Reviewer: Casee The Beast by J.R. Ward
Series: Black Dagger Brotherhood #14
Also in this series: Lover Unbound, Lover Avenged, Lover at Last, Lover at Last, The King, The Shadows, Lover Enshrined, The Chosen, Lover Mine, The Thief, The Savior, Where Winter Finds You, The Sinner, Lover Unleashed, Lassiter
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: April 5th 2016
Point-of-View: Third Person
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 592
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Series Rating:
Rhage and Mary return in a new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a series “so popular, I don’t think there’s a reader today who hasn’t at least heard of [it]” (USA Today). Nothing is as it used to be for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. After avoiding war with the Shadows, alliances have shifted and lines have been drawn. The slayers of the Lessening Society are stronger than ever, preying on human weakness to acquire more money, more weapons, more power. But as the Brotherhood readies for an all-out attack on them, one of their own fights a battle within himself… For Rhage, the Brother with the biggest appetites, but also the biggest heart, life was supposed to be perfect—or at the very least, perfectly enjoyable. Mary, his beloved shellan, is by his side and his King and his brothers are thriving. But Rhage can’t understand—or control—the panic and insecurity that plague him… And that terrifies him—as well as distances him from his mate. After suffering mortal injury in battle, Rhage must reassess his priorities—and the answer, when it comes to him, rocks his world...and Mary’s. But Mary is on a journey of her own, one that will either bring them closer together or cause a split that neither will recover from...
From the Hardcover edition.
I stand by my feelings about J.R. Ward. Always. I still don’t have an inkling of an idea why I read her books when they keep getting worse. One of the reasons I read this book was because it was about Rhage and Mary. I loved their book. Lover Eternal was one of the best books in the series.
Rhage is just special. He always has been. He had my heart since he placed his order at TGI Friday’s. He ignored every female that looked his way and kept all his attention on Mary. He saw the special in Mary and he never let her go.
Fast forward to The Beast. I liked it because it shows that characters don’t always have HEA’s. They have problems just like normal couples do. Rhage has been having panic attacks for some reason that he doesn’t know about. Mary on the other hand, is deep involved in Safe Place. Safe Place is the safe house that Marissa created for women and children to come to that have been abused by their hellren’s. Mary is deeply involved with one of the children whose mother died.
They are together, but separate, something that is affecting both of them. While Mary is helping the young girl at Safe Place, it reminds her that she can never have children, something that she thought she had come to terms with it. She realizes she hasn’t. Soon she realizes that Rhage hasn’t come to terms with it either. But they have each other and that gives them both hope.
Then something extraordinary happens. They start spending time with the orphan and it brings them even closer together. Rhage instantly feels a parental instinct toward Bitty. The one thing that Rhage is terrified of is that Bitty will not want to be adopted by them if she ever sees his beast. Which she inadvertently does when Mary gets in trouble. Of course he has nothing to worry about because Bitty treats him like he’s a bit pet dragon.
Although they were always bonded, Bitty brings Mary and Rhage even closer. It was a beautiful thing to read. Seeing the growth of Rhage and Mary, Bitty or not, was beautiful. I have not given J.R. Ward such a high rating since the first 3-4 books. That’s how much I enjoyed this book. They’ve always been one of my favorite couples. This book just brings it back home. Rhage and Mary can conquer anything.
Rating 4.25 out of 5.
Black Dagger Brotherhood
I’m so glad to read your review of this book. I quit reading her books after 4 or 5 and swore I was finished with the series, but now I’m reconsidering. Thanks for a great review!
If you liked Rhage, you’ll love this book. I can’t recommend that you take up the entire series again, especially since you quit reading it after 4 or 5 books.