Lover Enshrined by JR Ward

Lover EnshrinedFor those who’ve been readers for awhile, or had caught the BDB Discussion during the Bookish Escape feature, you may already know how much I loved Lover Enshrined and the Brother Phury. I think I summed it up by calling him a “whiny little bitch” and then throwing the book around the fourth or fifth chapter – I can’t remember exactly.  Since then I’ve been told that I really need to just plow through it, so I can get to Lover Avenged and all the fabulousness that is Blay, Qhuinn and John Matthew. Since I’m literally in the middle of the Dark Faerie Tales & LE Black Dagger Brotherhood Read-Along, I’ve finally started it again and I totally get what people have been telling me.

As Primale of the Chosen, the fiercely loyal Phury has sacrificed himself for the good of his race. But his first mate, the Chosen Cormia, wants not only his body but his heart for herself. As tragedy looms over the Brotherhood’s mansion, Phury must decide between duty and love.

So yeah, Phury was still a whiny little bitch and just soo needy.  I’m still having issues with that. For a guy who’s all about helping others and really not putting himself first, he really puts himself first a lot.  I mean, how else would you explain the amount of drugs Phury continually pumps into his body?  He even admits to being smoked more often than not. Instead of working through his issues, he’s more interested in trying to bury them, which actually only makes them more louder. So yeah, can you see what I ended up fixating on with Phury’s story?  I don’t mind a little drug use in my stories, but when the main character can’t function without lighting up, then I find it really tough to give it any time at all.

However, whenever the story wasn’t focused on Phury, I was totally enraptured.  The subplots involving Revhenge, John Matthew, Blay and Qhuinn were utterly fascinating.  I can’t wait to get into Lover Avenged and see exactly what is going on with Revhenge’s blackmailer.  A princess at a colony and she can leave it? Who also wants Revh to join her there and take charge?  The more we get of Revhenge’s sympath heritage, the more I’m curious to see what it all does.  I’m assuming I’ll get what I’m looking for in Lover Avenged.

The whole triangle of John Matthew, Blay and Qhuinn is an intriguing one.  I’ve been hearing quite a bit about the relationship Blay and Qhuinn has and honestly I wasn’t surprise by the revelation.  However, I had not heard about Qhuinn’s new position nor that he was such a social pariah within the glymera. I can definitely see why people have become so enamored with these three and I really can’t wait until John Matthew’s book, Lover Mine.  Sadly, I’ve been hearing that we’ll probably never get a Blay and Qhuinn book (what’s wrong with a little M/M romance?); although I have heard rumors of a possible menage featuring these two and that I so want to read.

Tohr’s back! Okay, that’s all.  I’m not kidding, he doesn’t show up until the very end.  We really don’t see much more than a couple scenes that show what kind of mindset he is in, but he’s back and he’s not alone.  I’m not exactly sure what is up with the fallen angel, Lassiter, but there is definitely history with the Brotherhood and I’m curious to see what it is.

So yeah, even though Lover Enshrined is Phury and Cormia’s story, I can’t say they made the book.  Honestly, both of them were unmemorable and fade into the background.  Phury does come to some hard realizations about his life, but much like with the Brotherhood, they are too little too late. Thankfully he does end up with Cormia at his side, but even she was a bit small. That seems to be a problem with this series.  All the females tend not to be as developed as the brothers, so they end up blending with the wall paper.  There are a couple of strong woman (Xhex and Bella), but considering Lover Enshrined is the fifth novel,  it’s sad there’s only been two strong heroines so far and one of them has only been in a supporting role.

Overall, Lover Enshrined was a decent read and I get that it’s still necessary to read in order to get the background for what is coming up, but honestly that’s the only reason I stuck with it. Phury knew he was messed up, but he really didn’t try and redeem himself until it was too late. Even then, I don’t really know if I believe he will turn around.  I understand what he’s trying to do with the Chosen (and yes, they get a life changing event as well), but will the stress of dealing with that drive him back to the drugs?  Considering his history, I’m more inclined to believe he will, so I’m having trouble caring about Phury.  As for Cormia, she has the flaw of being too cautious. She didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, so she didn’t do much.  For me, Lover Enshrined was all about John Matthew, Blay and Qhuinn with Phury and Cormia giving the three some downtime.

Black Dagger Brotherhood Read-a-longRead Order:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound
Lover Enshrined
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine
Lover Unleashed
Lover Reborn (March 2012)
And for those with ereaders, you can purchase Novels 1-4 and Novels 5-8 as a bundle.

Want to join Dark Faerie Tales and I in our discussions about the Black Dagger Brotherhood? We’ve been discussing each novel and we would love to see everyone stop by. We’re talking Dark Lover over at Dark Faerie Tales, Lover Eternal here on LE, Lover Awakened was back at Dark Faerie Tales, Lover Revealed is here on LE and Lover Unbound is back at Dark Faerie Tales. With any of the discussions, please let us know if you think we’ve missed something. I always find it interesting to see what parts of stories that others zero in on that I’ve either glossed over or have missed entirely. Lover Enshrined will be posted here at LE this Friday.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.