Lover Revealed

Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4

By: J. R. Ward

Narrated by: Jim Frangione

Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world - to engage in the turf war with the lessers. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. And if he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers.

But fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him.

Keep chilled: listen to more titles in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

©2007 Jessica Bird (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Impassioned, dramatic and delivers a great story

Butch has been one of my favorite characters of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series since he was introduced. What attracted me the most about him was the fact that he is the only human out of the bunch and yet he still manages to hold his own in the vampire world. This alone makes him the most badass of them all in my opinion! His story is different from those of the brothers in many respects but it’s just as riveting and heartbreaking. Plus, it’s about Marissa too who’s a phenomenal character in her own right. Lover Revealed will make you weep, seethe with anger and then weep some more. It’s a killer ride but the ending makes it all worth while.

Lover Awakened is a hard act to follow but Ward still manages to deliver a solid fourth installment. I particularly enjoyed the friendship between V and Butch in Lover Revealed. It’s not easy to convey brotherly love without having their manhood take a slight hit but this book succeeded. The level of devotion and honesty that comes through in this novel is breath taking. The characters try to play it down with some manly joking which made the emotional elements both moving and funny at the same time. Butch puts up a strong front but on the inside he’s really quite vulnerable. I liked reading about his personal conflicts and his struggle to find a place to belong within the brotherhood.

Marissa is just as troubled as Butch but because she’s a female her emotions are always close to the surface and sometimes make her appear weak. I found that she grew a lot as a character in this book. She finally takes charge of her life and even pulls a few ballsy moves that really impressed me. Oh, and she finally gets laid! Anyone who’s capable of remaining a virgin for over three centuries deserves some credit. As a result, in true Black Dagger Brotherhood fashion, Lover Revealed is as scorching hot as its predecessors. Needless to say that after Marissa discovers what all the fuss is about she is hooked! The fact that she’s getting it on with Butch doesn’t hurt either.

This was my first audio book experience with a male narrator. It definitely took some getting used to and I found the female dialogue a little comical at times but overall Frangione does an excellent job. He has a great tone and accurately portrays the badass attitude that’s prevalent throughout this series. Jim also reads the action-y chapters with enthusiasm and the sex scenes with heat.

The ending sort of wraps up Butch’s humanity “problem” with a nice, neat bow but I think that it was fitting and that he deserves his happily ever after just as much as any of the brothers do. Lover Revealed is impassioned, dramatic and delivers a great story. Lover Awakened retains its top seat among my favorites in this series but all bets are off because Vishous is up next in Lover Unbound!

Fantastic As Usual

As like all the Black Dagger Brotherhood books, there exists around the town of Caldwell, NY the secret band of brother vampire warriors who are the defenders of their race in a life and death battle with the Lessors - a group of soulless once human beings that have been turned into pure evil by the most evil of them all - the Omega. Their goal is to wipe out the vampire race and the Brotherhood which is intent on holding the lessors at bay. Each of the books so far has highlighted each of the Vampire Warrior brothers. Book 4 - LOVER REVEALED is the story of Butch O’Neal - the human who was befriended and allowed into the inner sanctum of the Brotherhood, loved and trusted and treated almost as if her were born of the vampire strain. This is Butch’s amazing story and revelations.

*** A fighter by nature, Butch made his living as an ex-homicide cop so he knew how to fight, nothing as compared to the men he now called ‘brothers’ but he could hold his own if the brothers’ were less magical and strong as powers inherent in their bloodlines gave them. Butch was more or less adopted and became best friends with Vishous who plays an important and vital spot in Butch’s story as does Marissa, a full-blooded aristocratic vampire, who is far beyond Butch’s reach and his love interest.

In LOVER REVEALED, many things come to light which push this story forward and make it one of the more exciting edge-of-the-seat volumes in this series. In this, our favorite ‘cop’ Butch gets caught by the Lesser’s and not only is he tortured, but something is done to him by the Omega that makes Butch a walking time-bomb - but for which side? And who ultimately will be able to save him - Vishous or Marissa?

The skill and artistry Ms. Ward has for creating unbelievably tense situations that turn and twist all over the place as she tells the stories of these fabulous vampires is simply awesome! She continues to dazzle and enthrall me with each layer of loyalty, bravery, and yes, humanity for these amazing warriors have for each other and their kind. Ward simply covers all the bases, consistently adding in more and more layers of revelations about each of characters lives and hinting at even more to come.

Bottom line: In LOVER REVEALED, J.R. Ward delivers in spades another fabulous volume to this a totally captivating series that has me completely entranced! WOW!

Loved it

I can never get enough of these brothers... It feels like I listened for the first time and some parts I couldn't even remember

so good

I love this series and listening to them is just way better!!! the narrator is amazing and cant wait till I get my next credits!! need the next one!!!

The Black Dagger Brotherhood books are amazing!

J.R Ward keeps the hits rolling. If you have gotten to book 4 then you know why! The plots are awesome, the characters are awesome, and the love scenes are hot!

amazing

I love butch and Marissa's book so much love. Jr ward is amazing. the black dagger brotherhood r the best

I love these stories

I love this story and love how all of the series is so well written. My only issue was Marissa's character. She was well written but I really didn't care for her. I know she wanted to be loved but I also felt she was a little unreasonable. Once again, it just goes to show how well written her character is, for me to dislike her personality so much.

Other than that, I loved this story and I loved how honest Butch's character was. No excuses just was who he was.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Loved this book in the series!!

What did you love best about Lover Revealed?

That Butch had a full storyline wriiten for him and not a short story or
'novella' since he isn't one of the original Black Dagger Brotherhood

Who was your favorite character and why?

Butch - for his faithfullness and bravery

What about Jim Frangione’s performance did you like?

I think Jim Frangione did an amazing job with his performance/narration in every book in this series - and I'm not exactly sure who tho thank -editors/publishers/ Audible, etc. for having the same narrator throughout the full series!

Any additional comments?

This is a series that's really not to be missed! It ranks high up there as one of my favorite series I've read &/or listened to. Now I'm head over heels for the Fallen Angels series (although the narration for Rapture ruined the book - at least for me- since they seem to have speeded up the narrators voice).
If you love the Black Daggerhood series I'd also recommend like the Midnight Breeds by Lara Adrian which also has excellent narration.

another hit!!

I absolutely love this series and this one was just as good! I'm sad that there's only 2 more books available with the escape package ☹ please add the rest!!!

great

really great character development and steamy romance. can't wait to read / listen to the next one.