Review: Lover Mine by J.R. Ward

TITLE: Lover Mine

AUTHOR: J.R. Ward

SERIES: Black Dagger Brotherhood #8

RATING: 5 out of 5

BLURB: John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate.

Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates. (from goodreads.com)

John Matthew was and still is by far my favorite among all the BDB warriors (with the exception of Blay and Qhuinn, but those two come in a pair, so...). We met him in the begining when he was just a scruffy pre-trans – mute, depressed, forgotten by the world, broken. And then Thor and Wellsie took him in, all the Brothers accepted him, Lash nearly broke him all over again, then he transformed and despite the huge body he had gotten, he was still that little boy we all came to love. In past books I anxiously waited for his paragraphs, for every single insight into his and Xhex's relationship. Right from the start I just knew that those two MUST be together. Boy, how right I was!

When it comes to Xhex, BDB fans are divided. Some love her, some not so much. She basically is one of the fighters – she is part of the team. And therefore could be called an alpha-female. So what happens when to alphas collide? Pure fireworks, I'm telling you. The build up to this couple was painfully sweet, hot and dramatic. From their first encounter to their first time together. Everything was divine. I love it that she wants to stand her ground, be strong, fight along JM's side. She'll never be the damsel in distress even when Lash kidnapped her and tortured her and raped her and basically tried to break her. She was strong and strong-minded, not giving in to the pain, determined to save herself.

But I really do think that Xhex and JM saved each other. How Xhex overcame her fear of hospitals to be with John Matthew, how they both sacrificed a lot to be with each other and had to put all their trust in one another. This one might be one of my favorite BDB books if not a favorite one. We saw more of Payne, more of Qhuay (these two still break my heart everytime they come on scene or open their mouth). I'm not really sure what the whole purpose of reviving Lash and bringing him on as a fore-lesser was, since he's now dead after 2-3 books. But as said many times before – I couldn't care less about lessers. 

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