Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward, 4 1/2

Book description: Rehvenge has always kept his distance from the Brotherhood—even though his sister is married to a member, for he harbors a deadly secret that could make him a huge liability in their war against the lessers. As plots within and outside of the Brotherhood threaten to reveal the truth about Rehvenge, he turns to the only source of light in his darkening world, Ehlena, a vampire untouched by the corruption that has its hold on him—and the only thing standing between him and eternal destruction.

Review: Lover Avenged is the seventh book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I was less than thrilled with the previous three books in this series but I am happy to say that this book, unlike those, works as a romance as well as an urban fantasy. Rehvenge and Ehlena’s romance doesn’t take up a huge portion of this book but it still managed to be well developed. On the surface their romance seems like a typical good girl/bad boy pairing but it’s really just about two very lonely people finding each other. This book is also an improvement because both Rehvenge and Ehlena are likeable. Rehvenge has his share of angst but it wasn’t completely over the top like it was with Phury and Vishous. Ehlena was strong in her own way and the subservient female vampire crap was refreshingly absent from her character.

It wouldn’t be a Black Dagger Brotherhood book without numerous sub-plots and Lover Avenged was no different. The developing romance between John and Xhex gets a major dose of angst. Those two are my favorite characters in the series and I can’t wait for their book. Wrath and Beth get a new storyline but I didn’t particularly care about them. The lessers are still boring but at least Lash is a more effective villain than the previous lessers. Thorment’s storyline advances a bit here too and will probably be advancing even more in future books. Based on the events at the end of this book, it looks like John and Xhex are next and I can’t wait.

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