Title: Lover Reborn
Series: The Black Dagger Brotherhood bk.11
Author: J.R Ward
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Ever since the death of his shellan, Tohrment is a heartbroken shadow of the vampire leader he once was. Brought back to the Brotherhood by a self-serving fallen angel, he fights again with ruthless vengeance- and is unprepared for a new tragedy. Seeing his beloved in dreams—trapped in a cold, desolate netherworld—he turns to the angel to save his former mate, only to despair at the path he himself must take to set her free. As war with the lessers rages, and a new clan of vampires vies for the Blind King’s throne, Tohr struggles between an unforgettable past, and a future that he doesn’t know he can live with… but can’t seem to turn away from.
JR Ward certainly hit it out of the park with Lover Reborn. She made me laugh, She made me cry hell she made me curse.
I have to tell you first off I wasn’t happy with the idea of Tohr getting a new mate. I haven’t gotten passed the killing of Wellsie. I figured it couldn’t get passed it than how could Thor. But once I started reading the book, I realized the whole point to the story is that he’s not over her. He can’t let go of his Shellan and by holding on to her so desperately, he is preventing her from going into the fade. Wellsie and their baby are trapped in the in-between and their spirits are fading. As Lassiter explains, either Tohr needs to find a way to let the go or there will be nothing left of the women he loved and the child he never knew.
Lover Reborn takes up just weeks after the events of Lover Mine and felt so much more like a continuation of it than the last one. No’One is staying with the Brotherhood, Hoping to get to know her daughter and make amends. She finds herself becoming friends with Tohr. She knows he still mourns his wife, which actually makes her more comfortable around him than other males. Their friendship and Lassiter’s nudging led her to make the offer of her blood to him when he’s in need. From there, the bond between them grows.
It’s definitely not an easy road and it’s one filled with starts and stops. (And I felt it drag occasionally, especially early on.) Tohr’s grief is tangible, but there are times his behavior is extreme and harsh. No’One is a difficult heroine to get excited about. She is meek and subservient, broken and pitiful. She puts up with alot of crap and sometimes stretches the limits of believability in how accommodating she is. I like that their relationship is an evolution; that there is no quick fix. And we see them move forward through trial and error.
All the while things pop up between Xhex and John Matthew. The honeymoon phase of their relationship is over quickly. And they are struggling to reconcile Xhex’s warrior nature with John’s instincts as a bonded male.
The Band of Bastards were also brought back with their plans to overthrow the king. And in doing so, Ward sets up a fabulous possibility that I never saw coming.
The end, which was amazing. I cried and cried and cried. Ward saved the most powerful punch for the last few chapters and left me feeling satisfied, optimistic, and excited for what’s ahead.
Grade A+
Favorite quotes:
“Don’t be an asshole”
Rhage summed up the regurgitation with two words: “Kettle.Black.”
Fucking hell. “Did you guys plan that out?”
“Yeah and if you don’t fight us”- Hollywood bit down on the grape Tootsie Pop-“we’ll do it again- only with the dance moves this time”
“Spare me.”
“Fine.Unless you agree to home it,we WILL rock the dance moves.” To prove the point ,the moron linked his palms behind his head and started doing something obscene with his hips. Which was backed up by a series of,”Uh-huh,uh-huh,ohhhh, yeeeeeeah,who’s your daddy…”
The others looked at Rhage like he’d grown a horn in the middle of his forehead. Nothing unusual there. And Tohr knew that, in spite of this ridiculous diversion,if he didn’t cave,the lot of them would crawl so far up his ass,he’d be coughing up shitkickers.
Rhage wheeled around,shoved out his butt,and started slapping his moneymaker like it was bread dough.
“For the love of the Virgin Scribe,”Z muttered “put us out of this misery, and go the fuck home”
Someone else chimed in, “You know, I never thought there were advantages to being blind…”
“Or deaf”
“Or mute,” somebody added”
― J.R. Ward, Lover Reborn
“My name’s Lassiter, and I’ll tell you all you need to know about me. I’m an angel first and a sinner second, and I’m not here for long. I’ll never hurt you, but I’m prepared to make you pretty goddamn uncomfortable if I have to, to get my job done. I like sunsets and long walks on the beach, but my perfect female no longer exists. Oh, and my favorite hobby is annoying the shit out of people. Guess I’m just bred to want to get a rise out of folks—probably the whole resurrection thing.”
“And if that bastard’s innocent,” Rhage spoke up, “I’m the fucking Easter bunny.”
“Oh, good,” someone quipped. “I’m calling you Hop-along Hollywood from now on.”
“Beasty Bo Peep,” somebody else threw out.
“We could put you in a Cadbury ad and finally make some money—”
“People,” Rhage barked, “the point is that he is not innocent and I’m not the Easter bunny—”
“Where’s your basket?”
“Can I play with your eggs?”
“Hop it out, big guy—”
“Will you guys fuck off ? Seriously!”
