Reviewed by: Rabid Reads 
 I officially have four favourite books in this series (so far) and Lover Mine is on that list. Don't ask me to rank them because that'll probably he harder than pulling teeth. Seriously! It's amazing that the eighth novel is just as good as the first; I can say this with certainty because Dark Lover is also on my above mentioned list. It's rare for a series to maintain its momentum over time and even more so for it to actually increase. Xhex and John Matthew's story is something else, let me tell ya! In Lover Mine, old wounds are laid bare, the duo fights as hard as they f*#k and the emotions are i-n-t-e-n-s-e. 
 J.R. Ward's books always have multiple plot lines but I found this installment to be a little different that its predecessors. Instead of building on another character's back-story we end up tagging along with the human cast of a ghost hunters TV show which was a real head scratcher for me. I couldn't figure out where the heck Ward was going with their side story. To be honest, they kinda annoyed me. That is, up until the end when everything comes together in a big "well duh" moment. Then I LOVED the secondary plot and regretted every bad thought that I had about the human characters. Way to make me feel guilty J.R.! 
 The similarities between Xhex and John Matthew's past are staggering. These two were definitely cut from the same cloth and ultimately, meant for each other. It was so heartbreaking watching JM walk down memory lane and the fact that he did so with a sympath who can feel his every emotion made it all the more real. Then it was Xhex's turn to face her demons and my heart went through the wringer with her as well. The good thing about the way that this story is laid out is that even though there are a lot of downs, there are a lot of ups too. Their deepening connection, their physical need for each other, and of course, their passionate love making. This book really has it all and I don't think that I've felt this fulfilled after finishing a novel in a long, long time. 
 I liked that this book focuses more on Xhex and John Matthew instead of bouncing around as is typical of the novels in this series. If any Black Dagger Brotherhood couple deserves a full 656 pages it's this one. I enjoyed the complexity and the depth of Lover Mine. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the Darius/Tohr flashbacks and the Qhuinn/Blay drama is definitely an attention grabber but I was happy that the spotlight never strayed from JM and Xhex. I would have felt like I was betraying their confidence or that Ward was downplaying the importance of their tale. 
 Lover Mine is blisteringly hot, devastatingly raw and just plain WOW. I'm not sure how Payne and Dr. Manuel Manello's story is going to be able to compete with this one but right now my confidence in J.R. Ward's writing is sky high.