Thursday, January 1, 2015

Review of Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2) by J.R. Ward

 
Synopsis: In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...


4.5 Stars!

Review: This story continues the work of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, and you learn more about Rhage's story. Rhage, not unlike some of the other Brothers, has a curse - he has a dark monster inside of him that comes out when he is in serious danger, usually from the lesser. He and Mary cross paths when she is brought to the Brotherhood's compound by Bella, along with John Matthew. Confused yet? That's what makes these stories so amazing to me - they are consistently introducing new characters or making sure to mention little tidbits of the old stories, as well.

Basically, John is a pretransition Vampire, and he has been checking in on Mary, who volunteers at a suicide hotline, and once he meets her, he also meets Bella, Mary's neighbor, who is a vampire, herself. She has suspicions that he might be connected to the Brotherhood, or at the very least, without a family, so she contacts them and takes Mary with them. Mary is John's translator, due to his being unable to speak.

Rhage is still healing from his most recent bout with his monster when he first meets Mary, but her voice resonates within him and eases him in ways that he has not experienced in a long time, so he finds her and begins to spend time with her, even though she is a human - and a frail one, at that. Mary's days are numbered, so Rhage decides to fight to bring her into their world. Meanwhile, the battle with the lesser continues to heat up, putting all of them in danger at various times. Mary's frailty finally catches up to her, too, and Rhage has to decide if he is able and willing to fight for her with the Scribe Virgin, their version of a creator.

I liked this story because Rhage has been fighting his two different parts for so long that he does not realize how much he has come to count on both - until he meets Mary, and she is able to tame both parts. Rhage, who is also known as Hollywood, for being so sexy and attractive, is willing to take anything and everything that he can get from Mary, who is not at her peak and most healthy when the two meet. She still comes across as having strength, however, and is willing to fight for herself and anyone else, including the monster within Rhage. They had a sweet story of redemption and sacrifice that I really enjoyed. There are still things about this author that kind of annoy me - mainly some of the slang words that she has the guys saying - like "hang a louie" and "what's the sitch". I just can't imagine these guys really saying those things, for some reason. It will probably drive me crazy with each of these books.

Jessica

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