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.

I have to start by saying thank you to the author for this book. I never thought we’d get it as it’s an m/m story and a lot of authors would have pushed it by the wayside, not giving the readers Blay and Qhuinn’s HEA or done it in a short story or novella. Ward didn’t and I’ve gotta give her props for that.

Now the story of Qhuinn and Blay was a good one. They had been friends first and unfortunately had more than drifted apart over the last couple of years supposedly because of Qhuinn’s inability to accept Blay’s feelings for him. I don’t blame Blay at all for stepping back because there are only so many times you can go down the same road and expect it to end somewhere else.

Qhuinn has changed. He’s realized his love for Blay and wants to be with him but he still has a problem with being “out.” He honestly does not believe himself to be gay and this creates a problem with Blay as he is out and proud. The Brothers do end up in bed together a couple of times but keep butting heads (uh, big ones not little ones – although that does happen! lol). It’s an emotional roller coaster for them both and I loved reading about it. I do wish that there was more pages dedicated to their love story but alas Ward is not known for sticking to just one or two storylines in a book. Nope, in this one there were no less than 8 different stories. Some of them involved Blay and Qhuinn and some were overlapping but it was hard to take in at times and more than a bit frustrating.

In this book we got Blay and Qhuinn’s romance, Qhuinn and Layla’s possible pregnancy and its issues, the Band of Bastards leader, Xcor, and his obsession with Layla, the glymera and their pending insurrection, a ghost from the past shows up, Assail and his obsession with Marisol (Sola), the assassin who was sent to kill him, Trez and his sex addiction along with issues with his people and their desire to control him and of course the Lessening society. That’s not even mentioning Qhuinn and his relationship with the Brotherhood and a crazy scene with Qhuinn and Zsadist. That’s a damn lot to take in in one book. Granted the hardcover was massive and felt like I was holding a set of encyclopedia’s while I read but there you have it.

I liked the different parts of the book and storylines, unfortunately I didn’t think that any of them were given the attention that they deserved. As much as I adored Blay and Qhuinn I thought their final HEA came way farther into the book than I would have liked and that was a bit annoying as this was supposed to be their book. Despite that this is the best BDB book I’ve read in a few years so in the end it was all worth it.

I’m actually looking forward to the next book called The King (March, 2014) as I really am a fan of Wrath’s.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

PS – I LOVE the cover of this book.  It’s my all time favorite with Lover Avenged coming in a close second. 🙂