I like Feehan’s writing style, it is descriptive and she takes time with her action scenes. Her Dark series is based in the common world, and the main characters are not typical vampires but more shifters that drink blood. She has added in several of other mythical species into the series so far. She incorporates strong family values into her novels and keeps characters recurring.

The only thing that bothers me is that the male characters are always similar and aren’t rounded with unique personalities. Sometimes I get them confused as I have been reading other books while progressing this series. It’s very long with a lot of characters to remember.

★★★★ I would recommend this one as long as you start the series from the beginning and in order. ( )

In the thirteenth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, vampire slayer Natalya is on the run from a very determined Carpathian hunter. Raised to hate both hunters and vampires, she actively avoids hunters, but vampires always seek her out. Since she’s part mage, part human, and part Carpathian, she wields a lot of power and magic. Though she comes from the distinguished Dragonseeker line, she doesn’t know much about her heritage, and what she does know, well, it’s a lie.
Vikirnoff Von Shrieder has been searching for Natalya for a while and finally finds her in the midst of battle, but she isn’t the lifemate he expected. She’s brash, funny, stubborn, and doesn’t obey him. In other words, she drives him crazy!
Vikirnoff and Natalya bicker a lot, but it’s hilarious playful bantering. He was bossy, sure, but he wasn’t cold and harsh to her. She was strong enough to handle and flabbergast her man, which makes her one of the best heroines in the series.
A great cast of secondary characters played big roles in this book. Jubal, Gabrielle, Falcon, Sara, Mikhail, Raven—just to name a few.
This book definitely had a lot of villains and action scenes, which was great. Xavier, the evil and powerful mage intent on destroying the Carpathians, is probably the cruelest, strongest villain yet to be introduced in the series. Sweet and brilliant Gabrielle meets an unexpected fate, her future with Gary temporarily shelved. Razvan, Natalya’s beloved twin, has turned evil, or so everyone believes. So much stuff happened, and more will be revealed in later books.
This is definitely one of the better books in the series.
4 Stars
( )

Liked this one. Strong female lead. ( )

Finally a pair-off that I didn't want to completely strangle either of the two in it. ( )

I'm not normally a fan of the Dark series, but I liked the strong, sassy heroine Natalya, and Vikirnoff was over protective without being too controlling. Natalya comes out with some funny one-liners and Vikirnoff develops a sense of humour as the plot thickens. An enjoyable read. ( )