Reviewer: Chrystal Lover at Last by J.R. Ward
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #11
Also in this series: Lover Unbound, Lover Avenged, Lover at Last, The King, The Shadows, The Beast, Lover Enshrined, The Chosen, Lover Mine, The Thief, The Savior, Where Winter Finds You, The Sinner, Lover Unleashed, Lassiter
Publisher: NAL
Publication Date: March 26, 2013
Point-of-View: Third Person
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 608
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Series Rating:
Qhuinn, son of no one, is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, shunned by the aristocracy, he has finally found an identity as one of the most brutal fighters in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. Even as the prospect of having a family of his own seems to be within reach, he is empty on the inside, his heart given to another....
Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it’s about time: it seems Qhuinn has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young. It’s hard for Blay to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. And Qhuinn needs to come to terms with some dark things before he can move forward…
Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions... but as the battle over the race’s throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn finally learns the true definition of courage, and two hearts who are meant to be together... finally become one.
Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it’s about time: The male has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young—just as Qhuinn has always wanted for himself. It’s hard to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. As he’s learned firsthand.
Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions… but as the battle over the race’s throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn finally learns the true definition of courage, and two hearts who are meant to be together… finally become one.
As with all Black Dagger Brotherhood fans, I was excited to finally be able to read Qhuinn and Blay’s story. Until I read it. I loved the start, the Prologue actually brought tears to my eyes. Ward builds an amazingly beautiful but violent and passionate world in this book, just like the books before it. She has a beautiful way of seamlessly integrating new characters, and setting the scene for future story lines. But this book wasn’t supposed to be about Assail and Sol, or Trez and his arranged betrothal to the Shadows queen. It was supposed to be about Qhuinn and Blaylock.
I have to honestly say this was the weakest part of the storyline. It was very disappointing to read the few parts that were meant to be the key elements to this book. They were so few, and felt very forced. One minute they hate each other, the next they are screwing like there is no tomorrow, then again they hate each other. At one point at the very end I began to question if this book was going to give us a happy ending (seriously it was the last chapter!) they finally worked things out!!!!!!!
I wish I could say I loved the book. Qhuinn is after all my absolute favorite character in the series. But I almost feel that their story would have been better off as a novella. At least that way the two would have been given the attention they deserved. I’m not opposed to books building up a story line for other characters for future books, but this time the main story line suffered greatly. There was too much anticipation and build up for a book that had very little to do with the main characters. It was, in my opinion, anticlimatic when you think about this book in comparison to the build up for it in the previous books.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Black Dagger Brotherhood
I agree. This one really fell flat for me. You expect when a book is sold as being about a specific couple that at least 51% of the book will be devoted to their storyline, I’d be surprised if they got 20%.
There’s just too much going on now with the series, in this book alone 5 couples took center stage. It’s also irritating that everyone has the exact same slang – how is that possible? There are characters who have no connection or interaction and they use the exact same phrasing in their thoughts?
As an aside, I think these books would benefit from a recap chapter at the front to remind us of the important points so far. There’s not always time to reread the series before a new book and with a year between it’s difficult to remember where things left off with such a huge cast of characters.
Well I do know the next book will be about Wrath and Beth. Fingers vrossed its as hot as it was the first time around.
I heard a rumor that she is considering going back to each couple. I love it when authors do that. If its done right.