Review: Lover Awakened

Reviewed by Jen
 

Zsadist is the benchmark I measure all my tortured heroes against.  He is a warrior vampire, who was kidnapped as a baby. He was sold into slavery and spent the first century of his life being used for blood and sex.  His twin, Phury, rescued him, but not before irreparable damage was done to his body and mind.

Our book begins with our heroine, Bella, in captivity. She has been kidnapped by a Lesser... a soulless vampire hunter.  She reminds him of a woman he once loved and he now thinks of Bella as "his." Did I mention Mr. O is bat-shit crazy?  Yeah, completely coconuts. And he has become the Omega's butt-buddy in order to rule the Lessening Society and protect his secret love for Bella.

Z, meanwhile, has been obsessing about the kidnapped woman and searching desperately for her.  A connection between the two of them had been established in the last book... and he can't give up on her. Of course, he finds her and nurses her back to health.  She stays with Z and the other members of the Brotherhood as she heals. And she makes no secret of her feelings for Zsadist. Even though he feels the same way about her, he feels unworthy of her. So he pushes her away time and time again. When the two of them finally get together, though, their love scenes are some of the very best I have ever read. Anywhere. Zsadist is a man his own twin has proclaimed to be "ruined." But it is mesmerizing and beautiful to watch Bella's love put the broken man back together again.

I should probably warn you, there are some disturbing moments as Z's experiences are recounted through his memories. But it's necessary to see what he's had to endure, to understand the shell of a man he became. And it makes it all the more poignant, as he finally realizes the happiness he never thought he would experience. 10 stars. Out of 5.