Michelle read and liked Auntee's review of Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #7):

"Excellent, just excellent. JR Ward is back with a vengeance! For anyone who was disappointed with the previous two books in the BDB series, I urge you not to give up on it--“Lover Avenged” is every bit as good a book as the first four of the se...more Excellent, just excellent. JR Ward is back with a vengeance! For anyone who was disappointed with the previous two books in the BDB series, I urge you not to give up on it--“Lover Avenged” is every bit as good a book as the first four of the series. It’s got everything that you could want, starting with an outstanding hero and heroine in nightclub owner/ drug lord Rehvenge and nurse Ehlena. It’s a testimony to the author’s writing skills that she can make a drug lord, mobster pimp into one of her most endearing heroes ever! I absolutely adored Rehvenge, and I never thought I would say that. His character has always been so-so for me. But now that JR Ward has fleshed out his character, and we learn the WHY of who he is and why he’s done the things he has, I just could not resist him. I totally fell for the mohawked, sable-fur wearing hardass with a heart of gold. By the end of the book, he proved that he truly was a ‘male of worth’.

As for Ehlena, well, she may be my favorite heroine of the whole series. She was brave, compassionate, a caregiver for her mentally sick father, and most of all, forgiving. I wanted her to have everything I thought she deserved. And she took no crap from Rehvenge! But when she broke up with him it just about killed me, and I wasn’t too happy with her. It was funny because when they first started out she didn’t think she was good enough for him, but at the end the tables turned and Rehvenge insisted he wasn’t good enough for her. Clearly these two belonged together and were perfect for each other. They are one of my favorite couples of the entire series.

And Ward brought the romance back! Not with just Ehlena and Rehvenge, but as an added bonus the reader gets a renewed romance between Wrath and Beth. And both romances were sexy and super hot--no skimping on the details either. Whew, Beth and Wrath had one scene that took them under the desk and across the floor… And Rehvenge…well, he was one generous lover is all I can say without giving away spoilers. For fans of Lora Leigh’s Breeds series, you’ll be interested to know that there’s some common ground between Rehvenge and the Breeds…

About the plot…it’s pretty simple. It starts out four months after the previous book, and Wrath is secretly fighting again, while dealing with an increased loss in his vision. Being the King, fighting's a big no-no, but the ranks of the Brotherhood are depleted with Tohr gone and Phury involved with the Chosen. And the lessers have been on a raid all summer, killing and stealing from the glymera, and it looks like they’re making serious inroads in their war with the vampires. So Wrath is keeping secrets, which isn’t good for his marriage. And when Beth finds out she’s mad about the lying, and that places a serious strain on their relationship. Add to that a plot to get rid of (as in ‘kill’) and replace the King by some of the glymera, and it’s no wonder Wrath has one giant headache all the time.

Then we have nightclub owner, drug lord, and secret half-breed sympath Rehvenge, brother of Bella, who’s married to the Brother Zsadist. Rehvenge’s identity as part sympath is a closely guarded secret-- and it comes with a host of medical complications in order to suppress that side of him-- if it’s revealed he could be banished to a colony for these sociopaths. Rehvenge is getting blackmailed from a couple of people who know his true identity, and one of them wants him to go in on a plot to murder Wrath. Although they’re not exactly ‘friends, can he do that to Wrath and the Brothers?

Then Rehv meets a nurse at Dr. Havers clinic, the beautiful Ehlena, and sparks start to fly. Rehv is so drawn to her, but he can’t be honest with her. If she finds out who/what he is and what he has to do once a month with the vile scorpion princess (one of the most disgusting villains ever--straight out of a Stephen King horror novel), she would be repulsed. When it looks like destiny is leading Rehv on a clear path that can‘t include Ehlena, will he be strong enough to give up the one woman who brings light and hope to his increasingly lonely life?

Fans of the series will be happy to know that almost all the characters have at least a cameo appearance, except I don’t recall Marissa or Cormia mentioned except in passing. But no matter, all the Brothers are back, with their wisecracks and idiosyncrasies, including Tohr, who finally looks like he’ll be getting his act together. I loved the interaction between Tohr and Lassiter, the fallen angel who helped rescue him and sticks around a while with the Brothers. He has some of the funniest moments in the book--his fascination with “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and the Bette Midler movie "Beaches" and the brothers reaction to that had me laughing out loud!

There also is a mention of the character of Muhrder, who has a connection to Xhex (which I’m sure we’ll hear more about), a brief reappearance of Payne (who has an encounter with Wrath), Lash (who's back with a vengeance and is crucial to the plot) and an adorable new character, George.

There is lots of humor in the book, which helps relieve some of the tension that builds up in the plot. I laughed out loud many times--for example, when Butch called Wrath ‘Rapunzel’ (due to his long hair), or when Wrath questioned the effectiveness of a bullet-proof vest he was wearing because of how light it was, and V suggested he strap a garage door, or maybe a car, to his chest. There were LOTS of moments like that, and clearly, the brothers have not lost their sense of humor.

We also get to see where the series is headed with the new blood--John Matthew, Quinn, and Blay. John Matthew and his obsession, tough girl Xhex finally hook up, but sadly, it’s not all it could be. These two have a lot of growing up to do, because they spend most of their time in the book hurting themselves and each other. There’s way more than meets the eye with Xhex though, and the author gives us just a hint about her troubled past. She was a hard character to love, especially when she hurt John Matthew--I wanted to scratch her eyes out! But then as more and more of her background was revealed, I felt sorry for her and all that she went through in her life. She is a big part of the plot in this book, and because of where the story takes her, I’m sure she will be in the next book. Her situation and her relationship with John is clearly left unresolved.

This is a very long book (over 500 pages), but it moves along so fluidly you won’t notice the length. There were no spots where I was tempted to skip passages--I wanted to read every detail, although some were very gory. (What Xhex does to some creep who murdered his girlfriend…yuk!)

There’s quite a few plots going at one time, yet it never gets confusing. Frustrating, sometimes, when Ward leaves you hanging to switch to another plot just as things are heating up romantically with one of the couples, but that just makes you want to read faster!

And the conclusion? You’ll think maybe JR Ward had a little help from Stephen King, is all I’ll say. My, what an imagination.

As you can see, I loved this book. This ranks right up there with my favorites of the series, and I think Ward is in the groove again. I found this one extremely hard to put down, didn't want it to end, yet had to know the ending! Wrath and Rehvenge struggle with but finally accept their destinies, and it helps that they each have their true loves by their sides. I can’t wait to see where JR Ward takes us with this series--there’s lots more to tell! 5 Big Stars!
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