Dark Peril (Carpathians #21) by Christine Feehan
Paranormal Romance
August 31, 2010
Hardcover, 400 Pages
Berkley Hardcover
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “You reveal me. Then you heal me. Of all the scars and strife. Ans when my life was spinning downward, you caught me. I’d forgotten how to smile, but you re taught me.”
Dominic of the Dragonseeker line has given up all hope he will find his life mate so he decides to strike hard and fast at the heart of his enemies; taking them and himself out of the picture. The only way to do this is to ingest the parasitic blood of a vampire. Once he does this, he will have little time to to get the information he needs and relay to the Carpathian leader. But he did not count on Solange Sangria.
Solange is a pureblood Jaguar, one of the last of the royal line. She has fought alone against her father, Broderick the Terrible, who seeks to capture and torture the remaining shape shifters. Broderick slaughtered her entire family and she is weary of the war. So she plans one last battle hoping to stop the man who has joined forces with the vampires.
Dominic and Solange meet in their dreams-neither realizing that they are each others salvation until one fateful night they meet in reality. When Dominic hears Solange’s voice the world opens to him in an explosion of light, color, and emotions. From that day forward he knows she is his life mate. But Solange has spent her life alone in violence and knows nothing about the ways of men and women. As Dominic woos Solange to win her trust and heart; they both will have to deal with their past in order to secure their future.
Dark Peril is a nice story that could easily be a stand alone in the Carpathian series. The premise of the story revolves mainly around Dominic and Solange and their romance. I enjoyed how deeply Ms. Feehan takes us into their relationship and allows us to watch with ring side seats. Very emotional with equal POVs from both sides which helps in solidifying the validity of their relationship. Dominic is not your average Carpathian. He comes off gentler and not quite as blatantly alpha as some of the others.
Solange disappointed me in the beginning in her dealings with Dominic but she eventually grew on me. I found her personality as a supposed battle hardened warrior to be at odds with how she acts with Dominic. She is shy and unsure; easily led to what Dominic wants her to do. As she becomes more comfortable with him and her emotions she emerges as the heroine I wanted her to be. Strong, humorous, and very self assured. What I really liked was the give and take between them. As she emerges from her self imposed shell, he also grows and loses his autocratic attitude and you see them becoming more of an equal couple. Rather different then the norm for this series where the male beats his chest and dictates to his woman while she swoons as she playful tells us, “Oh he doesn’t mean to be a Neanderthal…it’s just he loves me so much….”
The plot does leave a bit to be desired if you are looking for the usual action packed, suspenseful ride of this series. As I said earlier, this all revolves around Dominic and Solange so it is only their battles we see fought. It’s all rather low key and ends as you expect it to. Not much advancement to the arc at all. We do not see or interact with any of the other Carpathians except Manolito’s brother Zacharius who is set up as Dominic’s ally. Magic is a powerful ally in this story and Ms. Feehan uses an interesting twist that allows Dominic and Solange to be together and to open up a new avenue in the Carpathian arc.
All in all while I liked the story it didn’t excite me the way the series has the past. Over saturation of the protagonists combined with minuscule plot made the story rather drawn out at times. I do hope the next installment brings back the emotional turmoil, suspense, and nail biting action that originally hooked me on this series.
Rating: 3/5
Recent Reviews:
Lynette’s Two Cents – B
Goodreads
For a list of the “Dark” books in reading order, go HERE.
I enjoyed reading your review Tori, what's new LOL For me 9/10 times a Dark novel is a hit or a miss with me. After 10/11 books I've let it slip and now I have a pile of Dark books to catch up with *eek* I don't mind character driven books but I do need to feel connected with them otherwise it can easily become a mediocre read :S
Really great review!
I like how we liked similar things about Dark Peril my review I found Dark Peril to be a refreshing change because of Dominic not being over the top alpha male.
Any thoughts on the next book? Dark Predator.
Leontine-Thank you chica. A long running series always runs that risk.
Ally- Thank you. I haven't even looked into Dark Predator yet.Im ashamed.:(
Nice review Tori – I haven't started this series yet, I suppose the vest numbers there are is a bit daunting, especially when I have so many others to read. But the way you describe the other books makes me think I maybe missing out…
Hi Tori! I really enjoyed this book…having a calm, patient Carpathian hero is a huge departure for Christine Feehan, and I really liked that. I also thought Solange was a great kick-ass warrior heroine, and a great partner for Dominic. I loved the final scene of this book when they walk into the sunshine together. Soooooo awesome! CF seems to be moving into a new direction lately…Water Bound was also more emotionally intense than action-packed. I like it!
Thanks for the review!
Book City Chick- Thank you It's a pretty long running series. :)
Penelope-This book was so diff but yes, you hit nail on the head. It was a lot like Water Bound which I really enjoyed. Her alpha males can be so, errr, ALPHA at times. lol With her Carpathian series I just expect a lot of action and character interaction.
Great review Tori. I myself had to shelve Feehan's Dark series for a while. It all became too redundant for me after about the 8/9th book.
Aye, I read it and while mine wasn't as nicely put as yours (I be kinda brutal when disappointed!) we have the same general idea re it. ;D
I am looking forward to reading this one, sorry to hear it will not be as Action driven as some of the others and most of the Carpathian gang being absent is kind of disappointing as well but really love the quote you start the review off with…
Feehan has her moments that is for sure!
jackie ^_^
Does that really say #21? That is an intimidating number since I haven't read any in this series yet! She has another series besides this one doesn't she? Nice review Tori, hope number #22 is better:)
Amy865-Thank you. It's hard to let go of a series. I've been reading Feehan for a long time.
Eithne-I think I love you because you said, "Aye." lol
jackie b central texas-I miss the gang. *sigh* But the book is very romantic in terms of protags.
Jenny-Yup, Twenty-One to this series so far. lol Start now and you'll you'll never have to wait to read next one. ;)She actually has 3. This one, the Ghostwalkers, and the Drake Sisters/Cousins series.
I'm really looking forward to this one as I've saved Dark Slayer so I'd have two in this series to read together. I remember when I "discovered" this series. I collected all of them and read them back to back for weeks. Can anyone say "Priceless"?
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