The Beast

The Black Dagger Brotherhood – Book 14

By J. R. Ward

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Available in Hardcover Edition and Ebook Edition

Synopsis

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…

Michel’s Review

Spoiler Free Review

I have been a Black Dagger Brotherhood fan since the first book, Dark Lover, released in 2005.  I anxiously count down the months, days, and hours for each new release in this series.  I have been on pins and needles waiting for The Beast to release because Rhage has always been my favorite brother.

Readers met Rhage in the second book, Lover Eternal. He’s the brother that carries a curse on his back.  He chose to keep his curse when the Scribe Virgin allowed his mate, Mary, to receive the gift of immortality.  Rage and Mary were granted a life of love, happiness, and prosperity  but there was one thing they would never have.  They would never be able to have their own children.  At the time it was more than enough for both of them.  Their love and commitment to one another fulfilled their needs and wants.

Ten books and several years later, Rhage and Mary’s relationship has evolved into strong allegiance.  They’re happy within their marriage and their communication with one another is honest and open.  Although they have a formed a very healthy relationship, they have also grown as individuals because of that relationship.  Every relationship evolves and as it evolves it takes the individuals to a new level with new expectations, desires, and needs. It doesn’t change the main element of the relationship, it makes it grow stronger.  Rhage and Mary have reached this point and like most people they are a bit oblivious to the changes until it smacks them in the face and the realities begin to surface.

The Beast is Rhage and Mary’s next road in their life journey. Their need to take the next step and change their inner family dynamics.

****

The Beast opens with an action packed scene that places the Brotherhood into an epic battle with the lessers.  The outcome of this battle changes the path the Brotherhood is on.  It is the game changer in Rhage and Mary’s relationship.  It is also the beginning of a new direction for the Vampire race.  New alliances will be made.  The face of the enemy will evolve into several different faces.  The dynamics in the mansion will change.  It all begins at the abandoned Brownswick School for Girls in an epic battle with the lessers. The Beast has emerged and is destroying everything in sight. It could cost more than the lessers lives, it could cost the brothers some of their own.  The one paying the highest price could be Rhage himself…

***

” I’ve seen this night.”

“I want you to go home. Now.”

***

The battle is a game changer for Rhage and Mary…

***

“I’ve missed you too,” he said in a low tone. “We’ve been….kind of parallel lately. Not apart, but parallel.”

I tried to kill myself last night, he said to her in his head. And I have no idea why.

Yup, it was official.

He’d lost his mind.

***

“You don’t have anything to worry about. Not now and not ever—- at least not about me. I love you til forever and back, and nothing else matters as long as that is true.”

***

“I’m serious Mary. Now that I’m thinking about it… now that I’m running the math in my head? No, Life without you is a tragedy. Life without our young? That’s …well, it’s just a different path.”

***

Life didn’t have to be perfect…for true love to exist in it.

***

When Mary glanced at Rhage, he cleared his throat. “ I eat people, I mean… the beast. It eats things. That shouldn’t, you know, be eaten.”

He was reminding her that the future was unknown and unknowable.

So if you had the chance…even if there was no music and no ballgown, no tuxedo or gala… when your true love asked you to dance?

It was important to say yes.

Like all of the previous books, The Beast has a lot of meat to it.  Rhage and Mary are not the only individuals going through changes.  The Vampire world has been exposed to the humans.  The enemies are increasing.  Revelations are brought to the surface that creates new scenarios in the Brotherhoods lives.

***

She stood up by herself and brushed her slacks off. “ Is it just me or does this feel like a grown up episode of Scooby Doo?”

***

Six new characters are introduced into the Black Dagger Brotherhood world.  I think each of these new characters is going to have quite an impact in the future books.

There are some bombs dropped within The Beast that will leave the readers shocked and may change the direction of the series.  The only person who knows is the author herself.

V and Assail had quite a bit of page play in the Beast.  The mysterious Assail is beginning to unravel.  It will be interesting to see it all unfold.

The Beast was magnificent!  The series has come full circle and taken on a new life. Rhage and Mary have found a new happily ever after that trumps their beautiful beginning. I fell even more deeply in love with my favorite brother, Rhage.

J. R. Ward brought her A-Game to the table.  The writing was flawless.  The meticulous scene descriptions brought the world to life.  The evolution of all of the characters made them even more dynamic.  She added layers to their souls. The thing that made this book shine the most was the beautiful portrayal of how love grows, evolves, and completes an individual.

The Beast was an emotional journey for Mary and Rhage.  The Beast also delivered a defining moment in the Vampire world.  This series is evolving and could go in many directions.  Only J. R. Ward’s brilliance could create an intricate world that has so many threads of life woven into the layers. As I finished The Beast, I could not predict what was to come next or who would be the next star in the next book. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

***

It was…. magic.
It was …. family.
It was.. absolutely, positively, everything that mattered and was important.
__________________________________________

Jessica Rowley Pell Bird was born on 1969 in Massachusetts, USA. She is the daughter of Maxine F. and W. Gillette Bird, Jr. She began writing as a child, penning her thoughts in diaries as well as inventing short stories. She read her first Harlequin Presents novel in a rose garden when she was in her teens. She was hooked immediately. By the time she went to college, she had boxes and boxes of Harlequins and Silhouettes. Every year, her mother would ask why all those books had to live in the house and Jess would reply that if even one of them disappeared she would know. (She’d catalogued them.)

 

Jess finished her first romance manuscript the summer before her freshman year of college. She attended Smith College and graduated with a double major in history and art history. She then received a law degree from Albany Law School. Shortly after that, she began working in the healthcare industry in Boston. She spent many years as one of the premier medical center’s Chief of Staff. While working as a lawyer in Boston, she completed two novels more and started a number of partials. In 2001, Bird married John Neville Blakemore III. Both her mother and her new husband kept telling her to send something in to an agent, a publisher, the Tooth Fairy, anyone. She thought they were nuts, but eventually got her nerve up and bought a lot of stamps. Since getting published, she has written contemporary romances as Jessica Bird and paranormal romances as J. R. Ward. She has been a Rita Award finalist, received two Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice nominations and has been a HOLT medallion finalist.

New England born and bred, Jess is surprised to find herself living south of the Mason Dixon line. (But that’s what happens when you marry a Southern gentleman.) She and her husband live with their golden retriever, who oversees her writing in a supervisory role.

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