#BookReview – “Dark Celebration” by Christine Feehan

Blurb

After centuries as the prince of the Carpathians, Mikhail Dubrinsky fears he can't protect his people for long from their greatest threat: the extinction of their species at the hands of their immortal enemies--who are devising a scheme to slaughter Carpathian females. But even with his own lifemate, Raven, and their daughter, Savannah, vulnerable to the encroaching evil, Mikhail's hope is not lost.

Carpathians from around the world are gathering to join their souls and their powers to bring light to the darkness. But so too are their adversaries uniting--hunters, vampires, demons and betrayers--bringing untold dangers into the fold of the Carpathian people.

Review

In the fourteenth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Mikhail Dubrinksy calls his hunters home to the Carpathian Mountains to celebrate Christmas. Though the Carpathian men are not religious, many of their lifemates used to be humans and still enjoy human-type celebrations. Most of the men hadn’t been home in centuries—living elsewhere in the world to fight vampires—and several heed the prince’s call.

Each couple from the previous books return, and it’s great to see how their relationships are progressing. This story follows Mikhail as he visits those couples, some single men in need of lifemates, and lots of children who need protection.

Two new lifemate pairs are introduced, but the men are unable to claim their women.

My heart ached every time Skyler and Dimitri were on page together. Skyler has had such a hard life. Most males cannot recognize their lifemates until the women are adults, but Dimitri recognized Skyler as his even though she’s only 16. Given her past, she’s matured quickly. Gabriel, her adopted father, is not happy about this and is determined to keep them apart. Even though she’s scared of falling under Dimitri’s thumb, she stands up for him against Gabriel. I enjoyed every scene with them, especially the one where they’re dancing and finally connecting.

The other new couple is Manolito and Mary Ann. I’m not a fan of the De La Cruz brothers, but I felt so bad for Manolito. He nearly dies and no one knows he’s found his lifemate.

I loved the scene when Mikhail visits Joie, Traian, and her siblings, Gabrielle and Jubal. Even though Gabrielle and Gary are in love, she’s now a Carpathian and they can no longer be together if Gabby finds a destined lifemate with a Carpathian male. Gabrielle’s mom hates Gary at first sight, and this is when we readers discover that Gary is distantly descended from the Jaguars. When the mom attacks Gary and tries to go through Mikhail to do so, Traian fails to protect his prince as he’s supposed to, and Gregori berates him like crazy. It’s a very intense scene, even though Mikhail is amused, if not exasperated, with his second-in-command.

Since it’s Christmas and there are lots of small children present, someone has to play Santa. Poor Gregori. It’s so hilarious when Mikhail, his father-in-law and his prince, “request” this of him, and Gregori’s brothers are there watching from the sidelines. Savannah, however, Gregori’s lifemate, isn’t about to let her father win, so she makes Gregori into the best Santa ever.

With so many Carpathians and lifemates in one place, it’s the perfect time for their enemies to strike. The evil mage Xavier and his grandson Razvan cause trouble, and it’s a bitter reunion between Razvan and his twin sister Natalya.

I absolutely love this story. It’s my all-time favorite in the series.

5 Stars