Here you have it: A complete play-by-play of all of the events in J.R. Ward's Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood #11), out today. This review is made up ENTIRELY of SPOILERS and is intended only as a place for fans to gather and discuss the book AFTER reading it, so if you have yet to finish, steer clear of anything after the jump. Go finish the book, then come back. (There's a non-spoiler-y First Look of Lover at Last here to whet your appetite, plus a Qhuay timeline!)

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW THE JUMP.

SPOILERS SO MAJOR THEY WILL RUIN THE BOOK FOR YOU IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

[Ready to discuss allllll the Lover at Last things?!...]

EDITOR'S NOTE: This here is a NON-SPOILERY post! To talk spoilers (as in, any major events or developments in Lover at Last), visit our Lover at Last SPOILERS POST!

J.R. Ward
Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood #11)
Penguin / March 26, 2013 / $27.95 print, $14.99 digital 

Qhuinn, son of no one, is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, shunned by the aristocracy, he has finally found an identity as one of the most brutal fighters in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. Even as the prospect of having a family of his own seems to be within reach, he is empty on the inside, his heart given to another....

Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it’s about time: it seems Qhuinn has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young. It’s hard for Blay to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. And Qhuinn needs to come to terms with some dark things before he can move forward…

Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions... but as the battle over the race’s throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn finally learns the true definition of courage, and two hearts who are meant to be together... finally become one.

It wouldn’t be a J.R. Ward Black Dagger Brotherhood novel without name brands and pop culture, and Lover at Last doesn't disappoint. From John Matthew and Qhuinn discussing how the Antichrist is surely coming due to the fact that Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber are on the radio to Mr. C talking about Channing Tatum looking “hot as fuck,” through these references we get glimpses into what makes the BDB books so enjoyable.

[Channing Tatum's hotness IS oft discussed these days...]

Many, many readers have been waiting for today—the day when J.R. Ward's Lover at Last is released, revealing Qhuinn and Blaylock's story.

We've asked before how you sneak in reading in What Would You Do? like taking the long way to work or taken a sick day, but what if those strategies are not possible—but you're still desperate to dive into your book?

How do you read when on the job, or taking care of your kids, or doing errands? How do you read when you can't just sneak away from life for awhile?

P.S. Watch this space—we've got a lot of BDB coverage coming your way! Already up are a Lover at Last sweepstakes and a Qhuay timeline. Today we'll have a non-spoilery Lover at Last First Look AND a discussion post/spoilers thread for those who have finished the book!

Tomorrow – oh, frabjous day! – sees the release of the long-awaited, hotly-anticipated, still (and sadly) somewhat controversial Lover at Last, the eleventh novel in J. R. Ward’s wildly successful vampire-laden Black Dagger Brotherhood series. It is controversial, in case you’re somehow unaware, because this latest tome is Ward’s first major foray into the M/M (Male/Male) genre, the titular lovers at, indeed, last being Qhuinn and Blaylock, both worthy males and aspirants to the Brotherhood who have been dancing around each other in that wayfor a good long while now.

But how exactly did we get here?

We first met Blaylock (Blay to his friends) in Lover Awakened the third novel in the series, and one which deals mostly with the love of Zsadist and Bella. He was aboard a bus with other young Brotherhood candidates, all of them small and weak, having not yet gained the impressive height and musculature their transition to adulthood would later accord them. Blay’s introduction coincided with one of Ward’s more enjoyable plot developments, a new class of pre-trans trainees arriving to take lessons from Tohrment and Rhage and Phury and the rest, giving the series a kind of Ender’s Game-esquq edge that took it away even further from straight up PNR, broadening its scope and presenting us with BDB: The New Class. Still, Blay had only a couple of lines, was merely a device to establish the outsider status of John Matthew (the youngster with whom we were then best acquainted), and he could easily have fallen by the wayside, never to be dwelt upon again. But then…

[There wouldn't be a place for Qhuinn, right?]

In a 2-part discussion (Part 1 is here), Kate Nagy and Rachel Hyland talk their differing levels of interest in J.R. Ward's forthcoming Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, Lover at Last, which will focus on the relationship between Qhuinn and Blaylock (Qhuay).

Look, I get it. I get why my esteemed colleague Kate Nagy has some reservations–to put it mildly–about the imminent J. R. Ward manlove-fest that will be Lover at Last. Every time (and, oh, there have been times, trust me) that she refers to the couple as “Blah” and “Qwhine,” or calls Blaylock an “emo ghey nightwalker,” I can’t help but chuckle, because that’s really very clever and she’s not entirely wrong.

Unlike Kate, however, I like that about them. Where Kate sees annoyingly asinine reasons having kept the youngsters apart lo, these many books so far, I see a deeper truth, extending far beyond Qhuinn and Blay and the BDB, and even beyond the romance genre as a whole: the difficulty of accepting who you are, of being someone you never thought you’d be, because all you want is to be “normal.”

Take this passage, from 2010’s Lover Mine:

Just as Blay was who he was, Qhuinn was the same: Even though he wished he could be out and with the... male...he loved, he couldn’t make himself go there.

But by God, he was going to stop running from his cowardice. He had to own his shit—even if it made him hate himself to the core. Because maybe if he did, he’d stop trying to distract himself with sex and drinking, and figure out what he did want.

Apart from Blay, that was.

[Time to figure it out, Qhuinn...]

In a 2-part discussion (part 2 will be up tomorrow), Kate Nagy and Rachel Hyland talk their differing levels of interest in J.R. Ward's forthcoming Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, Lover at Last, which will focus on the relationship between Qhuinn and Blaylock (Qhuay).

Let me begin by saying that I really like the idea of J.R. Ward’s lovestruck vampires Qhuinn and Blaylock finally, finally getting their joint act together in the forthcoming Lover At Last. I don’t have the least problem with the idea of two hot male vampires getting it on, and I don’t actively dislike either character. (Although Qhuinn was walking a mighty fine line there at one point.) And, as I’ve noted before in Mainstreaming M/Male Romance in the Black Dagger Brotherhood, the prominent depiction of what promises to be a committed gay relationship in a popular mainstream romance series is, culturally, huge. Good on J.R. Ward and good on her publisher for agreeing to it.

And yet…and yet. I am not excited about Qhuay. I can wait quite easily for Lover at Last to drop. In fact, I may have been known to refer to the two, upon occasion, as “Blah” and “Qwhine.”

OUCH! I can feel all those shoes you’re flinging in my direction, and I can hear your outraged voices: What in the world is my problem?

[The thought may have crossed our minds...]

J.R. Ward offers another teaser from Lover At Last, and comments, “I think this is my fav quote from the book, and I have to share”:

Straightening up so the full force of that cold blast hit him square in the face, Qhuinn glared into the rush, picturing those pines ahead that he couldn’t see because his eyes were watering from the wind. Opening his mouth, he screamed bloody murder, adding his voice to the maelstrom.

You can read the rest at Ward's Facebook page.

J.R. Ward is teasing us with a peek at the forthcoming Lover At Last:

Blay leaned in, his upper lip peeling back from his fangs. “Just so we’re clear, your cousin is giving me what I need. All day long. Every day. You and me?” He motioned back and forth between them with the cigarette.

The rest of the snippet is at Ward's Facebook page.

Lover at Last will be released March 27, 2013.

Late last night, J.R. Ward released a snippet from Lover at Last, which is Qhuinn and Blaylock's (Qhuay!) story:

Qhuinn followed, bringing up the rear in case anyone decided to pull a hi-how’re-ya-

From out of thin air, Blay appeared, the male suited up in leather, and as heavily armed as the rest of them. Qhuinn’s feet slowed, then stopped in the snow, mostly because he didn’t want to trip and fall like an a**hole.

God, that was one grim motherf**ker, he thought as Blay started walking forward. Was there some trouble in paradise?

And today, she's got the back cover copy!

Qhuinn, son of no one is used to being on his own. Disavowed from his bloodline, shunned by the aristocracy, he has finally found an identity as one of the most brutal fighters in the war against the Lessening Society. But his life is not complete. Even as the prospect of having a family of his own seems to be within reach, he is empty on the inside, his heart given to another....

Blay, after years of unrequited love, has moved on from his feelings for Qhuinn. And it’s about time: The male has found his perfect match in a Chosen female, and they are going to have a young- just as Qhuinn has always wanted for himself. It’s hard to see the new couple together, but building your life around a pipe dream is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. As he’s learned firsthand.

Fate seems to have taken these vampire soldiers in different directions... but as the battle over the race’s throne intensifies, and new players on the scene in Caldwell create mortal danger for the Brotherhood, Qhuinn finally learns the true definition of courage, and two hearts who are meant to be together... finally become one.

Read it all at J.R. Ward's Facebook page. Lover at Last will be released March 27, 2013.

On her Facebook page, J.R. Ward teases us with a bit from the forthcoming Lover at Last, which gives us Qhuinn and Blaylock’s story:

Qhuinn was vaguely aware that his chest was pumping up and down and that his hands had become fists-“Pull the f*ck over!” he screamed as he slammed the dashboard hard enough to send one of the air vents flying.

The flatbed was wrenched over and the brakes squealed as their velocity slowed. But Qhuinn was out of there. Dematerializing, he escaped through the crack in the window... along with Blay’s exhale.

—Lover at Last, pg. 51 of the manuscript

(EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!)

ETA 9/4/12: For more Qhuay discussion, check out Kate Nagy's post “Qhuay: M/Mainstreaming M/Man-Love in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood”

Moments ago, J.R. Ward revealed both the cover AND the title for the next book in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series: Lover At Last.

And “at last” is right—for books now, Ward fans have been clamoring for the story of Qhuinn and Blaylock—aka Qhuay—and in late March, Ward announced the next book would, indeed, be that of Qhuinn and Blaylock.

Qhuinn has been the dominant voice in the couple (not that way—we’re talking story-wise!), so one can only presume that is Qhuinn’s image on the cover.

Lover At Last, if it follows other Black Dagger Brotherhood books, should be released in March 2013 in hardcover.

Do you like the cover? Are you one of the ardent Qhuay fans? Or are you more interested in Layla, Saxton, Lassiter, et al.?

ETA 9/4/12: For more Qhuay, check out Kate Nagy's post “Qhuay: M/Mainstreaming M/Man-Love in J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood”