which is fight and assassinate.
Tohr offers some sage advice to the two hot heads, but it needs some more work than that and a separation during which Xhex resumes her work with the Shadows, Trez and iAm, before they can get even close to reconciliation. The tipping point? When John realises he needs to start treating her as an equal, and that she is best equipped to find a weapon that nearly took the life of Wrath, son of Wrath.
See, the Brotherhood, with the Blind King in front, have been meeting with the glymera (high society brats) since the others have started circling back home, and during one of these where we are introduced to Assail, son of Assail, and big-time drug lord, Wrath is shot in the throat.
The only reason he survives is because Tohr makes sure he's still breathing by the time they get back home and because Qhuinn, John's personal guard and best friend, gets into a heavy fight with the leader of the assassins, Xcor.
Xcor and his Band of Bastards have travelled over from the old continent to America and now have some lofty aspirations: namely, to connect with the aristocracy and dethrone the King, but the attempt has to be successful, because if Wrath lives? Then their lives are forfeit, as under the Old Laws the King is untouchable and cannot be dethroned.
Naturally, Wrath lives, but the added snafu here is that a Chosen female (think cloistered ad sequestered nun), Layla, feeds Xcor's lieutenant and then Xcor himself, not knowing who they are (she also falls in love with Xcor, but let's leave it at that).
This does, however, give Xhex the lead she needs to hunt down where the Band sleeps so she can snag the rifle that made the shot, giving the King ample evidence to declare open season on Xcor and his warriors, with Tohrment getting the right to finish the other vampire (this will come into play later, stay tuned).
So, John and Xhex settle their differences, and Xcor is now on the horizon as well as Assail (who, by the way, really doesn't appreciate being implicated in the assassination attempt). What about Tohr?
He has done just about everything he can, but it isn't until he comes to the realisation that the things he's holding on to are just that - things and memories and they won't bring his mate back to life, that he can actually start moving on. He cleans out and closes the house he and Welsie had lived in, putting it on the market, gives her things to Marissa at Safe Place for the other females, and tells Autumn (the renamed No'One) that, yes, he behaved abominably but he also loves her and only did it because he's an idiot.
The Brotherhood gather to perform the Fade ceremony for Wellesandra, and Autumn realises she loves Tohr right back and wants to be with him.
Except.
As Welsie is free to go into the Fade, so is Autumn - who took her own life back after giving brith to Xhex, and was caught in her own form of In Between because of that, causing Tohr to lose both females at the same time.
And Lassiter.
But what do you know, the angel comes through: he pledges himself to Tohr and Autumn both, and brings her back to the warrior, giving them all a sort of happily ever after they deserve.
This book was controversial on a lot of levels because readers almost demanded that Ward should have brought Welsie back to life instead of giving Tohr Autumn, but as I said above it IS possible for a vampire to have more than one mate. I'm just as sad about Tohr's first wife, however, because I thought she was amazing for the short time we did get to see her. Still, his painful journey to try and patch his life back together made me cry at a number of places, especially the Fade ceremony (I totally needed Kleenex for that one), and I think he deserves whatever peace and quiet he can get.
After all, out of all the Brothers so far, he's suffered the most - and it's not even over yet.
xx
*image not mine
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