Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #9)

by J. R. Ward

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, seductive cloth as her brother. Imprisoned for eons by their mother, the Scribe Virgin, she finally frees herself - only to face a devastating injury. Manuel Manello, MD, is drafted by the Brotherhood to save her as only he can - but when the human surgeon and the vampire warrior meet, their two worlds collide in the face of their undeniable passion. With so much working against them, can love prove stronger than the birth right and the biology that separate them?

• ISBN10: 0451233166
• ISBN13: 9780451233165
• Publish Date: 29 March 2011 (first published 1 March 2011)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Out of Print: 27 August 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: New American Library
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[scarr]

Well, well, well - Dr. Hotty pants makes a reappearance and I am here for it.

Also, I was gut-punched with all the drama between V & Jane. That is something I do love about this series - the books will focus on two folks as they come together as a couple, but the side stories involving the other cast of characters is delicious. It's not just happily ever after and all smiles after the bonding ceremonies - some of these couples have to get thru some shit to be together.

[Caitiebelle]

Goodness, where to start!

At first, I'll admit I wasn't very keen on this particular book. Don't get me wrong, the whole series is an absolute MUST READ - but there was something about Payne I just...did not click with.

Well... that didn't last long! I finally picked up the book...and I could...not...put...it...down...
It was well worth the wait I gave it. I swallowed it whole so to speak!

Manny...my man... I smiled and smiled throughout the book! Now that is a man of worth right there. And Payne... a heartbreaking story at one point, but so much she overcame! Their story was beautiful, just beautiful. And I loved her innocence, this badass fighter, but still so very innocent of the world.

A fantastic addition to the series - and finally....we get introduced to the 'Band of Bastards' I've heard so much about!!

Xcor, their leader, has plans...and it's not sounding like he's got plans to join with the Brotherhood...

[mitabird]

This was much better than I expected. I have to admit that I was not looking forward to reading a book starring Payne and Manny. However I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed their romance. I liked the slow build and I thought they were sweet and hot. The side story involving Xcor was interesting as well and I liked that he had honor. What I didn't like was the story involving V, Jane and Butch. It took over the main story, IMO. V already had his book and I can't say that I wanted to read about his ongoing issues. It didn't seem to serve any purpose to me. The side story involving Jose De La Cruz seemed to go nowhere and I thought that was odd, unless it's explained in the next couple of books? Overall, it was a nice read.

[Angie]

The major themes of the previous book were vengeance and healing, but now Lover Unleashed seems to focus on rebirth, or at least people coming back from the dead: Doc Jane returns to her old colleague, Manny Manillo, and Detective Jose de la Cruz recognizes a certain someone's Boston accent during a report of a dead body. Then there's Payne, who is finally free of the Other Side, only to be trapped inside her paralyzed body. Quinn is also questioning past decisions and trying to figure out who he truly is. Finally, there's the arrival of some vampires from the Old Country.

There is a sweet innocence about Payne that I really enjoyed. We know she's a great fighter and that she wants to be independent, but she's also sheltered from most of life's events, including relationships. When she meets Manny, she finally begins to understand what the other Chosen mean when they talk about being with males. Their relationship gives a whole new meaning to "sexual healing." I really liked these two as a couple. They're probably one of my favorites.

Of course Vishous plays a major role in this book. He's super stressed out over his mother's lies and secrets, and his twin's injury, but there is also some tension with Jane. V needs a release in the form of pain, but he's afraid to talk to Jane about it. Wait, what?! Maybe I was reading this wrong, or this was a huge oversight by Ward. But we witnessed Jane step into the role of Dom with Vishous in Book 5, and it was briefly mentioned again in Book 6 when Ehlena materialized outside the wrong penthouse. Now why is he acting like his need is a huge secret from his shellan? She knows. She's done it with him before...multiple times! Maybe not to the extreme that he needs now, but she is aware of this part of him. This shouldn't have created problems between them! It seemed like drama for the sake of having a conflict within an established romance. I didn't like it. Of course, that is just the start of their problems. But I really liked the scene of V and Butch in the penthouse...

I'm still finding that Quinn and Blay's story is my favorite. Although this time it's just Quinn. He knows he made a mistake letting Blay go, but he also knows he can't keep throwing his sorrows into booze and anonymous sex. However, his new coping mechanism may be even more damaging. He only had a handful of chapters, but each of them was charged with emotion. Only one more book, and then woooo!

As for the plot with the Old Country vampires...I just didn't care. I felt like that plot thread served no purpose, especially since the climax was pretty anti-climatic. I much would have preferred if that "Paranormal Investigators" plot from Lover Mine had been continued. That's actually what I was expecting, since the purpose of that plot wasn't revealed until the very end of the previous book. Maybe these new arrivals will be featured in the next book?


While I do enjoy this new direction to the series, I'm starting to really be bothered by the romance taking the backseat to the action. There was plenty of (smokin' hott) sex in this book though, but still not as much as the first few books. I'm hoping there'll be more in the next ones.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Melanie]

This is not one of my favorite BDB books. I love V, but I would have liked to have more on the story about Manny and Payne. Also, I felt the ending was a little abrupt. I did not like how the story ended at all. You really did not get to see any time with Manny and Payne once they were finally together. I am very interested in seeing what is going to happen with Quinn and Blay, as well as, the new vamps that are introduced in this book. I really like there is little of the lessers in this book. I really hate reading their side of things, so having to just have fighting scenes is great.

While not my favorite in the series, this is still a good book.

[Cocktails and Books]

V just moved up my brother scale to tie with Butch for second after this one. He just about broke my heart!

[Linda]

This was a great BDB book, but there was almost too much happening in it! I don't know why, but that was almost a bad thing. Vishous dealing with his past was excellent, and Manny and Payne's love story was great. I understand why Xhor and his Bastards had to be introduced as well, but then, there was also the human police, with Cruz and the new guy Veck. It was a lot to keep track of, it could almost have been two books.

Then, there alos was the whole Blay, Saxton Qhuinn triangle going on, with a little touch of Layla thrown in the mix. I really wish Qhuinn would just get his act together and let Blay know that he truly loves him, true?

I did love it though, but the fact that there were so many things happening at once took a little bit away from my pleasure. And even though we got to see most of the brothers, there was too little of Z, and we only got to see a child once. It would have made sense to see more of them as well, since a lot of the story happened within the Brotherhood castle.

I guess this book was kind of an in-between book, where things needed to be laid out for future books.