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Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #2)

J.R. Ward

Start date: March 1, 2011

Finish date: March 31, 2011

Discussion: Group Reads

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What Members Thought

Jan 02, 2010 Buggy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: shelf-09, re-read, tie-me-up, shelf-10, shelf-08, top-shelf, paranormal-rom, tortured-hero, vampalicious, yummy

Opening Line: "Ah, hell, V, you're killing me."

LOVER ETERNAL is Rhage's story and oh man are we in for a treat. Such a perfect, heartbreaking romance. Continuing directly after Dark Lover, we find The Black Dagger Brotherhood now living together in Darius's mansion. Wrath has stepped up to the throne with his Queen Beth by his side, as the battle with the Lessers continues.

One of the things I loved about the book is that we get to know all the brother's a whole lot better here, their unique pers Opening Line: "Ah, hell, V, you're killing me."

LOVER ETERNAL is Rhage's story and oh man are we in for a treat. Such a perfect, heartbreaking romance. Continuing directly after Dark Lover, we find The Black Dagger Brotherhood now living together in Darius's mansion. Wrath has stepped up to the throne with his Queen Beth by his side, as the battle with the Lessers continues.

One of the things I loved about the book is that we get to know all the brother's a whole lot better here, their unique personalities along with all their quirks, fears and flaws. The constant teasing and smart ass comments are hilarious and the bond between the men instills in us a true sense of family.

Rhage, as this books hero is a great character. With a boyish style of charm he's funny, sexy and fiercely loyal. Throw in the playboy model good looks and yes he's every woman's fantasy except for one small thing. Rhage has been cursed by the Scribe Virgin and now bears the mark of a dragon inside and out. The only way for him to keep the beast quiet is with violence or sex, and Rhage hates himself for it. Struggling each day to keep from harming those closest to him because once the beast gets out its so violent and unpredictable that even the Brothers fear for their lives.

Mary has been fighting a curse of her own and fears that the cancer which robbed her of her looks and youth may have returned. She is, in her own words nothing special, plain and past her prime with a body battered by chemotherapy. When she befriends a young mute boy named John Mathew her life changes forever. Bella, Mary's friend and neighbour recognizes the boy as one of her own, a pre-transitioned vampire and strangely baring the mark of a warrior. Acting as John Mathew's translator, Mary finds herself at the Brotherhood mansion where she meets Rhage. He is instantly attracted to her, coming on strong although she can't understand what he sees in her. On their first date Mary assumes he's being polite and just wants to be friends but as Rhage continues to pursue her she is thrown into the world of the paranormal.

For Rhage Mary is IT. Her voice soothes him and he finds her to be the most beautiful, interesting woman he's ever met, wanting her like no other before, but unfortunately his beast wants her too. After being told repeatedly to `scrub' Mary's memories and defying direct orders Rhage ultimately must pay the price for his insubordination and this is quite the scene as the Brother's are forced to perform a `rythe' (a ritual where the recipient is struck by a weapon without defending himself) However this turns out to be only the first of his many sacrifices for Mary.

Rhage and Mary's love story is well done, heartbreakingly sweet but also erotic as hell. As Mary attempts to `tame' the chained beast while Butch and V stand guard. I honestly didn't know if they were going to get there HEA until the last few pages and Rhage's final meeting with the Scribe Virgin contains an absolutely heart wrenching scene that kept me gasping as I know her enjoyment of sacrifice.

Throughout this story we have of course go back and forth to the Lessers who have set up a torture facility and a side plot develops which finds Bella irresistibly drawn to Zsadist. He of course pushes her away but not before allowing us a glimpse of softness within 'the cold one.' Phury warns her to leave him alone, explaining that his twin is "ruined not broken" but when the Lessers kidnap Bella's it's Zsadist who makes it his personal mission to find her. Setting up the premise for the next book in this fantastic series, Lover Awakened and this story is not to be missed.

This series just gets better and better and if you like your paranormal romance than I can't recommend LOVER ETERNAL enough. ...more

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Feb 23, 2010 Shera (Book Whispers) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal-romance, ebook, ebook-m, vampire, ebook-second, 2006

Lover Eternal took me by surprise when I first read it. Rhage was the brother that I was least interested in and I was actually disappointed at the time that his book was next! So imagine my surprise when Mary and Rhage blew my mind socks. Not to mention that even after continuing with the series Mary and Rhage have remained one of my favorite couples. Any time they showed up in other books I'd become excited and fangirl squeal! As the years went on I wondered why they were my fave couple and if Lover Eternal took me by surprise when I first read it. Rhage was the brother that I was least interested in and I was actually disappointed at the time that his book was next! So imagine my surprise when Mary and Rhage blew my mind socks. Not to mention that even after continuing with the series Mary and Rhage have remained one of my favorite couples. Any time they showed up in other books I'd become excited and fangirl squeal! As the years went on I wondered why they were my fave couple and if I had just become entranced by them because I had expected nothing from Rhage's story. Well after my reread it only solidified how much I adore Mary and Rhage. Why I love Rage!!!

Mary and Rhage have an epic love story. It's moving. Despite the fact that Rhage gets around. He sleeps with countless women to help take the edge off The Beast that lives within him. Afraid that it will hurt the ones he loves when it emerges. Rhage is complex, thoughtful, and totally in touch with his emotions. I love that he's willing to fight and go through so much with Mary. Not to mention he knows when to back off.

Mary is a warrior. The way Ward handles Mary's illness and the reality of the toll it takes is amazing. The feeding tube punctures and scares. Picc line scars and so on. As someone who has helped take care of those things I was moved. They're not mentioned again after Rhage initially sees them, but I enjoyed that Ward did not skip out on the reality of it. Not to mention the mindset and loss. The struggle and hopelessness of the situation. The fact that it takes a fighter to keep pushing and holding on to the hope of a someday. Mary is an amazing person and I love her dearly.

When Rhage and Mary are together my heart sings. Sure there where a few aspects that at first annoyed me. Like Mary getting her mind wiped, but Rhage immediately does something about it and doesn't waste time. As the two learn to trust in each other and to finely give in it's beautiful.

Not to mention that Lover Eternal has amazing side stories. Mr. O is one heck of a creepy villain. It was disturbing feeling pity for him. As he gave up his less then good human life to become a lesser. Mr. O makes one hell of complex villain. Not to mention that Zsadist's story is starting to fire up. John Mathew, one of my all time fave characters, is introduced and we get to follow him. That's what I've always loved about the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Not only do we get the couple's story, but other characters' stories. It adds so many layers to not only the complex world, but to the events happening. It's what makes BDB one of my all time fave PNR series. Oh, and Butch. I love that human.

In the end I'm pretty sure this will always be one of my favorite books in the series. Mary and Rhage will always be not only my favorite couple, but characters. They both stand on their own separately and then send my heart on a wild ride when they're together. Despite all the stereotypes out their Mary is unique. Few try to handle a character doomed by a horrible disease, or created someone quite like her. (Especially for the PNR genre.) Rhage has been mimicked many times. You know the playboy who can't be tamed. But Rhage is one of the originals and he isn't just a hot body. He has depth, a personality and sense of humor that I still adore to this day. The side stories are fabulous I love that it kicks off Zsadist and Bella's story, Butch as he finds his place among the Brotherhood, the journey of John, and keeps the world going outside of the bedroom scenes. This series handles dark themes and gore with the perfect balance of happiness and hope. It's one of the reasons I love it so much.

Sexual Content: Sex scenes, sexual humor, dark themes and memories of past events to characters.

5/5- Fabulous, a beautiful obsession!

Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.

First read 2009. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Feb 21, 2010 Francesca the Fierce (Under the Covers Book Blog) rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-read-2011, read-audio-books, vampires, books-read-2010, genre-paranormal-romance, i-had-to-read-again

2011 Re-read

I loved this book. Hollywood is such a tough guy, has been dealing with "The Beast" for almost a century, he can tear lessers apart without hardly any effort, he is... well, Hollywood gorgeous. But what he's always wanted is a true mate, someone he can share his life with. And then he meets Mary.

Mary is kind-hearted, with a bit low self esteem, and a human who has been through so much during her short life. Not just with her illness, but her mom's as well. Her life has not been easy. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 14, 2010 Mahyar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: made-me-cry

I've never ever cried like this during a book before, tears of sadness and then joy. I would have died if it ended differently.

I really really loved this one, Rhage and Mary's parts were perfect and well, erotic and extremely hot LOL. John's parts were so mysterious and thrilling. Bella's were short but really entertaining. I loved pretty much everything except the Lessers' parts, I know they were necessary but they were kinda like commercial breaks; I just wanted them to be over so I could rea ...more

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Jan 07, 2010 Mollie *scoutrmom* rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, romance, read-in-2010, read-in-2011

Rhage is one serious hunk! I liked the plot, but in execution I think Ward used a little too much tugging on the emotional heartstrings, especially at the end. I don't find tearjerkers to be good escapist fiction, in spite of the happily ever after ending. I also did not find the ending believable. I loved the characters, Mary has a fearlessness that I envy. The fact that she can see something worthwhile in Zsadist makes me look forward to his story. ...more

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