In 2021 alone, I read a lot of novels by Christine Feehan, compared to previous years, for a total of six. In 2021, I started really wanting to catch up on the Dark series, newer books as well as older ones that had intrigued me from years before.
Dark Slayer. From 2009. It definitely has late 00’s-early 10’s vibes; heroine in black leather vest and floor-length jacket. I liked Ivory’s life with her wolves and the home she made. I loved that the wolves had been converted; I thought that was an interesting detail. I also liked how Ivory and Razvan were outsiders to the Carpathian people and, to some degree, their enemies. It was interesting how Razvan was not the warrior, but instead, Ivory protected him and began training him to kill vampires. It was also interesting how he wasn’t even very good at it at first (or maybe ever, who knows). I appreciated that Feehan created complicated characters that weren’t automatically perfect at everything. The concepts intrigued me more than the story itself. Some parts of it dragged for me.
Dark Predator. From 2011. In Dark Peril, Marguarita is injured by a vampire. When I saw she was the main character of another book, I wanted to read it. I enjoyed Marguarita a lot as a character, particularly her special affinity with animals. Now Zacarias was a lot harder to like. He deliberately inflicted pain on her at times to punish her and, toward the beginning of their relationship, reprised her experience of being attacked by a vampire. That dampened my enjoyment of the work a lot. I am all for darkness and ambiguity, but it was hard to relate to her response of unconditional love and acceptance toward him from the start. Overall, it wasn’t the story I’d hoped to read.
Dark Promises. From 2016. My favorite Christine Feehan work ever. This one tops even Dark Desire. It’s the story that finally convinced me to stop crediting online customer reviews. The comments and criticisms of the work were so inaccurate. I absolutely loved every bit of this work. I don’t think it dragged even for a moment. I have ended up thinking of the book again so many times over the past several months, it’s hard to believe I read it less than a year ago. This is definitely a work I will read again, since my first read was in audio format. I loved how Gabrielle was rather cossetted and spoiled, and Aleksei jumped right in the middle of her attempted marriage to Gary. As jealous as Aleksei was, he ended up accepting that Gary had been an important person in Gabrielle’s life and accepting her feelings of friendship for him. And the side romance between Trixie and Fane, that was my favorite part of the book, and my favorite Dark series romance ever. I loved Trixie so, so much, her conflicted feelings about wanting to fall in love versus the identity she already had for herself. I loved the whole “practically a virgin” thing, even though she was a grandmother, since she had only had sex one time in her life, when a teenager, with a teenage boy, and did not care for it. I loved that she was an African-American woman shocked at herself for having a lover that “wasn’t even a brother.” I loved how Trixie was outwardly very poised and striking to others but never perceived herself that way. I wish I had read this one sooner. I believe the narrator was an African-American woman and gave a certain cadence to Trixie’s speech that made her convincing and real.
Dark Carousel. From 2016. I had high hopes for this one, because I love antiques and wanted to know what was going on with the carousel horses. I think what spoiled this book for me was the sexual relationship between Charlotte and Tariq. I just didn’t feel that at all. All those children at the compound, too, and that additional female character, a model, that seemed content to just sit around and do nothing. Weird.
Dark Legacy. From 2017. I had a hard time finishing this one. It just seemed kind of boring to me. I believe this is the book that introduced the lifemates that are the pre-teen girl and the ancient Carpathian. That was so gross to me. Especially because they interacted and he was tender and kind to her, I think turning the carousel horse to life to amuse her. And it was mentioned repeatedly that as soon as she turns 18, he will “claim” her. I sort of hope that relationship doesn’t become a book because the whole scenario creeps me out. The boring children (introduced in Dark Carousel) became possessed by vampires a lot, which was a pain and tedious to read. The love between Emeline and Dragomir wasn’t compelling to me either, just kind of icky, somehow. I went on hiatus from the Dark series after this one.
Desolation Road. From 2020. I managed to read this book a year after its release, and I believe I bought it in-person, too, for a change. This was my first Torpedo Ink book, and I loved it a lot. These books are weird, kind of bizarre. The men are Russian assassins who have formed a motorcycle gang. It’s the first book I’ve read of the series, but it seems like they all have weird sexual needs based on their abuse as children. It will be hard to top Aleksei’s. He needed his woman to wear kitten accessories and pretend to be his little kitty. She did it, too. I definitely learned a lot about how all of that works. I really want to read another book in this series, but they’re pretty intense. When they go back to the past with the child sex abuse and stuff, I really like to be able to skim or take a break. I’m just not sure I’d like to read it in audio format. There’s a lot of killings, too, kind of graphic. It honestly is a good book to me, but I’m not sure I want to listen, so I’ll have to get a print copy of my next one. I read the preview to Judgment Road and got really sucked in to that one. At the same time, the three most recent releases are calling my name, too. I have heard this series is going to be a short one, so at least I’ll be able to read them all without feeling like I’ve overdosed, like I often do with the Dark series.
Sunlight-Colored Roses 