Lover Unbound

Author: J.R. Ward
Published: September 25, 2007 (Signet)
Category: Paranormal Romance
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #5
Rating: 7/10

This is a big book in comparison to the first four novels in the series. I'm not entirely sure why I keep reading these Black Dagger Brotherhood books, as I scoff at the ridiculous word spellings (pretty much sprinkling random h's to create another language) and the way the warriors dress (leather pants are a must). At this point, I just want to find out what happens.

Lover Unbound tells the story of Vishous, the guy with the glowing hand that can kill anything it touches, unless it's Butch (or was his vamp name Dhestroyer?). In that case, they have some sort of symbiotic relationship going with their respective weird powers, and Vishous is struggling with his crush on Butch. But then he gets some unwelcome news: his mom's actually the Scribe Virgin (vampire version of God) and his destiny is to become Primale to the Chosen. That means he's got to sire children on forty wives, but the problem is... he might not be attracted to them because he's very much into dom-sub sex play. Who said this wasn't complicated?

He winds up in the hospital, treated by Dr. Jane Whitcomb, brilliant surgeon with a crappy childhood despite rich parents. Apparently, it's not easy being rich. Vishous is immediately attracted to her and kidnaps her. She proves a very unwilling captive, but the discovery of these new race fascinates her and keeps her occupied. As she spends more time with Vishous, she doesn't want to go back to her old life (she knew V would wipe her memory) and lose him. She knows she can't be with him because he's supposed to take on forty wives to further the vampire race.

The annoying factors that were present in the previous books were toned down. I especially appreciated the lack of chapters told from the viewpoint of the lessers (immortal bad guys who smell like baby powder and hunt vampires). In the previous books, I'd skim through those chapters so I could get back to the couple of the moment. There's also less (although not completely eliminated) brand name and hiphop song mentioning. Usually in series, you see previous couples in cameos in later books, but that doesn't really happen in Ward's books. Maybe you'll see Wrath in the course of Brotherhood business, but Beth and the other previous heroines see very little screentime if they're mentioned at all. I'm not even sure if Mary made an appearance, besides a mention of her charity work in passing.

I was left with a big "huh??" at the end of the book. I think the other books have a twist at the end where the hero is about to lose his lady love, only to make some big life change in order to get their woman back. This one was the weirdest one yet. The book is also bulked up by the addition of John's side story, where he finally undergoes his transition, but has a host of problems that come along with it, mainly dealing with his sexual needs when he was abused before being adopted by the Brotherhood. I am very excited about Phury's story, which comes next in the summer of 2008; I guess I find the twins the most interesting characters of the bunch.