Review: Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe

Lord of Rage

(Royal House of Shadows # 2)

By: Jill Monroe

Pub. Date: September 20, 2011

Publisher: Harlequin

Pages: 288

Source: Netgalley

Princess Breena had been dreaming of her warrior lover when she was ripped from her Elden castle and thrown into a strange, dangerous realm. Lost and alone, she prayed for survival and vengeance for her stolen kingdom. She found both in a woodland cottage…in a dark bear of a man.
  The golden-haired beauty had eaten his food and slept in his bed when Osborn found her. Though he wanted to awaken his virgin princess to carnal pleasures, Breena wanted more—including his warrior skills. Skills the once-legendary mercenary had long buried. Now Osborn had a choice—risk his life or deny his princess her fairy-tale ending.

Lord of Rage is the second book in the Royal House of Shadows series and it does not disappoint. This series is getting better and better with every book and I can not wait to see how it will all come together in the fourth and final book.

The second installment follows Princess Brenna and all she has is her power to survive, no matter what. When she stumbles upon a cottage in the middle of woods, she eats the food in the kitchen and takes a much needed rest in the bed. She wakes up to find the owners of the house, Osborn and his two younger brothers. Osborn wants her to leave as soon as possible. The ironic part of this is that Osborn is the source of Princess Brenna's fantasies and Brenna's has been Osborn's for years.

Osborn is a berserker, a man who can channel the spirit of the bear to become a very strong and power warrior. After his entire clan is murdered, with the exception of his two young brothers, by vampires of the empire of Elden, he becomes a mercenary to care and protect for his brothers and put food on their table.  He also vows that one day he will avenge his family and his clan and destroy Elden and the people in it.

The Princess wants nothing more than the man from her fantasies to help her avenge her parents murder, but he refuses to help her. He also has no clue that the very people she wants to avenge are the people who murdered his family. It's all very complicated!

Despite the fact that he doesn't want to help her, Osborn is drawn to the Princess. She is determined in her quest, which Osborn admires.

I really loved the connection between Osborn and Brenna. They were both seeking revenge for the families, so the two of them had a lot in common. I also enjoyed seeing Brenna's transformation from spoiled Princess to fearless leader.

The first book in the series, Lord of the Vampires, which I already read and reviewed is written by Gena Showalter. Stay tuned for my reviews on book three, Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Anderson and book four, Lord of the Abyss by Nalini Singh.