Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #9) by J.R. Ward

Lover Unleashed (J.R. 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.

MY REVIEW

Payne and Dr. Manuel Manello

It finally happened, he thought as he burrowed under his shirt and took hold of his heavy cross. All his life he’d wondered why he’d never fallen in love, and now he knew: He’d been waiting for this moment, this woman, this time.
The female is mine, he thought.
And even though that made no sense at all, the conviction was so strong, he couldn’t question it.
“Are you the healer?” she said in a low voice that stopped his heart. “Are you . . . here for me?”
Her words were heavily accented, gorgeously so, and also a little surprised.
“Yeah. I am.” He wrenched off his suit’s coat and threw it into a corner, not giving a shit where the thing landed.
“I’m here for you.”

Manny has never been in love. Or maybe he has never loved anyone at all in his life. He loves his horse of course. And he cared for Jane. But he wasn’t really in love with her. She was mostly his best friend until she died. And then Jane is alive again somehow and she asks him to help with an injured female who cannot feel her legs.

Payne used to love being the sparring partner of Wrath, until the king caused a severe injury and now Payne is paralyzed from the waist down. Payne is transported in BDB mansion where she will soon meet a human healer who can fix her. It is a good thing that Manny is a good surgeon (with a god complex someone may add).

When Manny and Payne meet, there are sparks everywhere and this is something that Vishous (Payne’s twin brother who didn’t know that he had a twin sister until then) does not like it. Let’s not forget that Manny used to want Jane and this is something that V cannot forget and forgive.

I loved Vishous acting as the big, protective brother:

Jane tightened her arm around his waist. “Are you all right?”
He glanced down at his shellan. “I don’t think my sister is old enough to have sex.”
“V, she’s the same age you are.”
He frowned for a moment. Was she? Or had he been born first?

The situation will be resolved when both Payne and Manny declare their love for each other to Vishous.

V and Payne:

“Answer me one thing,” her twin said.
“What.”
“Do you love the bas—him. Do you love him?”
Payne looked back through the glass at the human on the bed. “Yes. I am in love with him. And if you try to dissuade me by the fact that I have not lived yet enough to judge, I say unto you . . . fuck off. I need not know the world to realize my heart’s desire.”

V and Manny:

“I love her so damned much,” Manny heard himself say. “That’s my heart right there. That’s my woman.”

Payne and Manny have the sweetest love story. There is hardly any tension between them. It is just a matter of others to accept it.

Welcome Manny in the BDB mansion!

Last but not least, welcome Xcor and Band of bastards in the BDB world!