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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Looking for spoilers for Lover at Last by JR Ward?

Lover at Last by JR Ward
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: The male has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young—just as Qhuinn has always wanted for himself. It’s hard to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. As he’s learned firsthand.

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 was going to write a review, but I think I missed that boat. If you want the classic review you can find it:
Goodreads: 4,655 ratings/1,424 reviews 
Amazon: 423 customer reviews 

I am going to give you my overall thoughts then I am going to give you all the dirty spoilery details (hidden behind the page break so you don't have to worry about seeing them unless you want to) I can remember because there are some readers who aren't interested in reading m/m, but desperately want to know what is happening with the characters. I read this when it came out and I can’t recall everything so if you have questions about what happened or if I got something wrong let me know and I will answer or fix it!

My thoughts (sort of review)
I love m/m romance and I have been waiting for this book for a long time. The book is about Blay and Qhuinn getting their HEA and they do, but it was all about the sex in this one. If you were avoiding this book because you didn’t want to read gay sex then you better stay away cause they get down and dirty. Honestly, you can still read the book because the gay sex doesn’t jump out at you from nowhere. You can avoid those parts. Anyway, I know good gay romance and JR Ward did a fair job with it, but she doesn’t write m/m for a living and it shows. The romance element was missing from the sex and that was disappointing. The ending was a little rushed and cheesy. The bar is symbolic of of their relationship and I get why Ward would have them hash things out there, but having the emotional climax of their story happen there didn't work for me.

The book has a ton of POVs and other character story lines.  You might get whip lash as JR Ward switches between them with each chapter. Normally this would frustrate me in a bad way, but in this case it kept me turning the pages. I would be angry as a chapter ended because I would have to wait till the author got back around to those characters to find out what happened, but then I would get caught up in the next chapter and frustrated when that one ended. Bottom line… page turner!

All our favorite brothers are here, but their HEA have been told so Ward is bringing in new characters for the romance. There is still a lot of story for our favorites in the series and I like where she is going with them. The Band of Bastards are trying to overthrow Wrath as king and they have made some unusual alliances. A new drug lord, the vampire Assail, has come to town and he has allegiance only to money. I really like this character and can’t wait for his HEA with the human Sola. Then there are the Shadow brothers Trez and iAm.

Squee quotes:

Blay thinking about Qhuinn:
“Hair? Brushed if it was lucky. Cologne? Gunpowder and orgasms.” 

“As his voice resonated inside his own skull, he resolved to listen to himself. No further. This would go no further. He’d long ago lost his heart to that male. There was no reason to lose his soul, too.”
Blay admitting his feelings to Qhuinn at the end:
“Because I was, and I remain, utterly and completely and totally… in love with you.” 

Trez being badass when he catches a guy mistreating a female at a club (Holy crap! What are shadows?)
“I’m going to come at you from behind. You won’t know I’m there, and you won’t live through what I’m going to do to you. I promise you this” Yup, Shadows had a special way of disposing of their enemies, and though he preferred low-fat meat like chicken or fish, he was willing to make exceptions." 

My fangirl heart gives 5 Sheep








The reviewer in my head gives 4 Sheep





FOR SPOILERS click to read more







Qhuinn/Blay – Blay and Saxton break up because Sax knows Blay is in love with Qhuinn. Qhuinn spends the whole book thinking Blay is in love with Sax and Blay won’t correct him on this because he needs to move on, it hurts too much that Qhuinn can’t admit his feelings and come out of the closet so to speak. Sax goes out and has sex with a stranger to get over Blay and Qhuinn thinks he is cheating and just about beats Sax to death. Lots of back and forth and self-introspection goes with both characters and Qhuinn finally admits to himself he is gay and it is okay. At the end of the book he gets on one knee and asks Blay to be his mate. We don’t get to experience the mating, hopefully in the next book!

Blay- We meet Blay’s parents and they are fabulous! He comes out to them and is terrified, but they let him know they love him no matter what. They fully support him and Qhuinn. All the scenes with Blay and his parents are touching. This is in sharp contrast to Qhuinn’s upbringing where his parents hated him.

Qhuinn – Saxton has been helping Wrath find a way to legally make Qhuinn a Black Dagger Brother. Qhuinn saved Wrath’s life in the last book and saves Zsadist’s life in this one. Zsadist gets injured in a fight and Qhuinn has to fly him back to the compound in an old plane even though he has never flown before. This was a fantastic scene in the book. So many feels between all the characters involved because there is a very real chance they won’t make it. Of course Qhuinn saves the day in a spectacular crash scene. I like the fact that we get to experience Qhuinn’s induction ceremony. It reminds us of what the Brotherhood is about and what they go through to protect the vampire society. We also get more back ground on Qhuinn’s family and what happened to them. They were killed by Lessers after throwing him out. BUT Qhuinn’s brother Luchas is found stuffed in a barrel of Omega blood and has been there the whole time! He is completely broken mentally and physically. They fix him up and he apologizes to Qhuinn for how he treated him and they agree they were both screwed up by their mom and dad. Will have to see if the brother plays a bigger role in future books.

Layla- She is pregnant with Qhuinn’s baby. They have an understanding. They don’t love each other but both want to have a child. Qhuinn saw his daughter when he almost went into the fade the night his family sent an honor guard to beat him after disowning him. They are keeping it a secret for now because of the stigma of being an unmated Chosen pregnant by a disowned male. We learn about the politics and social workings of the vampire society and it ain’t pretty when it comes to this sort of thing. Blay thinks Qhuinn loves Layla, because this is the reason Qhuinn told Blay he couldn’t have a relationship with him. His dream was to marry and have children. Much of the Blay/Qhuinn miscommunication angst comes from this. Blay loves Qhuinn so much he is willing to move on so Qhinn can have his dream. Anyway! Layla starts to miscarry and everyone finds out about the pregnancy. Phurry is… furious! But in the end calms down and only wants what is best. The doctor tells her she is losing the baby and nothing can be done. There are a lot of emotional scenes about the loss for Qhuinn, Layla and Blay. Layla shows more backbone in this book and becomes her own person. She doesn’t like everyone telling her what she wants or needs. Payne visits Layla one night and heals her so she won’t lose the baby. Everyone is happy happy. The book ends with her pregnant. Who knows what book she will have the baby in because a I think a vampire pregnancy is 18 months long!

BUT, remember Xcor? The head of the Band of Bastards? Layla is his mate. They are drawn to each other but because they are on opposite sides of the war it can never be. There is a scene where Layla and Xcor meet. It is emotionally charged and so sad. I see a Romeo/Juliet story developing here. Xcor knows she is pregnant and it tears him up, but his love for her over rides all of the anger. I can’t wait for their story. There is no way Qhuinn or the brotherhood will want Xcor to be near the baby.

Xcor- The assassination attempt on Wrath’s life didn’t work so Xcor has been working with the Glymera to find another way to dethrone the king. There is a law that the king needs an heir. Since Beth is a half breed and they don’t know what kind of child they would have (human, vamp or half breed) then he can’t be king. Beth wants a child but she hasn’t come into her needing yet. Layla told her if she hung around a female who is pregnant it might bring on her needing sooner. So they have become best buddies. Wrath hasn’t told Beth, but he doesn’t want kids out of fear it could kill Beth. I see a big ass show down coming between these two over this issue along with the Vampire Throne at stake. Ward has already said the next book will be about Wrath/Beth and baby! I said earlier Xcor/Layla is a Romeo/Juliet story, but also a Beauty and the Beast story. They keep reminding us of how ugly Xcor is because of his scars. Layla being a Chosen is heavenly beautiful. And we know how a mated (or almost mated) male is about his female. Xcor has to live with the fact that his female is pregnant by another male and he isn’t allowed to be around her. Good stuff coming!

The Band of Bastards – we are learning a little more about the other guys, but they don’t have a big presence in this book. Throe, Xcor’s second in command, has a thing for Layla too. That will play out eventually I am sure. But she is not his mate.

Trez/iAM – These guys are Shadows. Not sure what that means yet, but I like the characters. We find out Trez was betrothed to the Queen’s daughter at birth and he and his brother have been running away from this. The Queen is coming after Trez to make him marry her daughter. Trez has been sleeping with every human woman he can find because his people see humans as below them. He hopes to taint his self so the princess won’t want to marry him. Then Trez meets a Chosen named Selene. This is his mate and sets up a future storyline. Trez/iAM have to move into the brotherhood mansion to help protect them from the Queen. And guess who services the unmated brother’s blood needs? Selene!

Assail – He is a vampire that has come from the old world to take Rhevs place in the drug trade. He is cut throat and alpha. He only cares about money. He doesn’t want to be on Wrath’s side or The Band of Bastard’s side. He is working with the Lessers and anyone else who will help him take over the drug trade. Someone hires a professional burglar named Sola, who is human, to gather info on Assail so they can have him killed. Assail finds Sola and guess what? She is his mate. He admitted this to his self yet, but he is stalking the hell out of Sola. I like Sola. She is kick ass and doesn’t let anyone tell her what or when to do it. She lives with her Brazilian grandmother and takes care of her. This will be a HEA book in a future book I hope. She is attracted and terrified of Assail, but she will bring him to his knees eventually.

Lessers- they are kind of a non factor in this book. The new guy in charge is Mr. C and he is trying to make money for the dwindling (thanks to the Band on Bastards) and weak Lesser organization by getting into the drug trade. We will see more of them as Mr. C gets involved with Assail.

Okay, that is all I can remember right now. If I forgot someone you want to know more about or if I got something wrong leave a comment and I will try to remember or find out for you :)

10 comments:

  1. I'm a couple of books behind in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and I've been a fan of this series since the very first book. I am so looking forward to catching up with the books I've missed. I know when I read one of these books I have to have my full attention to what I'm reading because so much goes on in the books. So I have to wait until I have some peace a quiet before starting one of these books. I really don't like to be interrupted when I start reading.

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  2. I'm really glad you look the time to read this one. I'm not a fan of the detailed m/m stuff but I love these characters and got to hear all about it from you. Though, I don't think you told me how it ended!

    JR is one of my top favs to read and I'll keep doing so. I think this was awesome of you to pick out the parts for folks to avoid if they so choose.

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  3. Thanks for the review. I just finished this one during my lunch break. Overall I really enjoyed it.

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  4. Pish, posh! What does that reviewer in your head know anyway? Go with the fangirl heart. The heart knows!! *grin*

    I plan on writing my own review, but I need to let it simmer some more in my head, and maybe do some rereads in places. You did a great job with yours! Grats!

    I will say that I am so NOT into m/m, never read it, does nothing for me. But I actually didn't mind it in this book, because hey, its Qhuinn and Blay! I have been emotionally invested in their relationship for how many books/years? At this point it was like, ah finally! There was enough to understand the mechanics involved, but it wasn't so detail oriented that I was squegged out by it. It was a little rough around the edges, but Hello, that is totally Qhuinn. So for me it did work. :)

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    1. I let it simmer for a week and forgot so much! and since I have it on my ereader I couldn't go back and quickly flip through I couldn't remember Qhuinn's brother's name and had to ask someone I am curious about what non m/m readers think of the sex. Compared to authors who know how to write m/m it leaves a lot to be desired, but it is Qhuinn and Blay!! and anything at this point would have made me happy . If you ever want to read a 5 Sheep m/m book written by someone who knows how, try the Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux. Two of the most tortured, alpha FBI men out there!

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  5. This is the first m/m book I read. It didn't bother me. I agree the sex wasn't romantic, but then I think that is what kept it true to the storyline. They weren't at that point yet. And Q did try but B couldn't handle it.

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  6. Thanks for telling me I can easily skip the m/m sex scenes. Now I will read this one when it is out in paperback, and I have forgotten the reviews and spoilers I have read :)

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    1. You aren't alone in this. Some people aren't going to read it because m/m isn't their thing, but they still want to know what is going on with the story arc.

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  7. Replies
    1. thanks, let me know if I forgot any important points! so much to remember!

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