Back in November(ish) of 2014 I went to an estate sale where there were piles and piles, okay, a garage literally FULL of books. First day I ended up buying just 1 box for about $5. Next day I go back and ALL the boxes are marked $1!!!!! This girl huffed and puffed and lifted and dug until the man overseeing it was asking me if I was ok. Heck yes I was ok! I ended up with lots of urban fantasy and murder mysteries. 80% of them had never been read.

Until I bought the bookshelf above, my books were stacked in rows against the wall. Sadly, I still ended up needing at least one more bookshelf.

I’m sure others have way more books that I do, it’s just at the moment I feel as though I own a library that has exploded.

As for what I’ve read: I finished The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold which I highly recommend. There’s a bit of the creep factor to the book (looking at the main character Dag), other than that I consider one of the best books I’ve read. I’m eager to read more of her work and continue on with the series.

I have so many mystery books and so many that are not in order that I’m curious as to whether it’s okay to read them out of order. With series I usually shout to the world that it is not okay and will never be okay, but with mysteries/crime mysteries I’m confused. Maybe because I’ve always been under the impression that mysteries are stand alone and can be read as such even if they are in a series.

Other than that, the blog will one day get a makeover with a new theme and banner (Outlander, anyone?). Maybe not this week, but soon. I probably will not participate in memes anymore since I was really burnt out doing reviews + memes. Speaking of, reviews will be much simpler and will probably not include the synopsis and instead just include a goodreads link. I’m envious that other bloggers can continually include such things, but it seems that the more I include the more my patience thins to the point I would rather not do books reviews. So, I’ll try it this way from now on in the hopes that simpler = happier me.

Buy at Amazon


Series Rating:

Chosen at Nightfall rating:

Previous reviews on this series:
Born at Midnight
Awake at Dawn

Review:

Huge hunking spoilers are listed below in the ‘spoilers header’.

I finally did it. I completed the Shadow Falls series that I started way back in 2012. I actually reread the first two books to refresh myself and they reminded me how much I love this series. However, books 3-5 started to…grind my gears a bit.

Kylie hits the too special category not just one time, but three (or is it 4?)! As if Kylie didn’t have this special pattern, we find out she’s a protector, and another incredibly rare thing at book 5. This is too much special for one girl and I found myself constantly sighing at every moment’s notice (I’m looking at you book 5). All of this falling on a sixteen year old’s shoulder is a bit much. I did enjoy her ghost whispering abilities though (I admit, book 4 was something that made me uncomfortable).
If I’m going to continue being truthful I wanted to strangle her with a lamp cord at her constant back and forthing. It’s the most annoying thing to have half a book (or more if you count all the books) dedicated to her being unable to decide what to do with Lucas or Derek. There was never any head-way with these thoughts and that was the worst.

The one thing I truly love about this series is the friendship between Della, Miranda, and Kylie. It’s a breath of fresh air, even when the vamp and witch are trying to verbally kill one another.

Our love triangle flattened anti-climatically and suddenly. The way it was done and the feelings of that person as they jumped to another girl so quickly was unbelievable. I’m almost convinced that he never loved her to start with. You know, considering that by the end of the series she has been at Shadow Falls for just 3 months!
Derek started to bother me in the last three books. Always there, always knowing what Kylie was feeling, always wanting to take that friendship into more, he was just there too much. He might be a great guy, but I definitely did not root for him in the last books.
As for Lucas, he screwed up in book 4, but that didn’t make me like his character any less (maybe I was mad for awhile there, but come on, Kylie strung both Derek and Lucas along for 3 months). I may be a Lucas fan, but even I can see how his character did a 360 in book 5 to become more like Derek. His behavior became unnatural compared to how he was before. Is that a good thing? Well, by the end I was over both Derek and Lucas and thought Kylie should have just went after her teacher Hayden. After all, I didn’t even get a smouldering sex scene- HA!

I’m mainly disappointed with the plot and its ending. As a whole, it’s fine, but when Kylie began to resolve what’s been brewing it fell to ugly pieces. Since we know Mario (not the guy in the red cap) is our bad guy and he’s did really bad things, we expect the ending to be full of tears and heartbreak. Instead, we find ourselves with a new villain and the easy eradication of the old. It becomes a jumbled mess and hard to believe that so much time was spent on Mario and his ‘wicked’ ways.
Even now that I’ve finished the series, I’ve yet to really figure out why Mario considered her such a threat (to him) and did everything possible to taunt her. He could have just continued to do evilness away from her and the people she loved and nothing would have happened. Anti-climatic villain to go with anti-climatic love triangle? I’ll take that to go.

Between overused phrases, constant group hugs (it’s a little weird to constantly hug your camp leaders, lbr), the Shadow Falls series has something that just calls to you despite there being many flaws. The writing is simple, easy to understand, without giving long passages of grueling detail and the characters are not always what you’d consider the perfect character, but it’s hard to let them go.

I recommend the Shadow Falls series for the sheer reason that it’s an addictive page turner, but be prepared to be aggravated and throw your book(s) at the wall.

Spoilers:

And here we are.
Chameleons, Holy Warrior, Protector, Ghost Whisperer- seriously?! She’s all the different species, plus a Protector, making it impossible to use those powers to protect herself. Ok. That’s fine. Top it all off with becoming a Holy Warrior which is NEVER fully explained and so super rare that the sword bubbles up from the falls. No. Nope. Nuh-huh. She’s supposed to have this sword, that can only be used when she’s in protective mode, and she’s supposed to kill Mario with it? DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY DISBELIEF?

What takes the cake is Mario’s son killing him and turning out to be John. The man we feared, the villain who was so ~scary~ that they wouldn’t let Kylie pee by herself is easily stabbed in the back and dies, just like that. What is this?

The Death Angels were incredibly disappointing. I wish they had been expanded on instead of being pushed to the side. Book 5 there were scenes (lots of scenes in fact) that felt like fillers that were just stepping stones to real scenes. Instead of focusing on pregnancy tests and sex, the Death Angels could have been expanded on.

Chosen at Nightfall just had such a rushed and uneven ending that it didn’t live up to the previous books. It wasn’t just a few pages, it was the last third of the book. Really, Chosen at Nightfall was just a mess for me- an addictive mess, but a mess nonetheless.

I will forever side eye Lucas’s change of character. To go from secretive and all for the pack and his quest, to dumping his dreams for Kylie and announcing his love for her, it was weird and wrong. Then for his dad to just become understanding and all that jazz… ):

And one can’t forget Kylie running away from Lucas and going to grandfathers for the grand total of 2 weeks. She wanted to learn about what she was and how to control it, but the rules were too much? I can’t with you Kylie.

Taming the Wolf (Anna Avery #1) by Stephanie Nelson
218 pages
Publication Date: June 13, 2012
Buy at Amazon

Review:

Anna is an everyday girl like you and me who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (or technically, right place at the right time, but who cares for technicalities?). Either way, her bad luck turned this story into a magical getaway.

There’s a few cliched things that I would go bonkers over if it hadn’t been for the fact that they worked for Taming the Wolf. That’s right they worked! Girl gets trapped, gets bit and magically becomes a werewolf, falls in love, is special, but I’m telling you- it honestly works.

Anna is such a great character. I just want to squeeze her because I love her so much. She falls into the category of heroines who are ~special~ but it’s not shoved down my face every other sentence, not to mention that being special just seems like another side to Anna and not something that keeps her from being relatable. Too often are heroines thrust into that space where they just lose whatever they had that I could relate to. With Anna, it becomes something that if I were in that situation I would hope I could keep my chin up as well.
Our hunky Alpha Adam stole the show on occasion, but I’m disappointed that he let his emotions get the best of him at times. I felt that in those moments there was no way that that man could be alpha material. You can communicate telepathically but you can’t give a direct order and have them mind it? I’m also surprised he let his mate Eve get away with half the stuff she did- killing women of the pack that threatened her position when there aren’t lot of them to go around to begin with? Um. No. He just doesn’t spell good leader material, you can’t act out and throw a tantrum or put your pack in jeopardy- you’re in that position for a reason.
Actually, I think MOST of the Alphas or persons in leadership positions had this problem. They were quick to spark a temper or showed emotions that just didn’t seem to befit a person in their position. Not only that, but they were way too accepting of killing a person they weren’t sure was guilty or innocent and they even had evidence that their was another person involved, but hell, what difference does it make when you ARE the law? It just strikes me as odd that persons of authority, especially in this world where they don’t want their secret to get out, would decide to kill a person despite protests and no damning evidence.

There are some wonderful side characters, my favourite being Sawyer. Wonderful Sawyer. He started off pretty rough around the edges, but he started to shine right at the good part. Anna dated him briefly thanks to her alphas orders (which Adam then acted like a jealous two year old) and I honestly think Sawyer is just the best thing for her. Definitely one of the best triangles I’ve read in a while and one that I thought might actually have a chance to win out (if the author had let it, that is. Inserting my sad face and crying rivers of tears… T_T).
I also really love Wade. I can’t say too much about him, but I also feel he would be a good contender for Anna’s heart- not that anything happens between them.

Story pacing is spot on. There was enough going on that I didn’t feel bored or overwhelmed at influx of information. The storyline itself was terrific. It wasn’t just about finding a true love, but finding out who was killing humans, while not being too sure who it was or how it was being done. However, I do feel like the second half the story started to wane and go a bit…crazy. We also had the dreaded ASSUMING relationship woes. Things were fine and dandy up to the point where Anna was starting to get committed (or as commited as one could in that momnet) and then she just goes off into assumption land and ignores Adam’s telepathic messages. Get your head on straight girl and think about the situation you are/were in! A relationship isn’t a one-way street.

We do get some sexy scenes as this is a book geared toward adults and NOT young adults. There’s a lot of mentioning of sex since werewolves are apparently very sexual creatures who get turned on at the drop of hat. However, I do admire Anna for stamping her inner wolves flames for as long as she did, when it was sort of expected of her to sleep with every male there.

I definitely recommend Taming the Wolf if you are into werewolf books that not only have sexy times, but an engaging storyline and mystery.

Review:

**Possible spoilers, very slight and will not ruin the story.

There are a few things that keep me from loving the crap out of this book and yet, at the same time, I practically salivated over every scene. Stray tosses in a lot of things that just don’t work for me and yet somehow, in the end, it manages to completely ensnare me regardless of what I didn’t like and thought was wrong.

Prides/Alphas/and Women: I’ve read this before. The females of the species are rare and ~super special~ because there’s not a lot of them. We never get a full answer of why in Shifters and that bugs me. Why? Because Faythe (what an awful spelling), although ~super special~ is ordered around, over-protected, pushed and tripped, and not taken seriously (for the most part) because she is a female. Not only that, but she basically has an arranged marriage which her father forced her into, or as she said, she fell hard- into his bed and then was told to take it slow. I mean, COME ON NOW. The double standard between the males and females is way too harsh. It’s something that Faythe constantly protests, and in return she’s riddled with threats that make her fearful. Of course, Faythe argues her case like a sixteen year old argues about staying out late- the wrong way (Not to mention she’s 23!!). She doesn’t like the way she’s treated, but she never calls out the double standard. She never says, “I want to be treated exactly like the boys. I want the same privileges and the same course of discipline.” in her arguments. What’s worse is while wanting to be ~free~ she indulges (? No, wrong word…takes for granted) in the fact that females are not disciplined by the same rules, if at all (which her brothers and not-so-boyfriend overlook and give her a hand slap). I’d have skinned her hide on multiple occasions. You want to play with the other big cats? You’ve got to learn to follow the same rules. You can’t have it both ways if you’re fighting for equality.

There’s a slight love triangle, or should I say, lead him on triangle. Marc, Faythe’s ex-boyfriend, is an over-possessive don’t touch my ex or I’ll kill you type with a temper. Why is this type of guy sexy? Yes, he has his sweet moments (and I can’t deny that I drooled a little during their, um, adult scenes), but his possessiveness is off the charts. Then, there’s Jace, smooth talking, make your mouth water Jace. She never denies his advances even when she KNOWS she doesn’t need to take it further. This results in Jace being beaten, all because her ex-boyfriend can’t keep his temper in check. Yes, Faythe leads Jace on, there’s no denying it because she never does anything to stop it. Unless Marc chills with the possessiveness, I’m rooting for Jace hands down.

Don’t even get me started on Faythe. The girl can eat raw deer in werecat form, but can’t stomach fried chicken skin. Am I the only one who sees the problem? Girl, you eat nastier things than the best part of fried chicken. Not only that, but because of certain circumstances she’s says she’d rather die than be raped. She wouldn’t want to save her life, she’d end it so she didn’t have to go through rape. I can’t understand this because I’m entirely the opposite. I would do anything in my power to survive, because my survival ensures that I can kill the bastard and make him suffer. She wants so badly to be independent and free of the Pride, but decides so easily that she’d rather die. I will never understand it and it’s one of the reasons why I can’t relate to her. She’s a damn good fighter and holds her own, but to give up over something when you can survive and dish payback…? *sigh* Faythe is also wishy-washy when it comes to Marc and basically all things. She can’t make up her mind and her attitude is just…I expected more of an adult personality, not a brat.

The story itself is a little predictable if you follow the hints. It’s not a bad story, in fact, like I said above, I was salivating over it. There was some over descriptive paragraphs which I speed read, but mostly the writing had a nice flow that made it easy to read and follow and at the same time was able to keep me on my toes and wanting more. I’ll also say that the side characters are fantastic. From her parents, to her brothers, to even the evil villains- I give them all straight As. They’re what helps give this story life. Without them, Faythe’s story just wouldn’t have been the same.

Base line: Faythe is an annoying character with tendencies that drive me nuts, but not so bad that I can’t feel anything for her at all. Same goes for Marc, I don’t hate him, but he’s got to shape up if he expects me to actually root for him.
There is rape and a sex scene and of course, attempted rape. This isn’t a YA book, at times it can read like one, but it definitely is NOT.

Side observation:
I’m gonna come out and say that it makes no sense for her dad to be pushing Marc onto her. First of all, he’s a Stray and because of such is a ‘second class citizen’. Faythe is, pure-blooded, I guess you could say. Her father is pretty strict on Strays and it’s said Strays are not usually allowed into the Pride. DO YOU SEE? It makes no sense! They fight so hard to patrol and punish Strays, and yet, her dad wants her to…breed with Marc. My mind is blowing. I don’t care if he was saved or whatever. I need a more thorough explanation.

Also: her clothes. (I might be thinking of the next book, but she did wear revealing clothes in Stray too.) It’s just crazy that she wears clothes that show her cleavage and her stomach, then has low riding pants on, but she doesn’t like it when men stare or observe. No, dressing like that does not give men a free pass, but expecting them NOT to look is just stupid. If you hate it so much cover up, otherwise, shut up and suck it up.

PREVIOUS REVIEWS ON THIS SERIES:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound

Review:

Well ladies and gentlemen, I knew it was too good to be true. The dreaded love with conflicts and “You’re too good for mes” has returned. Can’t say I’m happy to see it back, especially considering how awesome the Jane/V combo is. Maybe I hoped that we’d finally get another character like Jane. Who am I kidding, we all have read about Cormia before this, so we knew what she was like. Definitely not the worst character ever, but I can’t say I’d come to her rescue for any kind of reason either.

What gets me is that part of Lover Enshrined is very, very, very good. So good I was practically salivating. Everything to do with John is brilliant. I love it. Unless something changes in the future books, John is one of the main reasons I keep reading. Then, we have his friends Blay and Qhuinn. Talk about a shot between the eyes, I wasn’t expecting what happened between them- and hey, I freely admit I read the summary for Lover At Last after finishing Lover Enshrined, because I’m a glutton for punishment (and I secretly thought maybe I was going to end up with Qhuinn, hey, I’m a fangirl what do you expect?). Then we have that not so little thing with Lash which, again, shot between the eyes because I was so totally not expecting that.

Basically everything that about this book that doesn’t have to do with Cormia and Phury is A++. Which leaves me to say that most parts between the two were very, very, bad. At times I felt like I was reading a wall of text because Phury has so much going on. I mean, yeah, I definitely liked his character before, I wanted to know his story, and now the only thing I can really say is that it didn’t live up to what I was expecting. Maybe I just don’t find his reason for being an addict for two centuries reason enough. Sure, he had a lonely childhood and it sucks that his parents shut themselves down and were awful and it’s terrible about what happened to Z, but seriously? Phury has serious problems. Enough to warrant such an addiction? Meh. I especially hated to read about The Wizard, Phurys, basically, imaginary friend.
I do think Wrath and Z were way to hard on him. They could have put more time into rectifying the problem. They ignored and let it get out of hand. They didn’t help. You can’t just say, “Stop what you’re doing.” and then believe the persons answer- especially if their dependent on drugs. A little too much in my opinion.

Needless to say, I’m disappointed with Phurys side of the tale. Honestly, I was really expecting a novel full of Chosen sex. Honest. One massive orgy and it went unfulfilled.

There’s no skipping Lover Enshrined, however. There’s way too much stuff that’s overly important. If you can get through the wall of text that is at times boring and sleep inducing, you’ll be just fine because what awaits you afterwards is a party of awesome.

Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood #5) by J.R. Ward
502 pages
Published September 25th 2007
Buy at Amazon

PREVIOUS REVIEWS ON THIS SERIES:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed

Review:

Hallejuh! A heroine that is more than just a cardboard cut out! We finally get it. Not only that, but we get a mostly conflict free relationship. Oh how good it feels to finally read about someone NOT assuming in a relationship.
Jane is amazing. A-MA-ZING. She is exactly my kind of strong character. She doesn’t put up with any bull while at the same time making sure her feelings are known. It has been a sort of trend with this series, with the heroines not being able to fully express their feelings or because they held them in something else was assumed. So, to me, Jane is an absolute breath of fresh air.

Vishous, I should say that his story includes some pretty awful abuse and I could almost say trigger warning for certain parts. I do love the fact that he’s into BDSM, not just for the awesome sex scenes (which, btw, were not shown fully when he was in ‘Dom’ mode), but because during a certain part it shows us more of his character. Wish I could elaborate, it’s one of those things that would spoil you. Anywho, his past is full of pain, and so is his present, so it makes a very compelling story. I know I was kept on my toes.
I’m not sure whose past is worst in the Brotherhood. What it really boils down to is everyone’s past has sucked so far and I don’t really think it would be fair of me to compare them. What they all really need is a group hug and group therapy.

We get a lot of Phury in Lover Unbound. Phury and his destructive nature. His very, very, destructive nature. I love his character so much that reading about all he was doing really made me uncomfortable. Let us hope that his book makes him better, otherwise he needs help…badly.

Even better is that this book features no Lesser POV. Yes! Yes! I hate reading about the Lessers in their POV so I was extremely happy. But, because of this we really don’t get any serious fighting except for a few times.

As for the Chosen, I have to say that that whole thing was RIDICULOUS. Not just because a primale gets to ‘mate’ with ALL of the chosen (like 40 females) and he gets a ‘main’ female, but because if a Chosen doesn’t want to give her body to him she’s bound and gagged- FORCED to go through the ritual. Sounds like rape to me and this has been going on for forever! I was totally creeped out and astounded that the Scribe Virgin would let that happen. Especially considering HER own past.

Tons of major plot moments though, mostly centering around Jane and V, but a few elsewhere. Lover Unbound moves at a nice pace and didn’t drag, it did the opposite in fact. It threw me onto a carnival ride that jumbled my insides and made me cry buckets of massive tears. I have heartburn from the tears. If you cried during the others, you will definitely cry with Lover Unbound because the unexpected happens. I literally cried through the last few chapters.
That ending though. I’m gonna have to say it was a cop-out. While I want the very best to always happen, in this case I don’t think it should have. Mean of me, awful of me, but I honestly think it should have been left right where it was.

Overall, I still think the series gets better and better with each passing book. Loved Lover Unbound, and it’s definitely competing with Lover Awakened for the top spot.

SPOILER:
Have you guys noticed that every female so far has become immortal in some way or fashion? Call me crazy, but I’d like for a human to fall in love with a vampire without all the frills and immortality.

PREVIOUS REVIEWS ON THIS SERIES:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened

Review:

This is going to sound crazy, but Lover Revealed is probably my favourite and least favourite of the series so far. If it had just avoided all the romance and communication conflicts it would have been 5 stars easily. Sadly, it blundered through the romance to the point I just didn’t care about Marissa anymore or even their romantic storyline for that matter.

Lover Revealed does do something good: Butch. His storyline is literally going to blow you away when you read it. I always knew Butch was a good character, but this definitely sealed it. Not just that, but Butch becomes more than just the human sidekick. We see things happen to him that are mind numbing and then extraordinary to the point you’re own the edge of your seat wondering just what is going to happen next. Just how is it going to play out. He has one hell of a storyline and it is good. I wish I could share the nitty gritty details, but I would ruin it, sorry. I’m still literally blown away by how awesome reading about him way.

There also a little side…whatever you want to call…it between Butch and Vishous. Not quite romance, not quite brotherly love, but more…? It’s hard to explain, but it’s more than just affection (at least to me). It puts Vishous in a new light. The scenes between the two are wonderful, but it leaves me wondering just what is going on between the two. There is a huge massive spoiler that could solve it (located within Lover Revealed), but I just don’t know. Vishous’s story is next in line so maybe I’ll get it figured out then.

Now for Marissa and Butch. Holly hell at the major communication problems. It’s like having two cups and long darn string. You can’t hear one another even though your speaking. You thought Zsadist had problems…that was a cakewalk compared to this. Yes, the sex was good, but mostly it was angry sex or either sex that was stopped because they couldn’t tell each other what was wrong. “Oh he doesn’t like me.” “She’s yelling at me to leave, she doesn’t want me anymore.” I seriously do not care that Marissa is a whiny virgin because even after sex she is still that way (also my least favourite character now). I do not care that Butch has daddy/family issues. What I do care about is how stupid their relationship is. There. I said it. They have the stupidest relationship ever. They’re so worried about hurting one another that they do the worst thing and avoid asking and telling the number one things to each other that could have solved it all. I don’t know how many times they argued, assumed the worst, and left and fought all because of this. Why are they even in a relationship if they’re just going to assume everything? You cannot read his mind or vice versa, so why are you even assuming what each other feels? **And why is this such a big thing with these books? The assuming, the arguing. It’s OK in moderation, but when you can’t even have a conversation without assuming and then run off only in the end to miraculously overcome it all…WHY?** I’m almost to the point where I wish these books were less focused on romance with “the one” and just let them go off and have casual sex while taking down lessers and continuing the plot.
I’m done with their relationship and I don’t even want to think about it anymore.

We still get multiple POVs and I still do not like reading about the lessers. I do, however, love reading about John. Absolutely love him. He’s a great big shiny light amongst all this and I just feel for him so much! Definitely a great character that I can’t wait to see more from.

All in all, the awful romance really brings me down, because that all-over-the-place thing just doesn’t work for me. There’s a such thing as having to work for your love, but this is just conflict central. BUT, I think it’s a great read solely for Butch, Vishous, and John.

I do not recommend skipping Lover Revealed because you will be missing out a HUGE, massive, shock worthy plot line- and I vouch for its awesomeness.

Miss me, guys? I’ve been pretty sick these last few months and I’ve had a slew of testing done with no answers. My thyroid is very swollen and I have multiple lymph nodes in my neck and jaw area that are swollen, plus with all the fatigue and overall ‘what’s next?’ scenario has really dragged me down. I’m gonna go ahead and post the reviews for this series that I HAVE reviewed. I’m on book 7, but I have my doubts that I will finish it in the next few months.
I have been reading Real Murders by Charlaine Harris and I’ve actually got a few new books and some ARCs, but otherwise, I just haven’t been up for much reading. I even pre-ordered The Indigo Spell and haven’t read but 30 pages or so- I even got it signed! I was so excited for it, so you can see how I’ve been if I didn’t even want to read that. ):

PREVIOUS REVIEWS ON THIS SERIES:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal

Review:

Trigger Warning for Lover Awakened: abuse and rape.

I’m a mess of feelings right now, I truly am.

I’ve always liked Zsadist, even if he has been a bastard this whole time. Maybe it was the whole dark past, brooding, leave me alone I’m going to kill you thing he had going on. Either way, I’ve always known he was going to make for an interesting story, little did I know was that it would be so emotional and heartbreaking. Because, really, Lover Awakened is full of angst, hurt, and love all swirling around Zsadist.
What I loved (and hated) was that he kept his feelings to himself. We could read what he was thinking and know that he wasn’t the bad guy. It was also frustrating because if he just said what he felt he could have avoided certain things, instead he would remain silent.
My heart went out to the poor guy and his aversion to touch and even his reasons for sex. It’s a deep emotional roller-coaster when reading, and even though things would get bad I couldn’t stop reading I had to know if he would get an ending that was satisfying- not that I’m going to tell you all of course.

I even liked his fascination with Bella because he just couldn’t believe that…oh, drat, I can’t say. Bella wasn’t my favourite when she first introduced in the last book, but she’s easily became one of my favourites with her love. As we all know Bella was kidnapped in book two, without spoiling much, as we know that this book is about Bella and Zsadist, so I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but I think Bella was the best thing for Zsadist. I could honestly read the rest of the series in just their POV and be content.

As for the other characters, we do get cameos from Beth and Mary and of course the Brotherhood is there, but Lover Awakened gave me a new look at Phury. I always imagined him in a Buddhist robe even though it’s mentioned multiple times how well he dresses- it’s the celibacy thing. I have so much love for Phury now. Just thinking about all he’s doing makes me incredibly sad. Maybe Zsadist isn’t the worst off character after all…? All these brothers are creeping into my heart. In fact, most of the characters are making a tidy little house in my heart, proving that they’re not going anywhere any time soon.

As for the storyline, it’s pretty much the same as it’s always been. Multiple POVs, damsel in distress, tragic hero, the third wheel (MUH HAH!), but Lover Awakened packs a sad gut twisting punch in more ways than just one. This is a sad, sad book. Still smoking hot like the others, but tragic and sad. Some weird things happen in Lover Awakened as well, especially to Butch and I’m left wondering what is going to happen in the future books that that needed to be done. I have a feeling it’s pivotal.

With this being my third Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, I’m in it to the end. They just get better with each passing book. So, now, I do fully recommend reading them. Please read them in order however, there are things happening that will make no sense if you skip one. Off to devour book four.

PREVIOUS REVIEWS ON THIS SERIES:
Dark Lover

Review:

So, I now see why people love these books. I’m sorry I didn’t see the light sooner! Forgive me.

Lover Eternal is a heartbreaking, toe curling, Rhage loving happy meal. Seriously, if this was marketed in happy meals, I’d be the first in line.
Let me be honest and just prepare you for what’s to come: You WILL cry like a baby, or at least get choked up and overcome with emotion.

For some reason, I like the brothers names: Wrath, Rhage, Phury, Zsadist- they match the characters. Because in this case, Rhage is filled with Rage. Get it? They were silly at first, but reading it’s like how could these names not be awesome? We get our same slew of characters and then a few new ones plus some side stories- Bella: Mary’s next door neighbor who also starts the unraveling for the next book with Zsadist, John (!!!) a young mute guy who ties in the previous book and the next.

Speaking of Rhage, oh my dear, how I love you so much. I loved how not only did we get to know Rhage better, but the beast inside him as well. We’re shown that inside him is a beast, but until Lover Eternal, we didn’t get to see if there was actually anything to the beast. Let me just say that the reason he was cursed is so silly. Beyond silly. Why would you curse a person for what he did? Especially since the curse to him was a living hell. The Scribe Virgin is a royal bitch.

Mary, oh our sweet Mary. Her hardships hit close to home and I was rooting for her. She is a little dense in thinking that Rhage doesn’t like her, to the point I just wanted to shake her. What is it with characters that interpret actions as something else when it is obvious what was going on? The bitter exchange of words is strong because of her density. I do really like her character though, all things considered. What’s amazing is that they didn’t have sex when they first met! It took them awhile and I’m glad! I actually believed and liked their relationship more because of it.

There were pieces of conversation that made no sense to me. I know I read Lover Eternal wicked fast, but I’m sure it’s because the conversation actually didn’t make sense and not because of how I read. Thankfully, it only happened about twice. Once was with a conversation with V and Mary and the other I can’t quite remember.
POV switches were a bit easier this time. I still do not enjoy reading in the Lessers POV, for some reason it bores me to tears. I actually dread reading it and visibly sigh when I reach their POV.

Overall, I think I’m officially a convert.

Review:

I wanted to love the crap out of this book. I’ve heard so many bloggers raving about it that I finally gave into temptation. And honestly, I’m still not 100% sure of my feelings for it.

What really threw me off was the point of view (POV) changes. We switch from Beth, to Wrath, Darius, Mr. X, Butch, and so on. I have a really hard time adjusting when reading in multiple characters POV. Yes, the POV changes gives us in depth knowledge so we can better understand the others. I realize that and accept it, but that doesn’t mean I’ve got to like it. I’ll admit, I speed read some POVs, because I just wasn’t interested. Beth I liked, Wrath I liked (can I hug you, please?), but I could leave all the rest behind in a cloud of dust.

I wish I could say that I’m head over heels with Beth (our half-breed) and Wrath’s relationship, but I’m not. It started off really nice and scorching. When I say scorching, I mean burning hot, so hot not even a air-conditioned room would cool you. Half way through everything started to feel too simple. She was in love with him and him with her and they would do anything for each other. You’ve known each other for what…days? It was frustrating to say the least.
I would have loved to see a steady build up of love in the span of two books, I think that’s what it needed, because I just can’t believe everything that happened in such a short amount of time. Don’t get me wrong, I like the couple, I think they’re jazzy, but I just have a hard time believing in them. It was serious case of instant love and having sex within the first 5 minutes of meeting.

Can I just say how crazy that is? You meet and then you’re like, “Oh baby, I’ve never felt this way before. No ones ever made me feel this way.” And I’m all like, “O RLY? Tell me more.” Why are you acting like you’ve just went into heat? If you’ve ever seen a cat go into heat, you’ll know Beth is the prime human…vampire hybrid example. Not that I’m complaining about the sex, but I’m just amazed at how quick it happened.

Not only that, but our friendly neighborhood cop Butch is also attracted to Beth and then he meets someone else and it’s insta-love all over again. I do like Butch though, I like his interactions with the Brotherhood and I think they’re exactly what he needed.

Story wise, it’s intriguing, if you don’t count the obligatory damsel in distress and wounded warrior scenario. The Brotherhood is actually an interesting mix of characters and they’re really what made me push on. (Leather, big, big men, muscles, personalities that you can’t resist. Can I sign up for one?) I had moments where I felt like I was reading for nothing. I’d ask myself, “Why am I still reading this?” I couldn’t (and still can’t) figure out why I did keep pushing on.

Did I enjoy Dark Lover? Sort of. There are highlight moments that really shine, but really it was just sort of ‘meh’ for me. Will I read the next book? Yes, I’m going to go ahead and see if I can’t finish the series or at least read the stories of the brotherhood I really like (Zadist!!).