Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward ~ Audiobook Review

Title: Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood #5)

Author: JR Ward
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: 502 pages - Audio
Publisher: Signet Books
Release Date: October 1, 2007
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3
Heat Rating: 3
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

In Caldwell, New York, war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers—six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Now the cold heart of a cunning predator will be warmed against its will...

Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous, son of the Bloodletter, possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father's war camp he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time—until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that cannot include her...

I had a hard time buying some of this one. Vishous is quite a cold hearted vampire. His history was a rough one, and I did enjoy seeing how it shaped him and his personality. A lot more about him made sense after reading this book. I felt a little sorry for him to be honest.  Although I still don't quite understand how this odd relationship with Butch fits into the whole thing.

Vishous is feeling a little sorry for himself now that his bromance has found a mate of his own. He puts himself at risk needlessly and ends up in a human hospital - this is one of the worst things that can happen. Human doctors can quickly see the difference between vampire and human anatomy (and I found some of the differences to be fascinating).

Enter Dr. Jane Whitcomb. We get a ton of history about her - some of it was a bit confusing. I kept waiting for her sister to pop up again in the story and she never did. Maybe she does later? There were some pretty heavy hints dropped that I kept waiting for her to appear.

Jane quickly realizes Vishous is different than any patient she's ever seen before. And when she's kidnapped to keep watch over her patient after he's rescued the "I love her - but she's human - but I love her - but she's human" begins and never seems to end.

Well, eventually it does, and I think JR Ward wrote herself into a corner again. There are a few times now that she's really broken the rules of her own world again. I think this was my biggest pet peeve of the series so far. She finds a way to sort of make it work, but it's not quite within the rules either.

There are some pretty big reveals about some of the brotherhood, which I like. And I enjoy seeing all them in each story. Revisiting past favorites is always fun - but I wish the women had a stronger appearance as well.

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Black Dagger Brotherhood

Dark Lover #1
Lover Eternal #2
Lover Awakened #3
Lover Revealed #4

Lover Mine #8

Lover Revealed by J.R. Ward

Title: Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #4)
Author: J.R. Ward
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: AudioBook
Publisher: Onyx
Release Date: March 6, 2007
Source: Purchased
Rating: 2
Heat Rating: 4
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world—to engage in the turf war with the lessers. He's got nothing to lose. His heart belongs to a female vampire, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. If he can't have Marissa, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers...

Fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back. But even her love may not be enough to save him...

I wasn't a fan of this one. There were just so many things that didn't quite add up to me and it still bothers me. Butch seems to have been given part of the Omega - but the Omega can't find him? Thinks he's dead? Doesn't add up - especially as we find out more about how souls return and Lessers are created. I couldn't find a way to believe any of ti.

The part I did like was Vishous and learning more about his character and abilities. He's really quite fascinating. A lot of this book was taken up with characters that weren't our main couple. I still struggle with John. I just don't see him as an adult, but more of a 13 year old boy. Learning more about Rehv was amazing. I hope he gets his own story down the line - I think he deserves it.

All in all, this just wasn't the one for me. I'm going to move on and get started on the next because I think it's going to be much better, and I still want to see what happens in everyone's lives.

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Black Dagger Brotherhood

Dark Lover #1
Lover Eternal #2
Lover Awakened #3

Lover Mine #8

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

Title: Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2)

Author: J.R. Ward
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: Audiobook
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: March 7, 2006
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3
Heat Rating: 3
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...

I really like Rhage. He stood out from the rest of the Brotherhood in book one, and I was excited to see his story come so soon in the series. He's a cursed vampire - cursed with an uncontrollable beast that is triggered by extreme emotions (paid, anger, lust). And once the beast is released, he only goes away after destroying (and eating - ew) everything around it.

As a human, Mary is a bit shocked when she is dragged into the vampire world through a young man that she meets when he calls the Suicide Hotline she volunteers at. This boy is something special, and I have some strong suspicions he's a result of something from the first book, but I didn't find out and I think I may be waiting awhile for his story. But he plays a fairly prominent role in Lover Eternal and makes a great character. Anyway, Mary, she's an interesting study in opposites. She's a strong woman, but her illness makes her weak. She's incredibly intelligent, but she finds herself immersed in a world where she has everything to learn.

Her and Rhage have an interesting start to their relationship as he is ordered to erase himself from her mind. But there is something about the way she speaks that Rhage needs to have. I love that something so simple as the sound of her voice is what initially draws him to her, not her looks, or having to rescue her, it was a great way to make their start different than what I usually see out there.

We get to see a lot of the Brotherhood and a few of the characters from book one still pop up and I love being able to see the whole group in both books. The Lessers are still on the hunt and looking for a fight and we are introduced to a new civilian, Bella, that a friend of Mary's that seems to have more of her story to tell.

A great second book, but I feel the Mary and Rhage's solution was a little contrived. It felt like Ward had written herself into a corner and used the "but then the rules changed" option instead of playing within what she had already written.

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Black Dagger Brotherhood

Dark Lover #1

Lover Mine #8

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward ~ Review

Title: Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood #1)

Author: J.R. Ward
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: 393 pages/Audiobook
Publisher: Penguin Group
Release Date: September 6, 2005
Source: Self-Purchased
Rating: 4
Heat Rating: 3
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Yet none of them relishes killing more than Wrath, the leader of The Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The only purebred vampire left on earth, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But, when one of his most trusted fighters is killed-leaving his half-breed daughter unaware of his existence or her fate-Wrath must usher her into the world of the undead-a world of sensuality beyond her wildest dreams.

This was my first audio book this year, and my second audio book ever. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a huge series and I figured it was about time to get started on it. I wasn't disappointed. The story was exciting and really held my interest from start to finish. There's an interesting mix of traditional lore and the author's own little twist. I loved the concept of the Lesser society. It was a new look at vampire slayers and demons that added a nice layer to the world Ward has created.

The Brotherhood was a little over the top - and I know they are supposed to be - but they were just too "big" for me. The saving grace was that they each seem to have some serious flaw in their physical-self, personality, or haunted past to help balance out their amazing power and size. Their leader, Wrath, is quite a hard person that is very driven in his task of taking out Lessers, even more so after the one of the Brotherhood is killed. There's quite a bit of suspense and excitement in the story that revolves around this death and the rise of power in the Lessers that takes the Brotherhood by surprise.

But this is a romance, and quite a good one. Beth is a unique woman, She's not a vampire, but she's not a human, and Wrath can't seem to stay away from her. I loved her fire and her spunk. She wasn't one to let a big vampire walk all over her and tell her what to do. Her introduction to the vampire world was great. I'm a big fan of the freak-out moment. The moment where someone realizes all those scary stories are real and they just walked into one. Beth's realization was great and it only made me like her more.

The narrator of the audiobook took a little getting used to. Partly because it was a male, and the voice in my reading head has always been female. But he told the story well and drew me in quickly. He was quite a nice companion on my daily walks.

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Audio Book Review: In the Light of the Moon by A.L. Kessler

Title: In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles #1)
Author: A.L. Kessler
Source: Author Request
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: Novella
Release Date: June 11, 2013 (book)
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Book Rating - 4
Audio Rating - 3
Sexual - 3

Stripped of all control, shifter Kassity has no choice but to be a killer for a vampire
named Lucius. Obeying the vampire from the shadows was simply her way of life, until Jax comes to town and brings trouble with him. When her panther half recognizes Jax as her fated mate, Kassity must deal with betrayal, secrets and Lucius in order to be with him.

With a war going on between all supernatural creatures Jaxon must figure out whose side he is on. What started as a simple job turned into a complicated game of hearts when he meets Kassity, the woman he thought he was rescuing, but not everything is as it seems in Lucius' territory.

This was a new and quite interesting world full of shifters of all types, vampires, and other things that I'm not even sure what they are yet.  Kassity is one of the few remaining panthers in North America - she's special, and she's caught up in a war working for Lucius.  At first I thought of Lucius as the bad guy, but once we get to know a few of the other characters better I realized he might actually be the good guy - just in a weird twisted way (which I love).  His relationship with Kassity, and his other "people" is a strange one and his controlling nature makes it hard to appreciate him at times.

When Jaxon enters and inadvertently threatens Lucius's hold on Kassity and puts her in danger, all hell breaks loose.  He finds himself stuck in a place between sides and not quite sure who is telling him the truth.  What he is sure of, is that Kassity is his mate, and he proceeds to do everything in his power to make sure she stays safe.

In the background, we have the story of a missing stone.  This might seem anti-climactic, but the stone turns out to be something very special - and Kassity's job is to find it.  There is a lot going on at times in this story, but it was written in a way that really keeps in engaged and invested in all the characters, not just Kassity and Jaxon.  It made me want to know more, especially about the mysterious Teagen.

Now, I had a paper copy of the book on hand since this was my first experience with an audio book.  And since this was my first audio - I don't have anything to really compare it to (I think I also giggled through the first sex scene.  Hearing it read out loud brought out my inner adolescent..)   Because I read the book this way, I did notice just a couple of small little "oops" in the narration - nothing that takes anything away from the story.  The narrator did a fantastic job of catching the personalities of the characters in her voice.  My biggest fear before going in was that I would lose track of who was talking.  Not an issue at all.

Part way through I forgo the paper copy and began listening to the audio book while I walked at lunch.  It was a great escape and a good way to enjoy a book when I wasn't able to sit down and read.  I'm glad I gave the audio book a try (thank you A.L.) because I know exactly what I'll be doing the next time I'm on a long car ride - say to Mackinac Island for Indie Romance Convention next year.

*The audio book was received free in exchange for an honest review*
*The paper book was purchased from the author at Indie Romance Convention 2014*

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