Lover Eternal by J. R. Ward

JRWard-Lover EternalI know Lover Eternal is only the second book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, but I think it’s safe to say Rhage is my favorite brother. (Though I have a feeling I’m going to say that about each brother after I read his story.)

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…

Picking up weeks after Dark Lover, Lover Eternal was a story about love, fear, courage and creating one’s own destiny. Of course, it also had the very yummy brothers of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, epic fight scenes with the evil lessers and a red hot romance between Rhage and Mary. With all of that, there was never a dull moment in Lover Eternal.

Even though Rhage was the perceived play-boy/man-whore of the brotherhood, he was actually a very emotional guy and that made me love him all the more. He wanted nothing more than to find a woman he could love and cherish forever. Despite that, he is one of the deadliest warriors, thanks to the beast he is cursed to live with.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about Mary in the beginning. She was a little too self-critical and tried too hard to be emotionally detached from everyone. I completely understood why she acted the way she did, after watching her mother slowly fade away from cancer then going through it herself and barely surviving. Personally, I thought she should have been living life to the fullest, since she of all people knew exactly how short/precious it is. Either way, she grew on me throughout Lover Eternal, from both the way Rhage saw her and the way she slowly changed and grew as a person.

Even though Rhage and Mary went through a lot in Lover Eternal, it also gave us more of a background story for O, one of the lessers, and cleverly set up for Z’s story.

Lover Eternal made me laugh, cry and bemoan the fact that I didn’t read this years ago! Luckily for me, though, I can now jump right into Lover Awakened. Yay!

Black Dagger Brotherhood Read-a-longRead Order:
Dark Lover
Lover Eternal
Lover Awakened
Lover Revealed
Lover Unbound
Lover Enshrined
Lover Avenged
Lover Mine
Lover Unleashed
Lover Reborn (March 2012)

Want to join Dark Faerie Tales and I in our discussions about the Black Dagger Brotherhood? We’re discussing Lover Eternal here on LE and I hope to see everyone stop by. If you haven’t already, we started the discussion with Dark Lover over at Dark Faerie Tales, and you should check it out. With either discussion, please let us know if you think we’ve missed something. I always find it interesting to see what parts of stories that others zero in on that I’ve either glossed over or have missed entirely.

About Casey 203 Articles
Casey is the founder of Heart Full of Ink, Director at Reading Until Dawn Con, and a full time cheese addict. She's been ranting and reviewing for Literary Escapism since 2010, and is part of the trio #3Bloggers1Series podcast. When she's not reading, looking for new books, or stalking authors online (waiting for more books), she can be found binge watching Netflix. But really, her life is all about DEM BOOKS!