Lover Eternal-or-The Beast of the Brotherhood…
The Black Dagger Brotherhood saga continues with Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward (BDB Book 2). We were given a glimpse of the beast in the first book, Dark Lover. Again, reason enough not to skip any in the series is that they build on each other. No synopsis or prologue can truly substitute for over 300 pages of missed backstory.
We find out the origin of the beast that curses Rhage’s existence. Why sex and violence keep it at bay, and why he is unable to find peace, always on the edge of being a complete danger to his brethren warriors. He encounters Mary one evening after a bout with his inner demon. Her voice soothes his savage beast, and he is drawn to her like a drug. Addicted and unwilling to let go of the one link to normalcy he has found, keeping her comes with a high price. Drawing Mary into his world puts her in danger, and the stakes for Rhage have now risen as he is challenged to maintain his loyalty to the Brotherhood and his desire for the one woman he would choose for life.
Mary is human and ignorant that her next-door neighbor is a vampire named Bella. Bella invites Mary to help her bring a boy named John Matthew to a “training facility”. Bella knows she has found an orphaned pre-transition vampire. To Mary, he is just a lonely mute boy who has found a connection in her as a friend.
Mary’s world is completely altered when she is pursued by Rhage. He is almost indecently good-looking, and she feels unworthy of his attention. His attempt at courting Mary leaves her perplexed and angry, mostly because she assumes he is either pitying her or making fun of her.
Frankly, there were times when I wanted to reach into the book and slap the crap out of her. She suffers from an unfortunate relapse with cancer. By now, he is fully bonded with her, and Rhage wants to care for her, knowing that his time with her is limited, and she actually refuses his attention because she thinks he can’t handle it and will bail on her. Really?!
Man, I wanted to kick her butt. I have never been so angry at a character before, but she was being hella-stupid. If some hot man that loved me wanted to care for me through my last days as I battled a horrific and debilitating illness, I would totally let him-bring it on, buddy!
Eventually, she came to her senses, but not before torturing Rhage and his emotions. At least in that respect, these vampires of the brotherhood indicate that they have a sensitive side and aren’t afraid to show it, even in their overly macho world. That’s encouraging.
Bella, because of her new association with the Brotherhood, is now in danger. She will figure prominently in the next book (Lover Awakened) about her and Zsadist.
On to the next…
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