5/5. For full review, please check out our site: http://vampsrus.blogspot.com/2009/07/... ( )

I really loved this book. I could not put it down. perfect mix of romance, action and angst. This totally fit what I look for in a escapist read. I am trying to get the other ones in the series, although I think I might have read one of the others before and not liked it quite as much...some of the characters seemed really familiar. Anyway, the ending was a little too "Happily ever after" to the point where I had trouble believing it. yes, I can believe all the vampire stuff but that someone turns his existence around that fast after years of suffering just because he falls in love...that I have trouble believing, I guess I am a little bit of a cynic. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series. ( )

Book 3 brings in the other Brothers more. This book is a complicated book. It deals with PTSD. Both the Brother and the Heroine in the book dealt with grossly traumatic events. The books ends on a sweet note with hope of complete healing if that is possible. ( )

"Lover Awakened" is the third in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. For proof that I am not a constant 5 star reviewer, please see my history. I don't lavishly give praise often and I always try to balance my reviews. If I don't love something about a book, I say so. That said, forgive my exuberance! This series has been an unexpected and delightful treat. I took a long time getting around to reading these thinking they would be another paranormal romance series like Kerrelyn Sparks or Lyndsay Sands. Especially worrisome because I though the titles of Ward's books were beyond cheesy. I was wrong because this series knocked me for a loop. Each book has gotten better than the previous one. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is far more than a paranormal romance series. Though it has a definite romantic focus, which includes descriptive passages of sex and intimacy, it has much more grit to it. There is adventure, fighting between the BDB and their enemies, the soul-less Lessers, friendships, betrayals, curses, tragedies, deaths, and rebirths. Ms. Ward writes a compelling saga and makes these out of the world characters feel like they are right there with you. In "Lover Awakened", Zsadist, the tortured,surly, hard Brother, saves Bella from a torturing Lesser. Bella, a vampire, is immediately interested in Z but he can't understand why she isn't interested in his handsome twin Phury. While trying to drive Bella away, Z is actually falling in love with her. More beautiful than the romance is witnessing Z's journey facing and overcoming his past as a blood/sex slave. I have read reviews that complain of the brother's slang and their odd names, but once you become engrossed in the series, these become just another part to Ward's world. I told my husband this series is so addicting, it should be called crack reading. I can't recommend this series enough. ( )

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