JR Ward - Lover Unveiled

Sahvage has been living under the radar for centuries—and he has every intention of staying “dead and buried.” But when a civilian female sucks him into her dangerous battle with an evil as ancient as time, his protective side overrides his common sense.
Mae has lost everything, and desperation sets her on a collision course with fate. Determined to reverse a tragedy, she goes where mortals should fear to tread—and comes face-to-face with the Brotherhood’s new enemy. She also discovers a love she never expected to find with Sahvage, but there can be no future for them.
Knowing they will part, the two band together to fight against what Mae unknowingly unleashed—as the Brotherhood closes in to reclaim one of their damned, and the evil vows to destroy them all….

Comment: This is the 19th installment in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and, so far, is the one I liked less.

In this novel, the focus is on Sahvage, a former Brother who, for the past centuries, has been living under the radar and now gets money by fighting. One night at the club where he is about to have a showdown, a woman shows up and tries to stop the fight, causing problems and a lot of confusion. 

Mae, turning out to be a vampire, is at the club because she was told the Reverend knows about a Book, which she is looking for, so she can do some kind of spell to get her brother back. Although she can't have any answers from Rev, Sahvage decides to help her and the older woman she is taking care of too. 

The problem is that Devina, the demon, is back and the Book belongs to her....but where is the Book is the question... and when the truth come out, will Mae and Sahvage have any chance at love?

I've been a fan of this series since 2008, when I happened to have read the first book and I've entered the whole fandom world created by the author and the fans, especially while her forum was online and active. It is true that having many people focused on the same thing at the same time is a huge help to increase attention and until that boardroom was closed, I was feeling the appeal.

After the forum closed, I was still a dedicated fan and defended the books and the stories to anyone who would ask me about it, even though some books just weren't as consistent with the first ones in terms of content and the rules invented by the author. Despite that, most times things worked out and just reading about the world and the characters was enough to make me love them. However, it's been a while since I've felt the appeal as strongly as it used to be and the main reason is that the stories  no longer feel as romantic and as well thought as they used to.

At first, the romance took time to develop and the secondary issues were logical and helped to create tension and conflict and even obstacles to why the couple couldn't simply have a quiet or blissful domestic life. I wasn't fond of the lessers (original enemy) but since most stories had them as secondary issues, I didn't care. With time, the stories started to lose steam and romance and while I still loved the multi POVs and being aware of the lives of everyone, something started to be weaker... which makes me arrive at this point. Sadly, Mae and Sahvage as a couple didn't really work out because they are there just to accomplish one goal: having a main couple.

To be honest, this is a pity, the surrounding situations related to both of them and to each one individually have its interest but I just don't find the result a good one. For years and years the speculation and the "keep reading" answer to the question "what is the importance of the coffins at the mansion?" which was on everyone's minds for so long is finally revealed here, and it's directly connected with Sahvage and then it's as if nothing matters anymore because all the secondary issues just stole the attention. 

I so much preferred the series when it felt the author contained the rules and the notion of what is the vampire race in a specific sphere... nowadays, as other readers have said, it feels those same rules put the author into a corner in terms of what she can or cannot do. I feel as if the author lost control of her own world and wanted to go a way those same rules prevented. Thus, why she invented so many things that, to me, weakened the world building and the importance of each HEA for the past years.

Mae and Sahvage could be a stronger couple but what made them unique wasn't interesting to me. Mae, in particular, is just too... bland and silly sometimes, and not even the crazy reason why she wanted the Book made me like her more. The HEA with Sahvage might be cute and all that, but I confess I've skipped many scenes about her search for the Book in situations that made no sense if she was a civilian. Also, I've skipped all scenes/chapters with Devina, the demon villain because I hate this character and the power she has. I preferred the books where the lesser enemies had no actual voice nor real power, they were just there as an excuse to put the Brothers in key situations.

The stories are still readable to me and I will read the next ones, but not with the intensity I once imagined would never vanish. My curiosity about other characters and some loose plot points, which felt so urgent ten years ago are now just details I can wait to read about but... it's truly a pity how this series lost track of what used to be so important and well done in the beginning.

Grade: 6/10