Lover at Last by J R Ward

Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #11)

by J. R. Ward

In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. The city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood . . .

Qhuinn, son of no one, is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, shunned by the aristocracy, he has finally found an identity as one of the most brutal fighters in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. Even as the prospect of having a family of his own seems to be within reach, he is empty on the inside, his heart given to another.

Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it's about time: the male has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young - just as Qhuinn has always wanted for himself. It's hard to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. As he's learned first-hand.

Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions . . . but as the battle over the race's throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn finally learns the true definition of courage . . .

Reviewed by Angie on

4 of 5 stars

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First of all, Quinn and Blay’s book does not have nearly enough Quinn and Blay! Lover At Last uses that same plot heavy format as the previous several books, which I never really minded until now. This is the couple I had been waiting for, so I needed more of them! There’s like seven other plot threads going on, so Quinn and Blay barely got any pages at all! However, the chapters that they do have together are fantastic! I even started to cry…twice! I really love those two together!

Quinn and Blay. Blay and Quinn. Quay. They break my heart! They have been killing me for the past 3 or 4 books, but their time has finally come in Lover At Last. Unfortunately for them it doesn’t come easily. Fortunately for us we get to see Quinn vulnerable and trying to get Blay to have him in anyway he can. It seems like only tragedy brings them together, but it also rips them apart. Unlike other couples who had some totally crazy drama that kept them apart, I found Quinn and Blay’s troubles to be very realistic. Blay believes that Quinn is only into him for the moment because he’s realizing that life can be cut short, it won’t be a forever thing with him. He doesn’t want to get hurt that badly by having him then being thrown away. Quinn just believes that Blay is in love with his cousin. Needless to say, their communication isn’t that great at first, but holy hell, their chemistry! 5 stars to Quinn and Blay. 3 stars to everything else…

There are just too many separate plot threads going on! And not all of them are interesting. In fact, I’m having a hard time becoming interested in newer side plots because I feel like they’re going to be dropped. Like that whole Paranormal Investigator and Xhex’s ex plot from Lover Mine. It hasn’t been seen since! I keep waiting for that one to reappear, but instead we get whole other, completely unrelated stories going. I’ll admit to skimming a few of them throughout Lover At Last. They were just boring and felt disconnected from the bigger picture.

The plot that got a lot of attention was Trez. Trez and his brother, iAm, have been great support characters throughout the series, but I don’t feel like I know them or care about them enough to bring them to the front. I would like to learn more about their race — shadows– but other than that, I don’t really care. In Lover At Last, Trez keeps avoiding a meeting from someone from his place of origin while having sex with everyone woman he came across. I just didn’t see how this fit into the overall story, other than getting him and his brother to move into the mansion. I guess that means at least Trez will have a book in the future. Hopefully, he’ll get some more development by then.

Layla got a fair amount of page time, too. And at least she’s connected to Quinn and the whole vampire war plot. I like Layla, I do, but again, I found her story boring for the most part. She went into her needing in the previous book, so of course she’s pregnant. It’s a very dangerous state for a female vampire, but the fact that Quinn already had a vision of their daughter, made this plot over dramatic. It’s cases like this where I hate foreshadowing. Where I did become interested in Layla was when it came to Xcor. They have some strange attraction and since he’s fed from her they can sense each other, at least when Layla is out of the mansion. I’m hoping her book is next, because I’m definitely curious how this romance will play out while Xcor is aiming for the throne.

I’m not even going to go into the Assail/Sola/Benloise/Mr.C nonsense. That whole drug deal with the lessers is boring. I miss the Lessening Society plots from the first few books. Even though they were cheesy at times, they were at least interesting and entertaining. Basically, all of the good stuff happens in Quinn and Blay’s few chapters. It’s not just about the romance for those two though. Quinn has to come to terms with who he is and stop blaming everything on his family disowning him. Blay also needed to come out to his family in order to truly move forward with Quinn. I know this review sounds way negative for 4 stars, but I was madly in love with Quay, so they saved it. However, that last line makes it seem like we’ll never see them again. I certainly hope that’s not the case!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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  • Started reading
  • 26 April, 2013: Finished reading
  • 26 April, 2013: Reviewed