Lover Avenged: A Novel Of The Black Dagger Brotherhood

So after the last book in the series I was really nervous to start this one because I thought it wouldn't be good at all. I wasn't a big fan of Rhev throughout the series but this book definitely changed my mind about him. Ward is definitely straying a bit from the strict romance of the first few novels, but the story was so great it wasn't that big of a deal to me. What I particularly enjoyed was the way in this book you got a look into the life of all the brothers together, which was definitely fun to see. Absolute must read, don't be deterred because of the last book!

Yet another novel in the Brotherhood series which was okay. The characters have already been established thru earlier novels. The plot line is fair, nothing gripping because if it had been I would not have been able to put down the book. Ergo, I didn't rate it very high. The character of the main heroine seemed weak in comparison to all the other players in the novel, especially Xhex. Should be interesting to see if Wrath gets his eyesight back. Alas, after all this I will have read the last story to see if John gets his gal.

The seventh in the Black Dagger Brotherhood. To be honest I had to force myself to start this one, Rehvenge is not my favorite character, but once I started I couldn't put it down. This book wasn't just about him, it contained just about all of the brotherhood characters, and it is required reading in the series leading up to the next book of John Matthews story which I am eagerly awaiting. A very good book that by the end I did like Rehvenge. 88/1000

Lover Avenged is the 7th novel in Ward's BDB series; it is the story of Rehvenge (Rehv) & Ehlena. Rehv is not a Brother but his character is closely entwined with the Brotherhood such that the inclusion of his story makes sense in the series.

Rehvenge in the previous books is depicted as a powerful drug-lord & pimp who is a half-breed Vampire / Sympath which by the way resulted in him having a fancy barb on his member but the use of dopamine to suppress his Sympath nature also makes him impotent. All of which does not have the makings of an attractive male lead but after some revelations in terms of his back story the reader is somewhat able to overlook his obvious shortcomings & focus on his relationship with Ehlena. Who am I kidding; Rehv is the classic bad boy that so many women would find attractive & Ward serves him up on a silver platter, making it ever so easy for Ehlena to tame him. Like that ever really happens!!!

In traditional Ward fashion other plot lines are included within the book & it was especially nice to revisit a storyline with Wrath & Beth. Tohr's character is returning to its former status & there is great preamble to Lover Mine with John / Xhex scenes.

This is the seventh book in the very popular series known as the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Basically they are vampire warriors who are bred to defend the civilian population from the onslaught of their mortal enemies, The Lessers. Usually each book is about one of the members of The Brotherhood and focuses on how he attained true love...well... not this time. This book is completely different and has two major parts; one is about a character that has nothing to do with the Brothers themselves but is an important leader inside their world. He goes by the name of Rhevenge...of course with an H. Second part and my favourite I might add, is about The King of the vampires who was actually the lead vamp in the first book in the series. Of course I am talking about Big Daddy Wrath also known as the blind king.

Now almost every character makes some sort of appearance in this one but the major players are Rhevenge the half symphath half vhampire... oops sorry I meant vampire, who rules over his club or should I say his drug and prostitute business with a very bad attitude. So no, this is not your typical bad boy but a person who truly is half evil. As interesting a character he might be, I find it very hard to truly sympathise with him. Hey I just noticed character has an added H...blends in perfectly. The old I just give them what they want routine just doesn't cut it with me. So I won't rain on anyone's parade but he will never be in my top ten list of favourite characthers...no it's not a typo I just wanted to see what it looked like with still an added h. Next we have Ehlena... giggles... of course the H, who Rhev falls deeply in love with. And what's not to love, she is like the mamma Theresa of the vamp world BUT with a great attitude when needed. This character really grew on me throughout the book. As sweet as she can be, she can also stand up to the toughest of them. Next we Have Wrath and Beth, two of my favs since the beginning of the series. I am truly happy that we got the opportunity to read about these two again.

The basic story for this one is the fact that Rhev is being blackmailed and being used as a sexual toy by the symphath princess. Is this a spoiler? Well no! It's all in the other books that you are supposed to read before reading a review for a latter book... now where was I ...Oh yes...As sex toys goes ,well... Rhev is known to HOOK up with women easily. Now add to the blackmail the fact that he was given the task of eliminating the king and things get very complicated since he now has someone that he really cares for. He truly does love Ehlena and this is really good for him. He simply can't take the risk of exposing himself as half symphath since he would be deported and finally killed by the others of his kind. What side of himself will win on this one? The evil side that actually thinks about killing Wrath or the plain bad side that figures how he can profit from saving the king. Now for the interesting part to the book: We have Wrath who is tired of being left in the sidelines and decides to do some fighting on his own. Problem is, he tries to hide it from the Brothers and worst yet from Beth...ooohhh bad idea. Eventually the woman always finds out and payback is a ...well you get my meaning. Now add health problems and you have yourself a real life story. Reading about these two and you really think they actually do exist. Of course all the other subplots are still there just a bit more on the backburner.

Now both of these stories eventually do intermix and I really liked where it went from there. It's just I am simply not a big fan of Rhev but I do find that type of character is needed to spice up the series, not to actually write a whole story about. So what saved it for me was of course good old Wrath and even then there seemed to be something missing. Like some kind of key ingredient just was not there. It just felt colder than the others in the series. So...yes I did like it, but not as much as the others in the series. So... 3 stars to Tricky Dicky and 4 stars to Wrath. Combined, it gives 3.50001 stars so I will give it a 4 star rating but barely by the point of a barb.

This book was amazing! I have been intrested in Rehvenge ever since he was introduced in the series. His back story is one filled with sorrow, pain, and unspeakable deeds. Rehvenge has had to do a lot of bad things to protect himself and the ones he loves, and because of that thinks that he is deserving of the horrible things that happen in his life. That all changes when he meets Ehlena. She helps Rehvenge see that he is deserving of love and a life with her.
So much happens in this book, and so much is left hanging. I can't wait for the next book, to find out what is going on happen with Xhex and John Matthew!

**Since this is the 7th book in the series, there ARE spoilers galore**

Lover Avenged mainly revolves around the story of one of our favourite half breeds, Rehvenge. As we already knew from the preceding books, Rehv is half symphath and half vampire. He`s one of the big guns in Caldwell, pimp, drug lord and all around badass. In the vampire world, he is colleague and friend to the Brotherhood and brother to Bella. Of course it doesn`t stop there, he was also voted to be the new leahdyre of the glymera. All this power and people surrounding him, and he`s still alone battling his symphath side and trying to keep his true identity hidden from the rest of his world, except for the Brotherhood.

It all starts with Revhenge being ordered to assassinate the King. His sociopath side is intrigued and tempted to strike this deal, thinking of how much he could gain for himself. But the fangy side of his brain is dead set against it. While he tackles his decision, Rehv is still working his side of the deal with his blackmailer, the Princess of the symphaths, who also is his half sister. Yes they do all kinds of grossness that siblings should not do together. He doesn`t do these things for pleasure but to keep his and Xhex`s identities safe from the majority of the vampire world, including his own sister. Its understanding that Rehv develops a strong case of self hatred, but the more you read about him the more you really do just fall in love with this man. He`s fiercely strong, loyal, intelligent and, most importantly, smoulderingly hot in every way conceivable.

With all that said about Rehv, it makes me think about that piece of advice many people hand out: You can`t love another until you learn how to love yourself. I really can`t say this is how things turn out for the Rehv. Cue: Ehlena, a beautiful female of worth who works as a nurse and Havers' clinic. Ehlena cares for her father who has a mental illness called schizophrenia, which requires 24/7 care. Ehlena and Rehv meet at the clinic. Rehv daydreams about this beautiful being, who seems to be the only female not completely put off by the essence his symphath side puts out. But, Elehna is different and instead of running away from this dangerous man with the amethyst eyes, she ends up running right into his arms. There's a sweet and sensually slow climb to this running and colliding of bodies. Their relationship, in my opinion, is the most challenging that we've gotten to read about so far in the Brotherhood world. Rehv really does have my sympathy .. poor little symphath. They have the hardest and most trying road to happiness and, as a reader I felt everything they were feeling, which makes the read just the more enjoyable even when you're shedding tears.

As for the underlying storyline, it was good, but slow. Wrath overcomes some problems, and unlike other stories, we get to see what happens after a couple's happily-ever-after. As for John Matthew, my opinion changed of him a half dozen times. On one hand I can understand what leads up to his choices, on the other hand I wanted to take that literal hand and smack him upside his beautiful but dumb skull repeatedly. I'm completely on board with him again though and am so ready to read Lover Mine.

A couple of the previous books had me disliking the endings but that really must be the hardest part to write. I loved the ending of Lover Avenged. It felt right this time around, even if we were left with a big piece untied, but the anticipation of John Matthew to take the spotlight is like a drug for us BDB lovers.

All in all, so much went on in this book and there was absolutely no let down. Its simple really, we all wish we lived in a world like this where bonds were so sound and strong and filled with passion, love and trust. It reaches even the coldest of hearts and warms it, not to mention your loins. Great read as always whenever J.R. Ward is concerned.

Lover Avenged is the 7th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

This is the story of Rehvenge and Elhena. Rehvenge (Rehv) is not a member of the brotherhood but he is Bella's brother and his story is entwined with the brothers.

I always liked Rehv's interaction with the brotherhood but I was not interested in reading about him. He's a drug lord, pimp and sympath. Why would I want to?

We know from the previous books that he's a sympath and is blackmailed by this half-sister and princess of the sympaths. He also has been keeping his sympath side at bay with Dopamine. Rehv is also asked by the glymeria to kill the King. The first sentence of the book is "The King Must Die".

Elhena is a nurse who works for Haver's clinic. Her family was part of the glymeria but was robbed and now she's poor. She cares for her mentally ill father and wishes she could "have a life".

In this book we learn more about the sympath race and more about Rehv's body guards.

We also follow Wrath and Beth, the blind King has been fighting without Beth's knowing and their relationship is put to the test. Wrath is also facing a future with being complelty blind. I love how we get to go back to the first characters and see how they are years later. We also follow Lash and his dealing with the Sympaths.

This book is leading to the next book with a lot of John Matthew's character. He has become bitter after everything with Thor and his human life. He is still complete in love with Xhex but is acting out. I can't wait for the next book.

This book was amazing. The whole series is amazing. I am totally a Rehv fan now and to see his struggles with his sympath side and trying to hid his true self but becomes forced into it. I love his relationship with Elhena and can't wait to hear more of them. My favourite part of the book was when he called Bella and Nalla was being fussy and he sang her a lullaby, the same lullaby that he used to sing to Bella.

*NO SPOILERS*
And with these four words so begins J.R Wards 7th instalment of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I couldn't wait to read LOVER AVENGED and at 527 pages JR does not disappoint. She has encompassed it all; Surprises galore, evolving storylines, several POV's, plot-twists, humour, action, romance and of course heartbreak.

I won't spoil things for you here by giving away too much, I'll just give you a brief rundown of all the goodies involved in this intricate story. First off, and this was important to me. All the brothers make an appearance and are all involved to some degree within the story. So yes, we get shots of V, Butch, Zsadist, Rhage, Phury, Tohrment and Wrath, Ah Wrath...

Although pegged as Rehvenge's book, LOVER AVENGED belongs equally to Wrath and his continuing story. And oh how sweet it is to be back with the King. We haven't seen much of him since DARK LOVER (Book 1) but his character takes up a significant number of pages here as Wrath goes rogue from his royal duties and ultimately has to pay the consequences. John Mathew and Xhex also get a fair amount of attention and in secondary roles we have Blay and Quinn, Tez, iAm, and Payne. We are also introduced to George, a new companion to the King. Lassiter is back as the hilarious fallen angel, sidekick of Tohrment and the battle continues with the Lessers. Speaking of the Lessoning Society, Lash is simply awesome as their evolving leader taking things to a whole new level of evil.

I've never really been a fan of Rehvenge (he kind of creeped me out) but I have to say my opinion of him has now changed. His and Ehlena's love story is well done and surprisingly sweet. Ehlena makes a worthy mate but alas their romance never takes center stage (much like Phury/Cormina in LOVER ENSHRINED book 6.) Ehlena is a nurse from the clinic who treats Rehv after he develops sepsis from repeatedly injecting the dopamine he must take to hide the fact that he's a sympath. It's an unlikely pairing that somehow works even though Rhevenge is still a major drug lord/pimp and has his hands full running the nightclub Zerosum and being a leahdyre on the council. We do get to see a whole new side of him however and gain a much greater insight into the world of sympaths. JR manages to weave all her POV's and storylines together for one explosive (literally) and nail biting finale.

My one and only gripe would have to be that JR's brotherhood language has evolved. I don't mean the terms (but yes there are more of these as well) but the actual street lingo that the brothers use when speaking to each other. I occasionally found it hard to understand what they were talking about and had to re-read their dialogue several times before I could figure it out.

I can't imagine how you could ever start the series with this book, so please don't try. The BDB is so involved and complex with so many major characters, interweaving stories and POV's that you would be utterly lost plus you'd miss out on the other 6 great books in this fantastic series, but if you're a fan you won't be disappointed, true. The brotherhood undergoes some changes and there are major developments in all ongoing storylines but the hilarious banter we all love, the intensity and excitement are all still here. LOVER AVENGED made me laugh, made me cry and I didn't want it to end yet JR has done a great job in setting things up for the next book which is to be John Mathew's story (LOVER MINE).

Lover avenged is the 7th book in the black dagger brotherhood series and for me it is my second fav book out of them all...so far.

Rehvenge is the owner of zerosum, a club with a very bad reputation, anything and everything is for sale and he is the go to male. He is also the brother of bella who is mated to Z, the scary as hell male in the brotherhood. He also has a secret, one he will kill and do anything to protect. He is a symphath a sin-eater, half vampire and half evil.
Rehvenge is being blackmailed, so in order to keep his and xhex's(another sin eater) secret he must make monthly "visits" to the princess of the symphath and do whatever she wants or all will come crashing down on him.

Ehlena is a female nurse who is struggling to survive. She use to be an aristocrat with all the bells and whistles, but when her father became ill they lost everything. Her father thinks they still have everything even doogen to do their work, little does he understand that every penny ehlena makes is just enough for them to survive. She goes to work at the clinic for havers almost everyday with a smile on her face and pride in her heart but soon everything in her life is about to change.
All the nurses at the clinic fear and dislike rehvenge, there is just something evil about him but they don't know what it is, so when he comes in ehlena is the only one who will take care of him.
When they come into contact with eachother rhev falls for her but she doesn't return the feeling right away it is only later that her feeling grow.
Their love story is one of the greatest and saddests, with a bunch of twists and turns along the way.

Another reason i like this story so much is that there is so much going on it's not just a love story, it's learning about other characters in the stories and action.
We learn alot more about John Mathews character and Wraith as a king instead of a brother, we get a sneak peak at payne(the sister of V)and Xhex and character who I am now starting to like and I think the next book(lover mine)will make me like her even more. Even the story with the lessers are more exciting now. I love how lash interacts with all of it(I won't give anything away)

Rehvenge is a great character who is very interesting to read about and I want more. Who knew underneath all the bad boy was a sensative male of worth.

I can't praise this book enough or this series for that matter and I can't wait for lover mine to come out.

I would recommend this book to all JR Ward fans. I have read all of her books including The Story of Son. I enjoyed each book and consider most of them keepers. Her plot lines are well developed and the characters are all too “human” with their strengths and foibles. I would like to see more interaction between humans and vampires. Potential characters include Michael and Claire or their children as well as Dr. Jane’s physician friend. Her books are well worth the wait and the subsequent read.