Lover Enshrined

Reread 2020: So many cool moments rereading this one. While a lot of Phury and Cormia's romance is taken up by Phury's addiction, their scenes together interspersed throughout the book are surprisingly tender and hot all at once. I especially enjoyed the JM, Blay and Qhuinn in this one. I'm liking all of the secondary story lines the most, and as things heat up with JM and Xhex, as well as Blay and Qhuinn, it's getting super interesting. I had forgotten this was the first book where we met Lassiter. I rather loved Lassiter when he's doing his angel thing, and the return of Tohr was heartbreaking and well written. She mentions in this book that the race's one prison colony is located up north of the Canadian border. I'm trying to show more remember if that's where the book coming out this August is set. I guess we'll find out!

How can I possibly rate this book? It's about my absolutely, hands-down favorite brother, Phury, and yet, there were definitely a few things that left me disappointed. But, I really loved that we had some exploration of Phury's childhood and the way he was neglected by his parents after Zsadist's kidnapping, as well as how Phury suffered in the search for him. It was so sad that Zsadist had never thanked him and seemed to take Phury for granted as every one else does. I am on the fence about so much of Phury's book being about Zsadist. On the one hand, I thought those parts worked, but on the other, I really wish Ward would write more parts of Phury that are independent of Z, too. She certainly doesn't have a problem writing Z independent of Phury.

I loved the romance with Cormia. Was sad that it took up comparatively little of the book. This is a couple I would LOVE to see get a "redo" book now that she's doing them. show less

Okay, so the book before this was terrible, and I was ready to walk away from this series.

I'm glad I gave it a last chance, as this book was great. Ms. Ward appears to be letting go of her need to neatly wrap up storylines, no matter how complex the situation is. I applaud this, as it makes the stories feel more realistic. Well, as realistic as urban fantasy/romance/whatever gets.

In this book, we're beginning to see a new low for vampire society. Something has to change, and fast, if they're are going to survive. I'm sooo looking forward to the next book.

Estou sem palavras! Acho que este nem será o momento certo para escrever esta crítica, ou será que é? Bem, vou tentar! Amei este quinto volume da Saga da Irmandade da Adaga Negra, está coberto de emoções e de situações tão reais que nos deixa a pensar. Apesar do ambiente um pouco sombrio, há aquela luz, aquela esperança no fundo do túnel que nos deixa o nosso coração a palpitar pela continuação. O livro é um pouco grande, são cerca de 680 páginas, mas devo confessar que não dei pelo tamanho, mas sim pela qualidade da história. Não é completamente focado no casal principal, Phury e Cormia, mas também em várias sub-histórias que nos deixam completamente deliciadas. Sem querer entrar com spoilers podemos show more encontrar um Ómega que apesar do seu coração negro também consegue amar, podemos ver o início de uma relação homossexual, mas que nos é descrita de uma forma muito doce, e para culminar temos um nascimento e um reencontro. É um livro carregado de emoções que, não tenho vergonha de o admitir, me emocionou muito no final. Achei aquela cena do mais ternurento que pode haver. Fiquei também muito curiosa em relação ao livro seguinte e também a razão pela qual um certo anjo caído quis ficar em casa do Rei, pode ser que entretanto essa razão seja descoberta.
De qualquer forma, acho que me fico por aqui, não quero estragar-vos a surpresa. Recomendo a todas as meninas que acompanham a série para ler este livro, eles são todos bons, mas achei que este tinha um toque especial…Espero que gostem tanto como eu! show less

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

The Black Dagger Brotherhood universe undergoes a change of pace with this 6th installment. A lot happens in Lover Enshrined which makes it one of the more important books of this series in my eyes. The lack of sex was surprising at first but then when you consider that this is Phury's tale it kind of makes sense. He did take a vow of celibacy after all so had he given it up too early and/or easily I would have been disappointed. This novel is full of truths and raw emotions; both of which are not always easy to deal with but in the end, prove essential in order for the Brotherhood to heal and move on.

This is Phury's story and yet not. He's not as much in the spotlight as his other brothers have been in their show more respective books. Then again, that's to be expected from this character. He's always putting everyone else before himself; the good of the group is more important than his own needs. Phury is the white knight of the Brotherhood, the savior. Try as he may, he never seems to live up to his impossibly high expectations of himself. In his mind, he failed his parents, he failed his twin and now he's going to fail the Chosen. Phury has a serious case of survivor's guilt and turns to drugs as a coping mechanism. I felt so sad for him; I just wanted to give him a great big hug, tell him that he's tried his best and that's really all that anyone can do.

Cormia is an interesting character and I enjoyed getting to know her. Life as a Chosen isn't easy; she's suffocated by rules and traditions. She had no say in being selected as the Primale's First Mate and like Phury, is expected to place the good of the race ahead of her personal wants. Living among the Brotherhood must have come as quite a shock to her; stepping out of an all white, sterile environment into a world of emotions, colour and freedom. I enjoyed watching Cormia experience her first of many firsts. It gave her an almost childlike innocence. She finds pleasure in the simplest things like running through the grass, picking flowers and watching movies. Everything is new and exciting for her and yet scary at the same time. She can't help but question everything. Does she really want to be a Chosen? Can she share Phury? Are prayers and traditions enough to make her happy?

I liked the private moments between Qhuinn and Blaylock and was happy to learn that Lover At Last is going to tell their story. They're so conflicted and confused that my heart went out to them. I was happy that John Matthew was finally able to get his huge burden off his chest and get the support that he so rightly deserves. No one should suffer alone and I was relieved with how his friends reacted to his secret. I feel in love with Rhev in this installment and can't wait to read Lover Avenged. He's the mirror image of Phury, the dark knight to the Brother's white. The more I learn about the characters in this series, the more I want to read their individual stories.

Lover Enshrined is laden with emotion instead of sex; an interesting change of pace for the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. This installment sheds some light on one of the most misunderstood Brothers, catapults their race into the 21st century and the ending opens up one hell of a can of worms. I can't wait to see what comes next. Lover Enshrined proves that J.R. Ward can write Urban Fantasy just as well as she writes Paranormal Romance. show less

The Black Dagger Brotherhood vampires face their greatest crisis yet when the lesser society moves in earnest to exterminate their entire race using a new secret weapon. Meanwhile the hope of the Brotherhood's future, new Primale Phury spirals down deeper into his own mind, assisted by the evil wizard taking up residence in his head and the ongoing pressure of impregnating not only Cormia, the Chosen he has come to care for, but each of her 40 sisters in turn.

Okay, this description merely scratches the surface of the plot lines and multiple points of view of this complex romance series turned die hard urban fantasy. There is way more going on here. Once I resigned myself to the fact that the romance is actually a subplot to the overall show more tale, it really was a very good ride. There are many characters I liked a lot, but I'm pretty sure the trio of John Matthew, Qhuinn and Blay are the ones who really stole the show for me. Generally, their point of view was fresher and less jaded than those of the other BDB members although they certainly had their share of the rampant angst of the book. In that vein, I have to say this is one of the angstiest books I've ever read, from Bella's pregnancy crisis to Rhev's blackmail and even the pint-size, murderous new fore-lesser, every one of the smorgasbord of characters had their own major issues. The good point is that they were so individual and compelling I really grew to care for all of them which made it impossible to get them confused. As for Phury and Cormia, the interruptions got to be a little much but in the end I was quite satisfied with where they wound up, unexpected as it was. Really, the end made reading everything before it totally worth it and you can't ask for anything more with a story.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but don't make the mistake of thinking it is merely a romance, because it is something much more.

Also, because I couldn't fit this in anywhere else, I have to say I love that house! I want a home with swimming pool a full size movie theater where I can sit and rewind the Baby and Johnny scene repeatedly *sigh* show less

Okay, I admit it. I'm addicted to these books. I know they're not perfect, but they're very readable, the characters are over-the-top but compelling and I just love going along for the ride.

There have been complaints about Ward's world building, and I have to agree with those. It's like she keeps having "better ideas" (TM) and immediately has to use them, even though the world didn't previously have a place for them. Some authors (I'm especially thinking of Marjorie Liu here) can expand their universe organically and it all feels like it always fit. Ward doesn't manage this. Instead, there's a lot of clunking and ripping and tearing. I can look past this and enjoy the story, but I know there are readers for whom this is a breaking show more point. In fact, with the exception of the Jane-as-a-ghost thing, that was bad world building and bad plotting, I think the world is better now. The problem is that it is no longer totally consistent with what it was in the first books.

The other complaint I've seen is that there isn't enough love story. If you are looking for a book totally focussed on Phury and Cormia, then this is true. This book takes the world and all the characters and their various plot-strands as the priority. It is Phury and Cormia's story - Phury's more than hers - but it is also about the other brothers, about Rhevenge, about John Matthew and his friends and others I'm not going to mention to avoid spoilers. Personally, I love this. I like romances, but I'm a fantasy/SF reader first and a romance reader second, so an emotionally staisfying plot that includes a good love story is perfect for me. This book gave me those things and I'm a happy camper.

Phury and Cormia's love story is lovely. Surprisingly gentle (and also not particularly explicit, especially considering some books in the genre; all the same don't go into this expecting lily-white because you won't get that) and well told. It isn't just about them falling in love, something they're already doing as the book begins since their story began in Lover Unbound, but in finding a way to reconcile themselves to what they feel and how they can possibly fit it into the situation they find themselves in. I found it very touching for all that it wasn't centre stage and hot, hot, hot.

But this is Phury's book too. Ward's talent is definitely in the Brothers she has created above and beyond that of describing their love lives. Phury, the perfect one, is perfectly screwed up and it is in the course of this novel that he finds himself facing up to this and finding a way to begin healing. I liked that everything isn't fixed at the end; instead Phury, with Cormia and his side, is finding a place to begin healing and that is so much more realistic (if you can say that about as over-the-top a series as this one). I'd never been that fussed about Phury, being more attracted to the other brothers, but I loved him to bits by the end of the book. I was desperately sad for him as the story progressed and warmed by the light at the end of his tunnel. I think Ward did much better by him than she did by V in Lover Unbound which, after reading this one, I look back on as being a disappointment.

John Matthew's story continues, and since I love him all over too, that worked beautifully for me. He's finding his place in the world (even if he's screwed up too like the rest of them), finding his own brotherhood and clearly we are moving towards a book that will focus on him.

Ward has taken to doing a lot of setup in each book for the next one, and this is true here. We see very much more about Rhevenge in this book, who is to be the hero of the next one, Lover Avenged. Like every one of Ward's heroes, he's totally messed up and in this book we begin to see just how much so. He's also caught in a very nasty situation - between a rock and a hard place describing it perfectly - and I find myself hanging out for his book just so I can find out how it is going to be resolved. I'm loving the story-telling and don't mind the reduction in the romance storyline this causes, but I can see die-hard romance fans being very frustrated by it.

There's also a bunch of new characters and/or revelations about old characters that look to make future books very interesting. If Ward can just keep her world building at the place she's got it now and avoid the temptation to add any further major shakeups that require extensive retconning, we can concentrate with getting on with more great stories. Damn it, I think I'm going to be buying the next book in hardcover after all.

Lover Enshrined
J. R. Ward
Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 6
10/10 show less

Estou sem palavras! Acho que este nem será o momento certo para escrever esta crítica, ou será que é? Bem, vou tentar! Amei este quinto volume da Saga da Irmandade da Adaga Negra, está coberto de emoções e de situações tão reais que nos deixa a pensar. Apesar do ambiente um pouco sombrio, há aquela luz, aquela esperança no fundo do túnel que nos deixa o nosso coração a palpitar pela continuação. O livro é um pouco grande, são cerca de 680 páginas, mas devo confessar que não dei pelo tamanho, mas sim pela qualidade da história. Não é completamente focado no casal principal, Phury e Cormia, mas também em várias sub-histórias que nos deixam completamente deliciadas. Sem querer entrar com spoilers podemos show more encontrar um Ómega que apesar do seu coração negro também consegue amar, podemos ver o início de uma relação homossexual, mas que nos é descrita de uma forma muito doce, e para culminar temos um nascimento e um reencontro. É um livro carregado de emoções que, não tenho vergonha de o admitir, me emocionou muito no final. Achei aquela cena do mais ternurento que pode haver. Fiquei também muito curiosa em relação ao livro seguinte e também a razão pela qual um certo anjo caído quis ficar em casa do Rei, pode ser que entretanto essa razão seja descoberta.
De qualquer forma, acho que me fico por aqui, não quero estragar-vos a surpresa. Recomendo a todas as meninas que acompanham a série para ler este livro, eles são todos bons, mas achei que este tinha um toque especial…Espero que gostem tanto como eu! show less