The Chosen By J.R. Ward

Why I read this book:

I was an avid reader of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series until Lover at Last. I stopped reading at that point because the story lines were getting too convoluted and less interesting. The Chosen got my attention because of the central couple, Xcor and Layla. I decided that Amazon's half off pre-order sale was the right price point for me to jump back into the series.

My one sentence summary:

Xcor gets his mate, a family and redemption while Qhuinn nearly loses all three.

Kudos:

J.R.Ward has a gift for make vulnerable alpha males that feel real and unearthly at the same time. Each one of her central male characters has a rich back story filled with torment that makes their falling in love a wonderful torment. Xcor and Layla's romance has been building ever since I was reading the series. I love bad guy redemption stories and Xcor goes from badass traitor to his race to an invaluable member of the brotherhood along with finally getting his shellan and the family he has longed for all his life. I enjoyed the sub plots surrounding Tohr and Vischious. Even the brief appearances of the Blind King and Xsadist were enjoyable. Qhuinn and Blay go through their own trials related to Xcor, Layla and the young twins they co-parent with Layla. Although Qhuinn's behavior in an early pivotal scene borders on abuse, he's able to find his way back to his bonded mate and prove that he wants Blay to be as a parent to the twins as he and Layla are. Some of my pet peeves were also gone such as the mythology surounding the Virgin Scribe.

Quibbles:

There is still far too many plot lines going on in J.R. Ward's novels. I tend to skip the ones that don't interest me like the Lessers, Shadows and the peripheral Brotherhood members. The flashbacks are not as rampant as in previous novels, but not my favorite parts.

Final verdict:

This is a solid Black Dagger Brotherhood novels with all the strengths and fewer of the weaknesses of precious novels. I'm a fair weather series reader, especially one involving such a large cast of characters. I also find that I'm a lot less interested in the physical consummation of the relationships and skipped those parts as well. I'm unlikely to pick up another book in the series because there are no unmatched characters that I'm interested in. My favorite couples remain Qhuinn/Blay, Zsadist and Bella and Xcor/Layla.