Black Dagger Brotherhood, #2 and #3

"Lover Eternal" is from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series #2. Summation from the book: Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetite. 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. 
Possessed by this dark side, Rhage fears the times when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him. When Mary Luce is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world, she must rely on Rhage's protection. Knowing that Mary feels the same intense animal attraction, Rhage must make her his alone...


This book sort of reminds me of a vampire variation of beauty and the beast. The variation is that the beauty and the beast are both within Rhage, one of the vampire brothers. Within this paranormal romance Mary appears and Rhage finds himself for the first time feeling calm in centuries. She captivates him and he discovers his own insecurities are just below the surface. Mary, being sick, has a hard time opening up to the possibilities in letting someone close and having to later deal with her illness as it takes it's course. The both slowly learn to trust one another and eventually themselves. This book also leads directly into the next book which is why I decided to review them together.

My criticisms for this book are the cover (I've never been a fan of these covers as I stated in my review of the first book, "Dark Lover"). I also just hated the names of the brotherhood. It didn't bother me so much in the first book, but I think that was because JR Ward really focused on the two main characters and the rest of the brothers weren't really involved in a big way. In this book, however, the brothers come more into focus and when reading their names it sort of drew me out of the story. The slang they used also did that to me. I thought if I was going to hear one more, "you feel me?", I might scream.

I also had to laugh when the beast came out and had more of a role in this book. I think it had more to do with the fact of another blogger's review. I am so sorry that I cannot remember who wrote that review, but I do vividly remember that they likened the beast to Godzilla (it was also mentioned in the book) and had a cartoon of Godzilla saying that he loved Mary. Couldn't get that out of my head and had to laugh when I got to those parts.

I did give this book 4 stars. The story line was good despite the little things that drew me out of the book. The good stuff drew me right back in. The book ends with a cliff hanger and that is where you find yourself in the next book, "Lover Awakened".

From the book: Even within the vampire brotherhood, Zsadist is feared. Still bearing the scars from a tortured past, he is renowned for his unquenchable fury. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion-until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society.

I think I enjoyed this book a bit more. The things that drew me out of the last book didn't seem to have as much power in this one. I did notice that while the slang was still there, it was lessened a bit... or at least enough that it didn't make me want to scream.

Zsadist was always the most interesting character of the brothers. His past was silent in the other books, but in this one we see how tortured he really had been. As he find himself slowly opening up to his future mate, Bella, some of the past starts to finally heal. The question becomes if he can finally think about someone else besides his empty, painful life? Can he really open himself up to love someone at all? Not just Bella but his twin and constant companion, Phury?

So far I think this has been my favorite book in the series. It has drama, action, romance, and a few scary bits as well. This book was well rounded and thankfully did not end in a cliffhanger (mostly because I don't have the next book ready to be read yet). I would really recommend this one, but would suggest at least reading "Lover Eternal" first to get the beginnings of this story. I gave this book 4 stars.