J.R. Ward- Lover Unleashed

Well where to begin??? First I thought I read V's book well over a year ago- so I was a little shocked to read another book with 85% of the story about V. Of course I know Payne is his sister so he would def. have to show up but, IMO he controlled this book. I love V, not so crazy about his mate Doc Jane but he needs to man up and get over his crap- lol and yes that is my opinion again. I wanted more Qhuinn and Blay, the snippets we got in this book were not enough to wet my whistle on those two. Payne...what can I say about her, I think she is a wonderful character. She showed more love for her brother in this book than I expected from her. I thought she was going to be a real hard ass and not have feelings since she was stuck on the Other Side for so long. I loved that she killed the Bloodletter for what he did to her brother, it just bumped her up in my eyes. Knowing what she felt for Manny from the first time she met him but not knowing what to do with those feelings was great to me, wanting to be with him but knowing she had to stay away from him to protect him was awesome.  Oh Boy- Manny, I knew he was going to be related to one of them somehow. That to me was a given with his size. It takes true love to fight past the mental block they put on you when they wipe your mind but he did it, even with the headaches from Hell. When V brought Manny back to help his sister I was like "finally he is doing something for someone else but then he went off and acted stupid with the candles and the lessers" Ugh!! I am looking forward to hearing more from this new couple (Payne & Manny not the candles and lessers lol) in the next books. So let's jump over to Butch- was he a stand up guy in this book or what?? I knew he loved V and was not shocked that he was willing to do anything to help save his friend. I enjoyed the book I just didn't love it as much as I did the first 5 or 6 books. Seriously where was Z???? He should have at least one whole chapter in each book!! The whole side story with the cops & serial killer just felt completely out of place to me.

My Rating: 4- Wendy

OK number 1 totally agree with Wendy about V. And the side stories made no sense to me, how was it connected?  Did I miss something? Is the new cop something more? It was like filler in the book. I had my hopes that Phury would play more of a part in the bringing of Payne over to this side since he is the Primale and all.. But NOOOOOO! I was told by Ward in one of the chats that she would bring Phury's story back to him being the Male of Worth before his book.. that didn't happen. I wanted so much more of Payne and Manny.. I did love the fact that Payne kinda makes him young again and because of that maybe he doesn't have to go through what Butch had to. Speaking of Butch, this book has moved him way up the list for me, he use to sit at the bottom but not anymore.. OK now to shock everyone.. I'm so tired of Q and Blay, I'm so ready for them to be together and be happy I could scream. Plus I also didn't like that Wraith wanted to keep Payne and Manny apart when half the mates in the house are human. I know there are a lot of V fans so I think that's way he got so much time in this book, but it seems unfair to us. Did we really get to know Payne or just V's sister. And I know the Band of Bastards had a huge role so we can have more books about the Brothers or is that just my opinion?

My Rating: 4- LT

Sitting here I am nodding my head and agreeing with both of your opinions. If you want a tale like one of the first Black Dagger books, forget it. Ward has changed her style of writing. No more is it a story about two main characters that in the end, despite huge obstacles, find an HEA. In Lover Unleashed, Payne and Manny do NOT get their moment in the limelight. Too many plot lines, new characters, and a self absorbed Vishous grab the front line in this story. While this problem that V has unfolds in the chapters, I couldn't help but feel disappointment because all of this should have been a part of Lover Unbound instead. If Ward whips out the " I'm a naughty boy that feels bad and doesn't like myself so please beat the hell out of me, " one more time I don't think I will be able to stand it. Let's move on,... literally.  Only a sneak peak of Qhuinn and Blay, for the most part, wasn't a surprise and oh how I wanted more. Their turn is coming. What was a shocker was the vision seen by Qhuinn. Again, repetition.V has the corner on seeing visions. Lets try to pull something else out of the hat. Jumping from tale to tale, I don't understand yet about the, Thomas DelVecchio Jr. character that LT mentioned, or why there wasn't anymore about the whole ghost thing and Mhurder that was left hanging in Lover Mine. The Band of Bastards led by Xcor introduce a great can of worms to add to future reads. Throe, and Zypher are names that beg to be duplicated in chapters to come along with many of our established personal favorite characters from the past. In the end the book was good, even though from what I just wrote it doesn't sound like it. The world of The Black Dagger Brotherhood will always be at the top of my list and I look forward to the next installment.

My Rating 3- Shonna

I liked this book. Vishous is my favorite brother so of course I enjoyed reading more about him. The parts with Jane and him had me almost forgetting that Jane was a ghost, which I think is what JR intended. I personally think fans were so disappointed with the way V's bk ended that she (JR) felt compelled to give V and Jane a better storyline. I love that they will be formally mated, although I must admit I didn't really notice that they weren't. I also loved that Butch and V are still tight and Butch was the one who helped V come to terms with who he is and the why of it. And I was pleasantly surprised by Payne's personality. She was a lot more feminine than I thought she would be and I liked that. Her and Manny made a wonderful couple. Manny is a great guy and deserves his HEA with Payne. Also I think JR did a wonderful job incorporating the new characters into the series. I look forward to reading much more about the "band of bastards". I already like Xcor and Throe, although I'm not too happy about Xcor thinking he is going to usurp Wrath from being King. That will be an interesting story. And I hope there is more storyline about the new cop on the beat, Veck. All in all this was a good book for me. There was lots of new info and lots of new questions along with some old ones being answered. I liked it better than the last three (being Phury's, Rhev's and JM/Xhex's). SO, I am giving this bk a 4.5. Not quite as good as the first three in the series, but still very good.

My rating. 4.5- Terena

I'm with Wendy, LT and Shonna on this one. EVEN though V is by far my favorite Brother, but the end I wanted to bitch slap him! He whines like a little girl! It's odd, even though I know that Doc Jane is a ghost who can be corporeal I never remember she is a ghost at all. I think that Ward has too many story lines going on. I think she is trying to please every one of her fans. She did say that Veck, the new cop will be the hero of the next Fallen Angel book. so she had to introduce him someway. I REALLY wanted Payne to be a lesbian! LOL! I know that she's not but damnit, I wanted her to be! I knew that going in she wasn't since her HEA was Manny (but a girl can always dream, right?) I loved the whole "get your glow on" thingy. Manny is probably singing an old Debby Boone song "You "light" up my life." LMIAO! I thought that Xcor released Payne way too quickly when he had her kidnapped, or was that just me? I really thought the Brothers' were going to come to the rescue and fuck some people up. I didn't think we got to see ENOUGH of Manny and Payne at all!  Don't get me wrong I am so ready for Blay & Qhuinn to be together and I am ROYALLY PISSED that they ARE ONLY getting a novella. I understand that some of the readership may not like the whole M/M storyline but I'm sure to the majority it doesn't matter one iota. I think they are two of the best characters in the whole series. The BoB's (Band of Bastards) I think are going to be a great storyline. I think there needs to be drama with the whole "royalty" of the vampire world. I love Wrath but he seems to be getting set in his ways or maybe we just haven't heard much from him, other than he has Beth and George. Zypher and Throe are two men after my own heart.....KINKY (a.k.a motel scene) and I think Zypher is perpetually HORNY! (yes, I know it was Xcor and Throe there but Zypher was trying to get some at a couple of places in the book) Now now now, I've loved Butch ever since the beginning! Who wouldn't with a Baaahhhstonn accent! I would love to have a friend like him. Who would do ANYTHING for me. I know he and V will have a very long history and relationship together, and even though a lot of people on the boards said they were glad they didn't have sex, I, for one wanted to see them "do it." But then you have the whole "cheating" thing going on and I don't believe in cheating. They just seem so damn right for each other. Ugh!  I hope that Ward goes back to her OLD style of writing. I miss those types of books.

My rating....2.75 - Dawn

As a common thread here, I anticipated reading Lover Unleashed and was disappointed with the time allotted to Manny and Payne and felt like their story was overshadowed by Vishous and Jayne's "issues" and hopefully we won't have to deal with this again and Ward can close that chapter. But on that note I must admit I was compelled to continue reading, which surprised me because V is not one of my favorites, but I ended this book liking him much more. As stated above, this is not the same formula used for the first three or four books as far as HEA's go but the writing is still worth the read. The change actually started at Lover Enshrined (all hail Phury - right LT? lol) with the shift from PNR to a more Urban PN feel, which is needed for us (the readers) if we wanted to continue to be part of their world. Once the original BDB's had their HEA's where was she to go? So I'm good with the change. I just hope that the series doesn't get to "watered down". I enjoyed the duality of Payne - Warrior / Chosen. I thought she'd be busting balls out the gate and we'd have a repeat of Xhea, who is kicks-ass and takes names later, and is awesome. So I was surprised with the poise and softness that was present with Payne. She is so confident as a warrior, stoic and self-assured but as a woman not so much and that was refreshing. I loved how Manny was all about Payne from the moment he laid eyes on her and her willingness to "learn" from him. And Manny, man I loved how he shoved it back in V's face and called it like he saw it. I also enjoyed that he embraced being human. I was rolling my eyes think how is this one going to unfold? Even though his life has forever changed and essentially will live forever as long as Payne is "healing" him, they choose to accept how they are at the moment, not needing confirmation of lineage. Sweet that Butch and Manny are related. And Butch, yeah baby! What a freakin' awesome friend right?! Though Dawn wished they did the deed, I'm glad they didn't. They shared so much more intimacy than the act itself and have a bond that is irreplaceable.  This book did add a multitude of story lines, which is needed for the series to continue and the feel of the book (for me) was similar to a first book of a series, laying the ground work. Qhuinn well I'm interested in seeing where his "transformation" leads to. I like him more and more. With the vision of the young girl who looked like Layla but had Qhuinn's eyes makes me wonder if he will step in as a surrogate. Wouldn't that rock the Glymera? And our new bad boys in town, I think they have added a nice new texture to the mix and will be stirring up trouble all over. Also makes me wonder if this Band of Bastards will see Qhuinn as one of them since he isn't up to Glymera standard? And Mhurder will he hook up with the boys. Though leaving DelVecchio in such a mess will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. Ahh, my thoughts run ramped with thoughts and questions.

My Rating: 4- Laura

I agree with you all. I did think it was more about V instead of Payne/Manny. I was glad to know that Manny is related to them. Also I loved how Manny cares for Glory and Payne. I loved that Payne healed Glory for him. I am glad she introduced the new Band of Bastards but they might cause trouble for the Brotherhood and I don't like that. But I would like to know about Zypher and Throe. I would have liked to see more Quinn/Blay. I believe she was putting too much in one book. Payne and Manny are both great and I felt they truly deserve one another and Manny will fit right in with all the brothers. This wasn't one of the best but I can't wait for Tohrment's book.

My rating : 3- Sandy

I have to give it a 4...I liked it. I have to agree with all of the above statements. I was hoping for more about Payne and Manny and wasn't expecting as much about Vischous. There were so many off shoots with characters that I thought it would start getting good about Payne and Quinn and then switch back to Vischous...Didn't like that so much. I can't wait to see how the BOB story lines play into the future books. I was impressed with the development of Payne's role and then the twist regarding Manny's parentage. It wasn't my favorite Ward book...usually I can't put them down, but this one took me 3 days to read (unusual for me). Quinn needs his own story, not intermingled with everyone elses and I felt that Manny and Payne's story was left open...not enough answers.

Jody