I managed to break away from endless days of edits, workshops and contest judging to finally do a bit of reading. Of course the book in question was one I couldn’t wait, yet dreaded reading. It was with great trepidation that I picked up JR Ward’s latest Lover Mine, from The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
Those who know me are well aware that I have a love/hate relationship with the Brothers. I love their world. I love their banter. I love the supporting characters. However something seems to go awry when one of them takes center stage. By the end of the book I’m left with a “uh, you weren’t as cool as I thought,” feeling. Yeah, even don’t get me started on Phury.
Which was why I was almost afraid to read John Matthew’s story. He has been the one character that has always drawn me back to the series, sometimes against my will. What would I do if he fell into the pit of “I’m not worthy,” like the others did and couldn’t crawl out? Well, he does, but not to the point of the other brothers.
Lover Mine follows Lover Avenged where the evil and vile Lash has kidnapped Xhex in retaliation for her killing his symphath lover. His need for revenge turns into a twisted obsession when he recognizes Xhex as an adversary worthy of all his attentions. John Matthew has given up hope that Xhex will ever be found again and takes his rage out on every lesser his comes across. After Xhex manages to free herself, she and John wade through a quagmire of uncertainty, despair, fear, love, revenge and self- loathing as they race to put an end to the harbinger of their torment.
You can breathe a sigh of relief that John stays true to his honorable and devoted nature. He is truly a male of worth and even when his self confidence goes into the crapper, he still manages to find a reason to keep going.
Now Xhex on the other hand was interesting. She was still a badass warrior as always, but Ward kind of girlie’d her up a bit, which struck me as odd. If this was the first I had read about her, I wouldn’t have noticed it, but to me, Xhex always seemed like the anti-girl, a guy with female parts. It wasn’t a bad thing to soften her, but it wasn’t necessarily good either, just another “huh” moment. Yes, she went through a traumatic experience which could change her character, but Xhex’s whole life was traumatic, why girl up now? Also her symphath nature seemed to be on the fritz, and she didn’t notice many of John’s emotions. He’s mute, he communicates mostly by facial expressions, I could have picked up on his thoughts no problem. But given what has happened to my favorite characters in the past, I am grateful that these are the only anomalies.
At the end of the book I was left with two big questions. All throughout the series it has been hinted that John is some sort of reincarnation of Darius, and while there were flashback scenes, that storyline was never resolved. Was there a reason for this? Also, there is a secondary storyline at a bed and breakfast in South Caroline that has nothing, and I mean nothing, zip, zero, nothing to do with the rest of the book. Feel free to skip those chapters, you will not miss anything. I believe this is a set up for a future story, but trust me, skip ‘em.
Okay BDB fans, who’s next? Blay, Quinn, Payne? Would all three form a ménage? (I think that would be an interesting trio) Will Layla finally get her true love?
I actually find myself eagerly looking forward to the next installment.