In the seventeenth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Ivory Malinov has been hunting and killing vampires for centuries while searching for the evil mage Xavier. Four vampires had decapitated her and chopped up her body, leaving her for dead, but she miraculously healed. The Carpathian people, including her five brothers and the De La Cruz brothers, believe she is dead. Her brothers are now vampires, and one of them is on the hunt for her. Then she finds an injured Carpathian male a few minutes before sunrise. He plans to kill himself, but she can’t let him do that, especially since she recognizes him as her lifemate.
Razvan is the enemy, an outcast, and hated by his people. He finally escapes his vicious grandfather Xavier after centuries of horrific abuse and wants to die. Ivory was the last person he expected to find. For years, Xavier has experimented on Razvan and taken over his mind and body, forcing him to do unthinkable acts to strangers and to his own loved ones. To save his sister Natalya and his daughter Lara, he sacrificed his life and soul, giving himself over to Xavier, but the women never knew of his actions. His only confidants were his aunts Branislava and Tatijana, two powerful Dragonseekers who were just as tortured as he was.
In the previous book, Dark Curse, Razvan was the villain, but it’s later revealed he was forced into doing evil and that he truly loves his sister, daughter, aunts, and his human wife, Shauna. In this book, Shauna isn’t included as a “loved one,” which just didn’t seem right. He’s definitely a beta hero—the first in the series! He’s calm and controlled, not arrogant or demanding. Even though Carpathians aren’t supposed to age or go gray, he has because of his extreme torture. He lets Ivory take the lead and treats her as a partner, not a woman to be coddled.
Ivory is strong, scarred, sometimes overly protective of Razvan, and self-reliant, having lived alone for so long. The role reversals made these characters very likeable and different from previous couples. They complemented each other perfectly.
My favorite scene is at the end when Razvan finally meets two of his daughters, Lara and Skyler, but it was too short. Also, that’s when Ivory meets Nicolas De Le Cruz again, a man she thought of as a beloved brother. This long anticipated reunion should’ve been a whole chapter, not just a few pages.
It was great Mikhail and Gregori accepted Razvan and Ivory pretty easily, realizing they weren’t the enemy, but not all of the hunters and lifemates were as understanding (including Natalya and her man Vikirnoff).
I loved Ivory’s wolf pack. Years earlier, she converted the dying wolves into Carpathians and considers them her family. The wolves can shape-shift, and she sometimes wears them as a coat, which is a surprise to an attacking enemy when they come to her aid.
I was really looking forward to this story, but it just didn’t sit well with me. The H/h are great characters, but the constant chants and the Carpathian language bogged down the story, as did the repetition and extreme detail to little things like dirt. The overall plot just didn’t interest me, which is a shame.
3 Stars
( )

Descendiente del venerado y remoto clan de los cazadores de dragones, Natalya Shonski ha pasado siglos luchando en solitario contra los vampiros y las criaturas nocturnas. Desde chica, ha aprendido a valerse por si misma y a no confiar en nadie, pero su existencia errante empieza a hacer mella en su ser, llenandola de melancolia y tristeza. En una de sus batallas, la aparicion de una ayuda inesperada cambiara su vida. El atractivo cazador carpatiano Virkinoff Von Shrieder, que clama ser su compañero eterno, se encadena a Natalya por medio de un conjuro ancestral. La atraccion de Virkinoff es irresistible, pero Natalya no es una mujer facil, y mucho menos esta dispuesta a cumplir ordenes. A pesar del consiguiente choque de personalidades, Natalya, convertida en una dama de la luz, unira su mente y destino al del carpatiano en una cruzada contra el mal y la magia oscura, que les requerira luchar hasta su ultimo aliento.

This is one of those series which may have gone on too long. The author is beginning to add more and more magical elements/character types. I like the series and have read all of them and don't suppose I'll quit but I hope there doesn't start being elves and demons and Greek gods and stuff.

Okay this book. I liked it pretty well. It has a strong heroine and Razvan is a great tortured hero. I really enjoyed seeing him get a story as I had suspected in earlier books that he wasn't as evil as portrayed. I didn't like the magical wolves so much. I think it's because that element came out of the blue for me. It wasn't set up anywhere else in the series that I can remember. It falls into my afore mentioned pet peeve of "oh! and there are wolves that turn into clothing! oh and demons and unicorns!"

The story other than that type of quibble is good. The writing well done and the love story is touching.

Oh and I remember when the artist came to paint me for the front cover of the novel. I totally look like that. :-D ( )

"3.5 out of 5 stars! This is a sweet novel about two people who have been given the worst out of life but they come together (and fall in love) in hope to concur one of the greatest enemy's to themselves as well as..."

Read more of this review and a TEASER here: https://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2010/09/made-grade-dark-series-book-2... ( )

Christine Feehan decided to give us an atypical leading manand it is just as well because leading lady, vampire slayer Ivory Malinov, is an atypical leading lady as well and wouldn't have fit as well with some of the more dominating and arrogant of the Carpathians. And another part of what made this offering so good was that that she gave us a starring pair who have both had enough pain and suffering in their interesting backstories, and in their experiences with family members turning to the darkside, to add greater depth to both of the characters and their relationship.

Instead, another legend of the Carpathians: Ivory the presumed-dead sister of the evil Brother Malinov stumbles across Razvans' body after a lengthy battle with vampires.

Hundreds of years earlier, Ivory was attacked and cut into pieces when she was betrayed to vampires by Zavier. Happily for Ivory, the vampires neglected to remove her heart...so the pieces of her body lay in a field while wolves chewed into her legs and arms. Ivory manages to put herself back together with the help of Mother Earth and, after lying in the earth for three hundred years Ivory begins her dreadful life's mission to eradicate the evil Zavier by unraveling his spells and fighting vampires. She becomes another legend, the Dark Slayer.

Seeing Razvan's crumpled body causes her great pain because she never dreamed of family or children. She was always alone except for the wolves she saved from death by sharing her blood and converting them to Carpathians. Yet, she recognizes Razvan's importance to her...because he is the other half of her soul.

I have been a huge fan of this series ever since the first book, "Dark Prince." 5 stars for an entertaining and facinating read. ( )