#BookReview – “Dark Possession” by Christine Feehan

Blurb

Manolito De La Cruz knew he was dangerously close to turning into a vampire. The last thing he expected after being called back to his Carpathian homeland by Prince Mikhail was to catch the scent of his destined lifemate in MaryAnn Delaney. MaryAnn is human, but she knows all too well the overwhelmingly aggressive instincts of Carpathian males. And they're not exactly the kind of men she'd prefer to be bound to for life.

A dedicated counselor for battered women, MaryAnn has a fulfilling life with no room for someone like Manolito, born and bred in the Carpathian Mountains, a law unto himself. But when MaryAnn agrees to go to South America to offer guidance to a brutalized young woman, she has no idea of the trap that awaits her in the sweltering thick of the jungle. She has been lured there by Manolito himself, who has seductive plans for the unaware, irresistibly human female.

Once there, she will be his. Once his, she never will be released. He is her lover, her predator, her lifemate. She is his dark possession.
 
Review

In the fifteen book of the Dark/Carpathian series, abuse counselor MaryAnn Delaney attended the Carpathian Christmas celebration in the last book and agrees to accompany the De La Cruz brothers to South America in order to help Jasmine, a brutalized young Jaguar woman. MaryAnn is very depressed but doesn’t know why. Sure, she witnessed one of the brothers nearly dying, but she doesn’t know the man. Yet, she feels as though her heart and soul has been torn in two.

Manolito De La Cruz’s spirit left his body, but his brothers and the famed Carpathian healer Gregori saved his life. After Rafael, Riordan, and Nicolas take him back to Brazil and place him in the ground to heal, the unthinkable happens. Manolito awakens too soon and his spirit is still trapped between the living and the dead. Plus, he claims he has a lifemate.

Unfortunately, I found the spirit/shadow world very confusing, and much of the book takes place there. I just don’t understand how it works. I did enjoy, however, the scene when Manolito meets Vlad and Sarantha Dubrinsky again. They’ve been dead for several centuries, but Manolito still respects his former prince and finally has the chance to apologize for a grave transgression.

Manolito is controlling and demanding as all the Carpathian males are, but he’s not as bad as some of his brothers.

I definitely liked MaryAnn when she was first introduced in Dark Destiny. She’s also the first person of color to be featured as a main character in this series. MaryAnn is obsessed with designer clothes and dislikes bugs and nature, and that grew tiresome after a while. Her inner Lycan was struggling to break free, but she doesn’t know about her secret heritage. There wasn’t a lot of information about the Lycans or werewolves, which I found disappointing.

I love Luiz! He’s a Jaguar, but unlike most of the Jaguar males featured in the series, he’s kind and respectful of women. He’s also my favorite character in the book.

Carpathians are the most powerful species in Ms. Feehan’s Dark series, so it’s the heroines who always convert to Carpathian to be with their men. This book finally switches that up! Since Lycans are just as strong, both Manolito and MaryAnn partially convert into each other’s species. I really loved that! Overall, the story is good, but I would’ve liked it more if I better understood the spirit/shadow world.

3 Stars