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    Lover Unbound
    Lover Unbound
    Lover Unbound
    Audiobook17 hours

    Lover Unbound

    Written by J.R. Ward

    Narrated by Jim Frangione

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times best-selling author J. R. Ward has blown away fans with layered, titillating tales of sexy vampires and supernatural intrigue. Here, the son of a Bloodletter falls into the care-and possibly the arms-of a mortal surgeon. "The series [has] earned Ward an Anne Rice -style following, deservedly so."-Publishers Weekly
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 5, 2009
    ISBN9781436133074
    Lover Unbound
    Author

    J.R. Ward

    J.R. Ward is the author of more than sixty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than twenty million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-seven different countries. She lives in the south with her family.

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    Reviews for Lover Unbound

    4/5

    1,316 ratings69 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I wasn’t excited for this one but it’s really good!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Enthralling!

      Great story, awesome characters, and wonderful world-building.

      J. R. Ward has a masterful command of the written word and an exquisite way of turning a phrase. With this skill, she brings into being larger-than-life characters that capture your heart. These are far from your hallmark characters. They are broken in so many ways, yet full of courage (even if they don't think they have any), honor, and loyalty.

      This book has all the feels. Mostly at an extreme level. Love, laughter, and tears.
      I can't recommend this book and series enough. I think this is my fifth or sixth re-read of this book and the series.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This is the first book which left me feeling empty. I wished I would of skipped it. Not much of a happy ending for me.
    • 3/5
      3 stars for I don't have a review because this audiobook readers voice is awful.... I really hate men narrating FMC books
    • 4/5
      Vishous, is a member of the Brotherhood, having his best friend Butch recently married, he is feeling a bit put out. Vishous is a relentless fighter against the Lessers, he also has a more rough approach to sexual encounters due to the way that he was raised. Having not known his mother, his father was a cruel "son of a bitch" ( to be putting it mildly) who was a bloodletter. Vishous grew up tormented and abused. Presently he discovers that his mother whom he has never known is the Scribe Virgin. At first Vishous is shocked to say the least. Apparently the Scribe Virgin wanted her child to have all the aspects his father had. A fighter, strong, cunning, and ruthless in his fighting. His mother agreed to his father to let him train their son for three centuries. When hearing that his mother agreed to this deal, knowing the cruelites he was forced to bear, he is furious. Then when she tells him that he is to be the Primale and have forty mates, and bear children upon them all, he is stunned. Later, Vishous doesn't know if he can go through with it. One night while fighting a Lesser, he gets a mortal injury, and is taken to a mortal hospital to be treated by Dr. Jane Whitcomb. Jane, is a talented doctor and surgeon and loves her job and being able to save lives. Jane has a high position but wants to be chief of surgery. Knowing that will never happen at her current situation, since the current Chief will most likely be there for another twenty years, she is planning a trip that weekend to head down to South America for a high position as Chief Surgeon. However her plans change, when a certain particular patient is brought in the ER for severe injury to the chest which could be fatal if she doesn't operate soon. So when he is brought in she does, and see notices things such as his heart is different from anything she has ever seen before. When she has him stable, his "brothers" come in and take him along with kidnapping her, at Vishous's insistence. So Jane finds herself taken captive by unknown men where she will treat Vishous until he has fully healed. During this time however, Jane and Vishous connect and find themselves risking everything for what they have found in each other. A desire and a deep abiding love stronger than anything they have ever known. Vishous is at a loss as to what to do, for he has a duty and responsibility to his brotherhood, yet his heart also speaks of another duty, to keep the one he loves by his side for all time.I enjoyed reading Vishous's story, it was definitely an emotional and engaging read that had me on the edge of my seat in suspense. As a reader, we see that Vishous is a tormented being who has been tortured and abused for many years by his father, and is still trying to heal and the effects of the abuse still linger in him. Then he meets Jane who even though being a human and mortal, stirs a passion in him and calms the wild beast. She is the one he loves and trust more than anyone else, and he knows he has to let her go soon and erase her memory of her knowledge of their precious time together. Its basically a scenario of deciding what is more important duty over love. Jane, having been raised in a home where her family never appreciated her and having her parents and sister gone, she is all alone in this world. Then she meets the one man that even though he scares and thrills her at the beginning, she starts to soften toward him, and she knows she is falling for him, madly. This is probably the most emotional book that I have read from J.R. Ward. I truly enjoyed reading most of the story, although the ending was a little weird and not what I expected at all ( definitely will shock you, for it did me) it was a deep and thrilling romance, that either had be crying or laughing, or so intense in its action that had my heart pounding, it sure was a well worth it read!!! J.R. Ward has done it again for me, totally enthralled me in her stories and captivated my heart to the characters.
    • 5/5
      This book was awesome…BUT There are times where I had a hard time understanding because of the narration something about this narration this time on this book was different from the other books that I’ve listened to
    • 5/5
      Lover Unbound! I cannot begin to imagine the start of what the mother of these races plans for her creations. Now only to find out for herself that the children are individually made and grown to become their own selves. Making each individually and again, wanting their own freedom of choosing who they love and be with the rest their of natural life. Seeing the pain of what the son went through and also the need for help, as he's lost the only woman he ever loved and was ready to be killed without her in his world.
      I give this book five stars.

      Second Read Review:
      Lover Unbound, the 5th book in the BDB series was great. I would have given it 5 stars if not for Phury. Truly that Brother rubs me the wrong way every time he is on the page. And he had too many pages in this book. I know his book is next, but man I could've done with a lot less Phury. Anyways V and Jane's story was sweet, kinky, and very angsty. In this book, there were a lot of different povs as J.R. Ward tends to jump from storyline to storyline almost like a soap. You get half a chapter of this couple then it shoots to another or this other brother, or the lessers, etc. And while that kind of layout doesn't really bother me it was really pronounced in this book compared to the last 4 so it took some getting used to.

      Poor Vishous had some real mommy issues in this book. Never knowing who his mother was the boy was shocked when the Scribe Virgin came to him and let him know that she was in fact his birth mother and that she was going to make him her "Primal". The Primal is the male that is mated to all the chosen, lives in the fade, and has to make babies with all his 40 or so mates. Like a stud bull or something. And she didn't care one bit that he didn't want to be her breed stud. So he was understandably pissed at mommy dearest. Also as V's past with this father, the bloodletter is revealed and you find out the horrid torture he endure while his mother did nothing, yea she wasn't smelling like roses at all. V had some major emotional issues from his past. I loved the way he let Jane in and showed her the real him. Even as close as he was with Butch she and he just clicked. Jane was this amazing human surgeon. She saved V when he landed in her ear with a stab wound and a gunshot to the chest. Jane didn't have the greatest of lives but she was smart as hell and made something of herself. What I really loved about Jane was that she didn't look like most heroines. She had short hair, glasses, and a flatter body, and was more on the plain or average side when it came to her looks. I also loved that even though she wasn't a knockout she was totally comfortable and confident in her skin. She knew who she was, what she wanted, and her worth. I also really liked how open-minded she was. She was calm under pressure, was wholly accepting, and was supportive of her male.
      Vishous is one kinky motherfucker. I loved the fact that even though V and Jane had kinky sex they made love as well. Something V had never done with anyone else. Jane and V really just kinda click like missing puzzle pieces that go together. I know a lot of readers are fans of Butch and V and wished they would have gotten together but I always just saw them as brothers and best friends so I was glad that the Warden didn't put them together. I was glad that Phury stepped up for V and became the primate. I was hoping that he would be able to redeem himself in the act but instead, he just brought Cormia over here to a place where she doesn't know anything. She doesn't know how to use a phone, where to get food, and how the simplest of things work. She was completely alone, scared shitless, and overwhelmed and he just pretty much abandoned her so he could go back to doing his drugs and lusting after his brother's wife Bella. I already didn't care for Phury from the way he acted like his brother Z was ruined but in this book, my feelings for him started leaning towards dislike and I am so not looking forward to his book. Now John Matthew... I want his book badly! I loved all the bonding he and Z have been doing. I also loved how Z really stepped up with teaching the classes and with JM. I really enjoyed the fact that this book was lesser pov-free. Overall this book was a good addition to the series, but not one of my favorites.
    • 5/5
      The writing really comes together nicely. Character development has been improving through all the books,not like it needed much in the first place. I really love the use of flashbacksAnd in-depth looks into their lives. Sometimes I feel like the narrator is mispronouncing words or saying things with the wrong tone, or at least not how I would picture the character say certain things. Still an awesome book!
    • 4/5
      Okay, yes, what happens with Jane is frustrating in the extreme. She is, by far, the strongest female character to come into the series to this point. That said, getting to learn the backstory of Vishous as a character, including some shocking revelations, definitely makes this in some ways my favorite book of the series so far, at least up until the end. Overall, I feel like this is the first installment in the series not to run totally formulaic as well, so there is that. Not that there's anything wrong with the series standard formula, mind you, but it's worth noting there is much more here as well. In any case, I will definitely be needing to know where the characters go from here.
    • 3/5
      Those brothers seriously need to address their problem of lack of communication...

      Just saying a lot of things can be avoided.
    • 3/5
      I was going through my books on my e-reader and found this one. Every once in awhile I like reading some sexy vampire stuff. I was on vacation so I dove in.And it was pretty much like every other book in the series that I've read. It follows a group of super vampirish-type heroes with an emphasis on Vishous as the lead. He ends up in the hospital as the result of a fight, but not before Dr. Jane Whitcomb discovers some abnormalities about her patient. Vishous takes her with him because he discovers she's his mate (this is a sore point with me - all these guys have lived for hundreds of years, but suddenly all of them are finding mates within about five years). There's also plotlines involving some of his brothers because there just isn't enough story for the one romance. Every time I pick one of these up, I hope it's going to be different and I'm disappointed. Obviously, these aren't the books for me, but the author has millions of readers so she must be doing something right.
    • 4/5
      I love this series...
    • 3/5
      I had a hard time buying some of this one. Vishous is quite a cold hearted vampire. His history was a rough one, and I did enjoy seeing how it shaped him and his personality. A lot more about him made sense after reading this book. I felt a little sorry for him to be honest. Although I still don't quite understand how this odd relationship with Butch fits into the whole thing.Vishous is feeling a little sorry for himself now that his bromance has found a mate of his own. He puts himself at risk needlessly and ends up in a human hospital - this is one of the worst things that can happen. Human doctors can quickly see the difference between vampire and human anatomy (and I found some of the differences to be fascinating).Enter Dr. Jane Whitcomb. We get a ton of history about her - some of it was a bit confusing. I kept waiting for her sister to pop up again in the story and she never did. Maybe she does later? There were some pretty heavy hints dropped that I kept waiting for her to appear.Jane quickly realizes Vishous is different than any patient she's ever seen before. And when she's kidnapped to keep watch over her patient after he's rescued the "I love her - but she's human - but I love her - but she's human" begins and never seems to end.Well, eventually it does, and I think JR Ward wrote herself into a corner again. There are a few times now that she's really broken the rules of her own world again. I think this was my biggest pet peeve of the series so far. She finds a way to sort of make it work, but it's not quite within the rules either.There are some pretty big reveals about some of the brotherhood, which I like. And I enjoy seeing all them in each story. Revisiting past favorites is always fun - but I wish the women had a stronger appearance as well.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book just as much as the others. Book five is Vishous’s story but we also get a lot more about John and also Phury in this book. I get that every brother’s story is somewhat intertwined with the others. How can it not be when they have fought together for centuries? Personally, I would prefer the story stay more focused on the central characters. Despite this, I love, love, love, this series. Don’t know why it took me so long to get around to reading it.
    • 4/5
      I love love love V!! Sexy bastard! I devoured this one... couldn't put it down.
    • 4/5
      I'm not entirely pleased with the way things worked out for Vishous. I'm not totally bummed either, but lots of tears in this book. I had hoped for a better solution to the issues he faced. I like how the book laid the path for Phury's story as well. And I love reading more about John Matthew and how he grows. I'm not saying this was a bad book, but I was left a little unsatisfied at the ending.
    • 4/5
      I liked V better in book 4 (my favorite so far). This book was the great ride, with some weirdness with Jane and her" ending" I am glad I read it, but I enjoyed V better while he was lusting after Butch, he was so animated. Jane was kind of boring for me, not enough junk in her closet, true? The scribe Virgin became a bit more human like in this story, she showed feelings. I think that worked well, perhaps there will be a happiness for her ? I can't wait to see what the story will be with sister Payne....... I love the brothers
    • 5/5
      Um I kind of can't believe I haven't reviewed this one before. I'm sort of ashamed of myself. Im in the middle of a reread so I am just going to say I love V, and this book has another huge event in it for one of my favorite character JM...so...yeah. YAY. Good one.
    • 3/5
      I was loving this book - the best so far right up to the end. Without revealing the end - I felt like the rug was pulled out from underneath me... and V.

      Charles Dickens was forced by popular demand to write another ending for Great Expectations; I'd love to see Lover Unbound with another ending.
    • 4/5
      These books are campy, cheesy, adventurous, and original. I hate that I love reading these.It reminds me of when I go to the grocery and buy something like fiery hot Cheetos, or bacon flavored SPAM. Or even those cheap pot pies in the frozen section, or a bag of pork rinds. I have to shop produce first because then I can...or ONE can hide them under the healthy food. You don't want people to know that you love those things but you can't stop buying them from time to time, or in this case, reading them. So I've heard....
    • 3/5
      good read but not my favorite
    • 5/5
      Great Story, I loved Vishous and Jane. This story unravels more characters and draws me deeper into the Brotherhood. On to the next...
    • 5/5
      I wasn't exactly excited to read this book. Especially since most of the books before seemed like a bit of a chore to read. This book pleasantly surprised me! I absolutely LOVED this book. I had a hard time putting it down. I think Vishous is my favorite brother and Doc Jane was pretty awesome as well. Honestly if there were more books written about Vishous and Doc Jane I would read and devour them all. I found Vishous very intriguing. From the beginning of the book I felt a deeper connection with him than the rest of the brothers. I was a little surprised that Doc Jane fit with Vishous so well because Vishous always seemed a bit hardcore, but Doc Jane took that in stride. I'll admit I cried in parts of the book, but I was very thrilled with the ending. The humor that was scattered throughout the book was wonderful too. If you read the Black Dagger Brotherhood series you definitely need to read this book!
    • 3/5
      I'm going to skip a long synopsis for this one. Basically, Vishous is in love with Butch, the cop who was turned into a vampire (and a member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood) in the last book. But Butch isn't interested in Vishous as anything except his best friend. Vishous starts taking risks and is shot in the heart during a fight with the lesser. Incapacitated and believed to be human by the paramedics on the scene, Vishous is taken to a hospital, where a surgeon, Jane Whitcomb, saves his life. When Vishous' brothers come to get him from the hospital, Vishous insists that Jane be taken, too.The book started out promising for me, mainly because Vishous is different from the typical alpha male. He's alpha, true, but he's also bisexual and hung up on his male best friend at the beginning of the book. Plus he has a dark past, which I usually enjoy. And Jane really had a backbone in the beginning of the book - she stood up to Vishous and her other kidnappers, even getting reckless about it. But then she falls in love with Vishous, and everything goes to shit from there.I honestly do not buy the romance between Vishous and Jane. It's sudden, at least on his part, and just feels forced. Vishous goes from moping over Butch to totally dismissing his feelings for Butch in a matter of days. I don't think it's supposed to work that way; it certainly never has for me. As for the passion between Vishous and Jane - it just wasn't there for me. I found myself more interested in the various backstories going on in the book, rather than the supposed romance between Vishous and Jane.The devolution of the character of Jane sucked. She started out as a spitfire, someone who stood up to a surgeon who intimidated everyone else in the department. And she stood up to the Brothers, too. But as soon as she was in love with Vishous, things started to noticeably shift, until she was a lovesick puppy who was willing to give up her career (which, at the beginning of the book, was pretty much her entire life) just to be with V. No. No, no, no, no, NO. I hate when authors do that. And then there's the end. Oh the end. I had been mildly spoiled before reading this book that the ending was considered "bad," but I didn't realize how bad it was until I got there. Jane is killed by the lesser who was mentioned briefly in the beginning of the book and then totally forgotten about until the end. And then she's brought back. As a ghost. No, really. An honest to goodness, someone can actually walk through her ghost. Ummmm. What. It wasn't enough for Ward to de-spine Jane...she had to kill her and then bring her back as a spirit? Really?Ward seems to have a tendency to do this to her characters - take them down a dark path and then conveniently get them out of it. Out of the five books that I have read in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series so far, FOUR of the relationships have been human-vampire (at least initially: Wrath/Beth, Rhage/Mary, Butch/Marissa, and now Vishous/Jane). One of them is dealt with fairly well - Beth is half-vampire, and she's on the brink of her transition into vampire. But the other three have been "dealt with" poorly, in my opinion. Mary is granted a long life by the Scribe Virgin and a cure for her cancer in a heartbreaking choice made by Rhage (but then the Scribe Virgin decided Mary had suffered enough and changed her mind a bit so they could be together). Okay, I can give Ward a pass on this one.Butch is a human...until Ward decides to make his biological father part-vampire and do some weird ceremony to convert him into a vampire. Even though for the first three book of the series, it has been stressed multiple times that being a vampire is all about biology, and you either are one or you are not. There is no mention that someone can be converted into a vampire if they have a trace of vampire DNA until Butch's book. Poorly done.And then there is Jane. Jane's mind wipe is unsuccessful - she keeps remembering bits and pieces until the memories come flooding back to her, even though in prior books, the mind wipe trick seems to be universally effective. Umm, okay. Maybe. Jane does have a sharp mind; she's a surgeon. But then the whole ghost thing? No. I hate it. If you're going to take your characters down a dark path, Ward, don't write them out of the corner with a convenient plot device that makes no appearance in the universe until the end. SIGH.As for the backstories...I am liking Phury more and more. I have always liked him, but it looks like he's going down a darker path as the books progress. I feel bad for the character; he's madly in love with Zsadist's wife, and they all live together in the same house, so he sees her all of the time. Nothing like getting your nose constantly rubbed in what you cannot have.And John Matthew's story is becoming more interesting, as well. I'm looking forward to his book, which I believe is the book after Phury's.Please no more convenient plot devices solving seemingly insurmountable problems, though, please.
    • 1/5
      Okay, there has been something that I haven't liked from many of the previous books, but haven't felt the need to really complain about it. Until now. Now, I'm pissed.

      This author has a gift for creating truly complex problems and situations that make for an engaging read. And then she wraps them up with some overly simple, pat solution that undercuts and cheapens the situation that she created. For example, the brother tortured and sexually abused for over a century makes ludicrously significant progress toward his issues in like three interactions with a woman. Now, she's taken the non-heterocentric storyline expanded in the previous book and completely poo-poohed it. How many times will Charlie Brown try to kick the football, Ms. Ward-VanPelt? This series is on probation.
    • 4/5
      Easily the best book in the series thus far. I hope the following books can keep the same tone and scope.
    • 3/5
      Typical JR ward book. All of them are pretty interchangeable. That's not to say I don't enjoy reading them. I don't like the use of the serviced but it is common theme in many of the books, so push through them. Also, the word true is over used.
    • 5/5
      ★★★★★Lover Unbound (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #5) by J.R. Ward

      V, V, V.... Oh my fav Brother. I know the WARDen and he don't get along, but you have to love the guy. I love the relationship he has with Butch, where is that going to lead, still not real sure. I'm hoping for more, with his and their background, it could go either way. But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. Oh and then he meets the good doctor, Jane. I don't dislike her as much as most seem, too. She is very useful to the Bothers, but she is not high on my character favs. Then the WARDen had to go and make her a ......, REALLY!?!, WHY! UGH!
      We also learn that V is the son of the SV, and mommy dearest shares plan, for him to become Primal. Oh, no, this will never work.
      This book, is hard to read at times, because of the atrocities done to him, by his father, the Bloodletter. We learn his father castrated him, along with forced the loser of the fights to be raped by the victor.
      We learn some of the whys to Vishous's behave, his need to control his life, he's need to make the best weapons, to arm the Brothers, his glowing death hand, and his need for never ending knowledge.
      We also see a softer side of him when Jane dies, and he begs the SV to save her, for all the fucked up shit she has pulled. Then when he realizes mommy dearest, gave up her precious birds, in exchange for her life, he brings her a bird, a trip, to fill her tree back up.
      I loved this book, although I don't think it's one of her best, but would highly recommend it.
    • 4/5
      I really liked Jane, what a great character but then she would have to be, to put up with Vihsous. From Butch's story, V was lusting after his friend and denying it wholeheartedly. I'm glad Ward did not shy away from the the homosexual vibe V and Butch had. They never got together, but at least they talked about it. Jane was perfect, smart, strong and damn sassy. Kinda was disappointed at what happened to her at the end of the book. This story flew by me, before I even knew it the thing was over.
    • 5/5


      Finally, the question is answered about the type of relationship between Butch and Vishous. It's not quite what I thought it was, but it was honest. I always thought Vishous was mistaking his feelings for the real thing out of loneliness, yearning and jealousy. I'm sure Butch is aware of the underlying feelings that V seems to have for him, and perhaps Marissa knows as well, but it really bothered me that they continued to live in the pit as a mated pair and went about their "business" around him. What single person wouldn't grow depressed over time?

      One such night of Butch and Marissa getting down with the marital bliss forces Vishous out of the house and into the streets. He soon finds himself in a bad situation with a Lesser. He gets shot and winds up in the hospital, on the operating table of one Dr Jane Whitcomb, trauma surgeon.

      Jane is on the verge of leaving the country for an interview in pursuit of a career-changing opportunity. Highly driven, and a control freak by admission, she yearns to put herself in a position that could put her on par with her friend and colleague, Dr Manny Manello.

      During the operation, Jane makes a surprising (scientific) discovery. Whoever her patient is, he isn't normal. Before she can get some answers, Rhage, Butch and Phury arrive to retrieve Vishous, but suddenly his bonding instinct flares and he orders the others to take her with them. Within 24 hours she finds herself a prisoner, a private nurse and unexplainably attracted to and properly seduced by V. She also deduced what he was, rather quickly I might add, and from there they got rather cozy very fast. When Phury is hurt in his own encounter with a Lesser, Dr Jane is present to put him back together again, thus ensuring more time to get to know V. The fact that they divulge some painful details of their lives, while practically being strangers, was probably due to the fact that V was going to scrub her memories before sending her back to her life. It certainly moved their bonding along faster that way. After Beth, Jane is my second favorite female.

      I know some people took issue with V's rather sudden abandonment of his sexual Dominant nature. The way I saw it was that he was already tiring of it and found little to no satisfaction in it. That's not to say that he gave it up completely, as it will always be a part of his nature. However, I think his longing for a more vanilla relationship overrode his other urges or at the very least toned them down. So when Jane showed up and basically won him over with her quick wit and intelligent mind, he jumped at the opportunity.

      We're also finally treated to John's transformation. The poor kid sure waited long enough for it to happen. It's nice to see a few things that give him some measure of happiness. Like the fact that while he pretty much failed in all areas of warrior training, he turned out to be very efficient with a gun and knife. Z continues to be a surprisingly compassionate mentor, and I think Z is slowly starting to make a few interesting observations regarding similarities between John and the late Darius. I always thought Z would be the right person to be there for John since they have a few things in common. I did make the mistake of reading Lover Mine (John's story) first, and at the time I didn't understand a lot of things. Now that I'm reading the series in order, I have a better understanding of the story and the characters. And now that I have a better picture of Xhex, I can't understand what attracts her to John. In the last book she was described as a very butch female. Built big, haircut like a man, looks like a hermaphrodite, etc. That is a complete one eighty That is a complete one eighty of how I pictured her when I read Lover Mine.

      I don't understand why Lash is still in the warrior program. He just seems like a loose cannon. I guess even in the supernatural aristocracy, sweeping unpleasantries under the rug is a given as it is in the human world.

      There was a huge absence of Lesser activity in this book, thankfully. I needed a break for the Mr X's, O's, D's etc. Instead we learned a whole lot about Vishous and his parents, the three musketeers - John, Blay and Qhuinn, and Phury's story was being set up. There were quite a few twists I never saw coming, and I thought they were laid out well. My only issue was the handling of the ending in regards to Jane and what she ended up as in order to stay with Vishous. I've noticed that a lot of readers are quite upset about it, but I'm reserving further judgment about it because Ms Ward probably had a reason for the way it played out. At least I hope so, otherwise this was a really cheesy ending. I'm still giving this book the highest rating, and it's going on my favorites list which means I will be re-reading this book many more times to come.