Tatijana of the Dragonseekers spent centuries encased in ice with her sister, trapped in limbo between life and death, never speaking to a soul other than those who tormented her. Now, she has been freed from her frozen prison by an unknown descendent. Awakened in human form, Tatijana yearns to explore the modern world in which she now lives—a world with more mysteries than she is prepared for.
Fenris Dalka has returned to the Carpathian Mountains after a long absence to be with his brother. He is scarred by centuries of battle, and every hard-won victory. But the real reason for his return home could prove deadly if discovered by the wrong man—or woman. Upon his arrival, he is compelled by a beautiful and enigmatic stranger who carries the scent of fresh earth, of forest, of the night itself.
In time Tatijana and Fenris will discover all that unites them—their secrets and pasts, their predators, and the hot flush of passion that stirs their souls. Yet just as surely, seduced into the silvery darkness of a full-moon night, they’ll also discover everything ancient and evil that exists to destroy them.
Book 24 in the Carpathian Dark Series
Sparrowgal's rating: 8.5/10
Sparrowgal's thoughts - Spoiler Alert!
I had actually not read book 23 yet (Dark Storm) because I saw that this book was following one particular family line that I like - the Dragonseeker one. This one continues the family story that started with Natalya (Dark Demon), twin sister to Razvan. Razvan found his own lifemate, Ivory Malinov (Dark Slayer), and his daughter Lara paired with Nicholas (Dark Curse). Nicholas's brother, Manolito (Dark Possession) was the first Carpathian to become lifemates to a Lycan, MaryAnn, and it looks like the Lycan/Carpathian is going to be explored further, which I think is brilliant.
In Dark Curse, Lara and Nicholas manage to free her aunts, who were held captive by the evil mage Xavier for centuries. Still healing after their dreadful ordeal, this is the story of Tatijana, the younger of the two sisters.
As with her later books, Ms Feehan has cast off the chauvanistic Carpathian male, and the newer stories are about allowing the heroine to have a choice about when the joining will occur. Fenris is like Manolito - half Lycan, half Carpathian (Sange Rau) - with the two bloodlines so strong that they create a creature stronger than either alone. To the Lycan society, he is an abomination to be hunted and destroyed, no doubt because if turned, they are dreadfully hard to kill and can wreak a lot of damage.
Tatijana is bold, assertive, but considering her lineage, that may be a family trait. Intelligent, having learned abotu Lycan, mage, jaguar and Carpathians from watching Xavier in her icy prison, she uses her knowledge in battle to aid Fenris in his quest to destroy a pair of Sange Rau who are vampires bent on the destruction of the Prince of the Carpathians, Mikhael Dubrinsky.
I really enjoyed seeing the other characters from previous novels appearing in the story. I was especially pleased to see Dimitri - who featured in Gabriel and Francesca's story (Dark Legend), as the lifemate of their adoped daughter, Skyler (who incidentally is a bastard daughter of Razvan) and am thrilled that he is the subject of her next book, Dark Wolf, due out in January 2014. Dimitri is also Fenris' younger brother.
The chemistry between Tatijana and Fenris is quite plausible and I did feel a genuine affection for both characters. It does feel, however, that with each book, each person seems to go through more and more horrific injuries and survive, compared to the relatively paltry injuries that used to kill Carpathians in the early books.
The fertility scene is particularly erotic, more so than any of her previous novels. The romance and tension was well paced throughout the book, allowing Tatijana and Fenris to come to love each other through their actions. The thing that I didn't really like about the book was how Tatijana was able to manoevure quickly in her ice dragon form - she was more powerful in dragon form, but I couldn't imagine it being particularly streamlined when fighting against wolves. Perhaps I was imagining her larger than she was supposed to be.
There was some chemistry between Branislava (Tatijana's older sister) and one of the elite Lycan hunters. I wonder if that will be a story in the future? A lot of cross breeding happening!
The book ends on a cliffhanger, with Dimitri captured by the Lycans, targetted for destruction as he had become Sange Rau. I'm just glad I read this book now - it's only 10 days till I can read the next story.
In Dark Curse, Lara and Nicholas manage to free her aunts, who were held captive by the evil mage Xavier for centuries. Still healing after their dreadful ordeal, this is the story of Tatijana, the younger of the two sisters.
As with her later books, Ms Feehan has cast off the chauvanistic Carpathian male, and the newer stories are about allowing the heroine to have a choice about when the joining will occur. Fenris is like Manolito - half Lycan, half Carpathian (Sange Rau) - with the two bloodlines so strong that they create a creature stronger than either alone. To the Lycan society, he is an abomination to be hunted and destroyed, no doubt because if turned, they are dreadfully hard to kill and can wreak a lot of damage.
Tatijana is bold, assertive, but considering her lineage, that may be a family trait. Intelligent, having learned abotu Lycan, mage, jaguar and Carpathians from watching Xavier in her icy prison, she uses her knowledge in battle to aid Fenris in his quest to destroy a pair of Sange Rau who are vampires bent on the destruction of the Prince of the Carpathians, Mikhael Dubrinsky.
I really enjoyed seeing the other characters from previous novels appearing in the story. I was especially pleased to see Dimitri - who featured in Gabriel and Francesca's story (Dark Legend), as the lifemate of their adoped daughter, Skyler (who incidentally is a bastard daughter of Razvan) and am thrilled that he is the subject of her next book, Dark Wolf, due out in January 2014. Dimitri is also Fenris' younger brother.
The chemistry between Tatijana and Fenris is quite plausible and I did feel a genuine affection for both characters. It does feel, however, that with each book, each person seems to go through more and more horrific injuries and survive, compared to the relatively paltry injuries that used to kill Carpathians in the early books.
The fertility scene is particularly erotic, more so than any of her previous novels. The romance and tension was well paced throughout the book, allowing Tatijana and Fenris to come to love each other through their actions. The thing that I didn't really like about the book was how Tatijana was able to manoevure quickly in her ice dragon form - she was more powerful in dragon form, but I couldn't imagine it being particularly streamlined when fighting against wolves. Perhaps I was imagining her larger than she was supposed to be.
There was some chemistry between Branislava (Tatijana's older sister) and one of the elite Lycan hunters. I wonder if that will be a story in the future? A lot of cross breeding happening!
The book ends on a cliffhanger, with Dimitri captured by the Lycans, targetted for destruction as he had become Sange Rau. I'm just glad I read this book now - it's only 10 days till I can read the next story.
