#BookReview – “Dark Challenge” by Christine Feehan

Blurb

Julian Savage was golden. Powerful. But tormented. For the brooding hunter walked alone, always alone, far from his Carpathian kind, alien to even his twin. Like his name, his existence was savage. Until he met the woman he was sworn to protect...

When Julian heard Desari sing, rainbows swamped his starving senses. Emotions bombarded his hardened heart. And a dark hunger to possess her flooded his loins, blinding him to the danger stalking him. And even as Desari enflamed him, she dared to defy him with mysterious, unparalleled feminine powers. Was Desari more than his perfect mate? Julian had met his match in this woman, but would she drive him to madness... or save his soul?

Review

In the fifth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Julian Savage is a Carpathian warrior ready to seek the dawn and end his life. After committing a heartbreaking mistake in his childhood, he’s lived centuries in solitude and avoided the people of his race, especially his twin brother Aiden, and he cannot bear the bleakness of his lonely world any longer. He just has one last task to complete and then he’ll be free, but finding his lifemate alters his plans.

Desari is in danger from vampires and fanatical human vampire hunters alike, but she and her close-knit family unit are prepared for anything, except for Julian. He saves her life from the hunters and binds her soul to his, but she doesn’t understand the concept of lifemates or what it truly means to be Carpathian. She and her hodge-podge family have lived together for centuries away from their homeland, never knowing the history and customs of their people. They’re traveling musicians, and performing is the only thing that keeps the family focused and together. Desari’s voice is magic, but she inadvertently draws attention from murderous vampires just by being a woman.

Julian and Desari are strong, likeable characters. He’s arrogant and controlling to a fault, but smart enough to back off and to admit when he’s wrong. Desari is full of light and love, never having lost her emotions and sense of color as the males of the species do. She’s strong in the face of adversity, which is mainly her overprotective lifemate Julian and her overbearing brother Darius, and stands up for what she needs and believes in. She makes Julian into a better man.

I adore the secondary characters (Darius, Dayan, Barack, and Syndil). Darius in particular is amazing and perhaps ever stronger than Julian, and his book is one of my favorites in the series. The drama between Barack and Syndil makes for an interesting subplot, which is further developed in Darius’s book.

Though I liked this story, the head hopping sometimes led to confusion, and I had to reread passages to understand who was thinking/talking. There’s lots of repetition, mostly Julian reiterating the same thing to Desari. The story mostly takes place in woodsy forest areas and in various music venues, and the scenery is always well described and breathtaking.

4 Stars