Book #87 - Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10)

Lover Reborn (Black Dagger Brotherhood #10), J. R. Ward
572 pages
urban fantasy, paranormal romance
Started 8/4/12
Finished 8/6/12
4 STARS

I'm back from the beach and ready to start catching up on my reviews. Unfortunately (or, fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I finished four books during the week I was away, so I have a lot of posts to work on!

This is the last Black Dagger Brotherhood book that is out currently, and it was one that most BDB fans were very nervous about. I have to warn you - it would be impossible to write a review of this book without mentioning some spoilers from earlier books, so read on at your own risk.

Tohrment has been Wrath's right-hand-vampire and the BDB's voice of reason for hundreds of years. All that changed when his shellan was killed by the lessers. Tohrment disappeared for more than a year leaving his Brothers and his adopted son, John Matthew, to wonder whether he was even alive or dead. Very suddenly, Tohr returned to the Brotherhood along with his guardian angel of sorts, Lassiter, although Tohrment was a veritable shell of the vampire he was when he left. He doesn't eat, sleeps little, and wishes for death so he can join his shellan and their unborn baby.

This all changes when Lassiter tells Tohr that his Wellsie is stuck in the "in-between" and can't get to the Fade (or, Heaven) until Tohr moves on. He makes a gallant effort - he joins the fighting rotation, starts feeding properly, even reconnects with John Matthew and the rest of his Brothers. And, then, along comes No'One, a female from his past. She touches him like none has since Wellsie, and he is loathe to accept that. Yet, perhaps that is just what he needs to do in order for her to move on.

Ward has made it clear that vampires mate for life. So, how could she get around this situation? I will say that, on this particular point, Ward did a good job. It could've gone horribly wrong, leaving fans feeling jilted and icky. It could've turned many away from the rest of the series. I don't think it did. Although I still wish Wellsie didn't have to die, I'm satisfied that her memory has been preserved, as has been her place in Tohr's life.

What I wasn't all that thrilled with was No'One. Gah, was she annoying! She was self-deprecating to the point of nausea. I wanted her to grow a backbone in the worst way. Let's face it - Tohr treated her like crap there for awhile, and she was just happy to be there. It wanted me to throw the book.

I'm also not quite sure what I feel about Xcor and his Band of Bastards yet. Sometimes I feel like they add something to the BDB world. Other times, I feel like they're a distraction. Like, perhaps Ward introduced them as a way to continue the book series after she runs out of Brothers. I don't feel as attached to any of them as I do the Brothers. We'll have to see how their characters are developed later down the road.

I wish there had been more from Qhuinn and Blay, but really, what more is there to say about them leading up to their own book? That is the next one out, by the way. Lover At Last comes out in late March 2013, and we will finally see these two get together after so very, very long. After their book, who is next? I don't want to see the BDB world ever end - I love these stories too much!