Adult Review; Lover Mine

Author; J. R Ward

Review; 4.5/5

Release Date; April 27^th 2010

Product Description from Goodreads

In the darkest corners of the night in Caldwell, New York, a conflict like no other rages. Long divided as a terrifying battleground for the vampires and their enemies, the city is home to a band of brothers born to defend their race: the warrior vampires of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. 
John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown to himself and to those around him. After he was taken in by the Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was- or his true identity. Indeed, the fallen Brother Darius has returned, but with a different face and a very different destiny. As a vicious personal vendetta takes John into the heart of the war, he will need to call up on both who he is now and who he once was in order to face off against evil incarnate. 
Xhex, a symphath assassin, has long steeled herself against the attraction between her and John Matthew. Having already lost one lover to madness, she will not allow the male of worth to fall prey to the darkness of her twisted life. When fate intervenes, however, the two discover that love, like destiny, is inevitable between soul mates.

Review;

            As an avid J.R Ward reader (since I devoured the first 7 books and insider guide in less than one week), I could not wait to get my hands on this book!!! Since the second book I have gradually fell in love with John Matthew (J.M) so I was ecstatic knowing that this book would be all about his search for Xhex and his H.E.A (happily ever after).

            The only thing I was hesitant about this book was JM ending up with Xhex. I couldn’t understand this pairing! JM is so kind and devoted to Xhex, while Xhex has fought her feelings for JM since the first time they met. I hated how Xhex went above and beyond to hurt John, as far as I am concerned, and slander his feelings to a point where she “broke” him figuratively by the end of the 7^th book. When I picked up Lover Mine, my feelings were set in stone but I was willing to read it anyways, even though I know my stubborn feelings would not change. Boy was I wrong.

            I am a huge XHEX FAN now!! She easily climbed from my most hated character in the BDB series, to my favorite female character! This story gives us a better look into Xhex’s past and helps us to understand the way she acted previously. In Lover Mine Xhex does a complete 360. I couldn’t believe the way she changed, however based on what she went through at the hand of Lash in the first part of the book, this character remodel didn’t seem false or forced to me.

            I also loved the flashbacks to the days of Darius and a younger Thor. Usually in flashbacks in previous books I was bored, and would casually flip through them, this wasn’t the case in this book though. Another thing I absolutely loved was the interaction between V and Payne, and can’t wait to see more of them in the next book.

            A couple things I could have done without, and which lead me to give Lover Mine a 4.5 instead of a 5, was the unnecessary sideline story, it bored me. I think in any book that if you have to flip forward to see when if things get better or switch to another narrative, then it’s not a 5/5 book. Another thing that confused me was the drastic change in Payne’s character. In previous books she has seemed cruel and heartless, however in this book she is a completely different character! It didn’t really make sense to me and it seemed like Ward made an impromptu switch so that the character fits it’s future role in books better. I wasn’t a fan of this.

            All in all, this book is close to one of my favorite BDB books. At the end of the book, I was in love with the JM and Xhex pair up. I don’t want to wait another year for the next one!