#1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan freezes the blood in this fiercely sensual Carpathian novel… Born into a world of evil and ice, Dragonseeker Lara Calladine is a child of three species yet belonging to none. She walked her chosen path alone, trusting no one. For beyond the frozen hell of her youth were even greater dangers. Today, an expert in the study of ice caves, … expert in the study of ice caves, Lara searches for the source of her nightmares. Nicolas De La Cruz can help her. Though centuries of hunting and killing have taken their toll, he longs to feel sensual love without the hunger for blood.
As Lara and Nicolas search the treacherous Carpathian landscape, their tenuous trust shifts into an undeniable passion. But their mysterious pasts share a secret that could destroy them both…
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A great paranormal romance series
In the sixteenth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Lara Calladine is exploring some mountainous ice caves, hoping to find her imprisoned aunts. Years earlier, her great aunts—long trapped in dragon form and incased in ice—helped the child-Lara flee from her evil great grandfather and father. Xavier and Razvan would viciously beat her, drink her blood, and verbally abuse her. She’s part human/mage/Carpathian and comes from the Dragonseeker line, so she’s a powerful woman but unsure of her abilities.
Nicolas De Le Cruz is close to turning vampire and finding his lifemate is a shock he didn’t expect. Instead of introducing himself to Lara and treating her with respect, he feeds from her and binds her to him with ritualistic words. He’s so controlling that he literally shackles her to him. He doesn’t see her as a person or considers her feelings. After she attempts suicide to escape him, he brings her back from near death, fully linking their minds in the process. By doing so, he witnesses the travesties and horrific pain and fear she endured as a child and shamefully realizes he’s treated her just as bad as Xavier and Razvan did. After seeing the error in his ways, he learns to be gentle, understanding, and finally puts her needs above his.
I liked this story more than I thought I would. It’s no secret (if you’ve been following my other reviews) that I’m not a big fan of the De La Cruz brothers, but Nicolas learns humility real fast. Of all the Dark books I’ve read, Nicolas changes the most and truly regrets his actions. He starts to see all women, not just Lara, as brave and intelligent.
What I love most about this series is that there are so many characters shared from book to book. It’s always fun to catch up with the previous couples and learn about new characters.
I loved the scene when Lara, Shea, Skyler, Natalya, Syndil, and Francesca were working together to save the lives of Raven’s unborn son and Savannah’s unborn daughters. It’s rare for Carpathian women to have children—most babies are miscarried or die before the age of one—but Lara has finally figured out why. This is huge news!
While that was going, Nicolas, Gregori, Mikhail, and several of the men and two of the warrior women, Destiny and Jaxon, were discussing the future of the species and whether or not women should fight the vampire. That became a very heated meeting, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I definitely cried at the end. Razvan was so tortured and not the monster he’s been portrayed. Branislava and Tatijana are finally rescued, but will surely suffer much mental anguish even after their bodies heal.
All in all, I’m happy I gave this book a chance.
4 Stars
I admit I buy her books for my mother it is a guaranteed smile on her face each time I present one.
Love Lara and Nicholas. Thought it was awesome how Nicholas learned about Lara’s past and how it helped him to love her more. Great story. Must read.
Christine Feehan has never written a bad book. Love her work.
Love the Carpathian series. Read them. ALL.
Lara comes across as a loner, happy with her own company, she doesn’t get too close to people, and given her background I’m not surprised….. As a child Lara had been kept a prisoner by her father and grandfather, kept as a food source (both her father and grandfather used her for blood) and they weren’t gentle about either, Carpathian children were meant to be protected and cherished, but Lara had neither. She lived in fear, and after her mother dies brutally at the hands of her grandfather, Lara knows it’s a matter of time before her usefulness comes to an end…..
Nicholas De La Cruz needs to feel something, even if that means he needs to kill, the darkness has almost overcome him, his brothers are finding their mates, but he knows it’s too late.
We meet Nicholas in Dark Secret (his brother Rafael finds his lifemate Colby) he can’t understand why his brothers don’t lay down the law with their women, his arrogance is worse than Rafael’s (and he was extremely arrogant)
Lara (we find out through past memories) needs to find the ice caves that she was held captive in as a child, she needs to rescue two very special people, she knows they might not be alive, but Lara needs closure. And coming to the Carpathian Mountains she gets a feeling she is close…..
Nicholas is drawn to a female and he has no notion as to why, only that he needs to feed, and sadly the young woman may die, and his brothers will have to face him as a vampire.
Drawing her closer he begins to feed, and his mind is bombarded with emotions and colour ….. his lifemate is in his arms, but then another feeling comes into play… pain!! Lara had stabbed him!!! She won’t be used again by anyone!! And she knows all about the males who take blood from unwilling donors (and she is definitely unwilling)
The story then goes on to relay more of Lara’s past, and Nicholas has to find balance, his dominant nature will be put to the test time and time again.
The book is full of twists and turns, it’s a very dark and sad book. In places I had to put it down and read something a little more lighthearted.
More of the backstory comes to light, and her father ….. well he has been seen in such a bad light, how could she possibly forgive him and move on ?? (But as his story is next, we should find out from his perspective)
So now we have Mages, werewolves, vampires and Dragonseekers (a very strong and old line of Carpathian’s) and of course the Carpathian’s. How the author keeps tabs on everything is always a wonder. And I hope she continues this
These books in this series are some of the best. I have reid.
This is a great series to read for those who like characters who captivate you from the beginning. The story is full of warriors and wonderful women with danger at every corner. This is a must read series!!
Love Christine Feehan’s Dark series. She is my favorite paranormal romance author. I have read the entire series. Love, Love, love
Amazing, grabs you emotionally
Dark Curse the 19th book in the Dark series was great. I can’t believe after 19 books this series still has me held captive. I am still so engrossed in the plot, and totally infatuated with these sexy Carpathian men. I don’t know what it is about this series, but I just can’t get enough. CF must weave a spell on the books that make us readers obsessed!
Nicolas De La Cruz was like all the De La Cruz brothers, rough, controlling, and dark. When he found his lifemate Lara, he like most Carpathian men figured she would obey him and do all the changing. Nicolas learned very quickly that his lifemate would rather die then ever be helpless like she was when she was a child being held prisoner by her great-grandfather Xavier and her father Razvan. I loved that Nicolas really grew in this book. Though his brothers that found their lifemates soften a little I feel Nicolas is the only one of them that really grew and changed on a deeper level. Which is why he is my favorite of the De La Cruz brothers. He really seen how much he hurt Lara trying to control her and did everything he could to make her happy, and empower her. The one place he didn’t give up control in was the bedroom, but the man was sexy and dominating. Lara was very broken in ways, but she had a core strength that grew as the book went on. Lara was a survivor and a fighter. Her past demons overwhelmed her a few times but she did her best and met her fear head on, overcoming it to help others and be a good lifemate to Nicolas. Lara was not only a powerful Mage but her Dragonseeker blood was strong which gave her some major power.
I loved Lara and Nicolas together. They were both so giving and supportive. They both went out of their comfort zone to meet the other half way. Their passion for each other was very strong as was their respect for one another. I could almost feel their love it was so strong. I really connected to their relationship and them as individuals. I only have 2 small complaint about this book and it’s why I gave it a 4 star instead of a 5 and that is this book had a little to much of the Carpathian language. A few lines here and there is fine, but line after line of gibberish gets a little boring to read just sayin’. Also Lara’s spells! I don’t need to read all of her spells. Line after line of nursery rhyme sounding spells also gets a little boring and kinda bogged down the book. Maybe if it was a really important spell but not every single time she uses her magic! I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see what else CF creates in this amazing world!