Lover Revealed

by J.R. Ward

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451412354
• ISBN13: 9780451412355
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Onyx Books
• Length: 463 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 4.1" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Love this this series

Anyone that loves vampires and good story plots should pickup these books. The characters are fun to follow, so enjoyable you can't put them down. Very addictive. I read some of these books out of order, so I was familiar with Butch I was curious about his backstory.

wonderful!

Ward has officially boosted herself into my favorite author of all time status (coming from someone that knocks down 3-4 books a week--that's a pretty high honor). I thought Lover Revealed was fabulous, although, I think the last one with Zsadist is still my favorite so far. I can't believe Ward has managed to pull off this many books without loosing her touch, and I hope she continues on her streak. In LR, the reader finally gets to see something good happen to poor Butch. Butch has been with us since book one and always seemed to be pushed to the sidelines, left behind, or passed over for something or someone better. Then he gets captured by Lessers and just before they nearly beat him to death, Mr. Evil himself, puts a piece of himself in Butch to contaminate him. They leave him broken and dying in the woods to be found by the Brotherhood. Of course, his best bud, V, finds him and brings him home. Of course, there is soooo much going on this book. Marissa and Butch make up, fight, make up, fight, make up (did I mention fight, yet? Yes, oh, okay). There there is the council, John (coming to terms with Tohr's disappearence and Tohr's wife's murder), V's struggle with loneliness, and much more. If you have not read the previous books in this novel, (What do you mean you have not read the previous books? Get your buns moving and go get them! You don't know what your missing! Why are you still here? Get out of here;-), then you will not enjoy this one fully. I suggest you start at the beginning. By the way, for those of you that didn't read the preview in the back of the book...its V's turn next go round! YEAH!

Fourth instalment in the Black Dagger Brotherhood and Butch's story

J R Ward's "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series is a fantastic read. Although the subject matter (vampires) is hardly original there's something about the earthiness of her writing style which is fresh and interesting in this often tired genre. The Black Dagger Brotherhood are vampires who protect the others of their race (civilians) against the 'lessers', ex-people without hearts who exist to kill vampires and are ruled by the Omega. The previous three stories have focused on members of the Brotherhood and their discovery of their mates, although with several other side-characters introduced. "Lover Revealed" is different from the previous books. Not in terms of writing style (J R Ward's marvellous turn of phrase is still there, there's a huge amount of earthy Anglo-Saxon and fairly graphic descriptions - this is not a book to lend to your granny) but in terms of hero. This time we're following the trials and tribulations of Butch, the human ex-cop and roommate of Vishous, one of the Brotherhood. At the end of the last story Vishous tricked Butch into drinking a cup of his blood - Vishous didn't know why he had to do it, he just did, and it becomes clear in this story what that was about. Butch has always existed somewhat on the sidelines of the Brotherhood; not being a vampire they don't let him fight with them but he has some advantages in that he can go about in daytime. He's hardly a normal human, though, being very strong, rather self-destructive and with enough of a death wish that he was able to stand up to the vampires initially, thus to be accepted by their group. Right from the beginning Butch noticed Marissa but over several books their relationship has ground to a halt. In "Lover Revealed" we learn much more about Marissa and her dissatisfaction with her life. Despite being the top of the aristrocracy she's an outcast and has no real role in life now that Wrath is mated to Beth. In this story she and Butch are thrown together again but any relationship between them is never going to be simple - and then when Butch is captured and tortured by the lesser it seems that any future for them is impossible. This book definitely felt like a continuation of a series. A new reader, coming directly to this story, might struggle to work out what's going on. We also continue to learn more about John Matthew, the pre-transition vampire, and there are lots of references to events in previous books without them always being clearly explained. Rehvenge/The Reverend is becoming more clearly defined and it wouldn't surprise me if he features more significantly in future books. The list of characters grows longer and longer, too, which could be confusing. And my one real niggle with this whole series continues of course - and that's the cheesy names of the brothers. Zsadist, Vishous, Phury... doesn't really work for me, but as that's my only real complaint about these stories you can tell how much I like them! The Scribe Virgin, the vampires' deity, ma

WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I waited for this release with bated breath because the other books in the series are so good. However, I really didn't think she could maintain the caliber of writing and Butch's story really wasn't the one I wanted. Was I wrong? Yes, this is a marvelous continuation of the best series out there. J.R. Ward is a very surpising author and so very talented. Butch has been in love with Marissa since he met her. He finds no comfort in his new lifestyle even though he wears Armani and has everything a man could want. He doesn't have respect for himself, he wants to fight for the race he has adopted. He and the warriors of the Black Dagger Brotherhood have bonded especially he and Vishious. There is a true brotherly love between them. They share each others secrets and Vishious is not so alone anymore. Butch was a cop and his dedication to saving Beth, who became Wrath's Queen, led to his knowledge and presence in the Brotherhood. But Butch feels unworthy not only to love Marissa but because he is not allowed to fight the Lessers. Marissa was Wrath's Shellan but Wrath never loved her and even after several hundred years she is still a virgin. Butch touches something deep inside her and only her feelings of unworthiness combined with her fear that if she feeds from Butch she will kill him, keep her from falling into the arms of the human who has touched her in these unknown ways. Her relationship with her brother has fallen apart because of her feelings for a human. Her brother is a doctor and has placed Marissa on a pedestal he in unable to forgive her when she falls in love with a human. They are considered little more than animals. Butch runs into a situation where he chooses to save a pre-transition vampire from the lessers who are attacking him. He is captured and tortured by the Lessers. When the Omega finds out who Butch is he inserts an evil part of himself into Butch. Now only Marissa, the Brotherhood and the Scribe Virgin may be able to save him. But even with the changes in his body he is determined to fight and serve the ones he trusts and loves. There is a prophecy that there will come one to face the Master of evil. The fore-lesser thinks he has found him and is determined that when he dies he will not join the rest of the lessers who make up the blood and energy that flow in the veins of the Omega. Taking this man under his wing he trains him to kill lessers and waits for the transformation to take place. Now he is only concerned with saving himself from the horror that awaits all lessers. I found the book thrilling. The action is non stop, the revelations come fast and furious. I can't wait for the next episode in this wonderful drama. Do not miss this one and if you have not read the others be sure you get them and read them first. Everything makes so much more sense and the growth of the characters is absolutely phenomenal. Loved it!!!!!

Lover Revealed- Butch's Story

After every Black Dagger Brotherhood Novel I read, I find myself with a new favorite character. After Dark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1) it was Wrath, after Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 2) it was Rhage, and after Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 3) it was Zsadist. So I suppose I really shouldn't have been surprised when upon finishing this novel I decided that Butch is my new favorite character. "Lover Revealed" by J.R. Ward did not disappoint me in the least. Be warned that if you haven't read the previous three books in this series, that you will not understand a large portion of the story. The story focuses on Butch, and his relationship with Marissa. We also learn quite a bit about his past. There were moments were I was a bit teary-eyed so be prepared. I also loved seeing the friendship that Butch has with the rest of the Brothers. And I was glad to see that young John was back in this book, even though he had not completely recovered after earlier events (who can blame him?). I'm already looking forward to the next addition to the Black Dagger Brotherhood Novels. At the end of this story we get a small sneak peek of Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 5). Keep up the good work J.R. Ward, I can't wait to read more!

Dark, Sensual and Satisfying

I admit that when I read the first novel in this series a while back, I wasn't overly impressed. I thought it was just ok, and I didn't intend to read any more Black Dagger books. But then a lot of people recommended the later books to me and I found myself excited about giving this series another chance. And I'm so glad I did. Although I'm not super-devoted, ardent fan-- i.e. I don't think I'll be spending time on any message boards discussing the novels in depth-- I thought Lover Revealed was a very satisfying read with a compelling central romance and tons of intrigue, passion and great dialogue. In fact, I think that because my expectations weren't sky-high, I found this book even more enjoyable and worth the money/time than I anticipated. The story has already been summarized by many other reviews, so I won't do so again here. But I found Marissa and Butch's coming together to be very sweet and sexy. Many have said they didn't necessarily feel their connection, but I certainly did. They had an intense, immediate attraction, first introduced in the initial book of the series, that developed into infatuation and then love. Marissa and Butch's mutual loneliness at the beginning of the novel had me rooting for them to finally find each other again and once they did it was sweet, but full of the kind of angst and conflict needed to give the story its momentum. A few things I liked: first, how expertly J.R. Ward weaves in secondary characters and subplots. This book does an especially good job of developing V's character (his book is the next one and I can't wait for it), including his sexual issues and deep loneliness. There are some homoerotic moments, as other reviewers have mentioned, but they're pretty ambiguous, and overall the point of them seemed to be to show a) Butch and V's intense friendship (very moving) and b) to set the stage for V to realize that he wants and craves real love and intimacy from a woman. Also, I loved how, at 400+ pages, this book kept me engaged and left me feeling completely satisfied. I truly appreciate that the author releases new titles so quickly and keeps them packed with great storytelling and interwoven narratives. There's a lot of gritty suspense involving the Omega, Butch's true nature is revealed (hence the title) and we see Wrath, Beth, Zsadist and Bella again-- all of which kept me happily turning the pages. I recommend this book to anyone who loves or simply likes this series. You can read it by itself, but it is better read as part of the series. I was hooked from the first page and even though the darkness of these novels can sometimes feel a bit heavy, there are always sexy, romantic moments that balance them out. J.R. Ward is also an author you can trust to deliver plots and characters you can care about.