Lover Enshrined: An Ode to Recovery and Learning to Communicate

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LOVER ENSHRINED

by J.R. Ward

Published by Signet Eclipse/NAL

June 2008

EXCERPT

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other—six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. And now, a dutiful twin must choose between two lives...

Fiercely loyal to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of the race, becoming the male responsible for keeping the Brotherhood's bloodlines alive. As Primale of the Chosen, he is to father the sons and daughters who will ensure that the traditions of the race survive and that there are warriors to fight those who want all vampires extinguished.

As his first mate, the Chosen Cormia wants to win not only his body but his heart for herself- she sees the emotionally scarred male behind all his noble responsibility. But while the war with the Lessening Society grows more grim, and tragedy looms over the Brotherhood's mansion, Phury must decide between duty and love.

One fan's concept of Cormia (Photo credit: saytaina)

Awhile ago I read a post on Smart Bitches Trashy Books with  Q& A for a publishing executive.   One answer came down to the idea that there are writers whose past successes have made them un-edit-able. In other words, they get away with murder. Judging from the amount of product placement, the lack of continuity and the number of typos, I suspect JR Ward is one of these authors. The most annoying to me was a glaring character discontinuity when Cormia, watching Project Runway with a pregnant Bella on bedrest exclaims that something is a "trainwreck!"

Now, Cormia has just recently learned she can touch things, and walk outside and until this book had not watched TV. She hasn't gone anywhere but she knows the phrase "Trainwreck?!"

Having complained I can go on the say these books are like an addiction.  I would sit down and read them all in one streak but have other obligations like eating, making dinner, keeping house, having a social life, reading other books....

So, how ironic that this book should be about addiction, betrayal, and poor communication. The latter two are, of course, the foundation of the Romance genre. The first is a tough and important subject. Thank goodness the younger warriors are able to communicate with each other; even to the point of coming out as gay or bisexual.  THe Brotherhood is surprisingly accepting outside the Glymera.

The bad actor Lash is also a major factor here.  Let's just say he gets the opportunity to fulfill his propensity for nastiness.  We meet a new character, Lassiter who has decided to move in with the brothers.  He is a Fallen Angel and is perhaps an escapee from Ward's Fallen Angel series. But, he does something really helpful.

And, Grey Goose is hardly mentioned.  

We learn more about Rhevenge and Xhex's big secrets too. But the most important thing is the journey to each other that Cormia and Phury take and how it provides real strength to the race. I think the trip was a little bit circuitous, but, who am I to say?  And the Scribe Virgin gets taken down a peg or ten. Yay!

Series readers or not, with the caveat about poor editing, I recommend this installment in the BDB series.

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