Lover Avenged (2009) (edit title/settings)

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Rehvenge: Half-symphath and half-vampire. Owner of ZeroSum and drug dealer, pimp. Bella's brother. Uses dopamine to keep symphath side in control.
• Ehlena: Rehvenge's love interest and a nurse at the race's clinic. Formerly a member of the glymera whose social status was lost along with her fortune. Caring for her schizophrenic father.
• Wrath: King of the Vampires. Beth's hellren. The Blind King. The last purebred vampire on the planet and the vampire race's king.
• Beth Randall: Queen of The Vampires, Wrath's shellan. Believed to be John Matthew's sister.
• John Matthew: Reincarnation of Darius. Lives with the Brothers, believed to be Beth's brother. Mute. Warrior fighting with the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
• Xhex: Head of Security at ZeroSum. Friend of and works for Rehvenge. Half symphath and half vampire. Love interest of John Matthew.
• Lash: Half-vampire son of the Omega and new head of the Lessers.
• George: Wrath's new seeing eye dog, a golden retriever who helps him regain his independence after his blindness seems to have become permanent.
• Havers: Vampire doctor and head of the clinic. Marissa's brother.
• Butch O'Neal: Former human nicknamed "Cop" after his former profession. Marissa's hellren. Now a member of the Brotherhood named Dhestroyer. 'Inhales' the essence of the lessers which completely destroys them rather than returning it to the Omega.
• Marissa: Butch's shellan. Havers' sister.
• Zsadist: Bella's hellren. Member of the Brotherhood. Has a daughter, Nalla, with his shellan, Bella. Twin of Phury. The most lethal of the brothers. A former blood slave, he was mercilessly tortured during the first hundred years of his life.
• Bella: Rehvenge's sister and Zsadist's shellan. Mother of Nalla.
• Montrag: Son of Rehm, who came to Rehvenge with an offer to kill the king. Has delusions of being King if Wrath assassinated.
• Cormia: Phury's shellan; a Chosen.
• Phury: Primale of the race. Former red smoke addict. Zsadist's twin. The loyal one, the one who sacrifices himself for others. Phury is Zsadist's twin brother and a celibate who cannot truly live because of everything his biological brother has lost.
• The Omega: Creator of the lessers. Lash's father. The Scribe Virgin's brother.
• The Scribe Virgin: The Mother of all vampires. Sister of the Omega.
• José de la Cruz: A homicide detective; he was Butch's partner when he was human.
• Manuel Manello: Chief of surgery at St. Francis Hospital. Doc Jane's former boss.
• Qhuinn: John Matthew's friend and Ahstrux Nohtrum. Also best friends with Blay. Warrior fighting with the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
• Blaylock: John Matthew and Qhuinn's best friend, nicknamed "Blay." Warrior fighting with the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
• Tohrment: He is like a father to John, but he suffers after the loss of his shellan. Member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The steady one, the calm one.
• Wellesandra: "Wellsie." She was Tohr's shellan; she was killed by a lesser. Was pregnant when she was killed.
• Lassiter: A Fallen Angel, kind of like a guardian angel to Tohr.
• Vishous: Member of the Brotherhood who has the ability to see the future in visions. Nicknamed "V." Son of the Scribe Virgin. Doc Jane's hellren. The most intelligent and the one who is specially gifted. His curse is his ability to prognosticate: he sees the future, though not the 'when' of events so he is tortured by his inability to save those he loves from danger.
• Jane Whitcomb: "Doc Jane" - A doctor of the brotherhood despite the fact that she is a ghost (who can take solid form). V's shellan. Was originally human. Also helps at Safe Place.
• Rhage: 'Hollywood'. Member of the Brotherhood who is cursed by the Scribe Virgin. Unleashes a vicious dragon when highly agitated. Mary's hellren. The strongest of the brothers and the best fighter.
• Mary Luce: Rhage's shellan. A human who was granted an extended life by the Scribe Virgin.
• Trez Latimer: One of Rehvenge's bouncers, fiercely loyal to him. From a mysterious race of beings called Shadows. iAm's brother.
• iAm Latimer: One of Rehvenge's bouncers, fiercely loyal to him. From a mysterious race of beings called Shadows. Trez's brother.
• Payne: Vishous's twin sister; sparring partner of Wrath.
• Fritz Perlmutter: Doggen of the Brotherhood. Butler Extraordinaire.
• Marie-Terese Boudreau: Manager of the working girls at ZeroSum
• The Princess: Full blooded sympath. Rehv's half-sister.
• Madalina: Rehvenge and Bella's mother. A Fallen Chosen.
• Robert Grady: Human. Drug dealer.
• Catya: Nursing supervisor at Havers' clinic.
• Lusie: Nurse who cares for Ehlena's father when she is at work.
• Selena: A Chosen
• Alyne: Ehlena's father. A schizophrenic.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Sometimes in life, from out of the myriad of prosaic decisions like what to eat and where to sleep and how to dress, a true crossroads is revealed. In these moments, when the fog of relative irrelevancy lifts and fate rolls out a demand for free will, there is only left or right—no option of four-by-fouring into the underbrush between two paths, no negotiating with the choice that has been presented. You must answer the call and pick your way. And there is no reverse.”

• “No stronger allies, no greater friends, no better fighters of honor could a king behold than these assembled afore me, mine brothers, mine blood.”

  Wrath to the Brotherhood

• “It's worse than Mary Tyler Moore. And to call you an idiot would be an insult to half-wits around the world.”

  Vishous to Lassiter

• “I can handle myself, fuck you very much.”

  Wrath to Vishous

• “Totally craptastic. Sign my sac up for some of that.”

  Lassiter

• “You want us to stab the floor for you again? Fists are for kings, but the queen gets the daggers.”

  Rhage to Beth

• “Sometimes the only thing that got you through hell was that you were in too deep to pull out.”

  Narrator, Ehlena's POV

• “The king must die.” Four single-syllable words. One by one they were nothing special. Put together? They called up all kinds of bad shit: Murder. Betrayal. Treason. Death.”

• “There was only one he out of the legions of male patients they treated, and coin bingo was typically how the staff decided who had to deal with him. Farthest from thedate lost. Generally speaking, all of the nurses kept a professional distance from their patients, because you had to, or you’d burn out. With him, though, the staff stayed separate for reasons other than job-related ones. Most of the females got nervous around him—even the toughest ones. Ehlena? Not so much. Yes, the guy had some Godfather in him, those black pin-striped suits and his cropped mohawk and his amethyst eyes throwing off a don’t-f-with-me-if-you-want to- keep-breathing vibe.”

  Ehlena

• “John was beginning to understand that emotions in the heart were like tendons in the body.You could pull them and pull them and pull them and feel the pain of the distortion and the stretching…and up to a point, the joint would still function and the limb would bend and support weight and remain useful after the stress was off. But it wasn’t an infinite kind of thing.”

  John Matthew

• “This was why people got mated, Rehv suddenly thought. Fuck the sex and the social position. If they were smart, they did it to make a house that had no walls and an invisible roof and a floor that no one could walk on—and yet the structure was a shelter no storm could blow down, no match could torch up, no passage of years could degrade.”

  Rehvenge

• “A rush of gratitude and holy shit and OMG and thank you, manna from heaven overrode everything logical, and Rehv reached up for her, holding her head with care as he kissed her. At that moment, he didn’t give a fuck that there were complications way above and beyond their control, things that would drive them apart again as sure as the burning sun would rise at the end of the night. To be accepted, though…to be accepted and loved for exactly who he was by the one he loved in return was too great a joy to be capsized by cold reality.”

  Rehvenge

• “Son of a bitch, Rehv thought as he stared at the vampire race’s great, revered Blind King. The guy was jacked into the kind of old-school throne you’d expect a leader to be in…. The thing was a hell of a piece of hardware, and the desk wasn’t shabby either. And what do you know, while sitting all regal and shit, the motherfucker dropped bombs with the casual surety of a monarch whose demands were always met.”

  Rehvenge

• “The cop just stared at him. “You’re not supposed to fight.” “I’m the king. I can do whatever the fuck I want.”

  Butch to Wrath

• “Butch's tone was like someone had pissed out a fire on his bed. "You just threw half a car at me with nothing but a quote from Mrs. fucking Doubtfire."”

  Butch

• “Plus he was willing to bet their uncle was hung like a hamster, and had balls the size of pencil erasers.”

  Rehvenge

• “Fucker was the color of salt, and sweating like a tranny in Giants Stadium.”

  (referring to Grady)

• “You know how we do." Trez shook the water off his hand. "Sympaths ... it's what's for dinner."”

  Trez, on his threat to eat Rehvenge's half sister, "The Princess"

• “I mean, she's a woman, going it alone in the world. She's cool, and the clothes are tight. It's a really good show." (...) Tohr nearly choked on his shake. "What the hell are you doing? That's Mary Tyler Moore, motherfucker."”

  Lassiter and Tohrment

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• But every once in a while, from out of the blue, someone reaches the quiet place where you spend your private time and changes the way you see yourself. If you’re lucky it’s your mate…and the transformation reminds you once again that you are absolutely, positively with the right person: because what they say doesn’t touch you because of who they are to you, but because of the content of their message.

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• Sometimes the fact that you were forced to be strong was enough to actually turn you into what you had to be.

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• This was why people got mated, Rehv suddenly thought. Fuck the sex and the social position. If they were smart, they did it to make a house that had no walls and an invisible roof and a floor that no one could walk on—and yet the structure was a shelter no storm could blow down, no match could torch up, no passage of years could degrade.

  Highlighted by 173 Kindle customers

• Because sometimes the only thing that got you through hell was that you were in too deep to pull out.

  Highlighted by 144 Kindle customers

• Sometimes in life, from out of the myriad of prosaic decisions like what to eat and where to sleep and how to dress, a true crossroads is revealed. In these moments, when the fog of relative irrelevancy lifts and fate rolls out a demand for free will, there is only left or right—no option of four-by-fouring into the underbrush between two paths, no negotiating with the choice that has been presented. You must answer the call and pick your way. And there is no reverse.

  Highlighted by 114 Kindle customers

• Sometimes words were less valuable than the air that carried them when it came to getting close.

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• “No matter what you wear…to me, you will always have diamonds on the soles of your shoes.”

  Highlighted by 78 Kindle customers

• “Life is such a glorious trauma, is it not,” Wrath murmured.

  Highlighted by 77 Kindle customers

• “You know,” he said, “this is why I love you so much.” Her tone was heartbreakingly warm. “What do you mean?” “You don’t ask me to go inside because it’s cold. You just want to make it easier for me to be where I want to stand.”

  Highlighted by 74 Kindle customers

• You get the oven up to four seventy-five and you put the roast in, blast it for a half hour, then turn everything off and let it sit in there. You’re not allowed to open the door to check it. That’s the rule, and you have to trust the process. Two hours later?” “Heaven.”

  Highlighted by 46 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Caldwell, New York
• The Commodore
• ZeroSum: Rehv's downtown nightclub frequented by some of the Brotherhood
• The Iron Mask
• Screamer's
• Sal's Restaurant: "Salvatore's Restaurant"
• Safe Place
• The Tomb: Sacred vault of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Used as a ceremonial site as well as a storage facility for the jars of lessers. Ceremonies performed there include inductions, funerals, and disciplinary actions against Brothers. No one may enter except for members of the Brotherhood, the Scribe Virgin, or candidates for induction.
• The Fade: Nontemporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity.
• Dhunhd: Hell.

Organizations edit see section history

• Black Dagger Brotherhood: Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, Brothers possess immense physical and mental strength, as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the Brotherhood upon nomination by the Brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of other classes expect when they need to feed. They are subjects of legend and the object of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds.
• The Chosen: Female vampires who have been bred to serve the Scribe Virgin. They are considered members of the aristocracy, though they are spiritually rather than temporally focused. They have little or no interaction with males, but can be mater to Brothers at the Scribe Virgin's direction to propagate their class. Some have the ability to prognosticate. In the past, they were used to meet the blood needs of unmated members of the Brotherhood, and thatpractice has been reinstated by the Brothers.
• Lessening Society: Order of the slayers convened by the Omega for the purpose of eradicating the vampire species.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Ahstrux Nohtrum: Private guard with license to kill who is granted his or her position by the king.
• Ahvenge: To commit an act of mortal retribution, carried out typically by a male loved one.
• Black Dagger Brotherhood: Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, Brothers possess immense physical and mental strength, as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the Brotherhood upon nomination by the Brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of other classes expect when they need to feed. They are subjects of legend and the object of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds.
• Blood Slave: male or female vampire who has been subjugated to serve the blood needs of another. The practice of keeping blood slaves has recently been outlawed.
• The Chosen: Female vampires who have been bred to serve the Scribe Virgin. They are considered members of the aristocracy, though they are spiritually rather than temporally focused. They have little or no interaction with males, but can be mater to Brothers at the Scribe Virgin's direction to propagate their class. Some have the ability to prognosticate. In the past, they were used to meet the blood needs of unmated members of the Brotherhood, and thatpractice has been reinstated by the Brothers.
• Chrih: Symbol of honorable death in the Old Language.
• Cohntehst: Conflict between two males competing for the right to be a female's mate.
• Dhunhd: Hell.
• Doggen: Member of the servant class within the vampire world. Doggen have old, conservative traditions about service to their superiors, following a formal code of dress and behavior. They are able to go out during the day, but they age relatively quickly. Life expectancy is approximately five hundred years.
• Ehros: A Chosen trained in the matter of sexual arts.
• Exhile Dhoble: The evil or cursed twin, the one born second.
• The Fade: Nontemporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity.
• First Family: The King and Queen of the vampires, and any children they may have.
• Ghardian: Custodian of an individual. There are varying degrees of ghardians, with the most powerful being that of a sehcluded female.
• Glymera: The social core of the aristocracy, roughly equivalent to Regency England's ton.
• Hellren: Male vampire who has been mated to a female. Males may take more than one female as mate.
• Leahdyre: A person of power and influence.
• Leelan: A term of endearment loosely translated as 'dearest one'.
• Lessening Society: Order of the slayers convened by the Omega for the purpose of eradicating the vampire species.
• Lesser: De-souled human who targets vampires for extermination as a member of the Lessening Society. Lessers must be stabbed through the chest in order to be killed; otherwise they are ageless. They do not eat or drink and are impotent. Over time, their hair, skin, and irises lose pigmentation until they are blond, blushless, and pale-eyed. They smell like baby powder. Inducted into the society by the Omega, they retain a ceramic jar thereafter into which their heart was placed after it was removed.
• Lewlhen: Gift.
• Lheage: A term of respect used by a sexual submissive to refer to her dominant.
• Lys: Torture tool used to remove the eyes.
• Mhis: The masking of a given physical environment; the creation of a field of illusion.
• Nalla (f) Nallum (m): Beloved.
• Needing Period: Female vampire's time of fertility, generally lasting for two days and accompanied by intense sexual cravings. Occurs approximately five years after a female's transition and then once a decade thereafter. all males respond to some degree if they are around a female in her need. It can be a dangerous time, with conflicts and fights breaking out between competing males, particularly if the female is not mated.
• Newling: A virgin.
• The Omega: Malevolent, mystical figure who has targeted the vampires for extinction out of resentment directed towards the Scribe Virgin. Exists in a nontemporal realm and has extensive powers, though not the power of creation.
• Phearsom: Term referring to the potency of a male's sexual organs. Literal translation something close to "worthy of entering a female".
• Princeps: Princeps: Highest level of vampire aristocracy, second only to the members of the First Family or the Scribe Virgin's Chosen. Must be born to the title; it may not be conferred.
• Pyrocant: Refers to a critical weakness in an individual. The weakness can be internal, such as an addiction, or external, such as a lover.
• Rahlman: Savior.
• Rythe: Ritual manner of assuaging honor granted by one who has offended another. If accepted, the offended chooses a weapon and strikes the offender, who presents him- or herself- without defenses.
• The Scribe Virgin: Mystical force who is counselor to the King as well as the keeper of vampire archives and the dispenser of privileges. Exist in a nontemporal realm and has extensive powers. Capable of a single act of creation, which she expended to bring the vampires into existence.
• Sehclusion: Status conferred by the King upon a female of the aristocracy as a result of a petition by the female's family. Places the female under the sole direction of her ghardian, typically the eldest male in her household. Her ghardian then has the legal right to determine all manner of her life, restricting at will any and all interactions she has with the world.
• Shellan: Female vampire who has been mated to a male. Females generally do not take more than one mate due to the highly territorial nature of bonded males.
• Sympath: Subspecies within the vampire race characterized by the ability and desire to manipulate emotions in others (for the purposes of an energy exchange), among other traits. Historically, they have been discriminated against and, during certain eras, hunted by vampires. They are near extinction.
• The Tomb: Sacred vault of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Used as a ceremonial site as well as a storage facility for the jars of lessers. Ceremonies performed there include inductions, funerals, and disciplinary actions against Brothers. No one may enter except for members of the Brotherhood, the Scribe Virgin, or candidates for induction.
• Trahyner: Word used between males of mutual respect and affection. Translated loosely to "beloved friend".
• Transition: Critical moment in a vampire's life when he or she transforms into an adult. Thereafter, he or she must drink the blood of the opposite sex to survive and is unable to withstand sunlight. Occurs generally int he mid-twenties. Some vampires do not survive their transitions, males in particular. Prior to their transitions, vampires are physically weak, sexually unaware and unresponsive, and unable to dematerialize.
• Vampire: Member of a species separate from that of homo sapiens. Vampires must drink the blood of the opposite sex to survive. Human blood will keep them alive, though the strength does not last long. Following their transitions, which occur in their mid-twenties, they are unable to go out into the sunlight and must feed from the vein regularly. Vampires cannot "convert" humans through a bite or transfer of blood, though they are in a rare cases able to breed with other species. Vampires can dematerialize at will, though they must be able to calm themselves and concentrate to do so and may not carry anything heavy with them. They are able to strip the memories of humans, provided such memories are short term. Some vampires are able to read minds. Life expectancy is upward of a thousand years, or in some cases even longer.
• Wahlker: An individual who has died and returned to the living from the Fade. They are accorded great respect and are revered for their travails.
• Whard: Equivalent of a godfather or godmother to an individual.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Lover Enshrined, and followed by Lover Mine.

Preceded by Father Mine, and followed by Lover Mine.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. J. R. Ward (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• P.E.A.R.L. (2009: Overall Paranormal Romance)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3623.A73227 L68 2009
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Sexually explicit material

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Romance › Vampires
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Urban
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Series
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Dark

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• J. R. Ward: Author's website

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history