Lover Mine: BDB Book #8 Review

Where do I even begin? Hmm. Maybe with.. when does the next book come out??

J.R. Ward has officially become my new hero author. Really. This woman can pull off every emotion in every book and still leave you feeling... good, by the end! And trust me when I say that this book has the whole spectrum of emotions. You will most definitely laugh and cry, as well as feel lots of anger towards certain situations. But, as always, J.R. takes you on an unbelievably creative, inspiring, and hellaventurous ride that will leave you asking when the hell does the next book come out?!

Just as in all the BDB books, we follow the extremely smexy, testosterone filled, emobaggage toting warriors and their shellans in their battle against the Lessening Society-- or more simply put: evil bastards. Hell, these brothers have so much heartfail baggage collectively they need their own terminal in the middle of their manse. And this book did not disappoint in the need to rip your heart out and stomp on it -- and then stitch it lovingly back together! 

Lover Mine, by J.R. Ward, is the eighth book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and in my opinion, is the best book yet in terms of writing style and her gifted creativity! (Zsadist and Vishous are still, however, my lovers! *giggles*) J.R. has pulled off some of the most hilarious lines yet written (ie: Plastic Fantastic), some of the most heart felt story lines, and some of the most provocative and *coughs* erotic scenes to date, in this book of the series! With that being said, because of the context of this book, I must first start off saying that, I highly recommend that you have read the previous books in the series -- especially book seven -- before you dive into this book. Some of the sub-context may be lost if you read this as a stand alone book. Many of the subplots from book seven are reintroduced and built upon in book eight-- including the pick-up of where book seven left off: the abduction of Xhex by vampass turned fore-lessor, Lash.

The focus for book eight is on the characters John Matthew and Xhex. But, while the establishment of their complicated relationship is the essential driving point behind the main plot, it is their amazingly creative and extremely heart felt back stories that build the foundation for them to eventually come together upon. I was simply amazed at the ingeniousness of J.R. in how she flawlessly wove back stories in to present day context, until you reach the end and have one hell of an Ah-ha moment! From the very first page you are introduced to the back story.

"PROLOGUE

The Bloodletter's War Camp, Old Country, 1644" 

We see some of the critical history between the brothers Darius and Thorment through these short insights that consecutively continue to build that shed additional light not just on the their history and how they became so close, but also how it relates to the present day time line. J.R. obviously spent some major time developing the consistency and creative plot twist that the history of the two provides. An interesting line that J.R. writes -- that I could spend a whole other post analyzing-- that can be used to represent the book , series, and all the characters, but ties both literally and metaphorically well into this particular book is:

"There were two timelines to people's lives: the absolute and the perceived. The absolute was the universal day-and-night cycle that for them added up to something like three hundred and sixty-five. Then there was the way that time period had gone, the events, the deaths, the destruction, the training, the fighting."

Just as in all of the books, you will connect with and see different sides to the characters that will make you love them even more! Obviously, you will see sides to both Xhex and John Matthew, that you haven't seen before. The first three words that come to mind when I think about the undeniable connection these two share are: Loyalty. Possession. Passion. I have always been hesitant towards my feelings about these two hooking up since the first thought of smexin one another came in to play. But, man was I happy to be put in my place in reguards to my opinion. Their stories really do parallel each other -- and I mean that in the most literal way-- without giving any spoilers! 

Both characters are battling past and present demons -- and I don't just mean Lash and his Lessor followers. Each of their stories are of hardship, hurt, betrayal, abandonment, and self-degradation. But, through their realization of their true feelings for one another, they find healing in their own unique way. Both have been 'hardened' by their life experiences and are only willing to allow each other to break through those erected walls. 

And, anyone for a Blay/Quinn hookup?? *raises hand*. Okay, so they don't actually 'hookup', but the attraction between the two continues to grow, to a point it's almost tragically palpable, leaving me with some major predictions for the future. Or, at least I can only hope!

With a healthy dose of all the main characters -- including Phury rejoining the Brotherhood in their fighting quest to rid the lessors-- this book truly has it all! Including some previously introduced characters that I just KNOW will eventually graduate from supporting to main characters. And I freaking can't wait! 

Bravo J.R., in an another amazing book that held my interest from the first sentence to the last! I can't wait to see what you do with some of the new developments and the new kick ass characters!