“You are the male I might have been. You are the potential I had and lost. You are the honor and the
strength and the kindness she needs. You’ll take care of her. I want you to take care of her.” Zsadist
dropped his hand. “It will be a good mating for her. With you as her hellren , she can hold her head up
high. She can be proud to be seen with you at her side. She’ll be socially invincible. The glymera won’t be
able to touch her.”

brings tears to my eyes, everytime. I’ve finished all the books, my favourite brother, is Z. I love him more than i do Rhage.

On the topic of the closeness of the brothers, I’d like to throw something out there to think about. In the world built in these books, these guys are warriors dealing with life and death and constant violence on a regular basis, which creates a dynamic that cannot be compared to the civilian world in which most of us live. A better comparision may be Special Forces military – and their relationships are forged in battle, quite unlike those in the civilized world. I think that their relationships with each other should be more edgy given what they share in their “professions”. They contend with constant violence – and while it doesn’t fit in the context of civilized behavior, sex is an outlet for those emotions. That environment may create some interesting relationships – and while it’s only hinted at sometimes it would be an interesting string to have in these stories since it could be explored further as each story developes, each main character finds his “mate”, etc. Taking the male-male relationships out of the context of sexual attraction to that of emotional (good and bad) release is interesting – and while it could be a bit uncomfortable, it is credible. Anyway, that’s my two cents on the topic. I’d rather be a bit uncomfortable than placated.

About the homorerotica (because it seems to be on everyone’s mind), I find it intriguing. I don’t think that I’m the only female that finds the ‘idea’ of the men being naked around each other titillating. I think it’s very deliberate, and it’s a common occurrence in vampire novels. Again, check Laurell K. and Anne Rice. For some reason, the vampire realm seems to have been stamped with the “okay” sign for homosexuality. I’m curious to see if it bothered the other readers, or intrigued them as it did me. I think in a realm of a vampire brotherhood that listens to rap, drives Escalades and has drug dealers, males hanging out in the nude just doesn’t seem strange. And yes, I must find out more about Vishous and his kinkiness. Don’t you want to know?!

So, anyway, whatever Ward does right or wrong, I’m in love with Zsadist and Bella. Must read, even if the slang used throughout is cheesy.

Regardless, very well written, detailed and emotional book.

PS: I want to be JR Ward when I grow up. And Yes i have HUGE shoes to fill. :-)

Jade

Men won’t even sit next to each other in a movie theater let alone lay next to each other.

Exactly!!

From the beginning, since Butch became one of them, I always found the connection and the comments between him and Vishous to be off. Ward makes them just a bit too close.

Perhaps some of the most touching scenes were between Phury and Zsadist and the reclamation of their relationship. Those were the scenes that brought tears to my eyes. (I am beginning to see the appeal of the man/man love because I thought the Hoyt/Cian relationship in Nora Robert’s Morrigan’s Cross was compelling too).

This is one of the most compelling parts of the story. And, it’s probably one of the reasons I bought into the healing part of love, because it wasn’t just Bella’s love that heals him but Phury’s too. I didn’t really see it as man/man love thing, more a brother and family bond that can’t be broken, which I just love, it’s the same thing Nora Roberts pulled off in her Quinn series.

Another commenter stated on Tara Marie’s site that it is amazing what we readers let Ward get away with, but its true.

Pleeeezzee, the cliches and hokeyness (is that a word?) wouldn’t be tolerated from any other author, but for some reason the story itself is so compelling you can’t put the books down. Add to that all the unresolved storylines and we really should be too annoyed for words, yet we wait, none too patiently for the next installment.