Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #3)

by J. R. Ward

#1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward’s ferociously inventive series continues as the most fearsome member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood discovers just how tempting the night can be…

A former blood slave, Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the Brother’s seething power.  Except even as their desire for each other begins to overtake them, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against her abductor drives him to the brink of madness.  Now Bella must help her lover not only overcome the wounds of his tortured past, but find a future with her...

• ISBN10: 1429505923
• ISBN13: 9781429505925
• Publish Date: 6 February 2007 (first published 1 September 2006)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Signet Book
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[thebookdisciple]

Link to full review below! Bella and Z...swoon! Z has one of the most tragic backstory ever though! See full review on The Book Disciple

[kimbacaffeinate]

Zsadist better known as Z is perhaps one of the scariest and most volatile member of the brotherhood. Since the beginning, I have been drawn to Zsadist and Ward gave me everything I could have asked for. Z is severely scarred and bears the tattoo from his life as a former blood slave. He is the twin brother of Phury. He has anger issue, doesn’t like to be touched, denies himself pleasure, and sleeps on the floor. I delighted in hearing his story, even as I wept for him.

Bella and Zsadist met in the previous book when she made clear she was attracted to him. Bella was taken by a lesser and in Lover Awakened, he finds Bella and their relationship begins. I loved how Ward allowed their relationship to unfold. Zsadist shared his past, bared his soul and through Bella awakened.

Their romance has all of the feels and some were downright hilarious. Moments involving Bella’s cycle had me laughing so hard there were TEARS! While reading I laughed, cried, shuddered and cheered. Ward provided such an emotionally gripping romance. It was dark, and edgy, with as much pain as there was pleasure. I honestly did not know if Ward would give this couple an HEA. She had me flipping the pages and biting my nails. The book left me emotionally spent and I didn't pick up another book for almost two days!

If you are looking for a fluffy vampire romance skip the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Like the previous books, Lover Awakened was complex, with multiple threads and while at times I wanted to be with the couple, the other threads held weight and furthered the overall world and story ARC. We had threads involving John, Butch and Bella’s brother giving dimension to these characters.

Ward has us spending times with the Lessers, particularly our twisted villain David, who believes Bella belongs to him. The lesser thread is dark and these characters live and breathe evil. I shiver every time we travel in David's head. We meet other lessers and learned of some of their plots. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[boghunden]

Throughout this book, I was thinking it was a three star read, but the ending was absolutely beautifully written (talking about the last two chapters and the epilogue here). It was so good that I just couldn't justify to give it a three star rating.

The story felt rather boring in the beginning and it took quite a while until the action began. This is also the reason why this felt like a 650 pages book, when in reality it was just 468 pages.

From the first book in this series, Zsadist has been my favorite character, so I was quite excited to read "his" book. He's a very complicated - and complex - character, and I found that I learned the reasons behind his behaviour in this book. I really got to know him and Bella, and they were both amazing characters. The minor characters still played a somewhat big part of this story, which I liked a whole lot, since it's a series about a brotherhood.

I can't wait to get to the fourth book in this series, which I've learned will be about Butch - another character that I find to be really interesting. Great series!

[EBookObsessed]

I love a story with a damaged hero but Z is one really screwed up guy. He might be a little too damaged for my taste. His references to "It" reflects some really messed up sexual issues.

I didn't enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed Rhage and Mary's story.

Be back with a full review.

[nitzan_schwarz]

Wow, there are no words to describe how much I loved this book!
I've been interested in reading Zsadist's story ever since I saw a bit of his POV in Lover Eternal (which I did not review). But I never expected to like him as much as I did. Or rather... love him as much as I did.
Lover Awakened tells the story of Zsadist and Bella.

Zsadist is a member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood - a secret branch within the vampire society that includes only the strongest and fiercest vampires and protects the rest of them from their sworn enemies, the Lessers, humans without souls.
I fell for Zsadist almost instantly. He's a scarred worrier, outside and especially inside, filled with self hatred and self loathing and he is self depriving. To the rest of the world he looks like a soulless, mad, dangerous creatures. Something ruined, not broken...

To Read the Rest of the Review go to my Blog; Drugs Called Books

[littleread1]

This one actually made me giggle some, and I got a little sad. Overall it was better than the first 2, but still not 4 star material.

[leelu92]

Zsadist and Bella. I enjoyed this story- Z's story is heartwrenching and Bella truly had a fight on her hands.... undoing all of the damage in him. Good book!!!!

[ellieroth]

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! amo este libro, ame cada una de sus páginas, ame todo, es la primera vez que los jodidos restrictores no me aburren, gosh, es muy muy bueno!!! seee, lo se, no exactamente un reseña muy buena, pero ahhh1!!! me encanto! ¿no se si quedo claro? jajjajaja

[blackbibliophile]

Wow!! Such a suspenseful story!!! This is the best out of the three that I've read. I can't wait to read #4.

[Angie]

Zsadist is definitely the most interesting brother so far. His emotional scars are far worse than the ones on his face and back. We got bits of his history in the previous books, but none of that compares to what comes out in Lover Awakened. As his twin said, "He's not broken. He's ruined." And it's easy to see why after his horrible past a sex/blood slave. What he went through for so long is awful so it's understandable why he can't get close to Bella even if it's what they both want. Phury adds a bit of a complication since he also is attracted to her.

There's also the problem of Bella's kidnapper. Even though she gets rescued early on, Mr. O isn't going to let her go so easily. He's a man obsessed and finds her to be the perfect replacement for his dead wife. This "lesser" will stop anything to get her back. I was definitely interested in this story line. Mr. O's unstable mental state was fascinating and scary.

John's back! I'm so glad there's more of his story. Even though he hasn't hit his transition yet he's facing many difficulties. First there's the nightmares; are they just dream, or memories? He also can't look at Beth, the queen, without seizing and he feels like he knows her from somewhere. He was also so insecure and unsure of himself when he started training, I just wanted to give him a hug! He's such a sweet character, but I know that's going to have to change when he goes through his transition.

If bathroom breaks and sleep weren't necessities, I never would have put this one down! Z's story was amazing, heartbreaking, overjoying, infuriating, just about the whole range of emotions. I loved seeing him slowly overcome his past and be able to have a real relationship. I loved that Bella was so strong and never gave up on him. I loved Phury's (unhealthy) devotion to his twin! I just loved everything! Yes, I shed more tears! I can't help it!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.