Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward
Series Name: Black Dagger Brotherhood
Volume Number: 3
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Urban, Vampires
Intended Age Group: Adult
Publisher: Signet/Penguin Group (USA)
Edition: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-451-21936-7
Rating: 4.5/5
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Description from the Book
In the Shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, a deadly turf war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion and terror his only passion – until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.
Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for each other begins to overtake them, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives them to the brink of madness. Now Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past and find a future with her….
Personal & Info
I’ve noticed some of the volumes I have don’t match any other cover images. I want to be accurate to which edition I read, so I’m taking a picture of the books for the ones of which I can’t find an accurate representation. For this particular series, it looks like a chunk of the copies I have contain a different Signet logo than other copies. I think, maybe, the copies I have use an outdated logo.
This volume is another one of my favorites. I don’t think I can choose between Lover Eternal and Lover Awakened. This one has a lot of abuse themes in it, so if you don’t like that kind of story, you might not like this volume. However, this one appears to be a fan favorite from what I’ve seen.
Content Warnings
At this point, I’m just keeping a running list of content warnings that have been in the series so far, from what I can remember. If you’re reading the series, or considering reading the series, and you have sensitivities, you might want to know these. The list so far: abuse, attempted rape, drugs, kidnapping, sexual themes, rape, and violence.
Characters
Zsadist is the primary Brother for this volume. We get to dig past his temper and hard shell to see his traumatic past and how he copes. The supposedly scariest and most intimidating of the Brothers has a softer side, and we get to see it.
Bella, who previously just wanted to dance with danger by flirting with Zsadist in the last book, has some trauma of her own. If there’s someone out there for him, it’s her. I think her recent experiences make her more suited to him. She may not have been a good match before.
Rehvenge, Bella’s brother. I can’t remember if he had any significant role in the first two books, but he’s in this one, so I should probably add drugs to the trigger warnings. Can’t have Rehv in the books without drugs.
Tohrment, this book is both a great and terrible time for Tohr…
Phury, you can’t have a Z story without Phury. They are far too close for that to be permissible.
Blaylock will be significant later. He’s one of John’s classmates.
Lash is an a-hole, whom, unfortunately, will be significant.
Story & Thoughts
This series keeps getting better as it goes. This volume has drama as Zsadist and Phury are so similar as twins they even have the same taste in women. Their history is revealed in a series of flashbacks cluing the reader in on Zsadist’s traumatic past, and Phury’s quest to find him. It’s impossible to learn more about one of them without including the other. They’re twins and therefore their lives are eternally linked.
I think this book is as much about Zsadist’s character development as it is the romance. Z has leaps and bounds of character growth, and so does Bella. Two traumatized people learn to help and love each other. Of course, the love part gets an assisted boost as the series shows a needing for the first time. It’s pretty extreme.
Substantial plot building has been laid out over the course of the first three volumes, and I’m interested to see where things go. I’m hooked on the series, and don’t plan to stop reading any time soon.
I thought I adjusted to the terminology and slang in this series. I was proven wrong in this volume. In John’s sections, he mentions the use of “ji” for martial arts. I’m certain this term is incorrect. It should be a “gi.” I did some googling to make sure. It bugged me every time I read it, and it will continue to bug me every time I see it.
Sometimes I think words are abbreviated for no reason other than to make characters or the writing sound cooler. This guy was using binoculars, but they were constantly referred to as “binocs.” I’ve never heard anyone call them that. I don’t know if it’s a common term abbreviation, but I suspect not.
This book was very close to a 5/5, but I couldn’t get past enough small oddities to approve that score.