Author: J.R. Ward
Series: The Black Dagger Brotherhood #2
Publisher: Signet
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 441 pages
Published Date: March 7th 2006
ISBN #: 0451218043
Genre: Paranormal Adult Fiction
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...
Hot Vampires...Do I really need to say more. Just teasing, but seeing as this is a review I'll talk a bit more about said hot vampires. As you should know, seeing as my review of the first book in this series, sung it's praises, I of course started this book Lover Eternal right away. J.R. Ward has done it again with Lover Eternal, drawing me into the Vampire world all over again and holding me in place till I finish every single last word. Not that I would want to stop reading in the first place. This is the second book in this fantastic series.
Lover Eternal focuses on Rhage, as you can see from the summary above has a curse on him from the Scribe Virgin, who in this book I really hated. I felt sorry for Rhage and wanted nothing but to make it all better for him, but honestly that's what Mary is in the book for. She has battled cancer and is a volunteer and at first she rejects Rhage, which of course makes him wonder why. She is thrown into his world by mistake, but needs his protection more than she even realizes at first. Of course they end up falling for each other, even if they don't want to admit it at first.
The only thing I wanted more of in this book was the hot vampire bedroom scenes. In the first book in this series, there was plenty of hot vampire sex, in this book it's a bit toned down. Honestly though, it doesn't take away from the actual story, so all in all I enjoyed this book.
I love the world that author J.R. Ward has created in this series, it's one that even if I wait a month or two to read the next book, I know for a fact I can jump right back into and know exactly what's going on. It's a world I hope she never stops writing in, but then again I say that about a lot of books. I really loved the character Mary in this one, yep it's not the vampire that's my favorite for once. I love how strong willed she is and how much she ends up loving this cursed vamp. It just shows that love preservers. I enjoy that about The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, there are so many ups and downs in these books, but each "brother" ends up finding that one person that is their perfect mate.
I have heard this book compared to a Vampire version of Beauty and the beast and I have to say I agree with that comparison. I really hope that J.R. Ward comes back to show more of their story though. Also we get to meet John Mathew for the first time in this book and I love this character so much. I can't wait to read more about him in the future books.
Again my favorite line in this book is only two lines...
“You are a manipulator." "I like to think of myself more as an outcome engineer.”
Here at Ali's Bookshelf we accept books in exchange for a honest review. The book above though I bought for myself, but still wanted to review it. We also use Amazon Affiliate links at times
