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Book Review of Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Bk 6)

Lover Enshrined (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Bk 6)
Bookfanatic avatar reviewed on
Helpful Score: 2


This is my least favorite Black Dagger Brotherhood book. It just drags on and on. I had to make myself read it. Normally, I can finish a BDB book in a day if I stay up until midnight. However, this book was a chore to read.

I was annoyed, bored, frustrated, and confused. The only redeeming parts of the book have to do with characters other than Phury and Cormia. Zsadist, John Matthew, Xhex and Rhev are great. I always love learning more about Zsadist. Ward clearly loves the charcter of Zsadist. You see his growth as an individual even more keenly. However, one gets tired of the constant misunderstandings between Phury and Cormia. These two are incapable of having a direct, adult conversation and had they had such a conversation a lot of their issues could have been resolved. Cormia is much like Marissa. She's a pretty weak woman. I don't have much sympathy for simpering, passive females. Actually, I have to take that back. Cormia makes Marissa seem like Xhex! That's how naive and wishy-washy she is.

Phury's character is even more annoying. In the previous books, you saw him as a male of worth - kind, intelligent, noble. Here, he's pretty much a drug addict for most of the book, plus he hears voices and he's basically a pathetic loser. You learn a lot about his childhood which explains why he is the way he is today, but his addiction plays far too big a role in the book. The romance between Phury and Cormia is pretty cold. There's hardly any romance.at.all. This is all the more sad because we BDB fans know Ward is capable of writing passionate scenes, but Phury and Cormia just don't have much chemistry. There's no heat. When Rhage, Wrath, Zsadist, and Vishous said "Mine!" you totally believed it. Here, when Phury says it, you're shocked. Where'd that come from? He has passionate feelings for her?! John Matthew seemed to have a stronger relationship with Cormia than Phury.

You could honestly skim this book and not miss out on anything much. I feel like Ward really missed the mark with this book. There's a sad overtone that hangs over this book. All the joy and light-hearted interactions between the Brothers is missing from this book. I would get it from the library instead of buying it.