Lover Unbound: BDB Book 5

Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 5) by J. R. Ward

Product Description
The ruthless and brilliant brother Vishous possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of a human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time-until a destiny he didn’t choose takes him into a future that does not include her…

Ranting review with major spoilers
*channels JM and screams silently*  I am raving lunatic mad.  To the point where I may do one of two things: become catatonic or, more likely, punch a baby in the nose.  I mean WTF? Of all the dumb things I have read…this just boils my blood and takes the cake! I can’t stress enough how peeved I am.  What a huge disappointment!

When I first started Lover Unbound, I was sure I had finally found my favorite book and brother of the series.  This book is all about the delicious Vishous, and I was so happy to finally get to his story.  The book started out so strong.  I loved it.  With no lessers POV BS to have to read through, in this book we find out that Vishous’s mother is the Scribe Virgin, and V has been chosen to be the Primale of the vampire race.  He is to take 40 female mates and procreate.  Sound like fun, but naturally V is not into fulfilling his destiny.

When V get shot by what we assume to be a lesser, he is rushed to a human hospital where Jane, a doctor, saves his life.  Instantly, V is drawn to her, and when the brothers come to rescue him, V insists that they take Jane with them.  And, although Jane had been kidnapped, she quickly gets over it and falls in love with V.

All the subplots seemed to be working together nicely.  JM finally transitions, Phury loses his V-card in a bathroom with a hooker, and we even get some time with Zsadist.  Some new characters that have great potential are introduced, but best of all, the chemistry and interaction between Butch and V did not fade, in fact, it grew stronger.

Reading these books almost consecutively, I felt like the author really improved her writing style with detailed descriptions that were not boring but interesting and insightful.  I also appreciated the improvement in the use of humor, with clever lines of dialogue sprinkled throughout the story.

But that all got jacked up the moment Ward brought Jane back from the dead as a MF ghost! Why? Why?? Why??? *seethes* Yes, Jane dies.  She is shot by a lesser and dies in V’s arms.  Two days later, the Scribe Virgin brings her back for her son…as a lame ass ghost.   To add insult to injury, as if she knew fans of the series would question this, Ward addresses through JM and Z why we should accept the why of it being possible for Jane to come back from the dead but not Wellsie (Tohr’s mate who was killed by a lesser in book 3). So now V is stuck with a ghost as his shellan.  As the brothers would say… Whatever.

I’m struggling to rate this book.  The way it ended was enough to end my mad love for the series; yes, I’m that pissed off about it.  Ghost Jane even goes back to visit her colleague, Manny, who I feel is going to be part of the series somehow in the future (maybe V’s twin sister’s mate), and all I could think was lame!  So, I will probably take a break from the series and come back when I can get the stench of lame off of me (which may be never).  

The best thing about the series is all the great fan art out there.  Seems like there are legions of dedicated fans! Wonder if the brotherhood knows there are a lot of willing females ready to be their shellans!

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Posted at 4:47 am  •  Labels: 2010, 3 stars, BDB, Book Review, J.R. Ward, Kindle Edition, paranormal romance, Vampires