Review: Lover Avenged by J.R. Ward

Now, as the vampire warriors defend their race against their slayers, one male's loyalty to the Brotherhood will be tested-and his dangerous mixed blood revealed...

Caldwell, New York, has long been the battleground for the vampires and their enemies, the Lessening Society. It's also where Rehvenge has staked out his turf as a drug lord and owner of a notorious night club that caters to the rich and heavily armed. His shadowy reputation is exactly why he's approached to kill Wrath, the Blind King and leader of the Brotherhood.

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.

Alright y'all, I won't pussy foot around it - I was disappointed with this book. As I mentioned in my Goodreads discussion I think a lot of it had to do with my expectations. With Lover Enshrined I went in not expecting much based on a lot of blogger reviews; most people said it was their least favorite in the series. Because I started it with such low expectations, I actually ended up liking it a lot more than I had anticipated.

With Lover Avenged I went in expecting more, something better than Lover Enshrined and was pretty disappointed. I really didn't love Rhev all that much. *ducks* I enjoyed him in the other books but as a main hero he kinda fell flat for me. As others have mentioned I loved him with Bella, Nalla, and his mother. But with Ehlena...meh. I actually liked Ehlena a lot though. I thought her reaction to finding out the truth bout Rhev to be pretty realistic. I'da been pissed too. To me she was one of the stronger heroines of the series, but I still just didn't LOVE their story.

One thing I really enjoyedwas the Wrath/Beth storyline. We haven't seen that much of them since Dark Lover and it was nice to see more of their relationship post-HEA.

I think another reason I didn't like this one as well is because aside from the Wrath/Beth sub-plot I didn't care much for the other ongoing plots. There wasn't enough with John/Xhex (I know Lover Mine, can't wait!), there was like NO TEAM QHUAY in this one. *stomps foot & pouts* Now, I almost always just skim the lesser sections. I'm paying a little more attention now that Lash is Mr. Evil. But there just wasn't enough keeping me engaged in this one.

Overall, one of my least favorite in the series. Actually when I think about it, I enjoyed Lover Enshrined more because of all the other overarching sub-plots. It's official, this one is my least favorite of the series. It was just not satisfying enough, thus earning it only: