Dark Slayer

My review ……

This was a great story. And one I hadn’t seen coming…..

Razvan has always been seen as the Carpathian’s greatest enemy (after Xavier the mage) he had been known to impregnate human, and mage women, (Colby, Skyler and Lara that the Carpathian’s know so far) and after Lara’s past had been known, he had also fed off the women or children.
But Lara had put a different spin on her fathers character ….. she remembered him as a caring being, loving and protective. It was his grandfather Xavier, Lara’s great grandfather) that had possessed him (and made Razvan impregnate the women) and had fed off the women and children in the hope to become immortal (Xavier was convinced that the Carpathian’s were immortal and wanted that immortality for himself)

Ivory had a wonderful childhood, parents that had loved and cared about her, five older and caring (although dominant) brothers, all who met her were prepared to protect her, Ivory was well loved and cared for, until one fateful day when her young life was ripped away from her……
Now a former beauty (her body a map of horrendous scars) Ivory has honed her body as a weapon, a slayer of the vampire, avoiding all Carpathian’s (she no longer trusted them) she has spent many centuries alone, her only companions a pack of wolves she had converted (by accident) and now remain loyal to her and only her (she wears them as tattoos on her arms and back)

Razvan is finally free …..
He has escaped his grandfather’s clutches and now he only wants to die, he has so many horrid memories that he knows he won’t ever be able to redeem himself, how can he ? He had spent centuries under Xavier’s control, he had offered his soul to keep his young daughter Lara safe.

Ivory was on a hunt when she is aware of a disturbance, following her senses she comes across a dying figure. And wouldn’t you know it…. after all these centuries alone, she gets “stuck” with a Carpathian!!! Oh Ivory is NOT happy.

Being tied together through the bonding words, Razvan and Ivory must now work together (she is untrusting of everyone Carpathian and he is wary of everyone) but they find a common ground with battling the vampires.

Ivory rescues a young boy from a ghoul and vampire, and from there on, we are introduced to her brothers ….. five Manilov’s they have all turned vampire. (They all believed Ivory died, they were furious with the prince of the Carpathian’s Vlad, Mikhail’s father. How could he let his eldest son kill their beloved sister? So they began to plot and devise a plan to overthrow the Prince.) And she is known to the Carpathian’s now, they need her advice, her skills and her knowledge. But Ivory is finding it hard…… Will she help? Or will she take her wolves and run?

We also get to see Razvan interact with his sister Natalya (her book was dark demon) and finally catch up with Lara (her book was dark curse)

I liked this story, it was a nice surprise. A twist that I hadn’t thought of, but to be honest I should have realised that she might have had the characters in mind for a book or two (otherwise why keep them in the readers thoughts?!)
we have more background information now on why the Carpathian women can’t conceive and why they can’t feed or look after their babies. And throw the Manilov brothers into the mix, and we have even more problems for Mikhail to overcome.

There are a few classic moments that will have you laughing. But in all a great addition to the series.

My favorite in this paranormal romance series

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

Have read 31 of the series so far they are fantastic!

Loved this story and the characters. Great read.

OMG I loved Razvan!!!!!! Dark Slayer the 20th book in the Dark series was amazing. I can not believe this is book 20 in this series and I am still lovin’ this series! So this book picked up right were Dark Curse left off. Ivory Malinov, sister to the 5 evil vampire Malinov brothers who are trying to destroy the prince, did not in fact die like all believed. Though she had her head cut off and was cut into little pieces Mother earth healed her and now she is the Dark Slayer that vampires whisper about. Her only goal in life is to take down the evil that tried to take her life Xavier. And nothing will deter her from her plans, not even Fate, when she comes across her lifemate laying face down in the snow waiting for the dawn to kill him. Isn’t it just her luck that he is the grandson of her enemy Xavier.
Razvan was an absolutely epic character. Honor was all Razvan had. He gave up his body to the dark mage, Xavier, to save his sister. Xavier would possessed Razvan’s body and do truly heinous things. Those things included impregnating women to feed from the blood of the children of those unions. Then he traded his soul to save his daughter Lara’s life. So when he escaped Xavier his plan was to take what little honor he has left and kill himself so his evil grandfather couldn’t use him to hurt anyone else. Razvan was one tortured male, but he was never broken. He was a calm and controlled person. A prisoner of his grandfather since he was 14 he knew he couldn’t control others but only how he acted. I loved that Razvan was smart and protective, but he was willing to let Ivory lead. Supportive and very open about his feelings, Razvan lived every moment to the fullest. He was brave, but not a warrior. That didn’t make him weak he was willing to fight to the death to protect the innocent. He also had this playful boyish way to him that was endearing.
Ivory was also a awesome character and a fitting mate for Razvan. She was a warrior woman to her bones. Almost as tortured as Razvan Ivory has lived through hell and came out fighting with everything she has. The pain of knowing her 5 beloved brothers all turned vampire hurt her as much if not more than being chopped into pieces. Ivory was great with weapons and countering spells, but doesn’t do well with showing emotions. She was a confidant fighter, but unsure of herself as a woman. A loner, she was very serious and didn’t have fun or enjoy life until Razvan. I loved how Razvan brought out her playful side.
Razvan and Ivory have a wonderfully beautiful relationship full of passion, respect and support. I really fell in love with them as a couple and felt like their love story is one of the top ones in the Dark series. I loved their little wolf family too. They were both outcast and looked upon with suspicion. I felt bad for both of them for the way the others Carpathians treated them at times especially Razvan. I loved that Ivory fiercely stuck up for her lifemate. There was a ton of action in this book. Bloody fights with vampires, flesh eating bats, and a evil mage. Gregori had a lot of time in this book and I loved every single minute of my Gregori! Some really big things happen in this book. I loved the parts of the book where Razvan met for the first time or reunited with his daughters Skyler and Lara. I wish Colby could have been there! The part with him and Lara brought tears to my eyes. I did have two things that didn’t work for me in this book and that was all the spells and Carpathian language, they get really boring at times and I wish she would just cut it all out. But since is my 4th time rereading the whole series I know it will only get worse lol. I loved Razvan and Ivory so much that even with the spells and gibberish I still give this book 5 stars!

love anything that Christine Feehan writes. Devoted fan forever!!