Opening Line:"What if I told you I had a fantasy?"This is the story of Butch O'Neil The 4th member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood to find love. A former cop, he's been living amongst the Vampire Warriors since stumbling into their secret world back in book 1 (Dark Lover) Unable now to return to his old human life yet not really fitting in with the Brothers either he is a man lost between two worlds. He's also hopelessly in love with a woman far above his station. The beautiful socialite Marissa, but she hasn't spoken to him for 2 books now and despite his pining and continual drive bys of her house no longer knows he exists. Butch's only constant would be his "tight" relationship with his best friend Vishous, although he's been acting a little strange lately. In any case the roommates have become increasingly close, sharing everything. And as Butch goes through some major changes during the course of this book their bond will only grow stronger as they face life and death together. LOVER REVEALED is quite the ride and a great addition to this series. Erotic, thrilling, with non stop action and revelations galore. Of course all the Brothers stories continue and their ongoing sub-plots will keep you completely absorbed. Butch is feeling sorry for himself, drinking too much Scotch, longing for Marissa and wondering where he belongs. Forbidden to fight for the Vampire race that has adopted him he is beginning to feel worthless. Living in their house, wearing expensive designer suits and driving a flash car all paid for by the Brotherhood. He can't respect himself and is finding little comfort in his new lifestyle. One evening after leaving the nightclub Zerosum Butch has a chance encounter with some Lessers and after saving a young Vampire is taken hostage. He is then tortured for the location of the Brotherhood and when he refuses to break, the Omega (Lessers Leader) places a piece of his evil self inside Butch. Then he is left for dead. The Omega's hope is that Butch will act as a homing device after the Brothers find him. Vishous rescues Butch in scenes very reminiscent of Zsadist going after Bella in Lover Awakened. (Bordering on obsessed) Then transports the half dead cop to Haver's medical clinic where Butch is placed in isolation due to the black body fluids he's spewing and the fact that he now smells like baby powder. At V's request Marissa comes to the clinic to help Butch recover and our love story begins. Marissa is a sheltered, virginal, aristocrat who has never forgotten the cop and after a week together in isolation the two have fallen hopelessly in love. When Marissa needs to feed however there is a problem. She can't use Butch because his blood is weak and eventually she would kill him so she is forced to use another male (I won't tell you who.) This makes Butch crazy. Causing him to get drunk. Again. And this is the first of our couples many annoying break-ups and make-ups. Back at the mansion V and Butch grow even closer as V heals the evil within Butch. There are suggestions of feelings deeper than friendship here and they are explored beautifully. I think the innuendoes show the depth of their feelings and V's true loneliness. Anyways. Butch and Marisa get back together and have a lot of great sex while V searches for an explanation to Butch's bonding scent and how to make him into a true member of the BDB. Marissa and Butch's continual conflict and angst annoyed me to a degree but this is such a great book that I was able to overlook it. There's just so much else going on too. The little snippets of Wrath, Phury, Rhage and Zsadist's lives are excellent. Rhevenge takes on a bigger role and John Mathew ups his training as he tries to come to terms with the loss of Wellsie and Tohr. Zsadist is an unexpected help here. There's the usual witty humour and fabulously erotic love scenes. And the ending is per usual JR Ward jaw-dropping awesome. I can highly recommend this book however I would suggest reading this series in order to get the full affect of these sexy Black Dagger men Vishous is up next in Lover Unbound and I am wondering who could possibly love this sexy yet nasty BDSM Brother?
Considering how late to the BDB party I am, I'm not going to write a review on this book. This is just a "collection of my random thoughts" so I can keep the story straight in my mind, and therefore it's bound to be full of spoilers. If you haven't read this book yet and don't like being spoiled, stop reading this "review" now. I'm not kidding!Okay, here I go...When I finished Lover Awakened, the previous book in the series, I didn't feel much compelled to keep going with the BDB books. I mean, I really liked the 1st 3 books, but I didn't think that Butch and Marissa belonged together and wasn't that interested in reading about them. Eventually, my curiosity couldn't stand it any longer and I had to find out how Butch, Marissa and, well, Vishous would "untangle the web" of their messed up lives.Now that I read Lover Revealed, am I happy with Butch and Marissa's bonding? Yes, absolutely! Ms. Ward changed my mind about them and I ended up being very glad to see them together. I so wanted them together that I started disliking V for his "crush" on Butch. I already had to suffer Phury pining for Bella in Lover Awakened, and I wasn't in the mood for a repeat performance featuring V and Butch. At one point, I started to think that V was just pathetic, and that isn't a good thing considering his book is the next one in the series.Anyway, back to Butch and Marissa... I loved Butch and the way he was completely devoted to Marissa. I never doubted his love for her. When I thought they didn't belong together, it was only because I didn't think she was worthy of him. In this book, Ms. Ward did a good job redeeming Marissa. Even though Marissa grated on my nerves a couple of times, especially when she resorted to her cowardice due to her inability to deal with Butch's joining the Brotherhood's fight against the lessers, she came a long way from the wimpy spineless doormat she'd been in the 1st books. So I ended up liking her, but she was far from becoming a favorite heroine of mine.As for having Butch turned into a vampire and being inducted into the Brotherhood, I loved it! Halfway through the story, I began to worry about his future as I thought Ms. Ward was going to turn him into a "good" lesser but, thankfully, that didn't happen. It was nice to see Butch with a new purpose in life because, frankly, he deserved being more than a BDB pet whose sole job was to drive the Brothers around. I have to say that I'm a bit wary of Butch's future, though. All that "inhaling business" left the door opened for bad things to happen, and I don't trust Ms. Ward not to pull something "nasty" unexpectedly. After all, this is the same author who didn't hesitate to kill Wellsie in Lover Awakened...A BDB book isn't only about the main H/h, so Lover Revealed wasn't only about Butch and Marissa. As usual, there were other storylines running along the main love story and, even though I don't particularly like it, I'm getting used to it. I still can't stand the scenes with the lessers, mainly because they all seem pretty much the same: the lesser du jour (pick any letter from the alphabet) hatches an evil plan to kill the Brothers, recruits a new "apprentice", the evil plan fails, the Omega gets p!ssed, and the lesser du jour is killed. Lather, rinse, repeat, and you're ready for the next book.As for the other storylines, V had some major scenes in this book - as expected - and I can't say I was happy with them. Besides his pining for Butch, which I already said it was annoying, his kinky side was a bit disturbing because I'm not into BDSM. I'd better brace myself for a bumpy ride next... *drags her feet to get Lover Unbound*On the bright side, I enjoyed getting updates on John and I'm looking forward to his transition, even though I feel it isn't going to be an easy one. If only Tohr was around to help the boy get his act together... Thankfully, Wrath and Z stepped up to the plate and knocked some sense into him.All things considered, I enjoyed this read better than I had expected. I haven't become a die-hard fan of this series yet, but I'll keep reading it... Well, I'm going to read Lover Unbound and see how it goes.
What do You think about Lover Revealed (2007)?
Butch O'Neal...5 Stars! Vishous...5 Stars! Marissa...2 Stars! Audiobook Narration...3 Stars! The story...*cringe*...barely 3 stars! JR Ward and her never ending reference to products, tagging items with dollar amounts and pointless narrative...nothing but annoying -3stars! I so hoped that my Butch would have a stronger female and that his story would have been better, but unfortunately, in my eyes, it didn't play out so well. The overuse of product advertising...the author must have stock in Grey Goose...drove me mad. Marissa was not what I wanted or hoped for Butch, I thought at some point she would see the light, there would be a love connection, but no light, only when my power come back on...hehe...and she never stepped up to the plate for my man, like she needed too. I wanted to jump into the pages and show her how to treat this amazing warrior. Sorry to all my GR friends who are BDB fans, but this was not a good read for me. I will continue with the series and I am looking forward to Vishous and John's books. I only hope that they won't disappoint, as this one did. I still luv ya Butch...I just wish J.R. Ward would have done right by you.
—Karla
4 BUTCH smart-ass, tough-talking, Scotch-sucking STARSButch O'Neal Marissa This book concentrates on Butch and Marissa’s relationship. However to be honest I found the development of his relationship with Vishous to be more exciting than the romance between him and Marissa. I thought that Lover Revealed was simply lacking in the lovely, heart-stopping scenes that I really love to see, so I found it difficult to really feel their love in the powerful way that I did with the main characters in the others books! This doesn’t stop me from strongly recommending it.Lover Revealed is a fantastic read, a exciting page turner that you won’t want to put down. Mrs. Ward I will be looking forward to continuing with the series to see where your wonderful, and fertile imagination leads these awesome characters!!Vishous will be up next in Lover Unbound...
—Barbara
5 Humongous....VUTCH stars This is the 4th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. This one is about Butch and Marissa, BUT... V is a gigantic part of this one and I LOVED it!!!! The banter between Butch and V was awesome and i'm not much of a M/M reader, until now!! LOL....and i'm not going to bore you with my review....so...GO READ THIS NOW!!! Bring on V.... ♥ the BDB“V, you know I love you like a brother, right?""Yeah.""You feed her and I'll tear out your fucking throat out" Fave Quotes:“The Destroyer has arrived and you are he.” “She pulled back the sheet. Good God, his sex was... "It's gotten so...huge"Butch barked out a laugh. "You say the nicest things.” “Butch: -I hear ya. No one's biz but yours. One question thoughVishous: -WhatButch: -When the females tie you down, do they paint your toe-nails and shit? Or just do your makeup? Wait... they tickle your pits with feather, right?” “V?" Butch said. "Don't leave, okay?""Never." V brushed Butch's hair back with a gesture so tender it was out of place coming from a male.”“I liked you, cop. From the moment I met you. No… not the first moment. I wanted to kill you when I first met you. But then I liked you. A lot.” “You've got some of me in you, cop.' Wrath's smile stuck around as he slid his glasses back on. 'Course, I always knew you were a royal. Just didn't think it went past the pain-in-the-ass-part is all." “United by their clasped hands, they became again the two halves, the light and the dark. The Destroyer and the Savior. A whole.” “Darkness will never take me... because I have you. Light of my life, Marissa. That's what you are."**BR with the pinks....D&J**
— ♥ Barb ♥
