Veena’s review of Dark Blood (Dark Series, Book 26) by Christine Feehan
Paranormal Romance published by Berkley 02 Sep 14
This is the concluding chapter in the special trilogy featuring some of my favorite characters in the series: the two dragonseeker women who have recently been freed from their imprisonment in the ice caves and Dimitri and Skyler. The attraction between Zev and Broni, forbidden as it might be, has simmered since the beginning of this trilogy. Broni, while not ready for commitment, has tied her life force to Zev to keep him alive when his grievous injuries should have killed him. Zev wants to give her a chance at freedom before mating with her in the Carpathian way, but really! Isn’t she the one who took his choices away? The whole discussion about freedom and choices is a bit irritating, but, nevertheless, the story keeps the reader engaged, especially with all the surprises the author pulls out during the story.
Broni and Zev irritate me at times as a couple, since their story seems to be focused on either battle or sex and no real relationship building, unless we count the earlier books to have contributed to all the relationship building. Ms. Feehan, however, does a great job of using the filler time between battles to reintroduce us to the various characters and their growing families from the Dark series. The rare leisure these hard-bitten warriors enjoy between the war and battles adds a fair bit of light to what would otherwise be a fairly “dark” book.
Also in an interesting twist, I feel that the author might be converging her leopard series in with this series. Carpathians and lycans all become intermixed. The Xavier twist is definitely not something that I could have envisioned in any shape or form, and I totally admire Ms. Feehan for rewriting history for this new reality, even though I personally find it a bit far fetched.
This story brings this trilogy to a conclusion, but also stages the author for where she wants to take the series in the future. There are a lot of new Carpathian males who’ve been converted, especially Gary. It will be interesting if he’ll now get his romance. Twenty-six deep in the series, Ms. Feehan continues to pull rabbits out of a hat and keep her readers interested in the current story and vested in continuing the series with future books.
Grade: B
Summary:
At long last you are truly back with us…Zev Hunter was an elite warrior, a dark-blood dealer of death to rogue Lycans who preyed on mankind. He was a loner, never given to personal attachments, and damned fierce at his job. But Zev begins to question his past and his purpose when he awakens in the darkness of the sacred cave of warriors—and is soothed back to consciousness by the sensuously familiar voice of one woman, the woman who has haunted his fantasies for centuries. She was Branislava, member of the Dragonseeker clan…
Mother Earth called the ancients to witness your rebirth…
For this half-mage, half-Carpathian temptress, the ritual of awakening Zev to the council of warriors was the only way to save him. Locked away for his own protection, the time has now come for his rebirth, for his blood to stir with that of the ancient warriors before him. He has been assured by Branislava that their fates are entwined, that their spirits are woven together for eternity and that his new purpose in life is beyond imagining.
Now, with a blood-sworn vow of honor, mercy and endurance, and under the influence of a siren as bewitching as Branislava, Zev begins to wonder what his purpose is, what it means for the future of the Carpathians and what it is about his rebirth that he has to fear…
Other books in this series:
