Dark Ghost by Christine Feehan – Review & Giveaway

Dark Ghost
Carpathian series – Book #28
by Christine Feehan
Release Date: September 1, 2015

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / BAM

Description:
He wasn’t civilized or tame. He had his own code and he lived by it.

Monk. Bounty hunter. Vampire slayer. Andre Boroi has spent centuries battling the undead, holding out against the dark with honor. But now, gravely wounded by master vampire Costin Popescu, Andre will be easy to track—his spilled blood marking the killing trail for Popescu and his hungry band of underlings. Andre’s only chance is to disappear into the gray mist of the Carpathians. To wait. To hope.
 
She had a healing touch and a scent that was his lifeblood.
 
In the mountains in search of a precious crystal, geologist Teagan Joanes suddenly finds herself hunted by those she once trusted. Then she comes across the warrior—wounded, wanting and irresistible. Andre has been craving her for an eternity: his lifemate. Her warmth envelops him. Her scent pulsates. And with every beat of her heart, Teagan surrenders to a passion she can’t possibly comprehend.
 
Now they are bound by destiny, but is it enough to keep them safe from a stalking, relentless darkness that threatens to swallow them alive?

Barb’s Review:

Dark Ghost by Christine Feehan is the 28^th book in her Carpathian series. I thought Dark Ghost was a good story, but I did have mixed feelings; a major part of my feelings is that as I have said before, the old style seems to be missing. Other then the Skyler/Dimitri trilogy, which I did enjoy, the last few books have been a disappointment to me.

Dark Ghost was somewhat better, but still very reminiscent of the other later books. I have been waiting a long time for Andre’s story, and I really liked him a lot. Teagan is our heroine, and I liked her too, but did have mixed feelings with her too.

The story begins with Andre knowing he is getting closer his end, to meet the dawn. He goes underground to heal from major injuries fighting a master vampire, whom he hurt badly, but did not kill him. While he rests underground, Teagan, who is a healer, finds herself in danger, from a friend whom she trusted. Running away, she hides in a cave, and begins to search for a stone that she feels with help cure her grandmother. She comes upon an injured Andre, and uses her healing ability to cure many of his injuries. Much to his shock, Andre know this young woman is what he has been searching for all his life; the woman who will save him….his lifemate.

What follows is a story of a Carpathian hunter, who finds his love and his color/emotions back after centuries; a young woman, who can’t resist the alpha male who showers her with adoration, as well as possessiveness; danger in the Carpathian mountains from both humans and vampires. Most of all it the sexual relationship between Andre and Teagan.

What did I have mixed feelings about? Andre was great, but finding his lifemate and turning her so fast, did not really sit well with me. Teagan was very independent, and they fought  from from the start. But throughout the book she kept going back and forth to fight Andre or hopelessly devour him. So many times she changed her mind.  Just about 85% of the book took place in the Cave. (Reminded me of Dominic’s story). Not enough action, though I did enjoy the parts that Andre taught Teagan how to fly and her other powers. That was fun.  Sex, sex, sex and more sex. I like my steamy romances, but not when it over powers the story.

I thought Dark Ghost was better than many of the other recent books in this series, but Christine Feehan has taken this from a paranormal romance suspense with steamy sex to more of an erotic romance storyline.

 

Sandy’s Review:

DARK GHOST is the 28th installment in Christine Feehan’s adult, paranormal romance DARK (Carpathian) series focusing on a supernatural species known as the Carpathians. This is Carpathian Andre Boroi, and American climber Teagan Joanes’s storyline. DARK GHOST can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

SOME BACKGROUND: All Carpathian males, must find their lifemates before they turn vampire or greet the dawn. Without a lifemate, the males no longer see in color, feel pain or experience emotions. A lifemate is the light to their dark. She is the keeper of his heart and the keeper of his soul.

Told from third person point of view DARK GHOST finds our hero Andre in a fight for his life. A master vampire has targeted Andre, and their latest battle results in a struggle for survival. While Andre lies healing in the ground in the Carpathian Mountains, he will be awakened by the voice of his lifemate-Teagan Joanes-a woman he never knew existed until she was pulled to the very cave where Andre went to repair the damage inflicted by the master vampire. What ensues is Andre’s struggle to understand the mind of the modern woman, and the hunt for the person responsible for attacking his lifemate prior to her appearance in the cave.

DARK GHOST is a slow building story where the growing relationship between Teagan and Andre is the central focus of the storyline. Our couple is secluded in a healing cave in the Carpathian Mountains for most of the book, and there is very little outside influence or external conflict-the majority of the conflict bookends Teagan and Andre’s time in the Mountain cave. That’s not to say there wasn’t any contention; Teagan is a modern woman who refuses to acknowledge Andre’s need for control, and his over protective he-man attitude. She is unaware of the danger that searches for her new lifemate, and with it comes the struggles between a man used to the old ways, and a woman whose feminist ideology doesn’t allow for the give and take in a new, unexplored, supernatural relationship.

For fans of the series you may notice some changes over the last few storylines. The Carpathian claiming verse is longer with additional lines and content; to offer blood freely between two Carpathians now comes with longer prose and text; and Christine Feehan’s storylines are more violent towards women-there is the overriding issue of rape and torture that seems to be directed at many of the female characters-primary, secondary and supporting. I am not sure why the change of attack and the propensity for such anger, but it is something that I have noticed throughout the last few installments. I also had an issue with repetition (as a constant reminder) and redundancy–it was all too familiar from previous storylines.

DARK GHOST sees another ancient Carpathian saved from eternal damnation as the undead. Finding one’s lifemate brings with it the return of emotions, colors and feelings that have been lost for hundreds if not thousands of years. Andre’s endless cycle of hunting the vampire has the additional intensity of protecting his lifemate while he battles the friends who have chosen the dark side. Christine Feehan’s DARK/Carpathian series brought me back into the supernatural genre of vampires and immortals. Here’s hoping that many of the ancients previously introduced in the series find their lifemates before too long.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

 

Christine’s publisher is offering a papercopy of DARK GHOST to ONE(1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

1. If you have not previously registered at The Reading Cafe, please register by using the log-in at the top of the page (side bar) or by using one of the social log-ins.

2. If you are using a social log-in, please post your email address with your comment.

3. Please LIKE and Follow Christine Feehan on Facebook

4. Please FOLLOW The Reading Cafe on TSU

5. LIKE us on FACEBOOK and then click GET NOTIFICATION under ‘liked’ for an additional entry.

6. FOLLOW us on Twitter for an additional entry.

7. Please FOLLOW us on GOODREADS for an additional entry.

8. Giveaway open to USA only.

9. Giveaway runs from September 2-6, 2015