Wednesday, October 17, 2007

'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.

13 comments:

T.C. Robson said...

Lover Unbound sounds like a title for one of those dirty romance novels, but this sounds like a pretty good, complex read. I'd be curious to see what they mean about the facial tattoos, though.

Katie said...

It's a great read. And I would say that this for sure would be considered one of those dirty romance novels... the S&M goes a long toward putting it in that category. And the facial tattoos that Vichous had were on his temples, stylized vampire words of some kind. But if you aren't really into romance novels or the vampire stuff I wouldn't read this one. It's in your face about a lot of things, sex being the main one.

Skeeter said...

S&M, six chambered hearts, and romance ... now that's something you don't hear everyday. Interesting review.

T.C. Robson said...

On the temples? Ouch. Seems like it'd hurt. It may be something I look into later on...got books piling up that are beckoning me first. I'm sure you can relate.

Love the new header, Katie! That ink stencil effect is so cool!

Katie said...

Skeeter, it was so good!!! I'll have to tell you all about it tonight.

Sevenine, I know exactly what you mean about books starting to pile up. I've got so many that I HAVE to review for someone and then I've got all the ones I've bought hoping I would have time to read them.

I'm not too sure I liked this header or not. My husband got some new programs and was trying them out. I think I'm going to have him make me a new one.

T.C. Robson said...

I was searching the store today for this one, and I encountered one by J. R. Ward, but I forgot what the title was for this one. The one I saw was 'Dark Lover' or something like that. I was pretty close to picking it up, but with all the books I still need to read, I decided against it for now.

T.C. Robson said...

If you'd like, I could try whipping up something of a header for you. Haven't done it in a while, but I need to brush the dust of my Photoshop skills anyway. :) I'd have to do it over the weekend, though - got two articles I need to write and a creative writing assignment to whip through first.

Anonymous said...

Did the ending alter your opinion about the book? I know you thought it was odd, as did I, but did it tick you off or make you wonder what was going on?

Yoga Gal said...

Great title "love unbound"!

Katie said...

Sevenine, 'Dark Lover' is the first in the series, if you see that one again, pick it up. I've read that they are best read in order and that the first one is one of the best. If you read it before me you will have to tell me what you thought of it.

Don't worry about the header, my husband is working on a new one for me. Plus you are so busy! You've got school and stuff... he's not working at the moment so it's good for him to have something to do during the day :) thank you though! that is very sweet of you :)

Katie said...

Scooper, after thinking about the ending for a few days...I thought it was ok. It didn't really change how I felt about the rest of the story though because they still ended up together and that was all I really wanted. It would have been great if she didn't become a ghost but... I don't know. It was odd but then that's ok. It wasn't the normal path that most books follow and that was nice.

Katie said...

Yoga Gal, it is a great title but it's an even better book

T.C. Robson said...

Will do. :) I make a trip to the grocery store to get...toothpaste. I don't know. Then I'll get the book then.

Nah, not as busy as you think. I've basically wrapped up my news stuff (for now), and I don't have much to do at the moment in my other classes...though I probably should start on that British Literature paper. That's always a pain.