Review of Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood #5) by J.R. Ward

Synopsis: In Caldwell, New York, war rages between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Now the cold heart of a cunning predator will be warmed against its will... Ruthless and brilliant, Vishous, son of the Bloodletter, possesses a destructive curse and a frightening ability to see the future. As a pretrans growing up in his father's war camp he was tormented and abused. As a member of the Brotherhood, he has no interest in love or emotion, only the battle with the Lessening Society. But when a mortal injury puts him in the care of human surgeon, Dr. Jane Whitcomb compels him to reveal his inner pain and taste true pleasure for the first time-until a destiny he didn't choose takes him into a future that cannot include her...

5 Stars

Review: This story broke my heart. Vishous is the sexy and somewhat untouchable of the Brothers, but he is spiraling out of control now that his somewhat love interests, Butch and Marissa, are happily bonded together. Then, to make matters worse, he is called, by the Scribe Virgin, to be the Primale - the male that is supposed to be with all of the Chosen and father the next generation of Brothers, as well as the next generation of Chosen. In the midst of being asked this, he finds out about some of the secrets of his birth, but none of this new knowledge can take away from the bitterness inside of him at the attention he received from his father, the Bloodletter. And this is one of the first places that my heart breaks for him - for Vishous was completely abused, and I am not sure how he made it out of his childhood or his transition.

One night, soon before he is to take his place as Primale, he gets hurt in the field and is taken to a real emergency room before any of the Brotherhood find out to get him. There, he is operated on and saved by Dr. Jane Whitcomb. The book begins with part of Jane's story, from when she was 13, and we find out that she finds out she will marry someone named Vishous, which she thinks is just a silly joke - for Jane is a human. When the Brothers find out where Vishous is, they come to save him before the humans figure things out, and he has had a vision and knows that Jane is important, so they take her with them.

From there, we slowly see the bonding magic come to work for Vishous and Jane, as he is slowly healed from the inside out, of what happened to him in his past in his father's camp, from recently finding out who his mother is, as well as his relationship with Butch. Phury also steps up, when he takes Vishous's place as the Primale so that V can be with Jane. Seeing how the Brotherhood works - for and with one another - is such a great foundation to each of these books. The fight against the lessers is still going, though, and Jane is much more fragile in this fight, as she is a human. This is the next place that my heart breaks for Vishous, as he has to come to terms with Jane's existence, as she is very strong in her work ethic but also wants to be part of Vishous's life. Will they be able to do this, however?

So, without giving away too much, I have to share that seeing Vishous come full circle with his mother, as well as the sacrifice that she ends up making for him - it literally made me cry. Then, to see him realize that he maybe did have a mother who cared for him, and to gift her with something that she loved in return - more tears!!

Jessica