LOVER ETERNAL
by J.R. Ward
Published by Signet Eclipse
ISBN# 0451218043
Publication Date: March, 2006
Book Two: Rhage's Story

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood...

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. 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.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships, is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage’s protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. Her faith in miracles was lost years ago. But when Rhage’s intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves…

http://www.jrward.com

Here I go...
Rhage (rage) : aggressive behavior or violent anger, a vehement desire or passion.
Rhage is both passionate and aggressive.
He has a monster dragon inside of him and Beth has a monster cancer inside of her.
He helps to tame her beast and she helps to tame his.

Interesting parallel between Rhage's beast and Mary's cancer JM. Out of all the brothers Rhage is my favorite, sadly one of the least understood and most underestimated of the Brothers. At first glance he does not have the obvious pathos and tragedy accompanying Z. But looking under the surface there is so much to Rhage.

Beautiful, shallow and immature, after a completely thoughtless act he is condemned to carry his alter ego inside for at least 100 years. Up to the moment when Rhage hears Mary's voice, he has managed to hide his pain, anguish, fear and unbearable loneliness, behind a facade of carelessness and frivolity.

As you say Mary changes everything. Rhage becomes smitten with the soul and the heart of the woman, not the looks. From then on, Rhage's journey to love and protect Mary above all other beings on earth is something beautiful to read. The ultimate test of love and sacrifice that is exacted by the Scribe Virgin to save Mary is a testament to the spiritual growth achieved by one considered so fickle. I have always wondered if the SV's demands on Rhage were harsher than on the other Brothers simply because she disliked him so intensely. In my opinion Rhage more than redeems himself by accepting willingly all that was required from him.

For a fully bonded male/warrior/vampire to accept a permanent separation from his love is the ultimate act of love and sacrifice. If we add to that Rhage's unquestioning acceptance of the beast, for the rest of his existence for the sake of Mary, he is now placed above and beyond the expression of unconditional love. Yes Rhage is my Brother.

Anam- Rhage is extremely self-sacrificing. He gave of himself totally for Mary. I think his good looks play into the reason people dismiss him. Once again that's us judging a book by it's cover. Thank Goodness Rhage didn't judge Mary that way.

Well put Anam-Charaid; in fact it's along these lines that I came to understand and appreciate Rhage's story. @ first I was ugh, he has had thousand of women, he has an intricate tatoo on his back, where is the Brother's tragedy?? How heavy is his burden to carry?

When in fact the underlying male beneath all the swagger and window dressing is tender and a true love story; the ultimate sacrifice he makes for Mary, (I mean to agree to not saying good-bye, and to agree to be forgotten by your love ~ HUGE, bigger than his Beast HUGE!), his almost century of searching for a companion is truly a story worthy of a BDB.

I fell for Rhage when he was telling.. Wrath maybe.. that he wanted what Wrath had. That he didn't want his thousands of women.. that he wanted only one very special woman in his life.. but he had to be with the others because of the beast. He wanted to have that look from one woman and know she was all he would ever need. And told him to quit all the jokes and sleeping around comments.

ahh Rhage.. if only real men switched their tunes so quickly from sleeping around to only sleeping with the one

Rhage's story is wonderful, as are all the brothers really. I love his willingness to bear anything to keep Mary safe. He is a male of worth.

True, that. But I was still really, really upset with him when he did have sex with another even though he was already intimate with Mary. I know he was upset with himself, and thought he needed to do so to tame the beast, but it still didn't sit well with me.

Perhaps he felt it was best to find release w/someone anomynous other than hurting Mary.

I think he realized that something was up with Dragon wanting Mary and Rhage was afraid, unsure of what would happen, maybe he would satisfy the monster without hurting Mary by being with an anonymous.

But the dragon didn't want an anonymous ~ he wanted only Mary. That's why it only took a few moments for Rhage to feel the humming, needing a release.

....yeah... yeah...yeah.... I know it was supposed to be painful and all for him, but really ... um... if Rhage wasn't feelin' it why continue? It just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe JR didn't spend enough time on Rhage's reasoning or his remorse? I know it's there, it just wasn't powerful enough in the writing for me. It was written more like begrudging walking into WalMart when you prefer Target, than a betrayal of all Rhage holds holy.

Major kudos to Mary, though, for being so incredibly forgiving.

, Mary is a good woman. Forgiving is tough!!!

Yes, Mary is generously forgiving. I don't know if I could do the same ~ 'Hollywood' or not!

IMO, I did feel there was remorse on Rhage's part. When he walked into his bedroom after the last time he was w/a female, when they engaged in 'rough' bed aerobics, I felt in Rhage an emptiness, a sadness. I believe that Rhage wanted to be only w/Mary, and using a female for him wasn't a thrill, but what he felt was necessary to keep her safe.

If you recall when Mary & Rhage went to feed the first time w/Layla, what she said to Mary & Rhage about his situation. For me, her words really gave me an understanding of his position. Early on in their relationship it was Rhage that said 'I love you.' He had so many years of empty, anonymous encounters that when he realized what he found w/Mary, he w/out hesitation spoke his heart. Most males hesitate. They don't want to put themselves out there, leave their emotions open. Yet Rhage readily and often let her know that he was hers.

I did appreciate JRW's story in how she wrote the story about how they were able to quell the dragon and share their love w/out finding outside relief. I think it I couldn't take more than one escapade!

Rhage was definitely remorseful. He only did because he thought it would protect Mary.