71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rhage Is A Hero You'll Love!, April 23, 2006
Rhage is a member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. He is a warrior and with the help of his fellow brothers he fights those that kill vampires living a life of violence and loneliness. Not only does he have his vampire life to deal with there is the added matter of the curse put on him by the Scribe Virgin. It forces him to live a life without being allowed to feel and love...that is until Mary comes into his life. Mary is sick. Her leukemia has come back to haunt her and her options are few and than she meets Rhage. This handsome man is more then she has ever allowed herself to imagine. He's handsome, strong, and he wants her? Will she live to see her own happy ending?
First off this is a page turner! Ms. Ward has created a dark but sensual and entertaining series. The romance between Rhage and his Mary is at turns sensual, romantic, and heartbreaking! Make sure you have Kleenex handy. Secondary characters are pivotal to the story and her secondary storyline revolving around the "lessers" continues. This is not your regular vampire read and the groundwork for Zsadist's story has been introduced cleverly. This is a unique and enthralling read!
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56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fresh new aspect on the vampire genre, March 7, 2006
Each author brings their own vision of vampires to their books. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. JR Ward writes books that will suck you in from the first page and make you wish you would never make it to the last page.
The 2nd book in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward brings us Rhage. Rhage was cursed 109 years ago by the Scribe Virgin. He is part vampire, part man, part beast. We saw a bit of the beast in Dark Lover. In Lover Eternal, we learn more about who the beast is and why it's a part of Rhage. There are only two things that keep the beast at bay. Fighting and sex. Rhage needs one or the other when he meets Mary.
Mary knows that the cancer has returned. She knows that she'll fight it. What she doesn't expect is to be thrown into the world of paranormal. A world that she had no idea exsisted. When a young boy follows her home and befriends her, her neighbor recognizes him as different. Together they take the boy to the Brotherhood (though Mary doesn't realize *what* exactly the Brotherhood is). There she meets Rhage. Mary always knew that no man would feel an "animal" attraction toward her. Little did she know!
JR Ward takes us through her paranormal world where vampires are just trying to protect their race from extinction. Trying to avoid detection by humans and slayers alike, they will do anything to preserve their race. Mary and Rhage's story is the second in a series that you will be hooked on. Do not miss out on this series.
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46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll Want Even More, And It STILL Won't Be Enough!, March 14, 2006
The first book, "Dark Lover", in the unique Black Dagger Brotherhood, was no big thrill for me. Sorry to all those instantly loytal fans out there (as I take a formal bow of respect), but I found that the first book fell flat in so many ways: underdeveloped characters, silly comic book style names that were just so at odds with such a strong new concept for a vampire series. There's a thrill that readers experience though, when they've picked up a book they had high expectations for, and you just KNOW after the first few pages that the author has come through for you in a big way. That rush of satisfaction was my intro to J. R. Ward's fabulous second book in the series and I'm still flying high.
Within the Black Dagger Brotherhood resides a set of warrior vampires dedicated to the protection of their endangered race. Rhage is such a warrior - Proud, aloof and fiercely loyal to his kind, he's fighting everyday to keep his inner cursed self from wreaking too much havoc on their lives. Punished for an unforgivable and negligent slight, the Scribe Virgin (The vamps goddess) has cursed him with an alter ego, one that is only to happy to break out when the going gets tough and tough calls for a little more force. With the Lessers becoming an even more frequent problem, Rhage is finding it difficult to keep his beast from taking over. Of course, shy and innocent Mary Luce may have something to do with that too. Mary knows about curses. She's survived a gravely personal one of her own. When that same curse comes back to bite her where it counts, she's not looking for commitments of any kind. She's going to need all her strength to focus on her coming battle. So maybe that's why she didn't see Rhage coming. And man, does he ever come on strong. It's the kind of instant, primal attraction that every vampire knows is his body's way of saying "mine". And Mary is his. He'll have to fight literally tooth and nail for her, but he'll get what he wants, even if it means sacrificing what he wants most.
I was torn whether or not to continue with this series. Wrath's story in "Dark Lover" was an okay debut, but Rhage's story blew me away. With this second installment, readers are blessed with stellar character development and the continuation of a very unique plot that keeps getting better and better. The story has flowed nicely from the first book into this one and I was very pleased to see more details about the world that Ward has created. The subplot involving Zsadist and Bella was excellent and has left me weeping for the next book (releases Sept. '06, entitled "Lover Awakened"). We still get lots of Butch's smart alec comments, though I fear he may continue to be a supporting character only (I want to know more about him and Marissa, not just the snippets we're getting in this book!). Rhage was a much more interesting hero, and I felt I really came to know him and what made him tick. His helplessness about his curse intermingles nicely with his solid determination to have as much a life as possible with Mary. Mary, thank goodness, is just as interesting a heroine. Her own battle with a recurring medical problem draws readers in and her zeal for life invokes honest emotions that many of us have felt. My only wish was for a better insight into the lessers' motives and machinations. But hey, all in good time I suppose. I just love the way this series is going now, and I feel the tide has turned with this installmnet. It can only get better. Ward, we're all eagerly anticipating Zsadist's story!!
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