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Dark Prince
Carpathians are an immortal race of beings with animal instincts. Every Carpathian male is drawn to his life mate: a Carpathian or human female able to provide the light to his darkness. Without her, the beast within slowly consumes the man until turning vampire is the only option.
Raven Whitney is a psychic who has used her gift to help the police track down a serial killer. Now she is determined to escape the glare of recent publicity for the peace and quiet of the Carpathian Mountains.
Prince Mikhail Dubrinsky is the leader of his people but, as his ancient Carpathian race grows ever closer to extinction, he is close to giving in to the heavy weight of loneliness and despair.
From the moment their minds touch, Raven and Mikhail form a connection. But there are those who incorrectly view all Carpathians as vampires, and are determined to give their extinction a helping hand.
There is an extended edition with an additional 100 pages: Dark Prince: Author's Cut Special Edition.
Raven Whitney is a psychic who has used her gift to help the police track down a serial killer. Now she is determined to escape the glare of recent publicity for the peace and quiet of the Carpathian Mountains.
Prince Mikhail Dubrinsky is the leader of his people but, as his ancient Carpathian race grows ever closer to extinction, he is close to giving in to the heavy weight of loneliness and despair.
From the moment their minds touch, Raven and Mikhail form a connection. But there are those who incorrectly view all Carpathians as vampires, and are determined to give their extinction a helping hand.
There is an extended edition with an additional 100 pages: Dark Prince: Author's Cut Special Edition.
447 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 8, 1999
About the author
Christine Feehan
179 books52.1k followersChristine Feehan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author multiple times over with her portfolio including over 90 published novels, including five series; Dark Series, GhostWalker Series, Leopard Series, Drake Sisters Series, the Sisters of the Heart Series, Shadow Riders and Torpedo Ink. All of her series have hit the #1 spot on the New York Times bestselling list as well. Her debut novel Dark Prince received 3 of the 9 Paranormal Excellence Awards in Romantic Literature (PEARL) in 1999. Since then she has been published by various publishing houses including Leisure Books, Pocket Books, and currently is writing for Berkley/Jove. She also has earned 7 more PEARL awards since Dark Prince.
Her series include:
The Dark Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/darkb...
The GhostWalker series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/ghost...
The Leopard Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/leopa...
The Shadow Series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/shado...
Torpedo Ink series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/torpe...
IN HER WORDS:
I've been a writer all of my life -- it is who I am. I write for myself and always have. The ability to create pictures and emotions with words is such a miracle to me. I read everything; I mean everything! All kinds of books, even encyclopedias. I am fascinated by the written word and I love storytellers. It is a great privilege to be counted one myself. (www.christinefeehan.com)
Her series include:
The Dark Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/darkb...
The GhostWalker series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/ghost...
The Leopard Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/leopa...
The Shadow Series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/shado...
Torpedo Ink series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/torpe...
IN HER WORDS:
I've been a writer all of my life -- it is who I am. I write for myself and always have. The ability to create pictures and emotions with words is such a miracle to me. I read everything; I mean everything! All kinds of books, even encyclopedias. I am fascinated by the written word and I love storytellers. It is a great privilege to be counted one myself. (www.christinefeehan.com)
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December 4, 2013
Once upon a time there was a young woman with a dream. A dream that women the world over could live in freedom as equals. That they would have the right that many women have been denied for hundreds of years, possibly more - to live healthy, happy lives with partners who love and respect them and provide for their needs.
Then that young woman read Dark Prince - and her dreams were shattered.
Actually, this is all a lie because that young woman, the woman writing this review (yes! It is I!) didn't actually finish this twisted garble of a mess.
Now I know, I KNOW that I'm not always easy going on books. I have a standard (though considering the fact that I have read all ten of the BDB books may convince people otherwise but that aside...) I know I like the writing to be of a certain standard and for there to be characters of a certain quality and a plotline and world that has a certain depth and or immersive quality.
From what I read, this is less a novel and a How To Guide. How To Travel To A Distant Country And Ensure Your Body is Never Found After You Get Abducted, Abused and Killed.
First and simple step:
1. Do everything Raven Whitney does in the first chapter of her book. No, I'm not kidding. That really is her name. Aptly so as she has long, silky raven hair (yes it's referred to as such in this book) which begs the question of what her parents were going to do if she'd been born with red hair. Or if, she had been born with black hair, it had all fallen out three weeks later (as it did with me) and grown back blonde.
2. Romanticize and imagine men like Prince Mikhail Dubrinsky are sexy and possibly good life mates.
They're not.
"But surely, Kat," you say, "you can't have too much to say about a book when you only read twenty-two pages into it."
You'd better believe I do!
The book begins with Mikhail, lonely and contemplating ending his own life. The following excerpt was actually published by the way. I'm not making this shit up for giggles. If I were it would probably be better:
"Grief overwhelmed him, consumed him. He lifted his head and roared out his pain like the wounded animal he was. He could no longer bear to be alone."
[image error]
So our female protagonist, who has a psychic ability to connect with people mentally, contacts him to cheer him up.
He contacts back and love blooms.
Okay, sounds alright, right? WRONG! WRONG, SO FREAKIN' WRONG!
Our two protagonists psychically meet on page two. He's sexually assaulting her with his mind by page 8.
But it's okay, because Mikhail is a studly stud. He's an immortal, rich and extremely handsome. Petty things like laws and personal boundaries and respect for women mean nothing to him, and they shouldn't mean anything to you either - this is the message of the book.
By page eleven, she has decided that he is mega creepy and decides to escape. He psychically contacts her to tell her that he knows that she wants to run away and it just isn't going to fly and that he can and will force his will on her.
Now, at this point the correct response would be:
A) Leave.
B) Tell him to go get fucked and that if he so much as comes near you, you will scream bloody murder and have him arrested for assault.
C) Give the psychopath your full name and casually head down to dinner.
I leave you to guess which option ourfuckwit heroine chooses.
By page fifteen another man has casually placed his hand on our female protagonist's leg and invited her outside. Correct, normal and balanced reaction from the male would be:
A) Realize that this woman is a perfect stranger and therefor perfectly entitled to receive attention from other men.
B) Decide to stake your claim next time you see her and offer to be her one and only - hoping earnestly that she will choose you.
C) Use your psychic powers to attempt to kill him - stopping only when the female protagonist desperately entreats you to stop.
By page seventeen ourchauvinistic-pig and emotionally abusive asshole male protagonist has the female protagonist in his arms and is running through the forest to his home with her.
Raven, being the clever and clearly cautious little monkey that she is asks, "Did you kidnap me or rescue me?"
Oh wait, honey... I think I know the answer to this one! *Kat thinks very, very hard*
She tells him quite clearly on page nineteen that she wants to go home... several times.
His response? "You can not fight me, little one."
This is what he calls her, by the way. I don't know about you but if a man starts to call me 'little one' as opposed to, oh I don't know... MY NAME - then he is going to get one serious round-house kick to the face.
On page twenty, when any normal and sane person would have taken the first opportunity to give him a swift kick to the cajones and run like hell,the dumbest character I have ever come across...no, wait...the dumbest character I have ever come across enters his house of her own free will.
She ignores all of his past behaviour because he somehow understands her. He somehow connects to her. He reaches deep inside her to a place that has never been touched by anyone else before... I'd like to reach deep in and touch her BRAIN because that obviously hasn't been touched before either!
Why is this crap romantic? Why? Why does this spawn a series that sells lots of copies and makes the author lots of money?
The writing is not purple prose. It is beyond purple prose. Purple prose would be EMBARRASSED to be seen with this writing. Everything about it is bad.
If you've seen The Iron Giant (Lord, if you haven't GO WATCH NOW!) then you'll know that in that movie is a giant robot made of iron. Yet this robot has a thousand times more personality and charisma than our much touted and manly Prince Mikhail.
He's a robot. Some kind of space robot given a caveman's brain by an alien species intent to discover if stupidity in the human race is indeed limitless and thus perhaps mined as a kind of fuel for their spaceships. This book was written by these aliens to test us and see how ridiculous we'll go.
However, if they have any success with this method - then I won't entirely argue with their plan because after all, by the laws of supply and demand - it'd be cheaper to fill up my car with stupidity then it would with gas.
Then that young woman read Dark Prince - and her dreams were shattered.
Actually, this is all a lie because that young woman, the woman writing this review (yes! It is I!) didn't actually finish this twisted garble of a mess.
Now I know, I KNOW that I'm not always easy going on books. I have a standard (though considering the fact that I have read all ten of the BDB books may convince people otherwise but that aside...) I know I like the writing to be of a certain standard and for there to be characters of a certain quality and a plotline and world that has a certain depth and or immersive quality.
From what I read, this is less a novel and a How To Guide. How To Travel To A Distant Country And Ensure Your Body is Never Found After You Get Abducted, Abused and Killed.
First and simple step:
1. Do everything Raven Whitney does in the first chapter of her book. No, I'm not kidding. That really is her name. Aptly so as she has long, silky raven hair (yes it's referred to as such in this book) which begs the question of what her parents were going to do if she'd been born with red hair. Or if, she had been born with black hair, it had all fallen out three weeks later (as it did with me) and grown back blonde.
2. Romanticize and imagine men like Prince Mikhail Dubrinsky are sexy and possibly good life mates.
They're not.
"But surely, Kat," you say, "you can't have too much to say about a book when you only read twenty-two pages into it."
You'd better believe I do!
The book begins with Mikhail, lonely and contemplating ending his own life. The following excerpt was actually published by the way. I'm not making this shit up for giggles. If I were it would probably be better:
"Grief overwhelmed him, consumed him. He lifted his head and roared out his pain like the wounded animal he was. He could no longer bear to be alone."
[image error]
So our female protagonist, who has a psychic ability to connect with people mentally, contacts him to cheer him up.
He contacts back and love blooms.
Okay, sounds alright, right? WRONG! WRONG, SO FREAKIN' WRONG!
Our two protagonists psychically meet on page two. He's sexually assaulting her with his mind by page 8.
But it's okay, because Mikhail is a studly stud. He's an immortal, rich and extremely handsome. Petty things like laws and personal boundaries and respect for women mean nothing to him, and they shouldn't mean anything to you either - this is the message of the book.
By page eleven, she has decided that he is mega creepy and decides to escape. He psychically contacts her to tell her that he knows that she wants to run away and it just isn't going to fly and that he can and will force his will on her.
Now, at this point the correct response would be:
A) Leave.
B) Tell him to go get fucked and that if he so much as comes near you, you will scream bloody murder and have him arrested for assault.
C) Give the psychopath your full name and casually head down to dinner.
I leave you to guess which option our
By page fifteen another man has casually placed his hand on our female protagonist's leg and invited her outside. Correct, normal and balanced reaction from the male would be:
A) Realize that this woman is a perfect stranger and therefor perfectly entitled to receive attention from other men.
B) Decide to stake your claim next time you see her and offer to be her one and only - hoping earnestly that she will choose you.
C) Use your psychic powers to attempt to kill him - stopping only when the female protagonist desperately entreats you to stop.
By page seventeen our
Raven, being the clever and clearly cautious little monkey that she is asks, "Did you kidnap me or rescue me?"
Oh wait, honey... I think I know the answer to this one! *Kat thinks very, very hard*
She tells him quite clearly on page nineteen that she wants to go home... several times.
His response? "You can not fight me, little one."
This is what he calls her, by the way. I don't know about you but if a man starts to call me 'little one' as opposed to, oh I don't know... MY NAME - then he is going to get one serious round-house kick to the face.
On page twenty, when any normal and sane person would have taken the first opportunity to give him a swift kick to the cajones and run like hell,
She ignores all of his past behaviour because he somehow understands her. He somehow connects to her. He reaches deep inside her to a place that has never been touched by anyone else before... I'd like to reach deep in and touch her BRAIN because that obviously hasn't been touched before either!
Why is this crap romantic? Why? Why does this spawn a series that sells lots of copies and makes the author lots of money?
The writing is not purple prose. It is beyond purple prose. Purple prose would be EMBARRASSED to be seen with this writing. Everything about it is bad.
If you've seen The Iron Giant (Lord, if you haven't GO WATCH NOW!) then you'll know that in that movie is a giant robot made of iron. Yet this robot has a thousand times more personality and charisma than our much touted and manly Prince Mikhail.
He's a robot. Some kind of space robot given a caveman's brain by an alien species intent to discover if stupidity in the human race is indeed limitless and thus perhaps mined as a kind of fuel for their spaceships. This book was written by these aliens to test us and see how ridiculous we'll go.
However, if they have any success with this method - then I won't entirely argue with their plan because after all, by the laws of supply and demand - it'd be cheaper to fill up my car with stupidity then it would with gas.
March 6, 2023
Narrator: Juanita Parker
Length: 12.5 hours
Published by Books In Motion, December 2005
How to Woo Your Life Mate by Mikhail Dubrinsky Leader of the Carpathians
1. Never call her by her given name. Always call her “Little One”. It makes her feel special.
2. Lurk outside her window in your animal form and admire her bum with your dark, burning eyes. You have super powers for a reason. Use them.
3. Infect her dreams and mind-molest her. If she says “no” do what you want anyway. Women love it when you take control. Any weeping that ensues is from pure bliss. When you are done blame her for “releasing the beast”.
4. She is yours because you have said so. If any man dares put a hand upon her attempt to end his life. You own her.
5. Swoop in and carry her back to your lair where you take control of her entire life. Ignore any token struggle she puts up. She will submit.
6. Rip her jeans and make her wear clothing that meets your approval. Real women do not wear men’s clothing.
7. Brand her with your sharp toothies at the first opportunity.
8. Repeat yourself frequently. Women are forgetful creatures.
9. Never gently take her by the hand, always “shackle her by the wrist”.
10. Remain arrogant, overly-protective, obsessive, morose, melodramatic and controlling at all times. She will think you sexy and oh-so-strong. And if that doesn’t work just compel her and bend her to your will. Again see #2.
It is with great sadness that I must admit that I made none of that up. This is how Mikhail behaves. He is the leader of the Carpathians, a dying race of shape-shifting, blood drinkers whose women folk are unable to produce healthy female off-spring. When he meets the naïve, pliable human (with telepathic powers) named Raven he realizes she belongs to him. He also expects her to “save” his race. He believes she is strong enough, I suppose (though this is never proven), and he plans to impregnate her with female babies who will grow up and become the life-mates of his long-lived men. His men are on the verge of giving in to their “dark sides” and turning into true vampires. Life without a mate really sucks, I guess. I’m finished with the book now and I still haven’t a clue why he feels she is “the one” to save them and why she'll be able to endlessly birth these amazing girl babies. What if she dares push out a boy, I wonder? I shudder to think of the berating she’ll take for that one. Because, you know, it will be entirely her fault.
Anyway, while the two are working out the kinks in their relationship (basically he tells her what to do, she whines a little and then does it) there are villains attempting to put the Carpathian’s out of their misery permanently. “My women. Assassins are after them! We must protect the women.” Action ensues. People are slain and sequels that I will never read are set up.
And then there’s the narration. Juanita Parker made an unfortunate choice reading this overblown book in a deadly serious monotone for all of the characters. I tuned out more than I tuned in and did a lot of rewinding. The men all sound the same (mostly angry, always bossy) and not a one of the lot has a sexy accent. Wouldn’t a man named Mikhail Dubrinsky, having lived for hundreds of years in the Carpathian Mountains (which, I believe is supposed to be located somewhere in Europe?), have picked up a little accent in all that time? And I know this is a nitpick and someone will surely blast me for it but it has to be mentioned because this is supposed to be a professional production, right? So why on earth didn’t someone whisper to the narrator that “acrost” is not a word? There is no T in across. You have no idea how many times “across” is used in a novel until it’s pronounced “acrost”. It’s the little things in an audio that can drive you mad when the book isn’t quite working for you.
I know people love this series but I don’t think it was meant for me. Mikhail “Do Not Defy Me!” is a jerk of the worst kind, Raven is weak and easily convinced to do whatever he wants, the dialogue is stilted and repetitive and the writing is overly dramatic. I much preferred The Awakening by this author. Tell me the rest get better?
Length: 12.5 hours
Published by Books In Motion, December 2005
How to Woo Your Life Mate by Mikhail Dubrinsky Leader of the Carpathians
1. Never call her by her given name. Always call her “Little One”. It makes her feel special.
2. Lurk outside her window in your animal form and admire her bum with your dark, burning eyes. You have super powers for a reason. Use them.
3. Infect her dreams and mind-molest her. If she says “no” do what you want anyway. Women love it when you take control. Any weeping that ensues is from pure bliss. When you are done blame her for “releasing the beast”.
4. She is yours because you have said so. If any man dares put a hand upon her attempt to end his life. You own her.
5. Swoop in and carry her back to your lair where you take control of her entire life. Ignore any token struggle she puts up. She will submit.
6. Rip her jeans and make her wear clothing that meets your approval. Real women do not wear men’s clothing.
7. Brand her with your sharp toothies at the first opportunity.
8. Repeat yourself frequently. Women are forgetful creatures.
9. Never gently take her by the hand, always “shackle her by the wrist”.
10. Remain arrogant, overly-protective, obsessive, morose, melodramatic and controlling at all times. She will think you sexy and oh-so-strong. And if that doesn’t work just compel her and bend her to your will. Again see #2.
It is with great sadness that I must admit that I made none of that up. This is how Mikhail behaves. He is the leader of the Carpathians, a dying race of shape-shifting, blood drinkers whose women folk are unable to produce healthy female off-spring. When he meets the naïve, pliable human (with telepathic powers) named Raven he realizes she belongs to him. He also expects her to “save” his race. He believes she is strong enough, I suppose (though this is never proven), and he plans to impregnate her with female babies who will grow up and become the life-mates of his long-lived men. His men are on the verge of giving in to their “dark sides” and turning into true vampires. Life without a mate really sucks, I guess. I’m finished with the book now and I still haven’t a clue why he feels she is “the one” to save them and why she'll be able to endlessly birth these amazing girl babies. What if she dares push out a boy, I wonder? I shudder to think of the berating she’ll take for that one. Because, you know, it will be entirely her fault.
Anyway, while the two are working out the kinks in their relationship (basically he tells her what to do, she whines a little and then does it) there are villains attempting to put the Carpathian’s out of their misery permanently. “My women. Assassins are after them! We must protect the women.” Action ensues. People are slain and sequels that I will never read are set up.
And then there’s the narration. Juanita Parker made an unfortunate choice reading this overblown book in a deadly serious monotone for all of the characters. I tuned out more than I tuned in and did a lot of rewinding. The men all sound the same (mostly angry, always bossy) and not a one of the lot has a sexy accent. Wouldn’t a man named Mikhail Dubrinsky, having lived for hundreds of years in the Carpathian Mountains (which, I believe is supposed to be located somewhere in Europe?), have picked up a little accent in all that time? And I know this is a nitpick and someone will surely blast me for it but it has to be mentioned because this is supposed to be a professional production, right? So why on earth didn’t someone whisper to the narrator that “acrost” is not a word? There is no T in across. You have no idea how many times “across” is used in a novel until it’s pronounced “acrost”. It’s the little things in an audio that can drive you mad when the book isn’t quite working for you.
I know people love this series but I don’t think it was meant for me. Mikhail “Do Not Defy Me!” is a jerk of the worst kind, Raven is weak and easily convinced to do whatever he wants, the dialogue is stilted and repetitive and the writing is overly dramatic. I much preferred The Awakening by this author. Tell me the rest get better?
October 25, 2020
4.5 You Are My Lifemate Stars
First read June 2012
Reread January 8, 2016
Reread January 20, 2017
Reread oct 25, 2020
*Some Spoilers*
Your pain was so sharp, so terrible, I couldn't ignore it. I thought you might like to talk. Death is not an answer to unhappiness. I think you know that. In any case, I'll stop if you wish it.-Raven
Sometimes when it's been a while since you read a book you can forget just how wonderful it is. You remember it was special, that you loved it. It stands out in your memories, but memories normally pale to the truth. I had forgotten how captivating, imaginative, and amazing the Carpathians world Christine Feehan created is. Her Carpathian race are just boundless. They can pretty much do anything. And I love that. I loved Dark Prince from beginning to end. I only reason this book didn't get a full 5 stars is because even thought I like Raven a lot and even though I got that it was necessary to the plot. Raven had some stupid moments. Like Joey from Friends Stupid!
"Do not try to leave me, Raven." The car drew up in front of the inn. "I hold what is mine, and make no mistake, you are mine."-Mikhail
"We really are from two different worlds, aren't we?" she asked sadly. He brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth. "There is such a thing as compromise, little one. We can move between the two worlds or create our own."-Raven and Mikhail
But even with the stupid things she did she was still endearing, and so It was pretty easy to overlook her ditzyness. Raven is alone in the world. Different from others. She is telepathic. Her powers are so strong that she can't touch people without it hurting her because she can feel their emotions. She uses her powers to help track serial killers. But that has left her tormented over the things she has relived through the killer's minds. Raven goes to the Carpathian Mountains to rest and clear her mind of the darkness. There she hears Mikhail thoughts, feels his pain and reaches out to help him, changing her world forever. Even though he comes on strong, Raven feels like she belongs with Mikhail. She sees good in him, when all he sees is dark. Raven is a bit naive. She always sees the good in others. So sweet, and kindhearted she is always trying to help others even putting herself at risk to do so. I could understand her being fearful of the speed at which her and Mikhail's relationship takes off. I also feel like if Mikhail had told Raven everything from the start she may have made better choices.
"I would trust you with my life, Mikhail, vampire or no. And I would trust you with the life of my children. You're arrogant and sometimes overbearing, but you could never be evil. If you are a vampire, then a vampire is not the creature of the legends."-Raven
My Raven:
"You have it all, don't you? Charm, you're so sexy you should be locked up, and you have a smile men would kill for. Or women, however you want to look at it." He bent to kiss her, one hand closing over her breast possessively. "You need to mention what a great lover I am. Men need to hear these things." "Really?" She arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't dare. You're already as arrogant as I can stand."-Raven and Mikhail
Mikhail is the prince and ruler of his people. He like all Carpathian males over the age of 200, has no emotions, and doesn't see in color. He is trying to save his race from dying out. The males need their Lifemates to bring light to their darkness or they can lose their soul and turn into a vampire. The problem is there are very few females left. Babies are being miscarried all the time. The ones that live are all male, and most babies don't make it past the first year of life. Mikhail can feel the darkness in him and he is ready to kill himself to keep from turning vampire. Mikhail finds Raven, his true Lifemate before his can end his life, but she is human. Mikhail is totally overwhelmed by all the feeling he has not felt in 100s of years beating down on him. I loved Mikhail's caveman over the top ways. He is arrogant, dominate, and at times can be dark. But he is also sexy, charming and can be really sweet. I get that he is use to getting his way because he is the prince and I get that he isn't use to feeling. I also love how Raven softens him up. How he tries to compromise to make her happy. I could understand why he came on so strong, the way he felt and the things he did. I felt I really got to know him, and I just loved him!
"I have great responsibilities, yes. My people count on me to keep our businesses running smoothly, to hunt down the assassins murdering our people. They even think I should single-handedly find out why we lose so many of our children in their first year of life. There is nothing special about me, Raven, except that I have a will of iron and I am willing to shoulder these burdens. But I have nothing for myself; I never have had. You give me a reason to go on. You are my heart, my soul, the very air I breathe. Without you, I have nothing but darkness, emptiness. Just because I have power, because I am strong, that does not mean I cannot feel utterly alone. It is cold and ugly to exist alone."-Mikhail
My Mikhail:
I can only promise you that I will do everything in my power to make you happy, to provide for you everything I can possibly give you. I ask for time to learn your ways, for room to make mistakes. If you need to hear words of love" - his mouth skimmed down the side of her face to find the corner of her mouth - "then I can say them to you in all honesty. I never believed I would have a woman of my own, a true lifemate. I have never wanted a woman for my own."-Mikhail
Mikhail and Raven's relationship is a bumpy road. They have a lot thrown at them in a short amount of time. There is a lot of clothes ripping can't get in you fast enough love making going on in this book! It was a total intsa-love, but I am ok with that, especially in paranormal romances. But what I loved more than their relationship and I loved Raven and Mikhail together was the Carpathian world. The premises of the series, the concept of Lifemates, all the characters. Everything just takes on a life of it's own and it feels like a real world. It totally mesmerized me. I not only fell in love with Mikhail and Raven. I fell in love with Father Hummer, Aidan, Jacques and OMG Gregori. My God I am madly in love with Gregori. He is so yummy, dark and brooding. I can't wait to get to his book and see the woman he loves put him in his place. Everything about this book and this series is amazing. If you haven't read it you should give it a try.
"Someone has to show you what love is, Mikhail. Not possession or ownership, but real unconditional love."-Raven
"You are a good man, Mikhail." She grinned impishly, her blue eyes teasing. "You just have too much power for your own good. But don't worry; I know this American girl. She's very disrespectful and she'll take all that arrogant starch out of you."-Raven
I wanna just take a moment to say that, I am more lenient with men in Paranormal, Biker, BDSM, and Dark romances. I hold them to a different set of rules and over look behavior's I would not ever tolerate in real life or in other romances. If I didn't I would never be able to read those genres. So please don't start with the mean comments. I say this because I have gotten some hateful comments, and personal messages over other books I loved (Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey ect) lets all just be respectful of others opinions. If you hate a book I love that doesn't make you wrong and me right. If someone blast a book I loved, I'm not going to get on their review and tell them they are stupid or wrong, I'm just gonna respect it. Most of the time I will like their reviews and support them even if I disagree. And just because I overlook certain behaviors in a book and still loved it doesn't make me weak, or stupid. I am not setting women back, and you don't need to feel sorry for me. The book is just fictional, fantasy, it's not real. I would never put up with a man doing half the things I read just sayin'!
"I want to see you find a lifemate, Gregori, one like Raven. She will hold you in the palm of her hand." "If I ever find what you have, I will never allow her to risk herself. She will never go never danger, not even to feed. And she will not deft me."-Mikhail and Gregori
https://jessicasoverthetopbookobsessi...
First read June 2012
Reread January 8, 2016
Reread January 20, 2017
Reread oct 25, 2020
*Some Spoilers*
Your pain was so sharp, so terrible, I couldn't ignore it. I thought you might like to talk. Death is not an answer to unhappiness. I think you know that. In any case, I'll stop if you wish it.-Raven
Sometimes when it's been a while since you read a book you can forget just how wonderful it is. You remember it was special, that you loved it. It stands out in your memories, but memories normally pale to the truth. I had forgotten how captivating, imaginative, and amazing the Carpathians world Christine Feehan created is. Her Carpathian race are just boundless. They can pretty much do anything. And I love that. I loved Dark Prince from beginning to end. I only reason this book didn't get a full 5 stars is because even thought I like Raven a lot and even though I got that it was necessary to the plot. Raven had some stupid moments. Like Joey from Friends Stupid!
"Do not try to leave me, Raven." The car drew up in front of the inn. "I hold what is mine, and make no mistake, you are mine."-Mikhail
"We really are from two different worlds, aren't we?" she asked sadly. He brought her hand to the warmth of his mouth. "There is such a thing as compromise, little one. We can move between the two worlds or create our own."-Raven and Mikhail
But even with the stupid things she did she was still endearing, and so It was pretty easy to overlook her ditzyness. Raven is alone in the world. Different from others. She is telepathic. Her powers are so strong that she can't touch people without it hurting her because she can feel their emotions. She uses her powers to help track serial killers. But that has left her tormented over the things she has relived through the killer's minds. Raven goes to the Carpathian Mountains to rest and clear her mind of the darkness. There she hears Mikhail thoughts, feels his pain and reaches out to help him, changing her world forever. Even though he comes on strong, Raven feels like she belongs with Mikhail. She sees good in him, when all he sees is dark. Raven is a bit naive. She always sees the good in others. So sweet, and kindhearted she is always trying to help others even putting herself at risk to do so. I could understand her being fearful of the speed at which her and Mikhail's relationship takes off. I also feel like if Mikhail had told Raven everything from the start she may have made better choices.
"I would trust you with my life, Mikhail, vampire or no. And I would trust you with the life of my children. You're arrogant and sometimes overbearing, but you could never be evil. If you are a vampire, then a vampire is not the creature of the legends."-Raven
My Raven:
"You have it all, don't you? Charm, you're so sexy you should be locked up, and you have a smile men would kill for. Or women, however you want to look at it." He bent to kiss her, one hand closing over her breast possessively. "You need to mention what a great lover I am. Men need to hear these things." "Really?" She arched an eyebrow at him. "I don't dare. You're already as arrogant as I can stand."-Raven and Mikhail
Mikhail is the prince and ruler of his people. He like all Carpathian males over the age of 200, has no emotions, and doesn't see in color. He is trying to save his race from dying out. The males need their Lifemates to bring light to their darkness or they can lose their soul and turn into a vampire. The problem is there are very few females left. Babies are being miscarried all the time. The ones that live are all male, and most babies don't make it past the first year of life. Mikhail can feel the darkness in him and he is ready to kill himself to keep from turning vampire. Mikhail finds Raven, his true Lifemate before his can end his life, but she is human. Mikhail is totally overwhelmed by all the feeling he has not felt in 100s of years beating down on him. I loved Mikhail's caveman over the top ways. He is arrogant, dominate, and at times can be dark. But he is also sexy, charming and can be really sweet. I get that he is use to getting his way because he is the prince and I get that he isn't use to feeling. I also love how Raven softens him up. How he tries to compromise to make her happy. I could understand why he came on so strong, the way he felt and the things he did. I felt I really got to know him, and I just loved him!
"I have great responsibilities, yes. My people count on me to keep our businesses running smoothly, to hunt down the assassins murdering our people. They even think I should single-handedly find out why we lose so many of our children in their first year of life. There is nothing special about me, Raven, except that I have a will of iron and I am willing to shoulder these burdens. But I have nothing for myself; I never have had. You give me a reason to go on. You are my heart, my soul, the very air I breathe. Without you, I have nothing but darkness, emptiness. Just because I have power, because I am strong, that does not mean I cannot feel utterly alone. It is cold and ugly to exist alone."-Mikhail
My Mikhail:
I can only promise you that I will do everything in my power to make you happy, to provide for you everything I can possibly give you. I ask for time to learn your ways, for room to make mistakes. If you need to hear words of love" - his mouth skimmed down the side of her face to find the corner of her mouth - "then I can say them to you in all honesty. I never believed I would have a woman of my own, a true lifemate. I have never wanted a woman for my own."-Mikhail
Mikhail and Raven's relationship is a bumpy road. They have a lot thrown at them in a short amount of time. There is a lot of clothes ripping can't get in you fast enough love making going on in this book! It was a total intsa-love, but I am ok with that, especially in paranormal romances. But what I loved more than their relationship and I loved Raven and Mikhail together was the Carpathian world. The premises of the series, the concept of Lifemates, all the characters. Everything just takes on a life of it's own and it feels like a real world. It totally mesmerized me. I not only fell in love with Mikhail and Raven. I fell in love with Father Hummer, Aidan, Jacques and OMG Gregori. My God I am madly in love with Gregori. He is so yummy, dark and brooding. I can't wait to get to his book and see the woman he loves put him in his place. Everything about this book and this series is amazing. If you haven't read it you should give it a try.
"Someone has to show you what love is, Mikhail. Not possession or ownership, but real unconditional love."-Raven
"You are a good man, Mikhail." She grinned impishly, her blue eyes teasing. "You just have too much power for your own good. But don't worry; I know this American girl. She's very disrespectful and she'll take all that arrogant starch out of you."-Raven
I wanna just take a moment to say that, I am more lenient with men in Paranormal, Biker, BDSM, and Dark romances. I hold them to a different set of rules and over look behavior's I would not ever tolerate in real life or in other romances. If I didn't I would never be able to read those genres. So please don't start with the mean comments. I say this because I have gotten some hateful comments, and personal messages over other books I loved (Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey ect) lets all just be respectful of others opinions. If you hate a book I love that doesn't make you wrong and me right. If someone blast a book I loved, I'm not going to get on their review and tell them they are stupid or wrong, I'm just gonna respect it. Most of the time I will like their reviews and support them even if I disagree. And just because I overlook certain behaviors in a book and still loved it doesn't make me weak, or stupid. I am not setting women back, and you don't need to feel sorry for me. The book is just fictional, fantasy, it's not real. I would never put up with a man doing half the things I read just sayin'!
"I want to see you find a lifemate, Gregori, one like Raven. She will hold you in the palm of her hand." "If I ever find what you have, I will never allow her to risk herself. She will never go never danger, not even to feed. And she will not deft me."-Mikhail and Gregori
https://jessicasoverthetopbookobsessi...
December 18, 2016
Please check out more of my reviews at www.bookaddicthaven.com
I've waited a long time to check out a Christine Feehan book and I think that maybe I set myself up for disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed 'Dark Prince'. However, I expected to be blown away...and I wasn't.
I listened to the Audible edition of 'Dark Prince' and I can't say that I'd recommend that version to others. The narration just didn't work for me. I think that if I had read the Kindle version, I probably would've enjoyed this story a lot more. Unfortunately, I didn't. I'll be sure to sample the audiobook next time if I decide to continue this series.
This story centers on Raven Whitney, a lady with psychic abilities that has gone to Romania to escape the stressors of her work. She has worked with police agencies, using her abilities to help solve murders, but she can't scrub the horrors that she's seen from her mind. She needs to get away and clear her head.
While on vacation, she meets Mikhail Dubrinsky, a wealthy local. However, Mikhail is far more than meets the eyes. He is the prince of the Carpathians, an ancient race of immortal beings.
The Carpathians are facing extinction, as the females have become pregnant with decreasing frequency. Additionally, there has not been a female Carpathian born in hundreds of years. If unable to find their life mate, Carpathian males are consumed by their darkness and go mad, requiring Mikhail to have them "put down". Slowly but surely, their race is dying out.
As if they weren't facing enough challenges, there is a murderer on the loose. Carpathians, particularly female Carpathians, are being hunted down and killed. With few females remaining, Mikhail's hunt for the killer is a top priority.
This was the first book I've read about the Carpathians and I have to admit that I was a little confused at first. This race of immortals has shared abilities with other, more familiar, immortal races. It took me a little while to figure out that Mikhail was able to shape-shift and also had vampiric characteristics. Once I realized that, it was much easier to follow along.
Aside from the narration, I found myself really liking this paranormal romance. Raven and Mikhail were compelling characters. I would have liked for there to me more time spent on the love story/romance, but that is just me. I crave all the smutty details.
While this story didn't awe me like I had expected after all the praise I heard for this author, I did think that it was good. In fact, if it weren't for the unappealing narration, it might have been a great read for me.
I am very intrigued by the supporting characters. Gregori, in particular, holds a lot of appeal for me. I already looked ahead, hoping that his story would be the next in the series. Sadly, it wasn't. I'll have to read a couple more books in this series before I get to his book.
Right now I'm on the fence about whether or not I'll continue this series. I am very curious about Jacques and Gregori, but I'm not thrilled with the narration at this point. Maybe I'll come back to it at some later point.
I've waited a long time to check out a Christine Feehan book and I think that maybe I set myself up for disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed 'Dark Prince'. However, I expected to be blown away...and I wasn't.
I listened to the Audible edition of 'Dark Prince' and I can't say that I'd recommend that version to others. The narration just didn't work for me. I think that if I had read the Kindle version, I probably would've enjoyed this story a lot more. Unfortunately, I didn't. I'll be sure to sample the audiobook next time if I decide to continue this series.
This story centers on Raven Whitney, a lady with psychic abilities that has gone to Romania to escape the stressors of her work. She has worked with police agencies, using her abilities to help solve murders, but she can't scrub the horrors that she's seen from her mind. She needs to get away and clear her head.
While on vacation, she meets Mikhail Dubrinsky, a wealthy local. However, Mikhail is far more than meets the eyes. He is the prince of the Carpathians, an ancient race of immortal beings.
The Carpathians are facing extinction, as the females have become pregnant with decreasing frequency. Additionally, there has not been a female Carpathian born in hundreds of years. If unable to find their life mate, Carpathian males are consumed by their darkness and go mad, requiring Mikhail to have them "put down". Slowly but surely, their race is dying out.
As if they weren't facing enough challenges, there is a murderer on the loose. Carpathians, particularly female Carpathians, are being hunted down and killed. With few females remaining, Mikhail's hunt for the killer is a top priority.
This was the first book I've read about the Carpathians and I have to admit that I was a little confused at first. This race of immortals has shared abilities with other, more familiar, immortal races. It took me a little while to figure out that Mikhail was able to shape-shift and also had vampiric characteristics. Once I realized that, it was much easier to follow along.
Aside from the narration, I found myself really liking this paranormal romance. Raven and Mikhail were compelling characters. I would have liked for there to me more time spent on the love story/romance, but that is just me. I crave all the smutty details.
While this story didn't awe me like I had expected after all the praise I heard for this author, I did think that it was good. In fact, if it weren't for the unappealing narration, it might have been a great read for me.
I am very intrigued by the supporting characters. Gregori, in particular, holds a lot of appeal for me. I already looked ahead, hoping that his story would be the next in the series. Sadly, it wasn't. I'll have to read a couple more books in this series before I get to his book.
Right now I'm on the fence about whether or not I'll continue this series. I am very curious about Jacques and Gregori, but I'm not thrilled with the narration at this point. Maybe I'll come back to it at some later point.
October 12, 2010
When I try to evaluate this book, I close my eyes and picture old-fashioned weighing scales. On the left, is the negative aspect about this novel. On the right, the positives will be measured.
The negative
Truly, there was only one. My only real complaint was this:
I've noticed that Ms. Feehan will use very long sentences, and as many words as possible in most sentences to convey her story. She will write things repetitively, instead of just once (although I think a lot of authors have this tendency). It makes the narrative very dense, resulting in somewhat difficult reading. This effect is especially noticeable when I am tired, or I want a quick read.
Out of all of her books that I've read, this was the hardest book to read. The good news is, this was her first book. I am not a published author, and I may never become one (only time will tell). But this is my philosophy: I give writers the respect due to them. Despite the fact that it was tough reading at times, I did like this story, and I got a vivid picture of what Ms. Feehan was writing about with her story. I think she wrote a singular book here. Because this was her first book, I definitely give her leeway, and experience has shown that she has learned to use words more economically since this first endeavor (although she will never be a succinct writer). Knowing her writing style, I read her when I'm in the mood. And when I am in the mood, I usually go away from her stories very happy. I had heard this book was pretty bad, and I'd have to disagree with that statement. I feel it's probably a matter of personal tastes, really. Although, I will freely admit, it was a somewhat difficult read.
The Positives
*I really, really like this concept of the Carpathians. I think Ms. Feehan has taken the vampire romance and put her own personal stamp on it. Something about these lonely people, primarily men, doomed to succumb to their own dark natures, yearning for a woman to complete them, to make them whole--it calls to me. I like the dark nature of the men, and how love has the power to save them. I'm sappy that way.
* I love the vividness of the world she has created. The rules are clear cut, and make sense to me. It's such a fascinating world for me.
* I love the drama, even if sometimes I did smile when it seemed pretty over-the-top. Heck, that's what I like when I read paranormal romance. If I wanted run of the mill romance, I wouldn't reach for a vampire romance.
* I think the men are pretty sexy. Yes, they are pretty old world in their values. They are kind of dark and scary and primitive in some ways. I'm not afraid to admit that works for me when I'm in the mood for it. It's not my real life, and I don't read to see my real life played out. How boring would that be. I want escapism, drama, extraordinary stories. I get that with the Carpathian books. Although the Carpathian men are "I see, I take" kind of men when it comes to their life mates; at the same time, they seem to value womankind, holding them in very high esteem. You could see how much Mikhail truly treasured Raven. He would die if she died. The other Carpathians watched over her very carefully, and saw her as the hope for their race. I don't see these men as brutal misogynists at all. I cannot ascribe modern day rules to a man who is practically immortal, and who has lived millenia. I realize that this kind of story won't work for everyone. I'm not ashamed to say that it does work for me, when I accept the rules of this world, and I look at it from a different perspective. I have read contemporary, non-paranormal books with heroes who were much worse than the Carpathians, some by a very famous author who is well-loved (and I love a lot of her books too, although there is one where I hate the hero with a fiery burning passion), and I've found the heroes to have many worse traits than the Carpathians, and it didn't make sense for them to be that way. The Carpathian way of life feels genuine for what it is in these stories.
*I liked how each Carpathian introduced in this story was distinct. I personally did not find Mikhail too overbearing. I think that Raven handled him pretty well. She made it clear she was going to do what she wanted. Her love allowed her to give in on things to him, but he knew he wasn't going to win all the battles. And having her be happy was very important to me. I saw a lot of give and take in that relationship, personally. I have to admit that Gregori stole the show. I want to go back and reread Dark Magic (well, all the ones I've read because I want to see them in light of reading the first book).
*The action scenes were dark and intense. I like that when I read a Carpathian book, it's like reading a horror book but with a good romance. Like a lot of old school vampire scare and romance mixed together nicely.
Final Tabulations
Minus One for Writing Flow, Plus Four for Characterization, Worldbuilding, Entertainment Level, and Sexy Romance. That adds up to Four Stars.
If there are readers who have made this their first Feehan book, I'd recommend reding some of her more recent books, and you may find that the writing works better for you. I can only speak for myself. There is something that draws me back to Christine Feehan's books, again and again. She writes such dramatic, intense, imaginative, very romantic stories--elements that I absolutely love in a book.
So, I have to say that I am glad I finally read Dark Prince. Although it was a chore at times, it was worth it.
Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, to be taken with a grain of salt. I do not advocate any behavior in this book for real-life man/woman relationships. It's just fiction to me.
The negative
Truly, there was only one. My only real complaint was this:
I've noticed that Ms. Feehan will use very long sentences, and as many words as possible in most sentences to convey her story. She will write things repetitively, instead of just once (although I think a lot of authors have this tendency). It makes the narrative very dense, resulting in somewhat difficult reading. This effect is especially noticeable when I am tired, or I want a quick read.
Out of all of her books that I've read, this was the hardest book to read. The good news is, this was her first book. I am not a published author, and I may never become one (only time will tell). But this is my philosophy: I give writers the respect due to them. Despite the fact that it was tough reading at times, I did like this story, and I got a vivid picture of what Ms. Feehan was writing about with her story. I think she wrote a singular book here. Because this was her first book, I definitely give her leeway, and experience has shown that she has learned to use words more economically since this first endeavor (although she will never be a succinct writer). Knowing her writing style, I read her when I'm in the mood. And when I am in the mood, I usually go away from her stories very happy. I had heard this book was pretty bad, and I'd have to disagree with that statement. I feel it's probably a matter of personal tastes, really. Although, I will freely admit, it was a somewhat difficult read.
The Positives
*I really, really like this concept of the Carpathians. I think Ms. Feehan has taken the vampire romance and put her own personal stamp on it. Something about these lonely people, primarily men, doomed to succumb to their own dark natures, yearning for a woman to complete them, to make them whole--it calls to me. I like the dark nature of the men, and how love has the power to save them. I'm sappy that way.
* I love the vividness of the world she has created. The rules are clear cut, and make sense to me. It's such a fascinating world for me.
* I love the drama, even if sometimes I did smile when it seemed pretty over-the-top. Heck, that's what I like when I read paranormal romance. If I wanted run of the mill romance, I wouldn't reach for a vampire romance.
* I think the men are pretty sexy. Yes, they are pretty old world in their values. They are kind of dark and scary and primitive in some ways. I'm not afraid to admit that works for me when I'm in the mood for it. It's not my real life, and I don't read to see my real life played out. How boring would that be. I want escapism, drama, extraordinary stories. I get that with the Carpathian books. Although the Carpathian men are "I see, I take" kind of men when it comes to their life mates; at the same time, they seem to value womankind, holding them in very high esteem. You could see how much Mikhail truly treasured Raven. He would die if she died. The other Carpathians watched over her very carefully, and saw her as the hope for their race. I don't see these men as brutal misogynists at all. I cannot ascribe modern day rules to a man who is practically immortal, and who has lived millenia. I realize that this kind of story won't work for everyone. I'm not ashamed to say that it does work for me, when I accept the rules of this world, and I look at it from a different perspective. I have read contemporary, non-paranormal books with heroes who were much worse than the Carpathians, some by a very famous author who is well-loved (and I love a lot of her books too, although there is one where I hate the hero with a fiery burning passion), and I've found the heroes to have many worse traits than the Carpathians, and it didn't make sense for them to be that way. The Carpathian way of life feels genuine for what it is in these stories.
*I liked how each Carpathian introduced in this story was distinct. I personally did not find Mikhail too overbearing. I think that Raven handled him pretty well. She made it clear she was going to do what she wanted. Her love allowed her to give in on things to him, but he knew he wasn't going to win all the battles. And having her be happy was very important to me. I saw a lot of give and take in that relationship, personally. I have to admit that Gregori stole the show. I want to go back and reread Dark Magic (well, all the ones I've read because I want to see them in light of reading the first book).
*The action scenes were dark and intense. I like that when I read a Carpathian book, it's like reading a horror book but with a good romance. Like a lot of old school vampire scare and romance mixed together nicely.
Final Tabulations
Minus One for Writing Flow, Plus Four for Characterization, Worldbuilding, Entertainment Level, and Sexy Romance. That adds up to Four Stars.
If there are readers who have made this their first Feehan book, I'd recommend reding some of her more recent books, and you may find that the writing works better for you. I can only speak for myself. There is something that draws me back to Christine Feehan's books, again and again. She writes such dramatic, intense, imaginative, very romantic stories--elements that I absolutely love in a book.
So, I have to say that I am glad I finally read Dark Prince. Although it was a chore at times, it was worth it.
Disclaimer: This is just my opinion, to be taken with a grain of salt. I do not advocate any behavior in this book for real-life man/woman relationships. It's just fiction to me.
October 3, 2008
Several years back, I was working for one of the largest banks in the country. My office was about a block away from the Sears Tower in downtown Chicago, right in the middle of the financial district. One morning, I arrived at work to find two preventative maintenance men in the elevator bank. One of them was a Blue Collar God. Not even kidding. He stood out beautifully amidst all the other pasty cube-dwellers with their spare tires and beady little banker eyes. He was rough around the edges in the good way. Tattooed. Muscular. Alpha sexy. And you knew, just knew, from looking at him that he was the kind of guy who would do you from behind with no foreplay. Aaaand you’d like it.
And that’s basically how I felt about this book.
I’d have appreciated a bit of background story in the first chapter. Or even an introduction to who the characters were as individual people BEFORE they “met” (I use that term loosely in this case) and began engaging each other in typical Carpathian life mate bonding activities, which includes sex, arguing, drinking each other’s blood, over-the-top posturing, more sex, more arguing, etc. etc. However, the book begins with the characters randomly communicating their loneliness to each other telepathically and Mikhail appearing outside Raven’s hotel room tospy on her see what she looks like.
Even though it’s only the first chapter and they haven’t even actually met, Mikhail immediately recognizes Raven as his life mate and proceeds to “touch her erotically with his mind” while she’s sleeping. Sorta creepy. However, because Mikhail is a Carpathian who’s just come off a stint of several centuries without the ability to feel emotions, I decided to let it slide because if I’ve learned one thing about Carpathians, it’s that they really don’t know any better and that that sort of thing is modus operandi for a Carpathian male. Plus, they’re wicked hot, so they can get away with doing creepy shit every once in awhile.
Putting aside the fact that the beginning started too fast, I also feel like the author over-described some things making the prose unnecessarily dense and repetitious and disappointingly under-described in others. For example, one thing that bothered me the most was the absence of what I thought was one of the more interesting obstacles mentioned at the beginning of the book, which was that up to this point, no human woman has ever been successfully converted without going insane. This is a big problem in and of itself. But when you add to the fact that the Carpathians are a dying race, that they barely have any females left and that their children keep dying in the first year of life…Um, hello! Talk about a potentially huge, gut-wrenching ordeal!
****mild spoilers past this point****
Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you have a Carpathian Prince who’s fallen in love with a human female. Let’s say she does something wherein she exhibits the fact that she istoo stupid to live brave and daring and is fatally injured as a result of this. Choose your own adventure:
A) Do Carpathians and Co. convert her to save her life, thereby allowing the Carpathian Prince and his Human Female to live happily ever after?
B) Or do Carpathians and Co. convert her to save her life only to watch her go insane and die?
C) Or lastly, does the author permit Carpathians and Co. to convert her and barely even mention the possibility that rabid insanity is a legitimate concern?
If you guessed C, you’ve either read the book or are smarter than the average bear, because you’re right! The correct answer is C!
The heroine also annoyed the crap out of me. Mikhail kept saying how strong and smart she was. But in all honesty, I’m pretty sure he was just blowing smoke up somebody’s butt because she was absolutely, undeniably, irrevocably none of those things. Frankly, she was just plain obnoxious.
From the very beginning, she seemed to be a great candidate to be introduced into the mystical lifestyle that comes with living with Carpathians (who are basically non-evil, blood-drinking, vampire hunters, by the way) because she’s been psychic since birth and has spent the past several years working with the police to track down serial killers.
And for the most part, you’d think this might help ease her shock of admitting that Mikhail isn’t human and that spooks do exist in the world. She’s psychic, so you’d think she’d be more open to the possibility that there’s more to life than meets the eye, but no, what really happens is that she repeatedly freaks out and expends more energy than I thought was necessary in attempting to convince herself and others around her that it wasn’t even a possibility. Uh-nnoying, if you ask me.
Anyway, regardless of some of the weirdness and the fact that I’ve just mercilessly ripped on the things that bothered me, this was actually a very fun story to read and I think the series has a chance at being entertaining and enjoyable (sort of like how I'd imagine being done from behind with no foreplay by a delicious stranger would be like). I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next.
And that’s basically how I felt about this book.
I’d have appreciated a bit of background story in the first chapter. Or even an introduction to who the characters were as individual people BEFORE they “met” (I use that term loosely in this case) and began engaging each other in typical Carpathian life mate bonding activities, which includes sex, arguing, drinking each other’s blood, over-the-top posturing, more sex, more arguing, etc. etc. However, the book begins with the characters randomly communicating their loneliness to each other telepathically and Mikhail appearing outside Raven’s hotel room to
Even though it’s only the first chapter and they haven’t even actually met, Mikhail immediately recognizes Raven as his life mate and proceeds to “touch her erotically with his mind” while she’s sleeping. Sorta creepy. However, because Mikhail is a Carpathian who’s just come off a stint of several centuries without the ability to feel emotions, I decided to let it slide because if I’ve learned one thing about Carpathians, it’s that they really don’t know any better and that that sort of thing is modus operandi for a Carpathian male. Plus, they’re wicked hot, so they can get away with doing creepy shit every once in awhile.
Putting aside the fact that the beginning started too fast, I also feel like the author over-described some things making the prose unnecessarily dense and repetitious and disappointingly under-described in others. For example, one thing that bothered me the most was the absence of what I thought was one of the more interesting obstacles mentioned at the beginning of the book, which was that up to this point, no human woman has ever been successfully converted without going insane. This is a big problem in and of itself. But when you add to the fact that the Carpathians are a dying race, that they barely have any females left and that their children keep dying in the first year of life…Um, hello! Talk about a potentially huge, gut-wrenching ordeal!
****mild spoilers past this point****
Hypothetically speaking, let’s say you have a Carpathian Prince who’s fallen in love with a human female. Let’s say she does something wherein she exhibits the fact that she is
A) Do Carpathians and Co. convert her to save her life, thereby allowing the Carpathian Prince and his Human Female to live happily ever after?
B) Or do Carpathians and Co. convert her to save her life only to watch her go insane and die?
C) Or lastly, does the author permit Carpathians and Co. to convert her and barely even mention the possibility that rabid insanity is a legitimate concern?
If you guessed C, you’ve either read the book or are smarter than the average bear, because you’re right! The correct answer is C!
The heroine also annoyed the crap out of me. Mikhail kept saying how strong and smart she was. But in all honesty, I’m pretty sure he was just blowing smoke up somebody’s butt because she was absolutely, undeniably, irrevocably none of those things. Frankly, she was just plain obnoxious.
From the very beginning, she seemed to be a great candidate to be introduced into the mystical lifestyle that comes with living with Carpathians (who are basically non-evil, blood-drinking, vampire hunters, by the way) because she’s been psychic since birth and has spent the past several years working with the police to track down serial killers.
And for the most part, you’d think this might help ease her shock of admitting that Mikhail isn’t human and that spooks do exist in the world. She’s psychic, so you’d think she’d be more open to the possibility that there’s more to life than meets the eye, but no, what really happens is that she repeatedly freaks out and expends more energy than I thought was necessary in attempting to convince herself and others around her that it wasn’t even a possibility. Uh-nnoying, if you ask me.
Anyway, regardless of some of the weirdness and the fact that I’ve just mercilessly ripped on the things that bothered me, this was actually a very fun story to read and I think the series has a chance at being entertaining and enjoyable (sort of like how I'd imagine being done from behind with no foreplay by a delicious stranger would be like). I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next.
May 16, 2010
Reviewed for THC Reviews
"2.5 stars" In all honesty, I had been looking forward to trying Christine Feehan's books for quite some time, so the fact that Dark Prince did not resonate with me, is incredibly disappointing. I freely admit that perhaps my expectations were too high. The positive ratings for Ms. Feehan's books seem to far outweigh the negative, and I've seen many paranormal romance fans rave about her stories and hold them up as being among the best and brightest that the genre has to offer. Unfortunately, even though I truly thought I would enjoy this book, Ms. Feehan's writing style simply did not work for me. Most authors use page breaks to indicate scene or point-of-view changes, but Ms. Feehan tends to run everything together. There are significant jumps between activities where they might be doing one thing in one paragraph and something else in the next, or you might be reading one characters point-of-view and in the next paragraph it suddenly changes to a different character. The dialog is incredibly flowery and lacked a natural flow. The manner in which the characters speak to one another is nothing like the way anyone I know would ever converse. It never came alive for me, and I have to say that these discourses were some of the dullest I've ever read in any book, not just romance. The prose is also far too verbose with a flood of words present, but not much actually being said. In my opinion, the book probably could have been pared down by at least a third and most likely told a much stronger story. In addition, the entire novel has an extremely passive voice which did not lend itself well to me as a reader being able to relate to the characters. I recently read a writer's tip which said that in order for an author to avoid the dreaded “telling not showing,” he/she should minimize the use of “be” verbs. Apparently Ms. Feehan nor her editor were aware of this rule, because I would estimate her use of “be” verbs to be about twice that of actions verbs with a particular affinity for the word “was.” The result was a book in which there was minimal action and worse yet, very little plot, and that which existed never really pulled me into the story. In fact, it completely failed to engage my imagination or intellect in any meaningful way, leaving me pretty bored throughout nearly the entire novel.
Before beginning my reading of Dark Prince, I had found the things I'd heard about the Carpathian world to be rather intriguing and thought that it would be a fun and stimulating mythology to delve into. The concepts certainly had a great deal of promise, but unfortunately, I found the execution to be lacking. For all of the author's excess wordiness there was still an appalling lack of details on virtually everything, characters, setting and plot. In my opinion, the whole Carpathian mythos was relatively ill-defined, mainly consisting of vague, fuzzy notions instead of good, solid world-building. The actual age of the Carpathians is not revealed (they are simply said to be centuries old), and I never fully understood how everything worked as far as the differences between Carpathians and vampires except that apparently vampires are Carpathians gone bad. Also, except for one theory that was very briefly stated by Gregori, there is no real explanation as to why Raven is able to be turned Carpathian when they had never been successful in turning any other human woman in all the long centuries of the past. I additionally felt that a bit too many supernatural abilities were afforded to one single species, with the Carpathians being vampire-like creatures who are also shape-shifters, psychics and can control both the elements and animals. I thought that this only added to the muddled nature of the Carpathian legends rather than helping to define them as a race. The Old World European setting should have been rich in both history and beauty, but the environmental descriptions were another thing that lacked detail. This part of the narrative was minimal at best, making it very difficult for me to imagine the settings.
I can't say that I ever really warmed up to Mikhail and Raven as the hero and heroine either. Mikhail is probably one of the most (if not the most) arrogant and quite frankly, frightening heroes I think I've ever read. Initially, Mikhail virtually acts like a stalker. If I had a guy saying and doing things to me like the things he was saying and doing to Raven, I'd probably be scared to death and running the opposite direction, rather than trusting him implicitly and doing everything he said, especially after barely meeting. I might have been able to forgive Mikhail's pretentiousness if he showed a little more vulnerability, but in my opinion, he never did. I realize that he is supposed to be a centuries old vampire who seems to have rather archaic beliefs, and ultimately his heart seemed to be in the right place, but he was simply way too dominant and chauvinistic for my taste. Just because he was born and raised in another century doesn't mean he can't change with the times and come into the 21st century like other age-old supernatural beings I've read stories about. As to Raven, I was initially rather fascinated by her and how she used her psychic gift to track serial killers, as well as how that work had all but killed her both emotionally and spiritually. I thought that this was the most interesting thing about her, yet sadly, this part of her characterization was never fully explored. At first, Raven seemed like a strong woman who wouldn't let Mikhail walk all over her, but in the end, she almost always gave in to his will anyway. She spent a lot of time protesting both the things Mikhail told her to do and the things that were happening to her, but acquiesced to everything pretty easily, which I found to be contradictory. Ultimately, the elements of both Mikhail and Raven's back-stories and the depictions of their feelings surrounding these things (such as Mikhail not being able to see in color and being ready to kill himself or Raven's mental torment after being inside the heads of serial killers) weren't given enough depth for me to feel connected to either one. I thought both of them should have been terribly tortured individuals, but they never came off as being particularly tortured at all to me.
Probably due in large part to my inability to connect with Mikhail and Raven as separate characters, I also was not able to care much about them as a couple either. I realize that they had a telepathic link to one another, but that alone did not make me feel any sort of love or even desire building between them. It was only the author who told me that these things supposedly existed. I felt that they made love and declared their love for one another far too quickly. Having read several paranormal romances in which supernatural creatures typically have an unquenchable fiery sexual attraction for their mates, I'm used to that, but again, it was more like it was being told to me rather than me actually being drawn into the story and feeling it. Also the rather animalistic ferocity in Mikhail's love-making, especially the first time when Raven was still a virgin was not quite my cup of tea and something I didn't find particularly romantic. It was also quite disappointing that for the longest time, Raven didn't even fully know or understand who and what Mikhail actually was. In my mind, this made Mikhail's saying of the ritual words to bind them together a non-consensual act for Raven which made me rather uncomfortable. Typically, I like it when the hero uses endearments with the heroine, but I didn't really care for Mikhail calling Raven "little one." It reminded me too much of the way one would speak to a child, which further played into the whole idea of him being more powerful and trying to bend her to his will, and also left a bad taste in my mouth. The only good things I can say about their relationship is that Mikhail eventually lightened up and for the most part treated Raven with more gentleness and care later on, and it was nice that she had found someone who could understand and share her gift without bringing her the physical and emotional pain that touching another person usually did.
Although it is almost unheard of for the hero and the heroine of the same book to be TSTL, I thought that Mikhail and Raven both were on more than one occasion. Mikhail had spent a lot of time warning Raven about the dangers of the assassins who were staying at the same inn where she was lodging and had said he wouldn't allow her to return alone, but then he did anyway with no explanation. I could see trouble brewing as a result of that folly from a mile away. Then less than a week after that trauma, Mikhail left Raven alone again (why he didn't have some of his men guard her, I'll never know) and she, once again, wandered off, leading to more bad things happening. In my opinion, their brainless mistakes served as nothing more than weak plot devices to create danger and force confrontations with the bad guys.
As for the secondary characters, I found most of them to be pretty one-dimensional. There are several other Carpathians, mostly males, who are introduced, but for the most part very little information is given about any of them or their individual situations. Mikhail's brother, Jacques, becomes the hero of book #2, Dark Desire, and Aidan, another male who doesn't come into play until very late in the story becomes the hero of book #3, Dark Gold. Gregori is Mikhail's right hand man, and the only secondary Carpathian character who really caught my attention in any way. He has extraordinary healing abilities and powers that seem to equal or exceed Mikhail's. He becomes the hero of book #4, Dark Magic. There are also a lot of villains in this book, but with the exception of the vampire, Andre, I didn't find any of them particularly compelling, nor did I understand any of their motivations. The murderous intent of the vampire hunters just seemed to be rooted in some kind of radical fanaticism, and I still don't really know what Andre's vendetta was against Mikhail. Not to mention, the alliance between the vampire and vampire hunters seemed to completely fly in the face of reason. All in all, the villains just seemed to keep popping up out of nowhere, have no real reasons for the things they did, and only served to constantly injure and cause trouble for the protagonists. If there had been some kind of mystery surrounding the identity of the assassins or their motives, I think it would have been a much better story. In addition, I couldn't help wondering what was up with the young human males' penchant for rape. Every time Raven was in their vicinity, they seemed to start fantasizing about forcing her.
Try as I might, there were only a few things about Dark Prince that I can actually say I enjoyed, but none were developed in a way that truly brought these elements alive for me. Aside from the couple of things I've already mentioned, I was intrigued by the idea that the Carpathians were apparently created by God like other creatures, and that Mikhail regularly counseled with a priest. I also liked Mikhail's huge library of books which I thought would have been fun to explore. I'll admit that the story did hold some kind of strange, enthralling attraction for me, but overall, I found it to be entirely too dreary, foreboding, morose, and utterly humorless. Even the action and love scenes fizzled for me. Christine Feehan's writing style in general reminds me of Judith Ivory's (the only author so far to receive a one-star rating from me), with the only difference being that it was marginally less frustrating. The only reason Dark Prince got a 2.5 star rating from me is because I was somehow able to power through and read it, beginning to end, without having to set it aside temporarily in favor of some other book. Dark Prince was Ms. Feehan's first published novel, and in my opinion, her greenness as a writer definitely shows. It was also my first read by her, and the first in the Carpathian series, but I can't say that it has engendered any particular interest for me in continuing with either the series or any of the author's other books.
"2.5 stars" In all honesty, I had been looking forward to trying Christine Feehan's books for quite some time, so the fact that Dark Prince did not resonate with me, is incredibly disappointing. I freely admit that perhaps my expectations were too high. The positive ratings for Ms. Feehan's books seem to far outweigh the negative, and I've seen many paranormal romance fans rave about her stories and hold them up as being among the best and brightest that the genre has to offer. Unfortunately, even though I truly thought I would enjoy this book, Ms. Feehan's writing style simply did not work for me. Most authors use page breaks to indicate scene or point-of-view changes, but Ms. Feehan tends to run everything together. There are significant jumps between activities where they might be doing one thing in one paragraph and something else in the next, or you might be reading one characters point-of-view and in the next paragraph it suddenly changes to a different character. The dialog is incredibly flowery and lacked a natural flow. The manner in which the characters speak to one another is nothing like the way anyone I know would ever converse. It never came alive for me, and I have to say that these discourses were some of the dullest I've ever read in any book, not just romance. The prose is also far too verbose with a flood of words present, but not much actually being said. In my opinion, the book probably could have been pared down by at least a third and most likely told a much stronger story. In addition, the entire novel has an extremely passive voice which did not lend itself well to me as a reader being able to relate to the characters. I recently read a writer's tip which said that in order for an author to avoid the dreaded “telling not showing,” he/she should minimize the use of “be” verbs. Apparently Ms. Feehan nor her editor were aware of this rule, because I would estimate her use of “be” verbs to be about twice that of actions verbs with a particular affinity for the word “was.” The result was a book in which there was minimal action and worse yet, very little plot, and that which existed never really pulled me into the story. In fact, it completely failed to engage my imagination or intellect in any meaningful way, leaving me pretty bored throughout nearly the entire novel.
Before beginning my reading of Dark Prince, I had found the things I'd heard about the Carpathian world to be rather intriguing and thought that it would be a fun and stimulating mythology to delve into. The concepts certainly had a great deal of promise, but unfortunately, I found the execution to be lacking. For all of the author's excess wordiness there was still an appalling lack of details on virtually everything, characters, setting and plot. In my opinion, the whole Carpathian mythos was relatively ill-defined, mainly consisting of vague, fuzzy notions instead of good, solid world-building. The actual age of the Carpathians is not revealed (they are simply said to be centuries old), and I never fully understood how everything worked as far as the differences between Carpathians and vampires except that apparently vampires are Carpathians gone bad. Also, except for one theory that was very briefly stated by Gregori, there is no real explanation as to why Raven is able to be turned Carpathian when they had never been successful in turning any other human woman in all the long centuries of the past. I additionally felt that a bit too many supernatural abilities were afforded to one single species, with the Carpathians being vampire-like creatures who are also shape-shifters, psychics and can control both the elements and animals. I thought that this only added to the muddled nature of the Carpathian legends rather than helping to define them as a race. The Old World European setting should have been rich in both history and beauty, but the environmental descriptions were another thing that lacked detail. This part of the narrative was minimal at best, making it very difficult for me to imagine the settings.
I can't say that I ever really warmed up to Mikhail and Raven as the hero and heroine either. Mikhail is probably one of the most (if not the most) arrogant and quite frankly, frightening heroes I think I've ever read. Initially, Mikhail virtually acts like a stalker. If I had a guy saying and doing things to me like the things he was saying and doing to Raven, I'd probably be scared to death and running the opposite direction, rather than trusting him implicitly and doing everything he said, especially after barely meeting. I might have been able to forgive Mikhail's pretentiousness if he showed a little more vulnerability, but in my opinion, he never did. I realize that he is supposed to be a centuries old vampire who seems to have rather archaic beliefs, and ultimately his heart seemed to be in the right place, but he was simply way too dominant and chauvinistic for my taste. Just because he was born and raised in another century doesn't mean he can't change with the times and come into the 21st century like other age-old supernatural beings I've read stories about. As to Raven, I was initially rather fascinated by her and how she used her psychic gift to track serial killers, as well as how that work had all but killed her both emotionally and spiritually. I thought that this was the most interesting thing about her, yet sadly, this part of her characterization was never fully explored. At first, Raven seemed like a strong woman who wouldn't let Mikhail walk all over her, but in the end, she almost always gave in to his will anyway. She spent a lot of time protesting both the things Mikhail told her to do and the things that were happening to her, but acquiesced to everything pretty easily, which I found to be contradictory. Ultimately, the elements of both Mikhail and Raven's back-stories and the depictions of their feelings surrounding these things (such as Mikhail not being able to see in color and being ready to kill himself or Raven's mental torment after being inside the heads of serial killers) weren't given enough depth for me to feel connected to either one. I thought both of them should have been terribly tortured individuals, but they never came off as being particularly tortured at all to me.
Probably due in large part to my inability to connect with Mikhail and Raven as separate characters, I also was not able to care much about them as a couple either. I realize that they had a telepathic link to one another, but that alone did not make me feel any sort of love or even desire building between them. It was only the author who told me that these things supposedly existed. I felt that they made love and declared their love for one another far too quickly. Having read several paranormal romances in which supernatural creatures typically have an unquenchable fiery sexual attraction for their mates, I'm used to that, but again, it was more like it was being told to me rather than me actually being drawn into the story and feeling it. Also the rather animalistic ferocity in Mikhail's love-making, especially the first time when Raven was still a virgin was not quite my cup of tea and something I didn't find particularly romantic. It was also quite disappointing that for the longest time, Raven didn't even fully know or understand who and what Mikhail actually was. In my mind, this made Mikhail's saying of the ritual words to bind them together a non-consensual act for Raven which made me rather uncomfortable. Typically, I like it when the hero uses endearments with the heroine, but I didn't really care for Mikhail calling Raven "little one." It reminded me too much of the way one would speak to a child, which further played into the whole idea of him being more powerful and trying to bend her to his will, and also left a bad taste in my mouth. The only good things I can say about their relationship is that Mikhail eventually lightened up and for the most part treated Raven with more gentleness and care later on, and it was nice that she had found someone who could understand and share her gift without bringing her the physical and emotional pain that touching another person usually did.
Although it is almost unheard of for the hero and the heroine of the same book to be TSTL, I thought that Mikhail and Raven both were on more than one occasion. Mikhail had spent a lot of time warning Raven about the dangers of the assassins who were staying at the same inn where she was lodging and had said he wouldn't allow her to return alone, but then he did anyway with no explanation. I could see trouble brewing as a result of that folly from a mile away. Then less than a week after that trauma, Mikhail left Raven alone again (why he didn't have some of his men guard her, I'll never know) and she, once again, wandered off, leading to more bad things happening. In my opinion, their brainless mistakes served as nothing more than weak plot devices to create danger and force confrontations with the bad guys.
As for the secondary characters, I found most of them to be pretty one-dimensional. There are several other Carpathians, mostly males, who are introduced, but for the most part very little information is given about any of them or their individual situations. Mikhail's brother, Jacques, becomes the hero of book #2, Dark Desire, and Aidan, another male who doesn't come into play until very late in the story becomes the hero of book #3, Dark Gold. Gregori is Mikhail's right hand man, and the only secondary Carpathian character who really caught my attention in any way. He has extraordinary healing abilities and powers that seem to equal or exceed Mikhail's. He becomes the hero of book #4, Dark Magic. There are also a lot of villains in this book, but with the exception of the vampire, Andre, I didn't find any of them particularly compelling, nor did I understand any of their motivations. The murderous intent of the vampire hunters just seemed to be rooted in some kind of radical fanaticism, and I still don't really know what Andre's vendetta was against Mikhail. Not to mention, the alliance between the vampire and vampire hunters seemed to completely fly in the face of reason. All in all, the villains just seemed to keep popping up out of nowhere, have no real reasons for the things they did, and only served to constantly injure and cause trouble for the protagonists. If there had been some kind of mystery surrounding the identity of the assassins or their motives, I think it would have been a much better story. In addition, I couldn't help wondering what was up with the young human males' penchant for rape. Every time Raven was in their vicinity, they seemed to start fantasizing about forcing her.
Try as I might, there were only a few things about Dark Prince that I can actually say I enjoyed, but none were developed in a way that truly brought these elements alive for me. Aside from the couple of things I've already mentioned, I was intrigued by the idea that the Carpathians were apparently created by God like other creatures, and that Mikhail regularly counseled with a priest. I also liked Mikhail's huge library of books which I thought would have been fun to explore. I'll admit that the story did hold some kind of strange, enthralling attraction for me, but overall, I found it to be entirely too dreary, foreboding, morose, and utterly humorless. Even the action and love scenes fizzled for me. Christine Feehan's writing style in general reminds me of Judith Ivory's (the only author so far to receive a one-star rating from me), with the only difference being that it was marginally less frustrating. The only reason Dark Prince got a 2.5 star rating from me is because I was somehow able to power through and read it, beginning to end, without having to set it aside temporarily in favor of some other book. Dark Prince was Ms. Feehan's first published novel, and in my opinion, her greenness as a writer definitely shows. It was also my first read by her, and the first in the Carpathian series, but I can't say that it has engendered any particular interest for me in continuing with either the series or any of the author's other books.
April 15, 2019
Mikhail Dubrinsky and Raven Whitney
The book cover is old-fashioned, the writing style is so decadent and dreamy. Still it is such an interesting approach to the vampires/shifters mythology and fated mating.
It made me remember that the first PNR stories about shifters were the stories about the vampires. A vampire could transform into a bat or a wolf.
It also made me remember that vampires love sleeping inside the earth. They are supposed to be the oldest creatures alive, so their connection to earth and blood is their connection to life.
I noticed that the Carpathian vampires in this series are a bit Neanderthal and the heroines are a bit like damsels in distress, but I honestly do not mind this at all.
Raven stared up at his face, drinking in the strong lines and the way he looked at her with something close to adoration. She smiled at him. “I think you’ve managed to put some kind of spell on me.”
“If I did,” he whispered, “it backfired, and I managed to ensnare myself as well.”
The book cover is old-fashioned, the writing style is so decadent and dreamy. Still it is such an interesting approach to the vampires/shifters mythology and fated mating.
It made me remember that the first PNR stories about shifters were the stories about the vampires. A vampire could transform into a bat or a wolf.
It also made me remember that vampires love sleeping inside the earth. They are supposed to be the oldest creatures alive, so their connection to earth and blood is their connection to life.
I noticed that the Carpathian vampires in this series are a bit Neanderthal and the heroines are a bit like damsels in distress, but I honestly do not mind this at all.
Raven stared up at his face, drinking in the strong lines and the way he looked at her with something close to adoration. She smiled at him. “I think you’ve managed to put some kind of spell on me.”
“If I did,” he whispered, “it backfired, and I managed to ensnare myself as well.”
May 24, 2016
The guys in this book can give Kristen Ashley's alpha assholes a run for their money. Just turn one of KA's alphas into a shapeshifting/vampire hybrid, give him immense power, and you've got it.
So, we have a race of brooding shapeshifter/vampires who need females or they will turn into the bad vampires who are consumed with bloodlust and death. Like lawyers. *shiver*
cookies? I'm in!
Mikhail is the prince of the hybrids. He is in so much darkness that he is thinking of killing himself. Broody male. Just because the world has lost all color and emotion for him and he lives in anguish trying to fight off the monster within him, he gets all whiny. Such an emo baby.
ahhh, let's give him something!
Raven is a girl with strong psychic talents. She hears Mikhail's pain and reaches out to him to help. She is sweet, innocent, sad from hearing everyone's thoughts, and totally alone. Let's take advantage of her!
Mikhail is all over her like a cheap suit. Within a couple of days he has herheld prisoner living at his house and has established a blood bond with her. He even decides that she needs to start dressing in skirts because jeans are "men's clothing." She keeps trying to get him to stop forcing her into things and being so pushy, but she's just a silly woman and he needs to smother protect her from the evil Levi corporation.
There are vampire hunters, though, and they are creating a problem for Mikhail's people. You know, with staking them and chopping their heads off and all... annoying!
I'm truly sorry for the dad-joke!
There are a lot of sex scenes in this book - maybe too many. It got a little boring and redundant. Certain words were used waaaaay too often to describe sex-parts. Such as the word "velvet". I mean, I like as velvet as much as the next person. It's pretty soft. But, this was like the George Costanza of sexual descriptions - too much velvet to stay in good taste.
apparently, Mikhail agrees!
Looking good,George Mikhail! Looking good.
So, we have a race of brooding shapeshifter/vampires who need females or they will turn into the bad vampires who are consumed with bloodlust and death. Like lawyers. *shiver*
cookies? I'm in!
Mikhail is the prince of the hybrids. He is in so much darkness that he is thinking of killing himself. Broody male. Just because the world has lost all color and emotion for him and he lives in anguish trying to fight off the monster within him, he gets all whiny. Such an emo baby.
ahhh, let's give him something!
Raven is a girl with strong psychic talents. She hears Mikhail's pain and reaches out to him to help. She is sweet, innocent, sad from hearing everyone's thoughts, and totally alone. Let's take advantage of her!
Mikhail is all over her like a cheap suit. Within a couple of days he has her
There are vampire hunters, though, and they are creating a problem for Mikhail's people. You know, with staking them and chopping their heads off and all... annoying!
I'm truly sorry for the dad-joke!
There are a lot of sex scenes in this book - maybe too many. It got a little boring and redundant. Certain words were used waaaaay too often to describe sex-parts. Such as the word "velvet". I mean, I like as velvet as much as the next person. It's pretty soft. But, this was like the George Costanza of sexual descriptions - too much velvet to stay in good taste.
apparently, Mikhail agrees!
Looking good,
April 25, 2021
Overly flowery and dramatic!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎧
Romance: ❤️💙💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📙📕📗
World building: 🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😌🤓
The heroine: Raven Whitney - a psychic that assists the FBI in finding serial killers. She is on Hiatus in the Carpathian mountains after a particularly brutal case.
The Hero(es): Mikhail Dubrinsky - prince of the Carpathian people. They are a blend between vampire, shifter, and mage. Their life does end after a long time if they don’t find their life mate. His people are dying out because the birth rate is extremely low and girl children are rarely born. They can only have children with their life mate and humans die during the transition if they try to change a human.
The Love Story: Mikhail realizes that Raven is his life mate as soon as he meets her despite the fact that she is human. He is determined not to turn her but gets caught up in the moment and does it. Raven survives and could be the key to saving their race.
This is the first book in the series and I have previously read one of the more recent ones, #29 or 30 and I really loved that book so I was looking forward to this one but I didn’t really like it that much. The overall story was fine, but there were issues with the characters and I absolutely hated the narration. There was only a female narrator, which I hate. Even if a book is all third person or told from the female character’s POV, I think there should be multiple narrators.
This narrator has a good reading voice (used for third person narration) but the voice she used for Raven was so whiny that I couldn’t stand it. The fact is that the character was extremely whiny anyway. But the voice made it that much more annoying. Also some of the male voices she used were too dramatic like someone overacting would use for an evil villain character. This was for the villains and some of the other side characters, like Mikhail’s friend and healer Gregori, so I never knew if he was supposed to be a friend or a villain.
Regarding the main characters, I know Mikhail was extremely old and is used to the Carpathian females, but he and the other Carpathian males are extremely misogynistic. It is funny the way some men think that keeping a woman from doing things like talking to other men, or going out alone is the way to protect them. Can’t they see how if the woman did that to them, they would not appreciate it or stand for it, but the woman are supposed to just say, “Well as long as you are locking me up for my protection, its ok”.
Then it seems they always have the heroine balk at the restrictions and go out into the world and of course they nearly die, so the Hero can basically say I told you so. I guess in this one I really hated how weak Raven was. She was afraid of everything and said so often. It made no sense that she used to hunt serial killers when she was such a fearful whiner. She had to be saved numerous times in this book.
The romance was pretty bad, due to the fact that Mikhail was such a chauvinist and he thought he could do whatever he wanted. The intimate scenes were a bit too much for me. I have seen this with other authors where the words used are just a bit too dramatic and flowery to be believed. It makes the intimate act sound like some sort of literal poetic heavenly experience.
I do plan to read more from this series due to the fact that I like the overall story and I really did enjoy the later book I read. I think this was just a matter of this being the first book and Christine’s writing has greatly improved along the way.
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The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎧
Romance: ❤️💙💜
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📙📕📗
World building: 🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 😌🤓
The heroine: Raven Whitney - a psychic that assists the FBI in finding serial killers. She is on Hiatus in the Carpathian mountains after a particularly brutal case.
The Hero(es): Mikhail Dubrinsky - prince of the Carpathian people. They are a blend between vampire, shifter, and mage. Their life does end after a long time if they don’t find their life mate. His people are dying out because the birth rate is extremely low and girl children are rarely born. They can only have children with their life mate and humans die during the transition if they try to change a human.
The Love Story: Mikhail realizes that Raven is his life mate as soon as he meets her despite the fact that she is human. He is determined not to turn her but gets caught up in the moment and does it. Raven survives and could be the key to saving their race.
This is the first book in the series and I have previously read one of the more recent ones, #29 or 30 and I really loved that book so I was looking forward to this one but I didn’t really like it that much. The overall story was fine, but there were issues with the characters and I absolutely hated the narration. There was only a female narrator, which I hate. Even if a book is all third person or told from the female character’s POV, I think there should be multiple narrators.
This narrator has a good reading voice (used for third person narration) but the voice she used for Raven was so whiny that I couldn’t stand it. The fact is that the character was extremely whiny anyway. But the voice made it that much more annoying. Also some of the male voices she used were too dramatic like someone overacting would use for an evil villain character. This was for the villains and some of the other side characters, like Mikhail’s friend and healer Gregori, so I never knew if he was supposed to be a friend or a villain.
Regarding the main characters, I know Mikhail was extremely old and is used to the Carpathian females, but he and the other Carpathian males are extremely misogynistic. It is funny the way some men think that keeping a woman from doing things like talking to other men, or going out alone is the way to protect them. Can’t they see how if the woman did that to them, they would not appreciate it or stand for it, but the woman are supposed to just say, “Well as long as you are locking me up for my protection, its ok”.
Then it seems they always have the heroine balk at the restrictions and go out into the world and of course they nearly die, so the Hero can basically say I told you so. I guess in this one I really hated how weak Raven was. She was afraid of everything and said so often. It made no sense that she used to hunt serial killers when she was such a fearful whiner. She had to be saved numerous times in this book.
The romance was pretty bad, due to the fact that Mikhail was such a chauvinist and he thought he could do whatever he wanted. The intimate scenes were a bit too much for me. I have seen this with other authors where the words used are just a bit too dramatic and flowery to be believed. It makes the intimate act sound like some sort of literal poetic heavenly experience.
I do plan to read more from this series due to the fact that I like the overall story and I really did enjoy the later book I read. I think this was just a matter of this being the first book and Christine’s writing has greatly improved along the way.
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May 30, 2008
Thanks to a quarter-life crisis that has left me bereft of the simple pleasure of enjoying a good book, I've been relegated to flipping through comics and smut romances in an effort to distract myself from the general tragedy that is my life. While most of them have been reasonably bad, I have not felt compelled to write a review about any of them.
That said, Dark Prince being the first in the Carpathian Series was so very laughable that I find myself rising from the gloom if only to warn others who might be expecting this here book to produce some entertaining vampire high-jinks.
The premise is interesting enough. The Carpathians are almost-vampire inasmuch they can shape-shift, heal quickly, drink blood (need to), read your mind etc. But they don't run around raping and killing, mind their own business generally and only mingle/mate with their own kind. The baddies are trying to kill them all, mistakenly believing them to be dangerous when they're not. Really. Besides when these Carpathians find a lifemate, they are faithful to the end and when one dies, so does the other. Cute huh?
The problem lies in the actual telling of the story - our intelligent, strong willed, all American, blue jeans sporting heroine pitted against an arrogant, traditional, "we protect our women" type ape... I mean vampire... should have been an explosive combination. While there was some debate/banter between them it was never developed to a believable depth. The dialogue felt like yet another attempt to show us that these two polar opposites crackle - when they didn't. The tension, if strung out well, could have had readers begging them to do it already. But sadly, the couple have sex by the second chapter and it's horribly predictable from there on.
And seriously, if the heroine was as intelligent as she was supposed to have been she would have noticed all the typical signs of vampirism but no... "I dreamt you made me suck blood from a great big hole in your chest - it must be because I'm in Romania", "it's so cute how the wolves seem to listen you" and "oh did you just leap across the room like a psycho jungle cat? wow"
Seriously.
Of course this book had a lot of sex which is perfectly alright as long as its written reasonably well but this wasn't. A lot repetition - multiple, headache inducing mentions of her "tiny waist" and "silky hair" and his "velvet seduction". And My God. If I had to listen to him call her "my little one" one more time I would barf.
I read the whole thing and it had a few good bits admittedly, but they were so few and far between that I can only give this an overall 2 stars.
That said, Dark Prince being the first in the Carpathian Series was so very laughable that I find myself rising from the gloom if only to warn others who might be expecting this here book to produce some entertaining vampire high-jinks.
The premise is interesting enough. The Carpathians are almost-vampire inasmuch they can shape-shift, heal quickly, drink blood (need to), read your mind etc. But they don't run around raping and killing, mind their own business generally and only mingle/mate with their own kind. The baddies are trying to kill them all, mistakenly believing them to be dangerous when they're not. Really. Besides when these Carpathians find a lifemate, they are faithful to the end and when one dies, so does the other. Cute huh?
The problem lies in the actual telling of the story - our intelligent, strong willed, all American, blue jeans sporting heroine pitted against an arrogant, traditional, "we protect our women" type ape... I mean vampire... should have been an explosive combination. While there was some debate/banter between them it was never developed to a believable depth. The dialogue felt like yet another attempt to show us that these two polar opposites crackle - when they didn't. The tension, if strung out well, could have had readers begging them to do it already. But sadly, the couple have sex by the second chapter and it's horribly predictable from there on.
And seriously, if the heroine was as intelligent as she was supposed to have been she would have noticed all the typical signs of vampirism but no... "I dreamt you made me suck blood from a great big hole in your chest - it must be because I'm in Romania", "it's so cute how the wolves seem to listen you" and "oh did you just leap across the room like a psycho jungle cat? wow"
Seriously.
Of course this book had a lot of sex which is perfectly alright as long as its written reasonably well but this wasn't. A lot repetition - multiple, headache inducing mentions of her "tiny waist" and "silky hair" and his "velvet seduction". And My God. If I had to listen to him call her "my little one" one more time I would barf.
I read the whole thing and it had a few good bits admittedly, but they were so few and far between that I can only give this an overall 2 stars.
March 7, 2017
Muy buen inicio de saga! Si algo me gusta de estos vampiros es que no son descafeinados...
September 1, 2021
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With very few exceptions, I prefer to read the original editions of books and avoid "author's cut" editions like this because editors exist for a reason, you know? But one of my friends kindly gifted me the whole series of this book, including some of the original paperbacks published by Love Spell with the bodice-ripper covers, so I'm not going to be a dick and look a gift book in the mouth.
DARK PRINCE was so close to being a good book and I think I probably would have enjoyed the original "cut" edition because one of my biggest complaints for this book is that it is too long. Words are repeated ruthlessly and with abandon. "Velvet," "black magic," and "silk" are used over and over again during sex scenes. There also isn't really enough action to fuel the storyline. The vampire hunter plot was good but the climax happened too soon, and made the next 150 or so pages feel incredibly anticlimactic. I'm not sure that would have been the case if the book were shorter.
I also really didn't like Mikhail. He's everything that's wrong with the fated to be mated trope (which I am also not a fan of). He basically forces his way into the heroine's life-- and head-- and calls her "little one" (ew) and he's always manhandling her and telling her what to do. Sometimes the "you look at another man and I'll kill him" thing works for me, but not here. This felt more like professional gaslighting from a broody goth boy in sad pants. Especially since he's always like "you have choices" but then makes it so that she basically has none. He even (SPOILER) turns her w/o permission. RUDE.
The Carpathians themselves were pretty cool, kind of a blend between the vampires of old and shape-shifters. They can turn into animals and mist, but they go to church. Carpathians that don't find their mates become true vampires, they can't see color, life is bleak and meaningless. I thought that was an interesting biological imperative to make them seek their mates. Better than the classic "magic is making us fuck" PWP excuse.
I wasn't really sure on what to rate this. During the beginning, I thought it was kind of like a self-indulgent TWILIGHT for adults, which made me want to give it a three (what I gave TWILIGHT). Then, as the story dragged on, I thought maybe a two. When the fight scene picked up, I thought maybe it would get a three after all. But then there was two hundred pages of purple sex and Mikhail being a douchey angstlord, and I thought that maybe this book should get a one. I feel bad about it because there were things that were really good! But this was just too long and I really did NOT like Mikhail.
1 to 1.5 stars
December 10, 2015
I don't like giving up on books, but there are often good reasons for me to do that, either the book just doesn’t work for me at the moment or the book just doesn’t work at all for me. For me was this book the later on and I read about 100 pages before I decided to throw in the towel. This book just didn’t work for me mainly because the main character Mikhail just made me mad. I can’t stand a character that is so annoying to read about, from his Raven in his woman nobody shall touch her attitude to his let’s make Raven do as I will by hypnotizing her so that I can have sex with her even if she is not completely willing. I like bad boys, but I don’t like asholes and sorry Mikhail is an ashole!
So if you still feel that this book is for you go ahead and read it. Maybe I’m just picky when it comes to men in books.
Thank you Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
So if you still feel that this book is for you go ahead and read it. Maybe I’m just picky when it comes to men in books.
Thank you Piatkus for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
September 6, 2008
This was the book that started by Carpathian addiction. Christine Feehan's "Dark Prince" was so very different from the normal romance novel back in 1999. Her Alphas could write the book on Alpha behavior and their love for their mates is the stuff of dreams. If you've never read one of her books, then I can't recommend "Dark Prince" highly enough...especially is you are a paranormal romance fan. If heroes who literally NEED their heroines and will do anything to lure, attain, and keep their heroine are the stuff of your dreams, then welcome to Nirvana.
March 30, 2015
Finally! I cannot tell you how happy I am to finish this book. Instead of 10 hours, the audiobook felt like it was twice as long and I had it in 2x speed for most of it.
I can imagine that when this book came out in 1999, it was fresh and groundbreaking. If I had read it back there, I would have definitely been intrigued. But as a 2011 PNR reader, I can only tell you that this book bored me beyond tears and I couldn't stand the dumb characters and an overwrought dialogue that would go on and on repeating the same things.
Let's start with the heroine, who has the distinction of being the most TSTL heroine I've ever read about in my life. Why, you may ask? Just select an option from the ones below (contains some spoilers):
A - Left the hero's house when he was disabled to spend the day in the same place as the evil villains
B - After being told that a woman is murdered, she wanders on her own in the forest and falls sleep
C - Decides the hero is not for her even though he's the only man that can touch her (she's telepathic and can read minds just by touching normal people)
D - After almost getting killed, she wanders the forest at night half naked and strikes a conversation with a guy she doesn't know
E - Tries to sacrifice herself several times to save the hero even though everybody and their mother has told her that if she dies, he dies too.
F - All of the above.
Believe it or not, the answer is F: all of the above. This woman doesn't have the brain God gave a mosquito and I just wanted the villain to crack her skull and put us out of our misery.
Then there was the asinine plot. Villains would come out of nowhere and they caught the very powerful Carpathians with their pants down Every.Single.Time. You would think that such a powerful race would be prepared to be hunted and would keep safeguards in place but the villains basically did everything they wanted and the Carpathians couldn't stop them.
The prose is affected and over the top with gems such as "velvet sheath of fire." Over and over, we learned that "Carpathians women were the light to the male's darkness...his other half. Without her, the beast would slowly consume the man until he was complete darkness." If I had been doing a drinking game every time the work 'darkness' showed up, I had been roaring drunk by the end.
Overall, all I can say is that I'm glad that it's over.
I can imagine that when this book came out in 1999, it was fresh and groundbreaking. If I had read it back there, I would have definitely been intrigued. But as a 2011 PNR reader, I can only tell you that this book bored me beyond tears and I couldn't stand the dumb characters and an overwrought dialogue that would go on and on repeating the same things.
Let's start with the heroine, who has the distinction of being the most TSTL heroine I've ever read about in my life. Why, you may ask? Just select an option from the ones below (contains some spoilers):
A - Left the hero's house when he was disabled to spend the day in the same place as the evil villains
B - After being told that a woman is murdered, she wanders on her own in the forest and falls sleep
C - Decides the hero is not for her even though he's the only man that can touch her (she's telepathic and can read minds just by touching normal people)
D - After almost getting killed, she wanders the forest at night half naked and strikes a conversation with a guy she doesn't know
E - Tries to sacrifice herself several times to save the hero even though everybody and their mother has told her that if she dies, he dies too.
F - All of the above.
Believe it or not, the answer is F: all of the above. This woman doesn't have the brain God gave a mosquito and I just wanted the villain to crack her skull and put us out of our misery.
Then there was the asinine plot. Villains would come out of nowhere and they caught the very powerful Carpathians with their pants down Every.Single.Time. You would think that such a powerful race would be prepared to be hunted and would keep safeguards in place but the villains basically did everything they wanted and the Carpathians couldn't stop them.
The prose is affected and over the top with gems such as "velvet sheath of fire." Over and over, we learned that "Carpathians women were the light to the male's darkness...his other half. Without her, the beast would slowly consume the man until he was complete darkness." If I had been doing a drinking game every time the work 'darkness' showed up, I had been roaring drunk by the end.
Overall, all I can say is that I'm glad that it's over.
December 21, 2008
Simply awful.
I have nothing against paranormal romances. I've read quite a few, although I generally prefer urban fantasy/mystery books with some romance.
I had heard such good things about Christine Feehan I thought I'd give her books a try. Unfortunately, I couldn't make myself finish this, and I did try. Really. I almost got through it, but ultimately gave up.
The story isn't particularly original... unless you consider the fact that Feehan probably came up with this plotline in the first place. But nowadays, dark, possessive and suffering vampires who can be saved by mortal women are fairly common.
What I truly disliked were the characters. Supposedly, the heroine was an independent, strong-minded woman; the hero was a tortured vampire with a healthy dose of possessiveness towards his "woman".
In reality the vampire guy was way too possessive, not to mention a machist of the highest order; which was slightly distasteful, but it would still be acceptable if the heroine actually stood up to him... and changed him a bit. But she didn't. She was compliant and submissive and I just... couldn't stomach it.
Of course it's a matter of taste, but I didn't find the forceful manner of the guy and the wimpiness of the girl very romantic. Ugh.
I have nothing against paranormal romances. I've read quite a few, although I generally prefer urban fantasy/mystery books with some romance.
I had heard such good things about Christine Feehan I thought I'd give her books a try. Unfortunately, I couldn't make myself finish this, and I did try. Really. I almost got through it, but ultimately gave up.
The story isn't particularly original... unless you consider the fact that Feehan probably came up with this plotline in the first place. But nowadays, dark, possessive and suffering vampires who can be saved by mortal women are fairly common.
What I truly disliked were the characters. Supposedly, the heroine was an independent, strong-minded woman; the hero was a tortured vampire with a healthy dose of possessiveness towards his "woman".
In reality the vampire guy was way too possessive, not to mention a machist of the highest order; which was slightly distasteful, but it would still be acceptable if the heroine actually stood up to him... and changed him a bit. But she didn't. She was compliant and submissive and I just... couldn't stomach it.
Of course it's a matter of taste, but I didn't find the forceful manner of the guy and the wimpiness of the girl very romantic. Ugh.
December 4, 2013
Now, if you read my reviews, or take a peek at my shelves, you know that it's a rare thing indeed for me to give a one-star review, let alone not finish a book..
But this one? I just. I couldn't finish it.
I tried. I really did. But when I find myself playing Pac-Man online instead of finishing a book, we've got ourselves a problem.
I'm a fan of Feehan's Ghostwalker series. Though even many of them are rather poorly written (and let's face it, they really are), they're typically enjoyable and were able to keep my attention despite any qualms I may have had about the writing style...
This one though? Ug. It read like very mediocre fanfiction. *wrinkles nose*. I don't know. Maybe it's her vampire/Carpathian mythology that turned me off. Or maybe it was Raven's uber wishy-washy behavior. Maybe it was Mikhail's... well... Maybe it was just Mikhail lol
I don't know... Normally I enjoy stories with alpha males. You know, those smexy yet angsty fellas who have lived life by the creed of "My Way or the Highway", and who struggle between being all melty for the heroine and beating his chest trying to maintain the authority he's become accustomed to.. But I just wasn't feeling any chemistry between these two...
The whole thing (well, the part I read anyway) was just chock full of Raven going on and on, whining about how "independent" she was, and how awful it was that Mikhail was so domineering.. And then of course, all Mikhail had to do was be all like "but I'm just forcing you to bend to my every whim for your own goooooood", and she'd pout at him all prettily and give in and do whatever it was he wanted so long as he acknowledged how independent she was *beats head against the wall*
Perhaps we just got off to a bad start. As many others have pointed out, the book starts mid-stride, with no real introduction to the characters and then BAM! Suddenly they're psychically connected lifemates who bicker about everything and have sex. A lot. So much so that it's almost like Feehan is trying to distract you from the lousy story line by throwing a lot of bare breasts and fang action your way.
And I'm sorry. WTF is up with the heroine going back to the freaking inn to spend the night while our hero is out of commission, KNOWING THAT THERE ARE FREAKING SERIAL KILLERS STAYING THERE?!?!?! *facepalm* Hellooooo.. Why the fark would anyone think that was a good idea??
And some random psychic chick coming to pay them a visit at the castle? Really? *shakes head*
IDK.. Maybe I'm spoiled from where I glommed Nalini Singh a few days ago or something, or from where the last real "vampire" series I read (outside of Singh's Angels' Blood) was the deliciously-ridiculous-yet-oh-so-addictive Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole, but this one just flat out didn't do it for me.
But this one? I just. I couldn't finish it.
I tried. I really did. But when I find myself playing Pac-Man online instead of finishing a book, we've got ourselves a problem.
I'm a fan of Feehan's Ghostwalker series. Though even many of them are rather poorly written (and let's face it, they really are), they're typically enjoyable and were able to keep my attention despite any qualms I may have had about the writing style...
This one though? Ug. It read like very mediocre fanfiction. *wrinkles nose*. I don't know. Maybe it's her vampire/Carpathian mythology that turned me off. Or maybe it was Raven's uber wishy-washy behavior. Maybe it was Mikhail's... well... Maybe it was just Mikhail lol
I don't know... Normally I enjoy stories with alpha males. You know, those smexy yet angsty fellas who have lived life by the creed of "My Way or the Highway", and who struggle between being all melty for the heroine and beating his chest trying to maintain the authority he's become accustomed to.. But I just wasn't feeling any chemistry between these two...
The whole thing (well, the part I read anyway) was just chock full of Raven going on and on, whining about how "independent" she was, and how awful it was that Mikhail was so domineering.. And then of course, all Mikhail had to do was be all like "but I'm just forcing you to bend to my every whim for your own goooooood", and she'd pout at him all prettily and give in and do whatever it was he wanted so long as he acknowledged how independent she was *beats head against the wall*
Perhaps we just got off to a bad start. As many others have pointed out, the book starts mid-stride, with no real introduction to the characters and then BAM! Suddenly they're psychically connected lifemates who bicker about everything and have sex. A lot. So much so that it's almost like Feehan is trying to distract you from the lousy story line by throwing a lot of bare breasts and fang action your way.
And I'm sorry. WTF is up with the heroine going back to the freaking inn to spend the night while our hero is out of commission, KNOWING THAT THERE ARE FREAKING SERIAL KILLERS STAYING THERE?!?!?! *facepalm* Hellooooo.. Why the fark would anyone think that was a good idea??
And some random psychic chick coming to pay them a visit at the castle? Really? *shakes head*
IDK.. Maybe I'm spoiled from where I glommed Nalini Singh a few days ago or something, or from where the last real "vampire" series I read (outside of Singh's Angels' Blood) was the deliciously-ridiculous-yet-oh-so-addictive Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole, but this one just flat out didn't do it for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2020
I knew before i even started reading "Dark Prince" that it would be a breathtaking journey.Its Christine Feehan`s creation and when it comes to paranormal romance she simply delivers with her intriguing plots,hypnotizing prose,beautiful love-stories with hero and heroine to die for!No wonder this series are so popular,i could not put this book down!Raven Whitney is a telepathic who have helped catching serial killers.Trying to escape and heal from the traumatic thoughts of these killers she goes on a vacation to the Carpathian Mountains but never imagined that her heart would get captured by the Dark Prince of the Carpathians Mikhail Dubrinsky.
I am so amazed that Feehan created creatures like Carpathians who are immortal predators with many gifts that can turn into blood thirsty vampires if they don`t meet their life mates.Mikhail and Raven are both lonely souls,Mikhail more so because of the centuries of agonizing pain of existence that is starting to tear him down.But he meets Raven and can`t stay away from her from then on.Mikhail was darkness and combined with Raven`s light-together they were one and they couldn`t exist without the other.The devotion,desire,passion,understanding,bond and love between these two were so strong that my heart hurt.Mikhail was a fierce,ruthless and dominant hero who constantly craved Raven`s nearness and with her compassion and tenderness he gets tamed by her-AND THAT was so delightful to read about and don`t get me started on the steamy sex-scenes,just wheww those were so sexy that my room got hot!Now i am so excited for the next books in the series about the Carpathians,especially Gregori`s book,damn his broody hotness makes my mouth water!!And i have a guess his lifemate will be Raven`s and Mikhail`s daughter.OH MY i am so looking forward to it!Christine Feehan have yet again changed my life for the better!!!
***
Raven stared up at his face, drinking in the strong lines and the way he looked at her with something close to adoration. She smiled at him. “I think you’ve managed to put some kind of spell on me.”
“If I did,” he whispered, “it backfired, and I managed to ensnare myself as well.”
-Mikhail and Raven
I am so amazed that Feehan created creatures like Carpathians who are immortal predators with many gifts that can turn into blood thirsty vampires if they don`t meet their life mates.Mikhail and Raven are both lonely souls,Mikhail more so because of the centuries of agonizing pain of existence that is starting to tear him down.But he meets Raven and can`t stay away from her from then on.Mikhail was darkness and combined with Raven`s light-together they were one and they couldn`t exist without the other.The devotion,desire,passion,understanding,bond and love between these two were so strong that my heart hurt.Mikhail was a fierce,ruthless and dominant hero who constantly craved Raven`s nearness and with her compassion and tenderness he gets tamed by her-AND THAT was so delightful to read about and don`t get me started on the steamy sex-scenes,just wheww those were so sexy that my room got hot!Now i am so excited for the next books in the series about the Carpathians,especially Gregori`s book,damn his broody hotness makes my mouth water!!And i have a guess his lifemate will be Raven`s and Mikhail`s daughter.OH MY i am so looking forward to it!Christine Feehan have yet again changed my life for the better!!!
***
Raven stared up at his face, drinking in the strong lines and the way he looked at her with something close to adoration. She smiled at him. “I think you’ve managed to put some kind of spell on me.”
“If I did,” he whispered, “it backfired, and I managed to ensnare myself as well.”
-Mikhail and Raven
September 25, 2020
Mikhail Dubrinsky was at the end of his very long life. He was tired of a life with no color, a lifetime of loneliness, fighting the dark side that was all too easy to give into. His intentions reach the mind of Raven Whitney, a renowned psychic, who can't help but soothe his woes. What neither of them expected was what one touch of the mind would open the door for them to be consumed mind, body and soul.
🐺 I loved how the mate theme allowed the characters to fall in love pretty quickly. Instalove with a reason is something I can't help but adore. One person who is the other half of one's soul, the light to the dark, the balance who allows one to see colors and feel emotions once again... It's so beautiful!
🐺 this book virtually oozed sensuality. From the instant connection of the minds of Mikhail and Raven to their first touch, to the magical ties that bind them for eternity, the passion and love that poured from the pages of this story made it impossible to put down.
🐺 as an introduction to the Carpathian species, this story was full of old-age charm, intrigue, and deadly violence. From the descriptions of the village to the townsfolk, to Mikhail's character development which illustrated how vital he was to every life he'd ever touched, I was wooed by this man. The justice he wrought on behalf of his people was lethal and I enjoyed all of the action scenes the author created.
🐺 I'm looking forward to learning more about Jacques and Gregori. Jacques is Mikhail's brother, who happens to still have a more carefree air to him, and Gregori seems to be the strongest of their kind. A healer and Mikhail's second-in-command, Gregori seems on the verge of darkness and I want to discover who helps him avoid the fall.
I'm having an absolute blast while making my way through Feehan's backlist and I'm excited to meet even more Carpathians as I go!
🐺 I loved how the mate theme allowed the characters to fall in love pretty quickly. Instalove with a reason is something I can't help but adore. One person who is the other half of one's soul, the light to the dark, the balance who allows one to see colors and feel emotions once again... It's so beautiful!
🐺 this book virtually oozed sensuality. From the instant connection of the minds of Mikhail and Raven to their first touch, to the magical ties that bind them for eternity, the passion and love that poured from the pages of this story made it impossible to put down.
🐺 as an introduction to the Carpathian species, this story was full of old-age charm, intrigue, and deadly violence. From the descriptions of the village to the townsfolk, to Mikhail's character development which illustrated how vital he was to every life he'd ever touched, I was wooed by this man. The justice he wrought on behalf of his people was lethal and I enjoyed all of the action scenes the author created.
🐺 I'm looking forward to learning more about Jacques and Gregori. Jacques is Mikhail's brother, who happens to still have a more carefree air to him, and Gregori seems to be the strongest of their kind. A healer and Mikhail's second-in-command, Gregori seems on the verge of darkness and I want to discover who helps him avoid the fall.
I'm having an absolute blast while making my way through Feehan's backlist and I'm excited to meet even more Carpathians as I go!
March 8, 2009
Ok, well um what can I say... This series has been recommended so many times I think I hyped it up in my mind. I was not disappointed but I didn't love it as much as BDB or Immortals after dark series.
MILD SPOILER ALERT!!!
Another reviewer had a couple of negatives which I agree with... 1. The book seemed to start too fast with no real background to the Carpathians OR Raven. It made it harder to connect to them. 2. The fact there was no angst whatsoever about Mikhail changing Raven when so much had been made earlier in the book about human females going insane. It seemed strange not to have made any issue of it at all.
HOWEVER, I loved the whole premise of the Carpathian males needing their mates. It just somehow appeals to me that these wonderfully macho males have this vulnerability. I did find the whole arrogant uber-male thing slightly OTT though. It got annoying in places but not annoying enough to put me off reading, just stopped the flow so to speak.
The chemistry between Mikhail and Raven was fantastic. Loved it, loved it loved it. The sex scenes were smoking hot, but a bit gruesome in places.
The book certainly kept me turning the pages, I read it in one complete sitting. I am looking forward to reading the rest in the series and I think this series is one that will grow on me.
MILD SPOILER ALERT!!!
Another reviewer had a couple of negatives which I agree with... 1. The book seemed to start too fast with no real background to the Carpathians OR Raven. It made it harder to connect to them. 2. The fact there was no angst whatsoever about Mikhail changing Raven when so much had been made earlier in the book about human females going insane. It seemed strange not to have made any issue of it at all.
HOWEVER, I loved the whole premise of the Carpathian males needing their mates. It just somehow appeals to me that these wonderfully macho males have this vulnerability. I did find the whole arrogant uber-male thing slightly OTT though. It got annoying in places but not annoying enough to put me off reading, just stopped the flow so to speak.
The chemistry between Mikhail and Raven was fantastic. Loved it, loved it loved it. The sex scenes were smoking hot, but a bit gruesome in places.
The book certainly kept me turning the pages, I read it in one complete sitting. I am looking forward to reading the rest in the series and I think this series is one that will grow on me.
December 4, 2013
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Mikhail Dubrinsky is the leader of the Carpathians, a powerful race that is dying out due to lack of females. Raven Whitney, a human, is vacationing in the Carpathian Mountains after using her telepathic skills to help catch a serial killer. Raven senses Mikhail’s distress and the two of them realize they have a connection to each other. Raven may be the life mate that Mikhail thought he’d never find and she represents hope for the Carpathians.
Ugh. I really hated Dark Prince and, though I tried to stick it out, I finally had to put it down after three chapters of torture. The first problem is the characters. Raven is everything you expect in a romance heroine: slender, small bones, tiny waist, big high breasts (how often does that combination happen naturally?), big blue eyes (“brilliant sapphires”), long thick lashes, skin like satin, full soft mouth, “a wealth of raven hair tumbling down her back to draw attention to her rounded bottom” (Ugh!). Raven’s physical features are described over and over and over. The phrase “her slender…” (fill in with “arm,” “body,” “form,” “wrist,” etc) was used 25 times (assuming that Amazon has the entire print version searchable, I’m not sure). Every man wants Raven, yet she’s completely unaware of it. And totally innocent. We’re told that Raven is also intelligent, but I saw no evidence of that.
Mikhail is everything you expect from the brooding blood-sucking type: tall, rich, important, dark, broad-shouldered, chiseled features, arrogant yet passionate and, for some unknown reason, completely infatuated with Raven. Not only does Mikhail look great, but he sounds great, too. “Black velvet seduction was in the molten huskiness of his voice.” (Ugh!). By the way, the word “velvet,” which applies both to Mikhail’s voice and Raven’s creamy skin, is used 32 times in a 447 page book which calculates to, on average, one “velvet” for every 14 pages. With that much velvet, I could reupholster my living room.
This kind of stuff offends my ears (I was listening to this in audio format), but this isn’t the worst of it. What I really hated was that these two meet telepathically and speak about 3 paragraphs to each other while Mikhail spies on her when she’s alone in her bed in a white lace push-up nightie (how many antisocial young virgins normally wear those to bed, I wonder). Suddenly he becomes outrageously jealous at the random unwarranted thought of Raven with another man: “Rage shook him, raw and deadly.” (Ugh!)
Then he claims ownership and control of Raven and starts bossing her around, calling her “my woman” and “Little One” (this title is used 132 times in a 447 page book — you do the math). Despite Raven’s protests (“Don’t try to intimidate me, Mikhail; it won’t work. No one tells me what to do or where I can go.”) He manages to get her exactly where he wants her to be and she seems to be rather ineffectual against his manipulation. Though we’re told she’s intelligent, she seems naively unalarmed when Mikhail says these sorts of things (which make up most of his black velvet seductive speech):
* Do not disobey me in this, Raven.
* You will drink. Obey me in this.
* Obey me at once.
* Why do you defy me?
* Do not try to leave me, little one.
* Stay!
* Do not try to leave me, Raven. I hold what is mine and make no mistake, you are mine.
* You need to sleep.
* You are not nearly as afraid of me as you should be.
* You will never repeat this foolhardy act again.
* I will not tolerate any foolishness that might put your life in jeopardy…. I will not lose you.[he’s got his hands around her throat here]
* American women are very difficult.
These examples are all in the first 60 pages of the novel when they’ve known each other for one day. This is Mikhail’s courting behavior. Raven’s “foolhardy act” was to take a walk in the woods around the resort while on her vacation. Apparently American women are very difficult because they like to choose their own activities while on their own vacations rather than obeying handsome violent strangers. After this conversation, he carries her off to his lair. And she’s not kicking and screaming. Does Raven think that Mikhail will become less demanding, controlling and possessive after the courting is over?
Well, I couldn’t stand it, so I gave up. I don’t like Mikhail and Raven and I don’t want to read any more about their twisted relationship. How any self-respecting woman can think this is sexy… I have no idea.
Mikhail Dubrinsky is the leader of the Carpathians, a powerful race that is dying out due to lack of females. Raven Whitney, a human, is vacationing in the Carpathian Mountains after using her telepathic skills to help catch a serial killer. Raven senses Mikhail’s distress and the two of them realize they have a connection to each other. Raven may be the life mate that Mikhail thought he’d never find and she represents hope for the Carpathians.
Ugh. I really hated Dark Prince and, though I tried to stick it out, I finally had to put it down after three chapters of torture. The first problem is the characters. Raven is everything you expect in a romance heroine: slender, small bones, tiny waist, big high breasts (how often does that combination happen naturally?), big blue eyes (“brilliant sapphires”), long thick lashes, skin like satin, full soft mouth, “a wealth of raven hair tumbling down her back to draw attention to her rounded bottom” (Ugh!). Raven’s physical features are described over and over and over. The phrase “her slender…” (fill in with “arm,” “body,” “form,” “wrist,” etc) was used 25 times (assuming that Amazon has the entire print version searchable, I’m not sure). Every man wants Raven, yet she’s completely unaware of it. And totally innocent. We’re told that Raven is also intelligent, but I saw no evidence of that.
Mikhail is everything you expect from the brooding blood-sucking type: tall, rich, important, dark, broad-shouldered, chiseled features, arrogant yet passionate and, for some unknown reason, completely infatuated with Raven. Not only does Mikhail look great, but he sounds great, too. “Black velvet seduction was in the molten huskiness of his voice.” (Ugh!). By the way, the word “velvet,” which applies both to Mikhail’s voice and Raven’s creamy skin, is used 32 times in a 447 page book which calculates to, on average, one “velvet” for every 14 pages. With that much velvet, I could reupholster my living room.
This kind of stuff offends my ears (I was listening to this in audio format), but this isn’t the worst of it. What I really hated was that these two meet telepathically and speak about 3 paragraphs to each other while Mikhail spies on her when she’s alone in her bed in a white lace push-up nightie (how many antisocial young virgins normally wear those to bed, I wonder). Suddenly he becomes outrageously jealous at the random unwarranted thought of Raven with another man: “Rage shook him, raw and deadly.” (Ugh!)
Then he claims ownership and control of Raven and starts bossing her around, calling her “my woman” and “Little One” (this title is used 132 times in a 447 page book — you do the math). Despite Raven’s protests (“Don’t try to intimidate me, Mikhail; it won’t work. No one tells me what to do or where I can go.”) He manages to get her exactly where he wants her to be and she seems to be rather ineffectual against his manipulation. Though we’re told she’s intelligent, she seems naively unalarmed when Mikhail says these sorts of things (which make up most of his black velvet seductive speech):
* Do not disobey me in this, Raven.
* You will drink. Obey me in this.
* Obey me at once.
* Why do you defy me?
* Do not try to leave me, little one.
* Stay!
* Do not try to leave me, Raven. I hold what is mine and make no mistake, you are mine.
* You need to sleep.
* You are not nearly as afraid of me as you should be.
* You will never repeat this foolhardy act again.
* I will not tolerate any foolishness that might put your life in jeopardy…. I will not lose you.[he’s got his hands around her throat here]
* American women are very difficult.
These examples are all in the first 60 pages of the novel when they’ve known each other for one day. This is Mikhail’s courting behavior. Raven’s “foolhardy act” was to take a walk in the woods around the resort while on her vacation. Apparently American women are very difficult because they like to choose their own activities while on their own vacations rather than obeying handsome violent strangers. After this conversation, he carries her off to his lair. And she’s not kicking and screaming. Does Raven think that Mikhail will become less demanding, controlling and possessive after the courting is over?
Well, I couldn’t stand it, so I gave up. I don’t like Mikhail and Raven and I don’t want to read any more about their twisted relationship. How any self-respecting woman can think this is sexy… I have no idea.
June 15, 2014
★Book Basics★
Genre : - Paranormal Romance
Series : - Book 1 of The Dark Series about the Carpathian Race.
Writing - Third Person Dual POV
Main Characters : Raven Whitney, American psychic who in the past has used her talents to track down serial killers at great cost to herself. On holiday in the Carpathian Mountains to recover after tracking a particularly depraved mind.
Mikhail Dubrinksy, Prince of the Carpathians, a species of immortals, who need blood to survive and cannot be out in Sunlight. Centuries old, and no longer feels emotion or sees in colour, as is normal for Carpathian Males after so many centuries of living. They need to find their one true lifemate to fight back the darkness.
Love triangle? -
Cheating? -
HEA? -
Would I read more by this author? - Yes and have done so.
★Review★
I read this book years ago, it is worth it to remember this was first published in 1999. I think it is certainly one of the first of this genre to be published, before many many "vampire" romances came out in the last decade!
At the time, it was hugely original.
The Carpathian race is a dying race, the Men need to find their lifemates, to save them from the darkness in their souls. After centuries, they no longer feel emotion, see in colour and the lure to "turn" feel at least something in the rush of power from a kill can prove too much for some, and they become the true Vampire of legend.
Mikhail Dubrinsky is the Prince of his people, centuries old, and burdened with what he sees as his failure to those people! More and more males turn, and with only one female having been born to them in the last 500 years, and births being rare and only boys when they are successful, he is full of despair and at the beginning has lost all hope.
Raven Whitney, shocks him, by connecting with him on a psychic level, and as a human, to bring him comfort in his hour of despair. He is intrigued and goes to her, and is shocked to find he can see in colour and is battered by emotions he had no idea he could feel.
"Shocked at the erotic twist his thoughts began to pursue, Mikhail imposed rigid discipline...He was shocked to find he was a possessive man, deadly in his rages and protective beyond measure..This kind of passion could not be shared with a human...better to keep his distance and satisfy his curiosity on an intellectual level"
But, he is unable to resist the lure of her and finds himself unable and unwilling to let her go.
They find themselves battling vampire hunters and a master vampire while trying to get to know each other and deal with the unbreakable bond and connection they are feeling.
The chemistry between the two is sizzling and Raven sees Mikhail for something better and more than he sees himself, while not willing to completely give away everything she is.
Mikhail is at times overbearing, almost unbearably so, yet, I find myself able to overlook this, as this is a man, who is centuries old, and dealing with all new emotions and a possessive love so powerful he can and does take over protective to the extreme! Would I accept this if reading a book about Mike the Dentist, no, but this is a paranormal romance, and for myself I can go with it in a way I would not a contemporary book about a truly modern couple!
I believe this was the first book Christine Feehan wrote, and I have re read the series many times.
Reading it this time, and having started writing reviews, I feel I read it with a more critical eye.
Raven and her history could have more page time given to it, and maybe a bit more of their relationship after all the drama, just a hint to see how they settle and truly begin a life together could have added something more.
But, as the first book in the series(which imo gets better with each book) and an introduction to characters that are very intriguing, Jacques and ofc Gregori, it is a brilliant start to a series.
Not much world building in the first book imo, but as each books goes on, the author pulls in more characters and adds more history and the world building continues as the series goes on.
The very first paranormal series I ever read, and I still love it now.
Genre : - Paranormal Romance
Series : - Book 1 of The Dark Series about the Carpathian Race.
Writing - Third Person Dual POV
Main Characters : Raven Whitney, American psychic who in the past has used her talents to track down serial killers at great cost to herself. On holiday in the Carpathian Mountains to recover after tracking a particularly depraved mind.
Mikhail Dubrinksy, Prince of the Carpathians, a species of immortals, who need blood to survive and cannot be out in Sunlight. Centuries old, and no longer feels emotion or sees in colour, as is normal for Carpathian Males after so many centuries of living. They need to find their one true lifemate to fight back the darkness.
Love triangle? -
Cheating? -
HEA? -
Would I read more by this author? - Yes and have done so.
★Review★
I read this book years ago, it is worth it to remember this was first published in 1999. I think it is certainly one of the first of this genre to be published, before many many "vampire" romances came out in the last decade!
At the time, it was hugely original.
The Carpathian race is a dying race, the Men need to find their lifemates, to save them from the darkness in their souls. After centuries, they no longer feel emotion, see in colour and the lure to "turn" feel at least something in the rush of power from a kill can prove too much for some, and they become the true Vampire of legend.
Mikhail Dubrinsky is the Prince of his people, centuries old, and burdened with what he sees as his failure to those people! More and more males turn, and with only one female having been born to them in the last 500 years, and births being rare and only boys when they are successful, he is full of despair and at the beginning has lost all hope.
Raven Whitney, shocks him, by connecting with him on a psychic level, and as a human, to bring him comfort in his hour of despair. He is intrigued and goes to her, and is shocked to find he can see in colour and is battered by emotions he had no idea he could feel.
"Shocked at the erotic twist his thoughts began to pursue, Mikhail imposed rigid discipline...He was shocked to find he was a possessive man, deadly in his rages and protective beyond measure..This kind of passion could not be shared with a human...better to keep his distance and satisfy his curiosity on an intellectual level"
But, he is unable to resist the lure of her and finds himself unable and unwilling to let her go.
They find themselves battling vampire hunters and a master vampire while trying to get to know each other and deal with the unbreakable bond and connection they are feeling.
The chemistry between the two is sizzling and Raven sees Mikhail for something better and more than he sees himself, while not willing to completely give away everything she is.
Mikhail is at times overbearing, almost unbearably so, yet, I find myself able to overlook this, as this is a man, who is centuries old, and dealing with all new emotions and a possessive love so powerful he can and does take over protective to the extreme! Would I accept this if reading a book about Mike the Dentist, no, but this is a paranormal romance, and for myself I can go with it in a way I would not a contemporary book about a truly modern couple!
I believe this was the first book Christine Feehan wrote, and I have re read the series many times.
Reading it this time, and having started writing reviews, I feel I read it with a more critical eye.
Raven and her history could have more page time given to it, and maybe a bit more of their relationship after all the drama, just a hint to see how they settle and truly begin a life together could have added something more.
But, as the first book in the series(which imo gets better with each book) and an introduction to characters that are very intriguing, Jacques and ofc Gregori, it is a brilliant start to a series.
Not much world building in the first book imo, but as each books goes on, the author pulls in more characters and adds more history and the world building continues as the series goes on.
The very first paranormal series I ever read, and I still love it now.
July 10, 2019
This book is awful. TSTL heroine, non-con (blood drinking), trashy storyline. DNF at 40%.
Definitely not for me.
Definitely not for me.
November 14, 2011
Christine Feehan was bold and daring when she created the Dark series.
Published in 1999, Dark Prince won several awards, including Best New Author for Paranormal Romance and Best Shape-shifter. Christine Feehan brought to life a world of never-ending twists and dramatic and breath-holding moments that will leave you pushing all of those wonderful chores aside until you have finished the book!
The Dark series is centered around an immortal species, the Carpathians. Shapeshifting, magic throbbing, heartbreaking characters that will undoubtedly push adrenaline through your veins and never leave you wanting.
The Carpathians are a dying race. The men, filled with darkness and loneliness, forever enduring the lack of colors, the lack of emotion that ceases after a few hundred years of existence. Without the light to their darkness, the lifemate that is the other half of their souls, they walk the earth alone. The only thing that holds them to this world is honor. Honor above all demands them to continue, to not seek the rush of the kill, the one small moment that would allow them to feel. To force them into eternal damnation, a vampire.
The Dark Prince is an incredible book that is filled with exceptionally brilliant characters. Characters that rip through your body and hold you on edge.
Mikhail Dubrinsky, Prince of Carpathians, has server his people for centuries. Never failing in his duties, he continues his search for answers to the most crucial problem of all. The survival of their species. Their women are few. Those who can carry their unborn child to full term, are left mourning. Many of the children are male and even those die within the first year. The last female child to survive was five hundred years ago. Without their women, without lifemates to the men that endure several lifetimes of hopeless searching, more of the Carpathian men turn to darkness. Becoming vampires, the very thing that honorable Carpathians hunted.
One the brink of surrendering himself to the sun, to destroy himself, he mourns the failures. He was unable to help his people. He could no longer bear to remain alone. Thoughts rumbled through his mind, thoughts of anguish, of hunger, of defeat. As if an angel was sent to him, Raven Whitney, a powerful psychic that uses her talents to hun serial killers, linked with him, touched his mind. She whispered words of encouragement, words that brough emotions rumbling through his body. He found her at last. His lifemate. Colors returned, and dark lust boiled over his body as emotions slammed him like a punch to the gut.
Bring a strong-minded woman, Raven stood her ground against the sexiest man she had ever seen. Forcing the extremely dominant male to endure her stubbornness, her unending struggle to remain who she is, to keep her own identity. Battling with uneasy feelings, doubts that she was being possessed by a dangerous man, she forced herself to trust him. To let him touch her as no other man had done before.
This book and the relationships within it are unimaginably sexual. The intense physical attraction between Mikhail and Raven are body shattering. The sexual pull between them will leave you panting and I would hope, leave your significant other with a better chance of getting lucky! ha!
Dark Prince is filled with battles within the Carpathian infrastructure. Several incredibly dangerous outside forces stalked them, hunted them for the evil creatures they were perceived as.
Fanatics, a group of killers would not stop until the leader of the vampires was destroyed. The Carpathians combined their strengths, fighting against the mystery behind the attacks. All along, Mikhail struggled to continue his hold on Raven. Concerned that he would lose her, to be alone again.
The progression, the growth of the characters is astounding!
This book is an excellent read! I advise anyone who loves paranormal romance books, shapeshifters or vampires to read this series. I do not recommend this book to young readers. You will most definitely not be disappointed!
Published in 1999, Dark Prince won several awards, including Best New Author for Paranormal Romance and Best Shape-shifter. Christine Feehan brought to life a world of never-ending twists and dramatic and breath-holding moments that will leave you pushing all of those wonderful chores aside until you have finished the book!
The Dark series is centered around an immortal species, the Carpathians. Shapeshifting, magic throbbing, heartbreaking characters that will undoubtedly push adrenaline through your veins and never leave you wanting.
The Carpathians are a dying race. The men, filled with darkness and loneliness, forever enduring the lack of colors, the lack of emotion that ceases after a few hundred years of existence. Without the light to their darkness, the lifemate that is the other half of their souls, they walk the earth alone. The only thing that holds them to this world is honor. Honor above all demands them to continue, to not seek the rush of the kill, the one small moment that would allow them to feel. To force them into eternal damnation, a vampire.
The Dark Prince is an incredible book that is filled with exceptionally brilliant characters. Characters that rip through your body and hold you on edge.
Mikhail Dubrinsky, Prince of Carpathians, has server his people for centuries. Never failing in his duties, he continues his search for answers to the most crucial problem of all. The survival of their species. Their women are few. Those who can carry their unborn child to full term, are left mourning. Many of the children are male and even those die within the first year. The last female child to survive was five hundred years ago. Without their women, without lifemates to the men that endure several lifetimes of hopeless searching, more of the Carpathian men turn to darkness. Becoming vampires, the very thing that honorable Carpathians hunted.
One the brink of surrendering himself to the sun, to destroy himself, he mourns the failures. He was unable to help his people. He could no longer bear to remain alone. Thoughts rumbled through his mind, thoughts of anguish, of hunger, of defeat. As if an angel was sent to him, Raven Whitney, a powerful psychic that uses her talents to hun serial killers, linked with him, touched his mind. She whispered words of encouragement, words that brough emotions rumbling through his body. He found her at last. His lifemate. Colors returned, and dark lust boiled over his body as emotions slammed him like a punch to the gut.
Bring a strong-minded woman, Raven stood her ground against the sexiest man she had ever seen. Forcing the extremely dominant male to endure her stubbornness, her unending struggle to remain who she is, to keep her own identity. Battling with uneasy feelings, doubts that she was being possessed by a dangerous man, she forced herself to trust him. To let him touch her as no other man had done before.
This book and the relationships within it are unimaginably sexual. The intense physical attraction between Mikhail and Raven are body shattering. The sexual pull between them will leave you panting and I would hope, leave your significant other with a better chance of getting lucky! ha!
Dark Prince is filled with battles within the Carpathian infrastructure. Several incredibly dangerous outside forces stalked them, hunted them for the evil creatures they were perceived as.
Fanatics, a group of killers would not stop until the leader of the vampires was destroyed. The Carpathians combined their strengths, fighting against the mystery behind the attacks. All along, Mikhail struggled to continue his hold on Raven. Concerned that he would lose her, to be alone again.
The progression, the growth of the characters is astounding!
This book is an excellent read! I advise anyone who loves paranormal romance books, shapeshifters or vampires to read this series. I do not recommend this book to young readers. You will most definitely not be disappointed!
July 21, 2017
***2017 Summer Lovin' Reading List***
Not my cuppa tea, your mileage may vary. It does provide a unique spin on the vampire mythos. There are two forms, the virtuous Carpathian and the corrupt vampire. When a Carpathian goes bad, he or she becomes a vampire. Their problem? Hardly any Carpathian females and those who still exist seem to have only male children. Without a life-mate, the Carpathian men are eventually reduced to a state where they can't see colour, can't experience much emotion, and can hardly avoid going vamp.
And that right there was my biggest issue with the whole book. It is entirely driven by male sexual needs and women are ultimately responsible for containing them. There isn't a sympathetic male character in the whole book! Well, I guess there is the priest who was a decent man but all the other human men are criminal, abusive, or teetering on the edge of violence. All the Carpathian men are arrogant assholes--controlling, condescending, seemingly unable to listen to anyone, even each other. (And how creepy is it that all these hundreds-of-years-old men are now standing around staring at Raven's belly, wondering when she is going to produce a girl child that they can perhaps claim as a life-mate?)
My other problem? Raven herself. For someone who thinks she's smart, she does nothing to prove it. She's smart enough to escape from the "protections" that Mikhail has constructed for her, but then goes wandering off into the woods, barefoot and half-naked. Both Raven & Mikhail go on and on about love and trust, but their behaviour says that there isn't all that much trust.
I respect the folks who love this series, though. The whole life-mate concept, while seeming claustrophobic to me, might seems tempting to those who would like to be sure about their relationships. We live in a world of 50% divorce rates--how nice would it be for everything to click magically into place when we meet a magical life-mate? No doubts, no regrets.
Not every book is for everyone, and I am done with this series. My TBR list is too long to waste valuable reading time on books that make me roll my eyes this violently.
Not my cuppa tea, your mileage may vary. It does provide a unique spin on the vampire mythos. There are two forms, the virtuous Carpathian and the corrupt vampire. When a Carpathian goes bad, he or she becomes a vampire. Their problem? Hardly any Carpathian females and those who still exist seem to have only male children. Without a life-mate, the Carpathian men are eventually reduced to a state where they can't see colour, can't experience much emotion, and can hardly avoid going vamp.
And that right there was my biggest issue with the whole book. It is entirely driven by male sexual needs and women are ultimately responsible for containing them. There isn't a sympathetic male character in the whole book! Well, I guess there is the priest who was a decent man but all the other human men are criminal, abusive, or teetering on the edge of violence. All the Carpathian men are arrogant assholes--controlling, condescending, seemingly unable to listen to anyone, even each other. (And how creepy is it that all these hundreds-of-years-old men are now standing around staring at Raven's belly, wondering when she is going to produce a girl child that they can perhaps claim as a life-mate?)
My other problem? Raven herself. For someone who thinks she's smart, she does nothing to prove it. She's smart enough to escape from the "protections" that Mikhail has constructed for her, but then goes wandering off into the woods, barefoot and half-naked. Both Raven & Mikhail go on and on about love and trust, but their behaviour says that there isn't all that much trust.
I respect the folks who love this series, though. The whole life-mate concept, while seeming claustrophobic to me, might seems tempting to those who would like to be sure about their relationships. We live in a world of 50% divorce rates--how nice would it be for everything to click magically into place when we meet a magical life-mate? No doubts, no regrets.
Not every book is for everyone, and I am done with this series. My TBR list is too long to waste valuable reading time on books that make me roll my eyes this violently.
April 24, 2020
I seriously need to write a review for this book bc I have now probably read it 10 times..... Whenever I pick this series up, I feel compelled to revisit my early faves, and this is definitely towards the top of that list! Somebody find me a hot Carpathian male please (ok, he doesn't even have to be that hot - these guys have the smolder, the alpha male base instincts, and the sexiness down regardless!)!
September 26, 2010
Boring plot and conversations, unlikeable heroine.
This mass market paperback included two stories, "Dark Prince" and a shorter story "Dark Descent." "Dark Prince" was the first in her series. It had a weak and boring plot. There were too many redundant and boring conversations. I disliked the heroine, Raven. She said "I'm very intelligent" yet she repeatedly did stupid things. For example, she had no ability to attack or defend herself, yet she alone followed four assassins and got stabbed several times, almost dying. Another time, a bad vampire is after her, three good guys tell her to run and leave but she says, no I can help, she stayed and the bad vampire kidnapped her. The author claimed Raven was compassionate yet when her mate was seriously injured, she told him she wanted to break up with him. As evidence of her compassion, she told her mate not to hurt the bad guys who were trying to kill them. I don't care for conflicts based on that kind of compassion. The second story, "Dark Descent" surprised me. It was as if the author was saying "See how my writing has improved?" It was a story similar to "Dark Prince," a psychic human woman telepathically communicates with a Carpathian. He immediately knows she is his lifemate. They meet and become mates. She was likeable and had fighting abilities. No redundant boring conversations. It was much better written. However, I will probably not be reading any more of this author.
This mass market paperback included two stories, "Dark Prince" and a shorter story "Dark Descent." "Dark Prince" was the first in her series. It had a weak and boring plot. There were too many redundant and boring conversations. I disliked the heroine, Raven. She said "I'm very intelligent" yet she repeatedly did stupid things. For example, she had no ability to attack or defend herself, yet she alone followed four assassins and got stabbed several times, almost dying. Another time, a bad vampire is after her, three good guys tell her to run and leave but she says, no I can help, she stayed and the bad vampire kidnapped her. The author claimed Raven was compassionate yet when her mate was seriously injured, she told him she wanted to break up with him. As evidence of her compassion, she told her mate not to hurt the bad guys who were trying to kill them. I don't care for conflicts based on that kind of compassion. The second story, "Dark Descent" surprised me. It was as if the author was saying "See how my writing has improved?" It was a story similar to "Dark Prince," a psychic human woman telepathically communicates with a Carpathian. He immediately knows she is his lifemate. They meet and become mates. She was likeable and had fighting abilities. No redundant boring conversations. It was much better written. However, I will probably not be reading any more of this author.
December 5, 2008
An extended rape fantasy metaphor for people into abusive relationships, constructed by repeatedly copying and pasting cliched phrases.
But I owe this book a debt of gratitude, I suppose. I need things to listen to on my commute. I download them from my library's Overdrive collection. Selection can be limited, and I generally have a rule that I won't listen to something that I think I'm likely to read on paper, because I miss stuff when I listen. This book has finally convinced me to ditch that rule once and for all, and my commute will probably be more pleasant for it.
It was late, I needed a new book, and this one was available, popular on the library site, and had four stars on Amazon. I do a fair amount of guilty pleasure vampire/supernatural whatnot reading (Really! Quiz me!). I have, in my time, read romance novels and enjoyed them. But this... ugh. The characters were completely boring (calling them "characters" gives them too much credit). I detected that there was supposed to be a plot, but gave up waiting for it to actually appear - and I made it through at least THREE HOURS because apparently I'm a glutton for punishment.
The phrases "sex slave" and "sex maniac" actually occur. Multiple times. When the mortal chick asks the supernatural dude why one of his people got staked, he produces the following gem: "our petroleum and mineral rights in a country where most have very little is a cause for concern and jealousy." It cries out to be a drinking game - one drink for every appearance of "feral," "small waist/bones," "silk," "animal," etc., etc. Alas, that's not really an option while driving.
Thank you, Goodreads, for giving me a place to vent.
But I owe this book a debt of gratitude, I suppose. I need things to listen to on my commute. I download them from my library's Overdrive collection. Selection can be limited, and I generally have a rule that I won't listen to something that I think I'm likely to read on paper, because I miss stuff when I listen. This book has finally convinced me to ditch that rule once and for all, and my commute will probably be more pleasant for it.
It was late, I needed a new book, and this one was available, popular on the library site, and had four stars on Amazon. I do a fair amount of guilty pleasure vampire/supernatural whatnot reading (Really! Quiz me!). I have, in my time, read romance novels and enjoyed them. But this... ugh. The characters were completely boring (calling them "characters" gives them too much credit). I detected that there was supposed to be a plot, but gave up waiting for it to actually appear - and I made it through at least THREE HOURS because apparently I'm a glutton for punishment.
The phrases "sex slave" and "sex maniac" actually occur. Multiple times. When the mortal chick asks the supernatural dude why one of his people got staked, he produces the following gem: "our petroleum and mineral rights in a country where most have very little is a cause for concern and jealousy." It cries out to be a drinking game - one drink for every appearance of "feral," "small waist/bones," "silk," "animal," etc., etc. Alas, that's not really an option while driving.
Thank you, Goodreads, for giving me a place to vent.
February 3, 2017
I loved it! No complaints! A great way to start a series. Wonderful world building! So well written! I loved Mikhail and Raven! I think Gregori might be my favorite!
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