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Date Posted: 16:51:06 06/06/08 Fri
Author: BodiceaBo
Subject: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward

First let me say,I did not finish this book.I read about 400 pages of it,give or take,then skimmed the rest.It is rare for me to leave a book unfinished,esp. one I have read at least 100 pages of,b/c by then I am interested enough to keep going.Usually.

I'll get the minor annoyances out of the way first,the pet peeves,as it were.

1.At times I felt like I was reading a manual on text messaging.I hate texting,only do it for special occassions,etc.The ppl who love it & use it,fine.But to have this much in a book,it felt shoved down my throat,like it was a demo on proper texting,abbreviations to use,etc.Enough already,did she have to go into detail,in italics,of every flippin' text!?!?!?

2.Brand-name dropping.The Brothers are LOADED.LOADED.I get it already! There is such a thing as too much detail,esp. when it feels like it's being used to emphasize wealth or style,rather than character.I don't care what kind of clothes he wears,what kind of watch,etc.Partly b/c I'm just not into fashion(Duh! *G*) but mostly b/c I felt positively inundated with the label dropping.At times I felt like the book was an ad for the mall or something.Like maybe the top designers made a deal with the WARDen on the side,feel me?

3.Whatchu doin,sitcha a$$ down and finish reading this complaint! *G* The slang is getting crazy.Permeating everything until I'm not sure where I'm at,and if the brothers who are saying it are the same ones I've met already.

Okay,now that those are out of the way,here's what really wadded me up.This was supposed to be about Phury and Cormia.Instead they got swept to the side & John Matthew,Qhuinn and Blay got center stage.I understand that all the Brothers,save Tohr (whom I'll get to in just a moment) have had their stories told now,and that the boys are the next crop.With Rehvenge & Payne coming as well,I'm sure.But I found myself saying 'Okay,fine,now what about Phury & Cormia??? What are THEY doing????' I felt like not nearly enough attention was focused on them,esp. given how long the book is.I felt like what time was given to them was only about Phury's drug addiction,and the stupid wizard.I'm a LOTR fan,I LOVE the Ringwraiths,but,as with the brand-names & the texting-INUNDATED!!!!!

Overkill,really.And I was hoping,kept expecting,really,to see Cormia confront Phury about the drugs,to have that be the turning point for them.For her to kind of save him,I guess? Instead he just kept turning into a bigger junkie.I felt like he had already hit bottom and Ward was trying to push him through the street.Again,overkill!!!! And it seemed really out of character,when Phury asked Z to thank him for saving his life.If he was really the selfless,giving person we've come to know,I don't think he'd do that,no matter how messed in the head he was.I'm pretty selfish sometimes,so I find it esp. out of character for someone like Phury.The sex scenes were hot,for the most part,between them.Theater hand job,yeah.The classroom.Very good,and I would have liked to have seen them continue there.Instead,we get him acting like a mad-dog by the pool,which should have been hot,started out to be,then ended up ruined,for me,by something that tried to dance on the knife's edge between rape & rough,wild sex and fell off.I'm still not sure which side it fell,and the dialogue after,the beat-down,just skews things even worse.

And of course I could have done without yet another homoerotic sideplot between Qhuinn & Blay.I was disappointed before I even got to that part,in skimming,and that just topped it,for me.I had a bad feeling Ward was using V as bait,fishing to see how/if ppl would bite on a homoerotic storyline,and now I'm sorry that it seems I was right.And it pisses me off,b/c didn't we just go through this crap with Butch & V already??? I don't care if they swing that way,but it's not my thing & I just don't want to be there for it.I am a little ticked that Ward feels the need for yet another homoerotic storyline,and that unlike some other authors,I feel like what was written was the warning,rather than a 'heads-up' of sorts from either the author or publisher,in the form of either a plog,synopsis,etc.If she told ppl on her board,fine,my bad,b/c I don't go there.

Next thing.Qhuinn's new job.In a way,very,VERY cool,I enjoyed the whole 'I've got your back' feel to that,I do love that kind of undying loyalty between warriors.The tattooing scene was cool,esp. Qhuinn getting the extra of the date,spelled out.It helped to take some (certainly not ALL) of the sting away from the hush-hush boot to Phury out of the Brotherhood.It was a brilliant fix on Wrath's part,although it will prolly come back and bite himin the a$$ eventually,which is pondered in the book.BUT,I can't help but wonder about two very important things.One,how is that going to make John Matthew feel,over time.Emasculated,perhaps,even if only a little.Which is bad,considering the inner demons he's already struggling with as a result of his rape.Two,what happens when John is inducted into the Brotherhood as Tehrror(sp?).Just too weird.

Lash being the Omega's son,hmm.Explains why he's such a shite,like Phury said,something was always off.Interesting that he can still eat & drink and have sex.He's prolly going to be the counter for Butch,a.k.a. the Destroyer,I'm guessing.

Tohrment.Hm.I was soooo overjoyed to see him,FINALLY,after all this time.So sad for him.So relieved when it seemed he would reunite with Wellsie and the baby at last,even though I felt a little jipped if that was all we were going to get for him.But then there is the business of Lassiter,as I skimmed I saw that.Maybe I missed something important in not finishing,but here is yet another otherwordly character.Just like Rehv's 'Princess' and his Moor guards,from the s'Hisbe-whatever.I was sooo disappointed that yet another fave para author started adding beings into a world with enough conflict already.Lash being turned into a lesser would surely provide enough material for the next 2 or 3 books,at least.She's good enough to have strung that out without losing momentum.

Hm,what else.Are you sick of my mouth yet.Xhex and her little barb-wire business.*sigh* Do we have to go there? It's getting a little weird for me,all this self-torture stuff.I did enjoy,though,the crack she made to John about saying her name when he comes,and the way he turned it on her in the note.Funny and sexy.

Okay,I'm done.Sorry if I've run on too long,PO'd anyone,but that's my take on it,and the many reasons why the only Ward I'll ever read again is Zsadist's book.(Lin,if you need to pull any or all of this,I'll understand.)

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[> LOLROF, Brilliant! You accomplished your aim. I couldn't finish reading your textspeak. OMB I am getting old. LMAO -- Auntie Frannie, 06:11:41 06/07/08 Sat


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[> LOL Bo! Ana and I were on the phone and we mentioned how much fun it is to talk books with you. I love your passion. I have a feeling I'll be long winded so mine will go inside. -- Leiha, 07:44:50 06/07/08 Sat

1. All of the text bothered me too. Especially the shortened version of words. You can mention it's a text message but use real language. To me, it's similar to if someone has a strong accent. You don't write the entire book with that stong accent, you just mention it, otherwise it's too much.

2. The brand name dropping drove me crazy too. We know he went shopping for jeans, we don't need the name of the jeans everytime they're referred to. It took me out of the story a couple of times because I felt it was unnecessary.

3. Totally agree on the language. I'm sorry but for every one of them to speak in the same fashion is weird. They've been alive for how long? If they had quirks in their language it should be more old school. You feeling me?

4. I also felt that this was not Phury and Cormia's story. They were not the primary focus of the book which considering they were the most part of the book (well them and the lessers) is probably a good thing, LOL. I've heard her books are going more urban fantasy and it's certainly looking like that. I'm ok with the shift as long as she admits to doing that. Be honest with your audience.

5. Bring on the homoerotic sex! You know this is where we differ, LOL. I loved this twist although I found the fact that Quinn was bi and dropped that so casually to John a little weird considering his age.

6. Loved Quinn's new job and how that occurred. John is considered royalty. I can understand him needing a bodyguard even as a warrior. He's as willing to die for Quinn as vice versa so I don't see it being an issue. I really enjoyed Quinn's development.

7. Lash is a twist but I don't really care for it in that she is already focused on so many people I could care less what is going on with Lash Mr D now and whoever will replace him when he gets whacked.

8. Not enough Tohr but loved the moment between him and John Matthews. Made me cry.

9. I hate that she's bringing in so many new characters who are new things.

10. The Xhex/JM scenes were hot. I enjoyed them.

Overall, I think as a romance this book failed. The series is definitely more about the BDB world and I do enjoy the world. I will give it a book or two to see what happens but I'm not quite as excited for Rhev's book.

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[> [> LOL, I can see how some of that would bother, and some did bother me, but no tthat much. I knew going into the book that while it was supposed to be Phury & Cormia she had branched out and had a slew of toher things going on. The thing that drove me the most bonkers was the texting I'm afraid. I HATE texting - 'nuff said. As for Xhex and the whatever it was called all I could think of was shades of that priest in DaVinci Code. Overall I did enjoy it though. -- Tammy, 16:20:36 06/07/08 Sat


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[> [> I'm glad someone enjoys my wild ranting,LOL! I always love to talk books with anyone who will put up with it! The texting & name dropping really jolted me.Leiha,I was waiting for you to say bring on the homoerotic stuff,I would have wondered who you were & what you did with my friend if you hadn't,LOL! Yes,yes, honesty with the audience! I'm going off on a tangent here for a minute,to make my point,bear with me,inside>>> -- Bo, 21:25:50 06/07/08 Sat

Karen Marie did it for DF,Emma or her ppl do it for her erotica that has male/male or threesomes,In fact,I remember the Holly herself telling Lina,on the main board,that she should prolly stay away from Fairyville.I thought that was awesome,for her to give a reader a personal heads up.Okay,back to LE.I know what you mean about Mr.D. We have gone through how many fore-lessers now? I don't know,but the only one I ever cared about was Mr.O,b/c of what he did to Tohr & family,and Bella.I want Tohr to take revenge,I think it's his right.I was touched when he thought of his son,meaning John,and that the Brothers would take care of him.One of the reasons I loved Zsadist's book so much was for the power of that moment,between Tohr & JM,when Wellsie's death comes.Yes,that's exactly it,about the language! They should NOT all sound the same,when I think about it, seems like V and Phury were the ones who mainly spoke that way,then Butch also.The ZeroSum crowd,basically.To have Wrath & everyone doing it,nope,I wasn't feeling it,LOL.

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[> [> [> I hear you true! LOL! -- Leiha, 20:49:13 06/08/08 Sun


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[> [> Yay I finally got and finished reading my book. You know I adore how involved the people here get with books. (sigh) Me too. I feel like I visit friends when I read a long running series so I love seeing so much passion in others as well. First off I have to say that I figured this series was going UF and read them as such. So it didn't bother me as much that there is so much other stuff and the romance about 50%. I'm gonna go long so I will go inside too >>>>> -- Chez, 16:13:22 06/12/08 Thu

The texting. I have a teenage child who has an IM addiction. I can read it and it is EVERYWHERE. In fact I reckon that half her spelling problems are from this bloody text speak. Still that is definitely the way they write stuff so I accepted it.

The Qhuinn/Blay thing. I actually thought that she has been trying to bring in homoerotic stuff too with the V stuff, but this one has more strength. These boys grew up together and there was more realism to this "love" on Blays part with all the accompanying angst, etc. I particularly liked the JM/Qhuinn/Blay scenes and felt they are the next bit to the series after Rehv.

Brand names. Well frankly I didn't know half of them, so I just read past them. I find that with a lot of American books heaps of brand names mean not much to me. Perhaps with this particular series this is a bonus for non US readers as we frequently read past references that make no sense.

Phury and Cormia. Loved his struggle with addiction. It felt real. I actually was happy that she didn't just confront him and then he got over his problem. No true addiction is that easy to kick. So the fact that he is still battling it right to the end and on to the next books was wonderful.

Lash ... yuck. Couldn't care less. In fact I tend to skim more of the bits about the Lessers as they just don't do anything for me. I know they are a big/main part of the stories, but I think there are enough probs for the race to deal with internally without adding these baby powder people and this just means more of them *grimace*.

Lassiter, much more interesting and what a smart arse. Reckon there is great potential there and he was obviously well known to the brotherhood. Rehv as the new Leadhyre (however that is spelled)whooey that will be interesting. See these couple of new story lines waaaaaay better than the Lessthaninterestings.

See I've gone too long, but I just finished the book and wanted to talk about it.

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[> OMG I'm so glad I stopped by....I thought it was just me that was getting irritated by this series as a whole! Butch's book was admittedly better than I'd thought it would be, V's book was just one big disappointment, and this book *UGH*. It seems like each new book in the series is a bigger and bigger disappointment to me! *sigh* -- KelliJo Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket, 23:38:38 06/07/08 Sat


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[> I wasn't bothered by the brand-name dropping, but I was VERY annoyed by the author's neglect of the H/H of the dang story. I was upset a few times by the fact that THEY were almost lost in the telling of everyone elses situations. I loved seeing the others again, but the jist of the story wasn't supposed to be about all of them . The homo-erotic stuff could please just GO AWAY. I admit I skim the parts with the lessers, it's too.... something, I dunno. Not interesting to me that's for sure LOL -- Aimee, 20:58:34 06/10/08 Tue


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[> OK I just started the book today so haven't even read 2 pages yet but after reading all this I can tell you right not that the TEXT shit is going to make me NUTS as I hate it.. I even had my company make it impossible for me to get a text message. (as no matter how many times I told people NOT to text me some just kept it up...) My thoughts, though not about the story line are that I think some authors are USING romance>>>>inside -- LindaWĢinda, 23:29:58 06/15/08 Sun

to hook us. it's the biggest audience & they figure if they get us hooked on a couple of good books they can then take off on a whole new genre & we'll follow blindly because we liked the first stories. (NOT!!!)

As you said Karen & Emma were honest with us & didn't use us but it sounds like that is what this author is doing & I'm NOT going to be happy. I'll read this for a while anyway & see what i think, I read the end already so I know how it comes out but have to see about Thor & Qhuinn etc. *G* As for the homoerotica I have no problem with that but do think that having some of JMs' friends involved it a bit much consideing his past. JMHO

OK I'll be back when I'm done which will probable be weeks considering the size of this book. LOL

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