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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Review: Music of the Heart by Katie Ashley

TITLE: Music of the Heart

AUTHOR: Katie Ashley

SERIES: Runaway Train #1

RATING: 2 out of 5

BLURB: ''For Abby Renard, the plan was supposed to be simple—join her brothers’ band on the last leg of their summer tour and decide if she’s finally ready for the limelight by becoming its fourth member. Of course, she never imagined stumbling onto the wrong tour bus at Rock Nation would accidentally land her in the bed of Jake Slater, the notorious womanizing lead singer of Runaway Train. When he mistakes her for one of his groupie’s, Abby quickly lets him know she sure as hell isn't in his bed on purpose. 

Jake Slater never imagined the angel who fell into his bed would resist his charms by promptly kneeing him in the balls. Of course, the fact she seems like a prissy choir girl makes her anything but his type. So he is more than surprised when after betting Abby she wouldn’t last a week on their tour bus, she is more than willing to prove him wrong. But as Jake’s personal life begins to implode around him, he finds an unlikely ally in Abby. He’s never met a woman he can talk to, joke with, or most importantly make music with.

As the week starts comes to a close, neither Abby nor Jake is ready to let go. Can a sweetheart Country songstress and a bad boy of Rock N Roll actually have a future together?'' (from goodreads.com)

I love what new adult genre brings to the table – young characters that are sill growing up but they aren't limited by dozens of boundaries. They live, the mess thing up. These books have exactly what I always missed in YA, steamy scenes that make your toes curl, your stomach come alive with butterflies and make you shiver. But after reading a bunch of NA books in the last year or so, I started to get picky and a little more demanding. I wanted something new, something different and I started reading this with my fingers crossed, hoping that's what i''ll get. However, I fell flat on my face and decided not to make such assumptions in the future. The begining was good, so good actually that I read first half of the book in one evening, in two to three hours. I liked that Abby wasn't exactly a typical naive little angel character and Jake was more than just a douche bag trying to get into her pants. 

But... there's obviously a but. It was all to predictable. And then I realized I don't really like the book nor the characters, I just love the idea of an NA book about rock stars and tattooed boys. Abby was trying to hard to be witty and sassy, to be one of the boys and yet remaining a pure virgin. Jake's actions stopped making sense and I don't understand how you can out-flat say: ''Oh, sorry I'm pushing you away and hurting you. It's just my defense mechanism.'' Isn't your defense mechanism something you keep for yourself? If you know what the hell you're doing wrong then fix it and don't blame it on your messed up personality. The last half of the book passed by with me rolling my eyes, sighing and waiting for it all to be over. I really wanted this to be good and I guess it was good enough to capture my attention and hold it for awhile.

The writing was okay though. And I would like to see the stories from other members of Runaway Train, that's why I'll continue with the series. But overall, the characters were unbelievable. Abby was blushing at one moment and then doing a lap dance, and Jake was promising her a relationship and five minutes later receiving a blow job by a waitress in the toilet stall. What? Not to mention how quickly Abby gives her forgiveness to her 'love'. If a guy treats you bad, breaks his promises, continually pushes you away and plays a game of hot and cold.... um, yes, of course you can forgive him after five minutes, because you know said guy's mother is dying of cancer and he's suffering. That's not really a good enough of an excuse to treat people like shit. So, sorry Jake. I would probably love your face but wouldn't get over the things you did to Abby over night. But you two LOVE each other, so it's okay? -.- Eh.

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