The fates of a warrior reborn and a seductive Dragonseeker are irrevocably entwined in this thrilling Carpathian novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.Zev Hunter was an elite warrior, a dark-blood dealer of death to Lycans who preyed on mankind. But he begins to question his past when he awakens in the sacred cave of warriors—and is soothed back to consciousness by the … to consciousness by the sensuously familiar voice of the woman who has haunted his fantasies for centuries: Branislava, member of the Dragonseeker clan.
Now, with a blood-sworn vow of honor, mercy and endurance, and under the influence of a siren as bewitching as Branislava, Zev begins to wonder what his purpose is, what it means for the future of the Carpathians and what it is about his rebirth that he has to fear…
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As with all of these books, I spend a full day on my porch reading. Heaven!
I always love all of Feehans books! It helps to have read the other books in this series to keep track of all the characters.
I love this book series. Each book stands alone. Very imaginative.
Mrs Feehan is my favorite author, she can’t write a bad book, she is my sit down and read a book until it’s finished it’s so good author,,
A great paranormal romance series
In the twenty-third book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Branislava Dragonseeker has tied her soul to an injured Lycan warrior on the verge of death. The connection between her and Zev is earth shattering, and she can’t live without him. He’s her lifemate, but she doesn’t understand how that could be since he’s Lycan and she’s Carpathian.
As an elite Lycan pack alpha, Zev Hunter has guarded and advised the Lycan council for centuries, and now he’s acting as their liaison with the Carpathians. He and his pack often kill rogue werewolves and sometimes the rare Sanga rau (mixed-blooded werewolves and vampires). Lycans believe all mixed bloods should be exterminated, but Zev is siding with the Carpathians over the Guardians (mixed-blooded Lycans and Carpathians). After he’s terribly injured protecting a Lycan council member, he’s fed Carpathian blood and put to ground to heal. When he rises, he’s more than just Lycan—he’s Carpathian. Unbeknownst to him and everyone else, he’s also the last of a long dead bloodline.
A new lineage is introduced in this book, and apparently, the Dark Blood line is much stronger and more revered than the Dragonseekers, the Dubrinskys, and the Daratranzanoffs. Also, the Dark Bloods can walk in sunlight and the women were allowed to fight with their men, which doesn’t align with the established history and genetic make-up of the species.
I liked Branislava and Zev. She was trapped with her sister Tatijana in the ice caves for countless centuries, but she learned all sorts of dark magic from her evil father, Xavier, and from his vicious brothers. Zev was rougher and more controlling than Fen and Dimitri (the heroes from the previous two books), but he still respected Branislava as a woman and a warrior, even though his possessive inner wolf demanded he keep her out of danger.
Zev was often compared to Gregori, but I didn’t see many similarities. Sure, Zev is demanding and bossy, but he’s not a male chauvinist like Gregori. Now, don’t get me wrong. I like Gregori a lot—he’s a kickass secondary character—but in his own book, Dark Magic, he was way too controlling of his lifemate Savannah. Luckily, Gregori has calmed down over the years and now treats all women with more respect.
This book is the last of a trilogy within the overall series. Multiple sex scenes, drawn out fight scenes, repeated information, and detailed chants and rituals affected the pacing and padded the narrative. After reading so many books in this series, those types of scenes just blur together in my mind since they’re all very similar.
On a side note, I don’t understand why Natalya wasn’t there. She’s a powerful Dragonseeker and should’ve been fighting alongside her kin to save their people.
Anyway, Mikhail, Gregori, Fen and Tatijana, Dimitri and Skyler, and Razvan and Ivory returned and added a lot of humor, emotion, and depth to the story. The best thing about this series is the secondary cast of characters. I’ve read several reviews for this story and even though some of those readers weren’t happy with Ms. Feehan’s choice of villains, I actually liked that Xavier was a triplet and his two evil brothers masterminded the plot to pit the Carpathian and Lycan races against one another.
Overall, I liked the H/h and their friends and family, but the slow pacing kept drawing me out of the book.
3 Stars
The third and final story to this trilogy.
Zev was in the last two books, he hunts rogue werewolves. He’s friends with Fenris, and he guarded Dimitri when he was held prisoner. He wasn’t happy with Dimitri’s treatment, but he didn’t stop what they were doing to him. And in the last book he was mortally wounded, and the decision was made to turn him into a Carpathian. Laying in the ground to regenerate, it gives him time to think. And when he finally rises …..
Branislava is the sister to Tatijana, the quieter one, the less adventurous one. But sensing the turmoil that Zev is facing, she does a rash and almost dangerous thing….
He’s a Carpathian, he’s a warrior, but he isn’t sure he belongs anywhere, and with an amazing Carpathian woman tying herself to him, telling him that their fates are tied together, if he dies, she will go with him. That’s a huge responsibility. But he’s fascinated by her, meeting her once before, his thoughts are consumed with her, he can’t and won’t let her down…..
I liked this book, there was a connection that intrigued me, a Carpathian woman usually waits for her lifemate to claim her, but she sensed that Zev didn’t really want to stay in this world, and the Carpathian people needed him, he would be an asset, but with mixed blood running through his veins, would he be able to contain the darkness that would be crouching inside him? Waiting to lure him away from Branislava ….
Christine at her best
Okay So I have and will always be a Dark series Fan Girl! But this book was just okay. I gave it 3 stars, and that was being nice. I liked some of this book and then other parts drove me crazy. The parts I liked where so great they were 5 star worthy but then there was 2 problems I had with this book that knocked that rating down a star for each.
Those 2 problems were ……..
1. The large amounts of the Carpathian language. I can understand it when they claim their life mates or when they joined as brothers, but my God there was so much Carpathian gibberish that it was annoying and boring and that isn’t even counting the end of the book where CF gives the reader a whole Appendix 1 and 2 of the Carpathian healing chants, songs, language, Carpathian grammar chart, and glossary which starts at page 376 and goes to page 416 .
2. The large amounts of spells. It truly was over the top ridiculous how many spells are in this book. After I finish reading I when back and counted the number of spells and there are 56 spells in this book. I may have missed a few small ones as I was running through the book fast to count them, but all 56 spells are at least 4 lines long. Come on I don’t need to read 30 spells within 2 chapters. It got boring and redundant. I was starting to feel like I was reading a Dr. Seuss book. I don’t mind one or two important to the story spells or you could just be like ” she weaved a spell and this happened” I don’t need to read ever line of ever spell! Just sayin. This more then anything took away my enjoyment of this book. I was ready to rip my hair out. I didn’t even read the spells I pretty much skipped them all!
Other then those 2 things the rest of the story was good not as great as others and no where near as good as my two favorites (Gregori and Jacques)but still it was a decent Carpathian novel. Gary is now Carpathian and I can’t wait for him to get his love story. I really enjoyed the dancing in the woods and how all my favorite couples came out and dance together and had some fun. And the children dancing so cute it hurt.
That alone kept this book from going any lower than a 3 star. I love finally getting to know that Sara had her baby. I loved the brotherly joking between Fen, Zev, and Dimitri very cute. Their brother like playfulness really made me smile and laugh. I was glad to find out how Zev got a lifemate so fast and the reason he was drawn to Branislava even when we thought he was just wolf, was because he was part Carpathian all along. I wish Josef would have been in this book. This series is so long I know that they all can’t be winners, but I hope I get Gary and Josef’s stories before this series ends, maybe even Gregori’s daughters!!
I love feehan, no one writes like this the characters battle royal mixing love in as well
it
Love love her work!!!
One of the best booksvi have read in a while!
Every Carpathian book is full of action and family. Great book.
great book great Author Just love Christine Feehan
I have been hooked on Christine Feehan’s books for years. Always waiting for the next book.
Carpathian series is my favorite series she has written
Always enjoy her books . They are easy to read and entertaining which is what I look for in a book usually .
I love Christine Feehan novels!
Loved it