LOVER REBORN by J.R. Ward

Several things happen in the Ninja Girl household with the release of a new BDB book. 

First, there's the fangirl-ing that ensues: squees of joy, jumping up and down, taking out lamps with wildly flailing arms.  Second, there's a fast and furious re-cap of all the books between me and Ninja Aunt P--which inevitably leads to arguing over who's the best brother.  It's so obvious, but the woman insists on disagreeing w/me on V's behalf.  Whatever.  We all know the truth.

Zsadist, my perfectly imperfect scarred brother, you are what the Brotherhood's all about.  I mean, seriously.  Lover Unbound vs. Lover Awakened; goatee vs. face scarred to hell; techie w/handrolleds vs. tragedy and lethal intent personified?  Love you both, but there's no contest, true?

Anyway, after the arguing, me and Ninja Aunt P go and plunder our local bookstore, grabbing up three copies of the Warden's latest (which really is a MONSTER of a book; 527 pgs of BDB awesome).  Lover Reborn was a great installment in the series.  Ward gave me tragedy, violence, plot, romance, and did justice to the characters I love.  Ward's undeniable, unmatchable recipe of BDB goodness.

In case you haven't read BDB, Ward puts her characters through hell, takes them to the precipice of the worst scenario you could ever imagine and pushes them over the edge.  That is what makes her stories great: They're never easy.  And Tohr's story was no exception.

I'm not even going to try and summarize.  The BDB stories are too complex, and the Warden did it much better than I ever could (from Goodreads):

Ever since the death of his shellan, Tohrment is a heartbroken shadow of the vampire leader he once was. Brought back to the Brotherhood by a self-serving fallen angel, he fights again with ruthless vengeance- and is unprepared for a new tragedy. Seeing his beloved in dreams—trapped in a cold, desolate netherworld—he turns to the angel to save his former mate, only to despair at the path he himself must take to set her free. As war with the lessers rages, and a new clan of vampires vies for the Blind King’s throne, Tohr struggles between an unforgettable past, and a future that he doesn’t know he can live with… but can’t seem to turn away from.

Great things about this book: The relationship between Tohr and No'One.  I was so with them the entire time.  Ward gave me such insight into their feelings and both were equally vulnerable and tragically likable characters.  The emotional content in the book ran high.  The scene with Tohr and the dress had me choked up.  John and Xhex's struggles socked me in the gut.  Xcor (who's now one of my Favorite Characters to Watch) also had my eyes welling.  But I didn't cry; nope, ninjas don't do that.  They suck it up, pull on their big-girl pants, grit their teeth and turn the page.

And I did.  I drank up the pages of Lover Reborn like water.  They were absolutely awesome--the characters leading the book with plot woven in seamlessly.  J.R. Ward has some kind of book magic the likes of which are rarely seen.  If you're an adult, I cannot recommend this series enough.  It is the sh*t.  Period.

Ninja Girl

P.S. Blay and Qhuinn's book is next, thank the Warden :D  I. Cannot. Wait.