Book Review: Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #9) by JR Ward

Summary: 

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

Review: 

It's not often that I'll pay $12.99 for an e-book without complaint, but boy, I don't mind paying more for books like this one!  I liked Lover Unleashed even more than Lover Mine.  In fact, I liked it more than Lover Avenged and Lover Enshrined.  It is now my second favorite book in the series.

When I started Lover Unleashed, I was prepared for disappointment because I didn't care about Manny or Payne at the end of Lover Mine.  I didn't want to read about them---I wanted to read about Qhuinn and Blay.  I still want the Qhuay love, but Manny and Payne really grew on me.  I liked Manny's take-no-prisoners attitude.  I liked that he wasn't afraid to stand up to the Brothers.  I also liked Payne.  She was tough without being too tough (like Xhex---Xhex is so tough I had a hard time liking her).  Payne is the kind of girl to save herself with her brains instead of just fighting.  

One of my complaints about Lover Mine was  that there was too much of Lash, the Lessers, and the Omega.  It made the book as a whole so dark, gory, and violent.  I'm not crazy about that part of the series---it's too much like a battle between Heaven and Hell, and reading about Hell gives me the creeps.  There was a lot less of the Lessening Society in Lover Unleashed, and the Omega made no appearances at all---I was happy about that!

One of my favorite things about this book was the inclusion of other storylines.  I love parallel stories and we had a lot of that here.  Lover Unleashed was almost an extension of Vishous' story, as well as Butch.  I love following multiple characters and Ward weaves the plot together without the transition from character to character feeling choppy.

Only one thing kept me from giving this book five stars.  Payne's "cure" is totally nonsensical.  I just couldn't believe that that's what cured her and I thought it was preposterous. 

Lover Unleashed is for Black Dagger Brotherhood fans only.  This is not a stand-alone book: please don't read these books out of order because you'll spoil the series for yourself.  If you have not read the series, and you like paranormal fiction, you're in for a treat.  Start with Dark Lover and then let us know what you think!