DARK FIRE

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.

Dark Fire is the 6th book in Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series, and without a doubt, I favor this book because of Darius “blushes”

Darius, the youngest of the Daratrazanoff brothers, has yet to find his lifemate, and is so close to the end, he continues to distance himself from his family of ‘lost children’, until the evening he returns to their campsite to find Tempest ‘Rusti’ Trine, a fiery red-haired auto mechanic and his lifemate. For close to 1000 years, Darius has been the leader and family patriarch, watching over, protecting, fighting vampires and resigning himself to a life of loneliness –one without a treasured and necessary mate to save his soul. But the life he once knew, is about to be turned upside down and sideways, and one fraught with anxiety, laughter and love. He finds love and life in another lost soul-one who will challenge his leadership, his arrogance and his patience-Tempest is the lifemate he never expected and will die for, in order to protect her.

As independent as Tempest is, her life has been difficult-raised by drug addicts, who exposed the young child to the dirty underworld of neglect and addiction, she ran away, only to find that there are those you can trust and those who will take advantage of a young woman. Not without her own talent to ‘read’ and ‘speak’ with the animals, Tempest is not surprised by the world of the Carpathians. Their need to feed, go to ground to heal and sleep, as well their ability to shape shift, speak telepathically, and create the necessities to survive, from the earth around, do not push Tempest away, but the love of a man, has her running for her life and away from the only person who would destroy everything to protect her and cherish her beyond life itself.

Darius is placed in the precarious position to continuously rescue Tempest from the almost comedic and life-threatening situations she seems to find. When a reporter, Matt Brodrick threatens to expose Desari, Julian and the other members of the band as vampires, Tempest takes it upon herself to defend her new family against a campaign to rid the world of evil vampires, and finds herself injured, bleeding and once again, running from the only man, who has sworn his protection and love. When Tempest boards a bus, bound for any place but where she is, Darius is beyond exasperation, and must claim, the only woman, who can save his soul.

Following a trip into town to buy supplies, Tempest is approached by Cullen Tucker, a man once associated with the group of extremists, trying to capture and destroy the Carpathians, but who is now, risking his own life, to save Tempest and her new family. Knowing Cullen has more information that could aid Darius and the others, Tempest must bring this human, back to camp, and risk exposing everyone, to the humans they have been trying to avoid for 100’s of years.

Throughout the storyline, we see Syndil, trying desperately to friend Tempest and guide her through the ever-increasing changes, much to the chagrin of Barack. But unbeknownst to Syndil, and many of the others, Barack is her lifemate. He has never lost his emotions or colors, but has been waiting a lifetime to claim his mate. Due to a horrific assault by one of their own ‘brothers’ , who had turned vampire, Syndil is slowly recovering from the rape and near-death experience. Barack’s patience snaps, when Syndil approaches Cullen, looking for friendship and a male companion.

When Darius and Tempest are left behind by the other band members, they are attacked by vigilante terrorists, seeking to expose and destroy the family. With only a severely injured Darius to guide her, Tempest must find her way to the other family members, driving the tour bus over rough terrain and through a storm of fierce Carpathian pride. When they are finally rescued, and Darius must go to ground to heal, Tempest declares her love for Darius, and offers her life for his.

But it is not until an ill-fated kidnapping attempt of Tempest, that, once again leaves Darius injured and bleeding, do we see Tempest’s true devotion and love for this man. She willingly gives of herself and her blood, to save his life. When he awakens to the sound of his dying mate, Darius must complete the blood exchange, and claim Tempest as his lifemate for all time.

Dark Fire is one of my favorite Christine Feehan storylines. I fell madly in love with Darius from the moment he saw his lifemate, and had no idea what to do with her. He was a man lost in a world of need and longing, and a world he knew nothing about. There are many humorous passages involving Tempest and her ‘inability’ for find her way home, but overall, their story of love and passion, is what draws me to this storyline……..everytime.

Sandy

Christine Feehan’s Ghostwalkers are an elite group of men and women, psychically enhanced by the maleficent Dr. Whitney. 4 teams of specially trained soldiers, who are fiercely protective of those they love and the men and women who cover their backs.

Deadly Game is the 5th installment in the Ghostwalker series by Christine Feehan.

Ken Norton, a gifted sniper, with powers equaled only by his twin Jack, returns from a tortuous rescue mission in the Congo, to realize, not only his physical appearance has change. While on assignment to protect the senator who turned tail and ran in the Congo, Ken finds Mari, another enhanced soldier, who was also sent to guard the nefarious politician. Thinking Mari was a trained assassin, aiming her sights on the senator, Ken takes down Mari, in the first step on their trek of betrayal and love.

Ken soon realizes that Mari is the woman who has been paired with him through hormone recognition and attraction, but refuses to accept that there is any woman capable of loving a man, so brutally tortured and maimed. His all-consuming attraction to and need for Mari, only reinforces what Ken already believes-that he is more like his abusive and sadistic father than anyone could know. His sexual aggression towards the woman, who would be his mate, is anything but normal for a man once known to make a woman weak in the knees.

Marigold Smith is determined to return to the compound where she and several other enhanced women have been raised and trained as soldiers, but Ken will never let her go. On a rescue mission of hope, Mari is captured and returned to the isolated compound where her ‘sisters’ in life, must suffer through the indignities and abuse by the men who claim to be their protectors. But a humiliating physical exam for Mari and a fight to the death between Shaun and Brett, for the ‘rights’ to impregnate his mate, shake Ken’s resolve. He is falling in the love with the woman created especially for him.

Deadly Game is filled with passion and sorrow. The story brought me to tears, when Ken believed Mari chose the sister’s with whom she was raised over the life he was offering. But love does conquer all, when Mari returns to start a new life of love with the man who was made …especially for her.

Christine has researched the background information required to detail the military lifestyle and adventures of the men and women who battle along side those who fight for freedom. The Ghostwalker’s series is a salute to the rescue missions and lives saved from the rebels and dictators, whose only goal is domination over others. Deadly Game and its’ hero Ken Norton, is a departure from the normal HEA. The torture and abuses suffered by Ken, by both his father and an evil dictator, left me feeling anxious and mourning for a character so maimed, that I wanted to wrap myself in a blanket and cry. I was emotionally drawn into the storyline and experienced all the sorrow and anger. And to me, that is a sign of a great writer.

DEADLY GAME review by Sandy