Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward

J.R. Ward became one of my favorite authors after I read the first couple books in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. The book featuring Zsadist, Lover Awakened, is one of my favorite romances. But I had been disappointed in her last two books and I had low expectations for Lover Avenged, especially because I had not been particularly interested in the character of Rehvenge in the previous books.

I'm glad to say this book was much better than the last two, though it is not as good as the first three. The book follows several story lines. One of them is the love story between Rehvenge and Ehlena, a vampire nurse. There is the story of what is going on with Wrath, the King, and to a lesser extent Tohr, as well. We also follow John Matthew, an ongoing line throughout the series, and we find out what Lash, the main bad guy in this book, is up to. I enjoyed all of them except Lash's story. I don't know why because it seems like he'd be an intriguing villain, but I found his parts of the book boring. You definitely need to read the previous books in the series first to fully understand what is going on in this one.

I thought Ehlena was one of Ward's better heroines, and loved watching her grow and find her strength. The love scenes between her and Rehvenge were very moving. Rehvenge turned out to be a fascinating hero, with the tortured past you'd expect and the complications of his symphath nature. Ward actually makes a drug dealer sympathetic (no pun intended) and I had tears in my eyes a couple times near the end of the book.

Although the author excells at creating an interesting world and she has some of the best heroes around, the books are not without fault. They are not like typical romances which annoys some people who want stories with a major focus on the hero and heroine. That doesn't bother me, but I do think the book was a bit long and could have benefitted from some careful editing. I also agree with some of the criticism about the dialogue. It does sound out of date and almost silly at times, for instance when this huge warrior vampire says he's going "outtie."

In spite of minor faults, it's still a wonderful read that stirred my emotions and I am looking forward to reading the next in the series, which I believe will be John Matthew's story. I'll rate this book 8.0 out of 10.