What I can tell you- straight to the point- is that I enjoyed Lover Avenged more than then my last outing in the BDB (Lover Enshrined). And too, for those who are still hoping the author keeps up with writing Paranormal Romance rather than Urban Fantasy, they won't be disappointed with Lover Avenged.

Lover Avenged, Book 7 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, brings us Rehvenge's story. Rehv is not a member of the Brotherhood but a member of the Glymeria, the Vampiric version of The Ton. The druglord and all around gangster is hiding something. He's a Sympath, a renegade race of Vampires who were annexed years ago because of their ability to feed off of negative emotions- and the cold way they use their intellect to do so.

Because he's a half breed- neither the High Class Vampire world nor the Sympath world accept him, so he hides his Sympathic abilities by drugging himself into numbness. When he shows up at Haver's Clinic - a medical clinic for the Vamps- he's in desperate need of a fix and it takes all his prodigious willpower to hold his Sympath urges back when the beautiful Ehlena comes in to prep him for the Doc.

Ehlena is weary from her life outside the hospital, her schizophrenic father absorbs all her time and energy, and wary of the amethyst eyed vampire sitting on the table in front of her. But never one to back down from life, nor a challenge, she takes on the job of taking his vitals when every other nurse in the clinic runs for cover. Knowing the sexy vamp is bad news- but having no idea how bad- she fights the attraction she feels for him and goes on her way.

Rehv is shocked by the attraction he feels for the attentive Ehlena, but he's determined to ignore it- she's way to pure for a corrupted man such as himself. After all, Rehv dances a fine line between good and evil and the last thing he needs is someone getting too close and exposing his secret life.

But fate, it would seem, has other ideas and Ehlena is just the woman he needs to help him finally accept who he is ... and who he's meant to be.

In the meantime, the game is afoot between the Lessers and the BDB with Wrath (Dark Lover), the King of the Vamps hiding some dangerous doings from those who love him and a once member of their fold now leading the nasty slayers. Combine that with a major power struggle within Vampire society and ... well, you get an intricately woven story that keeps the pages turning til late in the night.

4 out of 5 from me. (The only reason it's not a 5? Once again, Ward could not manage to engage me enough to care less about the Lessers, thus making me skim most of their part of the story.)

Still, she knows what readers of paranormal romance crave- and delivers! ( )

Number 4 and Number 7 were my favorites. ( )

Loved it as I have all the ones of this series. I'm busy chewing my nails off waiting for the next one so I can find out what happens with John ( )

I love the brothers you feel me? But I was disappointed with this story. Without getting long winded, suffice it to say that I felt Wrath and John Matthew got more line time then Rhev. I didn't really feel connected to Ehlena or Rhev. While I applaud showing Rhev's more tender side, I thought we would see him at his most ruthless too, and it never happened.
I felt a bit cheated with this book.
I know that there was a lot of subplot and future foreshadowing going on, but between the Lessers, Lash, Wrath, JM and the rest of the kick ass brothers, Rhev took a back seat and that bugged the shit out of me true?

I will still read the series, and will read her new series, but I was so excited for Rhev and his Mohawk, and I just was so disappointed ( )

Once you start reading this book you can't stop until the last page. Once again J. R. Ward did not disappoint. The complex relationships and tie ins are amazing. The characters really jump off the page. Definetly recomend this as a read. ( )