Name: The Beast
Rating: 4.344827586206897 (29 reviews)
ISBN: 9780349409139

J. R. Ward

Jessica Bird Ward

Rhage and Mary return in the new novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. His name is Rhage - the deadliest fighter and most voracious lover of all the Brotherhood, whose inner beast could never be tamed. But Rhage found his eternal love in Mary Luce, a woman who once bore a life-threatening curse, while dreaming of eternity with her vampire warrior and protector. They've made it to hell and back. Now their story continues in a new novel sure to draw fans back into the 'frighteningly addictive' (Publishers Weekly) world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

The Beast

   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...

Black Dagger Brotherhood #14

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance
  

 May contain some spoilers. 
 
  
    Summary 
  
 
The world has changed for the brotherhood, since the beginning when the King met his mate Beth. The numbers to the brotherhood have increased, but the number of lessers has increased. They have become more cunning and powerful. There are enemies everywhere and are gaining access to more money and technology. The world is changing around them, and keep who they are and what they do a secret is getting more and more difficult with the power of the smartphone. For Rhage and Mary, life seems just about perfect for them. However Mary and Rhage are drifting apart in their relationship. Rhage is struggling with his own insecurities and Beth is working through her self doubts and overcoming the past. But when Rhage is almost killed, and Mary is the ticket to saving his life, their world is turned in a direction they didn't see coming. But as Rhage and Mary learn to be honest with each other again, But Rhage and Mary will need to make a choice, that could change their relationship and their future forever...
 
  
    Plot and Story Line 
  
 
I know....I took forever getting to this one but quite frankly I was SO dang nervous picking this one up here. This book was quite different and I honestly didn't know what to expect. My main focus was Rhage and Mary. They are still my favorite couple that Ward has written. There are quite a few of them I love, but these two I fell in love with from the very beginning. So it was nice to see how their "happy ever after" has been progressing.

  
    She was the watch on his wrist, the roast beef when he was starving, and the pitcher of lemonade when he was thirsty. She was his chapel and his choir, the mountain range to his wanderlust, the library for his curiosity, and every sunrise or sunset that ever was or would be. She was all the power in the universe coalesced into a living, breathing thing, the miracle that he had been granted.
  

Well marriage and/or mating is a challenge, and we see how these two deal with self doubts and insecurities. At the beginning of the story, we see Rhage fighting with his brothers against some lessers. Then we are taken to Mary, who is dealing with her own test. She is helping a little girl "Bitty" who suffer from a trauma that Mary relates on a personal level. I found it very interesting to see how J.R. Ward started this book. By seeing Rhage and Mary kinda on their own "mission". But when it really matters, they come together, work out their issues and become even stronger than before. Now this couple tore me to shreds emotionally....wow this book totally packed a punch for me. Seeing how they work through their issues, and certain development that really adds more depth to their relationship. I loved the way these two grow even closer than in the first book Lover Eternal.

  
    "Life didn't have to be perfect...for true love to exist in it"
  

We see Rhage and Mary come in contact and build a strong connection with this little girl Bitty!! Now I adored Bitty, and Rhage really connects with her. Its like he is the Bitty whisperer or something. Mary has been working hard to connect with Bitty who suffered through an abusive father, and her mother has recently died. Now seeing Rhage and Bitty together is priceless. Nothing is sexier than a big alpha male be charmed by a little girl. And so many fun moments between these two from introducing her to ice cream, to showing her the beauty of horses in his GTO engine and how she is charmed by his beast.

  
    “Rhage! You have a dragon! A pet dragon! I got to rub his tummy!”
  

Now the brotherhood....it was quite interesting seeing what has changed, since the last book I read was book 10, so there is a bit that I have definitely missed out. The angel that loves to play with Rhage (and man I love the tricks he plays on Rhage...hilarious) and is obsessed with TV was hilarious but he is solid and loyal. We get some scenes between V and Jane that was interesting. What I found unique was how adding a couple of children to the mansion adds curiosity and questions to have kids for the other couples hehe Its like a plague or something and it was fascinating seeing characters that had no issue with remaining childless suddenly ask themselves questions about having kids. hehe I would have liked to see more of some of the other couples but toward the end we get some moments that were "put a smile on your face". I was curious about the teaser we are left with dealing with Layla and her love interest in a enemy of the brotherhood. So I am curious to see if that thread will be continued. If you like this author and have fallen in love with this series as I have....this is definitely a must read especially if you fell in love with Rhage and Mary.
 
  
    The Cover
  
 
I just adore this cover....ever since it came out it is the BEST cover of the series!!! I love the night stormy scene, and the intensity of the pose here and all that muscle!!! LOVE the abs and pecs here.
 
  
    Overall View
  
 
The Beast is a story for fans of the BDB series will enjoy even if you have fallen away from it....you will adore these fun moments between Rhage and Mary!!! Intense and Heartwrenching


  


[foogallery id="18892"]

Nathalie Wong

** spoiler alert **
           This is the 14th installment to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and it continues the story of Rhage and Mary (Book 2). To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about this because I'm always afraid of the outcome after the couples' happy ending (I know it is unrealistic but I can't help it). But there is nothing to worry about here. Thank goodness!

Although Rhage and Mary love one another, they both feel a void in their lives. They realize they want a child but have yet to voice it and feel guilty. It all comes to a head when Rhage is about to die and even though Mary was willing go unto the Fade with him, she worried about the recently orphaned child named Bitty. This scene brought tears to my eyes since I found it to be very poignant. Another tearjerker and moment I absolutely loved was when Rhage was holding Wrath and Beth's child in his arms. The bond between Rhage, Mary and Bitty was fun to read. The connection they had seemed so right.

Other point of views included Assail and Layla. I can't wait to find out what is in store for her and Xcor...

Fans of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood should definitely not miss this book. It was better than I expected it would be since I admit Rhage and Mary weren't my favourite couple of this series. Expect feel to the ups and downs emotionally.

For more of my reviews please visit my blog https://ilovereading2016.wordpress.com/

J.R. Ward

Fan favorite couple Rhage and Mary return in this gripping novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Nothing is as it used to be for the Black Dagger Brotherhood. 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. But he can’t understand or control the panic and insecurity that plague him. Terrified, he must reassess his priorities after suffering a mortal injury. And the answer, when it comes to him, rocks his—and his beloved Mary’s—world...

Melea Mullican

What can I say? I love me a good JR Ward book, and book 14 is no different. Most authors would run out of storylines, characters, and ways to engage their readers, yet she has not. I really enjoyed reading about Rhage and Mary again. I felt like this was the natural progression to their story. It will hit home with a lot of readers. I liked how she not only took this issue and applied it to the obvious couple, but she also related it back to other characters and drew in the whole world of the BDB. I can't wait to see how the story continues in The Chosen.

Samantha Emery

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UPDATE -8/12/19 - updated to a 5 stars , mainly as I have been re reading the entire series one after the other and updating as I go and most books have been upgraded. For me - the series is working better with me reading one after the other, I do not mind so much the other POVS and other story arcs within the main story - it is more like an ongoing saga with individual stories within, as opposed to individual stories with the distraction of other POVs and arcs etc. 

★Book Basics★ 


  Genre
: - Paranormal Romance 

  Series
: - 14th in the series

  Love triangle?
 - (view spoiler)[No (hide spoiler)]

  Cheating?
 - (view spoiler)[No (hide spoiler)]

  HEA? -
 (view spoiler)[Yes (hide spoiler)]

  Would I read more by this author/or in this series? 
- Yes

  Rating 
- 5

★Review★

As with a lot of people I really enjoyed the first few books in the series. Yet liked them less and less as it went on. I have not read The King or The Shadows book at all and skim read Lover At Last.

However Rhage and Mary have always been my favourite. So I could not resist this when it came out (despite me feeling rather mugged at the price tbh).

And I adored the parts with Rhage and Mary. Truly adored them. Rhage remains my favourite every brother, as said in the book, he has such a massive heart. And Mary is my favourite heroine in the series. And together, they are for me the most steady and in love couple of the series. And even in this book, with a distance between them neither ever doubt their love for each other, or thier commitment. I could re read again and again every Rhage and Mary part.

But again, and this is what ended up putting me off J R Ward, sometimes she clouds the books with too many secondary story lines and POV's. As ever, V and Jane seem to not really be truly together, and I actually liked their story originally and how it worked out they could be together, but we had a re hash of them again as a secondary storyline in a later book, and then in this one, it seems like they are once AGAIN not truly settled.

And I found myself getting (probably) unreasonably annoyed that when all the brothers would be together, the author could not just bloody say who was speaking sometimes it. It was usually "someone said"....." then someone else said ".....". Just felt lazy to me to not put a name to the dialogue.

All in, 5 plus stars for what i read this book for Rhage and Mary, 2-3 for the rest. And I shall maybe read more in the future in the series but will be selective about it tbh.

Brandie States

Love love love! This series just continues to get better with each book. I will say, Rhage was a little more of a horndog than I remembered him being, however the story line was AWESOME! I love Bitty's character, and I am so happy for Rhage, Mary and Bitty! Another 5 stars, highly recommend, this series is SO GOOD!

The Beast

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