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Review
Aaaahhhh, Rhage! One of my favourite brothers! The fastest, the best fighter, the most gorgeous, and the biggest man-whore, he also carries a horrific burden – he is cursed with a beast that is a danger to anybody near him.
His love interest is Mary – a human female that soothes him like nothing else can. Instantly captivated by Mary, Rhage is determined to have her, and starts to date her, pretending to be a human. He takes the gentle approach and his slow pursuit of her is gorgeous.
I really like Mary. She sees herself as ‘average’, and doesn’t understand why such a gorgeous man would be interested in her. She has had a difficult life, and is facing the return of a serious illness, and so despite her strong attraction to Rhage, she doesn’t see a future for them. When she discovers what he is, although shocked (as you would be), she is accepting and caring and isn’t frightened away. And Rhage falls, and falls hard, and holy freaking hotness!!!
“What you just had is nothing compared to what I want to do to you. I want my head between your legs so I can lick you until you scream my name. Then I want to mount you like an animal and look into your eyes as I come inside you. And after that? I want to take you every way there is. I want to do you from behind. I want to screw you standing up, against the wall. I want you to sit on my hips and ride me until I can’t breathe.”
And then along he comes with the sensationally swoony romance…
“I will not fall in love with you,” she said. “I can’t let myself. I won’t.”
“That’s all right. I’ll love you enough for the both of us.”
SWOOOOOOOOOON!
Mary fights him, not wanting to drag him into her uncertain future, but Rhage is persistent, and he fights for her until all of her walls come crumbling down in one EPIC moment…
“The front door flew open, and Mary shot out of the house, jumping off the porch, not even bothering with the steps to the ground. She ran over the frost-laden grass in her bare feet and threw herself at him, grabbing on to his neck with both arms. She held him so tightly his spine cracked.
She was sobbing. Bawling. Crying so hard her whole body was shaking.
He didn’t ask any questions, just wrapped himself around her.
“I’m not okay,” she said hoarsely between breaths. “Rhage…I’m not okay.”
*sniff*
But with the looming danger of Rhage’s ‘beast’, as well as Mary’s illness, the road to their HEA is full of ups and downs. But it is incredibly romantic and passionate, and absolutely gorgeous.
The bonds between the brothers really start to take shape in this book, with all of them living in the compound together, and the dynamics between the guys are both touching, and freaking hilarious…
“Can’t see.”
“Just as well. No reason for you to know what we look like naked together. Frankly, I’m traumatized enough for the both of us.”
We also get to meet two characters connected to Mary – lonely and confused almost-street kid, John Matthew, and Mary’s vampire neighbour, Bella. Plus there is a sensational set up for Zsadist’s story, including a painfully nasty cliffhanger that will have you diving straight into Lover Awakened.
This was a reread for me, and the 5 stars from my first read still hold. I absolutely loved it!
Check out our Black Dagger Brotherhood page for more info on the series.