Call Me Bambina

"It finally happened, he thought as he burrowed under his shirt and took hold of his heavy cross. 
All his life he’d wondered why he’d never fallen in love, 
and now he knew: He’d been waiting for this moment, 
this woman, 
this time. 
The female is mine, he thought."
--JR Ward, Lover Mine

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Publisher: NAL, 489 pages

Publication Date: March 29th, 2011

Source: Bought
Goodreads
Previous Books in Series: Dark Lover & Lover Eternal & Lover Awakened & Lover Revealed & Lover Unbound & Lover Enshrined & Father Mine & Lover Avenged & Lover Mine

Goodreads Description

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either. 

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

My Thoughts

Oh...My...Manny. Alright. Let me break it down. I have previously been proclaimed the Smut Queen of my friends. I'm ok with this. I'll own it. I love these books and most others like it. Sorry not sorry. With that said, this book had me sweating and fanning myself and looking around the room seeing if anybody else thought it was getting warmer. Holy mother hell. Reason for this? Manny Manello...MD. This man made the whole book for me. Tall, dark and handsome, oh and by the way he's Italian. I am SERIOUS when I say that if he called Payne bambina ONE MORE TIME I was honestly going to faint. I could not handle this guy's book swagger. And he's not even a huge, sexy vamp! What?! Wow though.

So back to the story. Besides Manny--who I could talk about forever because he is WAY swoony--Payne is our other half in the romantic aspect of our story. I really liked her. I found her innocence of the world beyond the Sanctuary endearing. Even with her being very naive about a lot I found her to be very direct and level-headed and I really enjoyed this about her character. JR Ward continues to develop and introduce so many different faceted characters and I never confuse anybody. They are all so unique and individualized that you love them all for so many different reasons. Her and Manny together--fan me...please. It is ridick HOT. Their scenes--wow. I just can't. Their chemistry and their dialogue is both tender and oh so sexy. I adore these two and their story ranks somewhere in the high middle in the hierarcy of the Brothers and their shellans.

This story does not only involve our lovers, however. We get another huge look at V and his Jane. This part of the story was okay to me. I liked V's book but I didn't really need to delve back into all the emotional and agony he went through. Once was enough and I would have liked to see more of Manny and Payne. We ALSO meet Xcor and his band of hooligans. Not sure how I feel yet about him and Throe. They did do some good at one point but there is another aspect of their storyline I am so not feeling. These males are definitely gonna cause problems for our Brothers...I hope not too much...

Again, I've said it a million times but I cannot explain enough how struck I am by the love between Brothers and their loyalty...and my love for them. A major event occurs at one point that injures a lot of them and my heart was just racing. I was SO nervous for them and it just made me realize how much I just adore these characters. I love them all so much it almost hurts. OH OH OH, we also had a very short glance into a 'normal' night at the mansion. All Brothers and their shellans were mentioned and it was just lovely to see all of them interacting and being themselves. I wish we could get small scenes of each of the Brothers and their shellans in every book...maybe a quickie or something just to reconnect. Even though Rehv's book was just 2 before this, the small look of him and Ehlena made me more! Same with John and Xhex...oh and Phury and Cormia!! I just want a little more of each couple. *sigh* Maybe in the next book...

Should You Read This? Of course...why are you still asking?