Week 10 ~ Lover Revealed

Week 10 ~ Mar 5-11, 2007

Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #4)
J.R. Ward
(paranormal romance)

Wow. Just - wow.

I devoured this book. (Read it in 5 hours, forgoing sleep and everything.)

What can I say without giving spoilers? Well, first of all, this is the 4th in the series, and while you could probably start anywhere and understand the plot (the author's good like that) you will not enjoy the books that come before as much if you read them out of order, because there are definitely spoilers in each book for the series that has come before. This is not a read-out-of-order type of series.

Those of you who are not already fans of the series, go here and here and here to read my thoughts on the previous books in the series. I highly suggest that - unless you don't like vampires or won't read romances - you go pick these up and read them. RIGHT NOW. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Ok, you're back now? Didn't I tell you that this series was that good? So: now I can go into Lover Revealed a bit. Here's what I can say about book #4 without giving anything (major) away...

• If you didn't like Marissa before, or if you thought she was weak and unworthy of Butch, change your mind now.
  
• Any doubts you have about Butch and V's relationship should be cleared up in this book. And wow, what a bond they share.
  
• There are great scenes with nearly all of the favorite characters from past books. And some not-so-favorite characters. But great scenes, the lot of them.
  
• Butch gets his due in this book. (Rightly so, as he's its hero.) He meets up with the lessers and the Omega, has a test of loyalty, and comes to terms with whether or not he's good enough for the woman he loves. And he also reconnects with his family a bit, too.

I have a hard time placing these books in an order of which of them is my favorite. The only one I can do that with is #3, which is my least favorite of them, and that's because it's so raw and deals with issues that are so painful to the characters involved. This book, while no walk in the park for the characters, has a healthier feel to it. I will certainly be re-reading it at least once this year alone. For someone with a TBR list as large as mine, there isn't much higher praise than that.