space_corgi's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a fun random read for me. It was one of those “hey bf please pick out my next read” to which he replied “bet”. And proceeded to grab a book with the best cover of all time lmao.
Needless to say, I loved this. Cheesy, vampires, intense overly possessive men of a different species??? Sign me up. Perfect Halloween read.
Needless to say, I loved this. Cheesy, vampires, intense overly possessive men of a different species??? Sign me up. Perfect Halloween read.
thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
3.0
Dark Desire by Christine Feehan was another good one!
I have to say that I like that the author is consistent with personality types but the one thing I do not like is the constant male domineering act. I think I remember that it gets less as the series goes on but in the first two books it was a little overbearing.
I have to say that I like that the author is consistent with personality types but the one thing I do not like is the constant male domineering act. I think I remember that it gets less as the series goes on but in the first two books it was a little overbearing.
bookwife's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly i loved this book. I wasn't a huge fan of the first book. I thought it was too long and just a little too... I don't know the right word.. just too much I guess. I don't know.
I kinda love that Jacque is crazy and that Shea is the only one that can calm him. I love the whole life mate thing. I hate shifter books where there isn't a life mate. What's the point right. I love the way Christine Feehan has written the mates in this book. Where they call to each other over thousands of miles. Love it!
I also have to say that I love that they aren't actually Vampires, they are Carpathians unless they go bad. Cool twist. I can't remember when I read the first book Dark Prince, but i want to say it has been at least a year.. ish and I am just not reading the second book because I wasn't feeling the first book but I actually really enjoyed this book. I didn't LOVE it but I got hooked into the world and now I need to know whats going on and I already have the third book and I am starting it tomorrow. So we shall see if the rest of the series can pull me in or if this book just happened to be a fluke. Though I do know I will read until the 4th book becauseI have to know about Gregori.. like I have to. So at least two more books for me to fall head over heels in love with the series.
I kinda love that Jacque is crazy and that Shea is the only one that can calm him. I love the whole life mate thing. I hate shifter books where there isn't a life mate. What's the point right. I love the way Christine Feehan has written the mates in this book. Where they call to each other over thousands of miles. Love it!
I also have to say that I love that they aren't actually Vampires, they are Carpathians unless they go bad. Cool twist. I can't remember when I read the first book Dark Prince, but i want to say it has been at least a year.. ish and I am just not reading the second book because I wasn't feeling the first book but I actually really enjoyed this book. I didn't LOVE it but I got hooked into the world and now I need to know whats going on and I already have the third book and I am starting it tomorrow. So we shall see if the rest of the series can pull me in or if this book just happened to be a fluke. Though I do know I will read until the 4th book becauseI have to know about Gregori.. like I have to. So at least two more books for me to fall head over heels in love with the series.
rebeccareadsmut's review against another edition
4.0
Going back and reading some of my favorites from back in the day. While actually "listening" to them. This series was probably one of my first times reading paranormal and vampire books back in the early 2000s but I don't think they are the best vampire books by any means. I enjoy more the idea of them (the race etc) than actually reading them anymore, but I remember loving them 20 years ago.
There is a lot of internal struggle in this series in the females and I feel like a lot of it get repeated over and over again. A very wordy author, sometimes it gets to be a bit much, I found myself several times thinking I wanted the story to move on, but it goes slowly. I think there is a lot of forcing being done and not always a whole lot of consent of the situation by the females.
That said, I do think this is one of the better ones. I love love love Jacques. I love me some dark and tortured males. I could just eat them with a spoon. The opening scene of how Shea finds Jacques, saves him and heals him is one that has stayed with him since the last time I read it. He's very tutored and not all together mentally. Because of that torture I am more willing to forgive some of the kind of liberties he takes that I don't always find myself okay with in other books in the series.
Overall I do feel like I'm mostly rereading because I can get the audio books from my library and I don't have to pay that much attention to them. If I space out for 5 mins it will still mostly likely be in the same scene lol. Plus I really really want to read Gregori's book again. He's amazing.
There is a lot of internal struggle in this series in the females and I feel like a lot of it get repeated over and over again. A very wordy author, sometimes it gets to be a bit much, I found myself several times thinking I wanted the story to move on, but it goes slowly. I think there is a lot of forcing being done and not always a whole lot of consent of the situation by the females.
That said, I do think this is one of the better ones. I love love love Jacques. I love me some dark and tortured males. I could just eat them with a spoon. The opening scene of how Shea finds Jacques, saves him and heals him is one that has stayed with him since the last time I read it. He's very tutored and not all together mentally. Because of that torture I am more willing to forgive some of the kind of liberties he takes that I don't always find myself okay with in other books in the series.
Overall I do feel like I'm mostly rereading because I can get the audio books from my library and I don't have to pay that much attention to them. If I space out for 5 mins it will still mostly likely be in the same scene lol. Plus I really really want to read Gregori's book again. He's amazing.
athenaevarinya's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe I'm the more practical sort, but I found myself rather annoyed with Shea for freaking out because the men used her eyes to take out the bad guys. I mean the men were there to kill Raven and take her to a vampire. She knew they had killed, tortured and raped humans and Carpathians. I would have been totally fine with helping to take them out. I'd be more mad that I didn't have the knowledge to use the Carpathians powers to do it myself.
bookdrgn's review against another edition
5.0
Dark desire takes place 25 years after the events of Dark Prince.
The couple is Jacques Dubrinsky and Shea O’Halloran. Jacques is the Prince’s brother and Shea, who is half-Carpathian, though she doesn’t know this yet..
Jacques is being held captive away from the earth and blood for seven years, betrayed by one of his own to The Vampire Hunting Society. He reaches out and finds Shea. Thinking she is an enemy, he draws her to him to release him.
We revisit with Mikhail, Gregori, Byron, and Raven who reveals she is pregnant.
It reveals Shea’s lineage, and her father is Rand, who was put to ground in book one following the death of Noelle, his wife and Jacques sister and adoption of his son. Her mother, Maggie, was Rand’s true lifemate, but he didn’t tell Mikhail. When he went to ground Maggie was bereft. She made sure she met Shea’s basic physical needs but none of her emotional or psychological ones. Once Shea turned eighteen, Maggie, convinced Rand is gone, took her own life.
The betrayer turns out to be Rand. Upon finding Maggie dead, they believe he turned vampire. He gave the hunters Jacques and his own son; the boy Shea recognises in a picture when two of the society members visit her to determine if she is a vampire or not.
It all comes to a head in violence, Raven is shot, her baby is in danger, Byron is used as a trap and Jacques’ mental health is precarious.
By the end of the book Raven and baby have are saved and Byron takes his leave, to find strength to hold out against the bleak existence he and many other Carpathians line in.
The world Christine has created is still robust and realistic. The characters are humorous, even in the face of adversity, Gregori is acerbic and the Carpathians live to fight another day.
This series is well worth the time investment, each book adds to the challenges the Carpathian’s face and each new lifemate brings hope to the Carpathians.
The couple is Jacques Dubrinsky and Shea O’Halloran. Jacques is the Prince’s brother and Shea, who is half-Carpathian, though she doesn’t know this yet..
Jacques is being held captive away from the earth and blood for seven years, betrayed by one of his own to The Vampire Hunting Society. He reaches out and finds Shea. Thinking she is an enemy, he draws her to him to release him.
We revisit with Mikhail, Gregori, Byron, and Raven who reveals she is pregnant.
It reveals Shea’s lineage, and her father is Rand, who was put to ground in book one following the death of Noelle, his wife and Jacques sister and adoption of his son. Her mother, Maggie, was Rand’s true lifemate, but he didn’t tell Mikhail. When he went to ground Maggie was bereft. She made sure she met Shea’s basic physical needs but none of her emotional or psychological ones. Once Shea turned eighteen, Maggie, convinced Rand is gone, took her own life.
The betrayer turns out to be Rand. Upon finding Maggie dead, they believe he turned vampire. He gave the hunters Jacques and his own son; the boy Shea recognises in a picture when two of the society members visit her to determine if she is a vampire or not.
It all comes to a head in violence, Raven is shot, her baby is in danger, Byron is used as a trap and Jacques’ mental health is precarious.
By the end of the book Raven and baby have are saved and Byron takes his leave, to find strength to hold out against the bleak existence he and many other Carpathians line in.
The world Christine has created is still robust and realistic. The characters are humorous, even in the face of adversity, Gregori is acerbic and the Carpathians live to fight another day.
This series is well worth the time investment, each book adds to the challenges the Carpathian’s face and each new lifemate brings hope to the Carpathians.