'Lover Unbound' by J.R. Ward

ISBN: 0451222350
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 528pp
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: September 2007
Price: $7.99

I’ve heard J.R. Ward’s name a million times. Any time paranormal romance comes up, The Black Dagger Brotherhood series is always recommended reading. And all I’ve heard are good things. So I planed to pick up a book when I saw one, add it to my to-be-read pile, and I figured I would get around to it eventually.

This last weekend I was in my local super center and I saw a copy of Lover Unbound. When I picked it up I was surprised by how thick the book was; 502 page of small black type. I went ahead and bought it, thinking that I wouldn’t get around to it anytime soon.

Well Saturday night I picked it up. I wasn’t going to read it. I just wanted to browse a few pages. I told myself this firmly, I have so many other books I need to be reading. But once I picked Lover Unbound up I literally could not put it down. At four in the morning my husband finally made me turn the lights out.

Lover Unbound is the fifth book in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I haven’t read the rest of them, although I will now, but coming into the fifth book as a newbie was no problem. J.R. Ward fills in the details along the way and while you know that a lot of the characters have their own back stories the main focus of the novel is a new couple. So in a way it could stand on its own, though I bet it is better as a whole.

Vishous is a member of the Brotherhood, a select order of elite vampires who hunt lessers, which are a kind of vampire as well. There is a whole vampire hierarchy and the Brotherhood is pretty high up. But even though Vishous is a member of this select group he is still on the fringes. Having survived a horrible existence as a youth, Vishous is broken and hard with a taste for both sexes and S&M.

Jane is an ambitious doctor, head of emergency, and when Vishous comes under her care she takes an interest in him. With his facial tattoos, goatee, and six-foot muscled-up frame, he is quite an eye full. But Jane isn’t interested in what he looks on the outside; what catches her eye is his six-chambered heart. When the rest of Vishous’ brothers come to break him out of the hospital, they take Jane with them against her will.

There are a million storylines here. Characters from previous books come back, their storylines continuing, while new characters are introduced. But the main attraction is the story of Jane and Vishous. But even their love story isn’t simple; obstacle after obstacle is thrown in their way. Vishous’ destiny has been outlined for him and nowhere in that future is there room for Jane.

I’ve heard that this is the weakest of the series and I have to tell you Lover Unbound is pretty freaking fantastic. The pages fly, the characters draw you in and hold you with a strangle hold, and you are simply compelled to keep turning. I thought that 502 pages would be too long but by the time I reached the end I realized that it was not nearly long enough. I have a new favorite author.