This is Book #2 in a wonderful paranormal-romance-fairy-tale series called Royal House of Shadows. (To read my review of Lord of the Vampires, click here: http://sarahsbookshelves.blogspot.com...) .
Each book is the story of one of the four royal heirs of the Kingdom of Elden. Lord of Rage is Breena's story, the only princess of the four. Breena has been raised to be a gentle, innocent, ladylike princess. Although she adores her parents and brothers, she feels powerless. Her magic is weak compared to her mother's, and while her brothers are being trained to be powerful warriors and statesmen, she is being trained on the royal domestic life of a future queen. She has led a sheltered, cossetted life, and her only escape has been in her sleep, when she travels to the dreams of her warrior lover. One day her castle is attacked by the evil Blood Sorceror, and before her parents are murdered, she and her brothers are magically flung far away.

Breena finds herself in a strange land, with no magic and very little memory of how she has come to be wandering in this wilderness. After days of wandering through the woods, she is exhausted, hungry, and bloody from her trek. She sees a cottage and wanders in, and here we have a fun nod to the classic fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The cottage is the home of Osborne, her dream warrior, and his two younger brothers. Osborne is the last of a great line of warriors known as Berserkers (love the Norse legend nod as well!), and he has sworn revenge on the killers that slaughtered his people. Breena and Osborne soon realize that they have been dream lovers, and while Breena is delighted to find the reality even fiercer and sexier than the dream, Osborne feels used, believing she wants him for his mercenary skills to avenge her family. Most of the story is the slow building of trust and sexual tension between them. The author is a master at creating sexual tension, as she brings them together and then, just as things are about to get even hotter, Osborne will get an attack of conscience (Breena is a virgin princess, after all), or anger (does she love him or want to use his him?) and back off.

But love, lust and good solid warrior training conquer all. Breena's magic grows as she recovers her memories, and her loving presence helps Osborne begin to heal from the wounds of his horrific past, as he concentrates on Breena and training his two brothers, keeping his people's traditions alive. Initially they are united in their twin desires for vengeance and mutual lust, but this grows into love and respect as they spend more time together.

If you like romances with solid relationship development, awkwardly tender romantic gestures, steamy almost-sex and sex scenes, magic, adventure and legend, then this is the book for you. Breena is a heroine a reader cheers for, because she's brave and stubborn and works very hard for her skills. Osborne is a great hero - brave, wild, sexy, flawed, and scarred inside and out. Add in the whole animalistic thing and you've got one combustible hero. Fast-paced and completely enjoyable to read, this is truly a magical little bonbon - enjoy!

P.S. And may I just say, "Holy crap!" - because whoever did the cover art actually read the story. There is nothing more annoying than book covers that don't match the actual characters or story. Breena's armband, gown and cloak are accurate! Woo Hoo - go Harlequin Art Department!!