Customer Reviews

Dark Gold

5 star:		(76)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

If you have never tried Christine Feehan's books, you don't know what you are missing. They are a new twist on the vampire legends...about a race of beings called Carpathians, who must find their lifemates in order to keep from going over to the dark side! The series is great, warning, you won't be able to stop reading them - definitely an addiction for me! Dark Gold is the 3rd in the series, following Dark Prince and Dark Desire.

Dark Gold is a book that can stand on its own if you haven't read the others in the series. A young woman named Alexandria is targeted by vampires, and she is trying to protect her young brother. Just when things are at their worst, a golden being, Aidan, appears and saves them. Or has he? Is he a god, a man, or a monster? Alex must decide, and her decision could condemn them to death, or give them life, and love for all eternity.

This is a wonderful, sensuous book, that you will not be able to put down. Once you've read it, you will probably be as addicted as I am!

This book is great. The character Aidan, who has a twin brother named Julian, is an ancient. If you have not read either Dark Prince which is the story of Raven and Mikhail. You should! The series starts off sizzling and just keeps getting hotter from the first page to the last page. The next book is that of Jacque & Shea. It is also a great book, and it deals with the tortures that the Carpathians suffer or can suffer from ignorant human being that fear what they do not, and never hope to comprehend. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Aidan is a golden god! He even turns into a beautiful golden eagle. He has also been the ONLY Carpathian to have a "family" that is not Carpathian. The book is great and I recommend it to one and all.

I was talked into trying the first of the Carpathian series, Dark Prince -- and was immediately hooked. I've read all three books now and am impatiently waiting for Gregori's story. (hurry up July! ) What I loved most about the heroes is how protective and strong they are, emotionally and physically. The books are fantasy based but the emotions are everything we want in reality. It was wonderful, too, how the author made each book unique. Dark Prince oozes sensuality and is the perfect introduction to the Carpathians. Dark Desire is darker, more intense, and while we still get the setting and sense of the Carpathians and their world, we get a story totally different for the characters. The same is true of Dark Gold, which was lighter, more playful. They're all very sexy with to die for heroes who have larger-than-life abilities (which make them the ultimate alpha guys!) and intelligent heroines, but the characters have their own individual personalities, too. This is by far the most entertaining, original series of books I've found in a long, long time. I highly recommend them all.

This is the third in a series of spectacular books about the Carpathians (who become vampires if they succumb to evil)--the first two being "Dark Prince" and "Dark Desire". Like "Dark Desire", this book can stand alone without you having to read the previous ones.

In this book, Dark Gold, Alexandria who is human matches wits with one of the "golden twins" Aiden Savage. Aiden, unlike most of his species, has much more interaction with humans, trusting his secrets to his family (a family who has known his secrets down through the years, passing the tradition of protecting Aiden down through the generations). Aiden has his hands full with his lifemate, Alexandria, who is as independent as the wind and about as tamable. Like the other "Dark" books, the lifemates must learn the true art of compromise.

I think this one was the 'lighter' of the four books in the series that have been released so far, if you can consider it "light". I found this to be just as much a keeper as the previous ones and have reread it numerous times. I would highly recommend this book to all romance and paranormal readers.

For any author, there is a challenge when writing a series of books. There always exists a threat that the books will become monotonous -- too much like one another.

"Dark Gold" itself stands pretty well on its own. There's good chemistry between the hero and heroine, and the writing flows smoothly.

Unfortunately, this particular installment is a pale imitation of the quality that came before. The beginning of the book is compelling, but after Alexandria and Aidan meet up, it's the same old struggle for Alexandria to deal with the change from human to Carpathian that Shea and Raven went through in much more compelling and realistic ways in "Dark Prince" and "Dark Desire."

In addition, the struggle for dominance/protection between Aidan and Alexandria is the same old struggle that came in the "Dark" books that precede this one. It becomes a bit monotonous after awhile.

On the other hand, we see more of long-time human/Carpathian relationships in this one in the form of faithful retainers that serve Aidan and his home. I appreciated that glimpse of a relationship that seems to transcend the "human as food and lesser being" concept that can become common in vampire-related literature.

All in all, this is a decent read. Feehan writes well, and her characters and relationships are interesting. Unfortunately, this is the weakest installment in the "Dark" series, so it somewhat pales in comparison to the others.

Dark Gold is a good book, and stands fairly well on its own (it is the third in a series), but does not quite reach up to the standards of the earlier books. Aidan is a carbon copy of Mikhail and Jacques in the previous books. I suppose all "Carpathian" males exhibit the same qualities and that is what makes them who they are (protective, arrogant, self assured, devoted and strong willed) but reading the same story for the third time can be a bit awkward. They are all good stories, but how many times can one read about a dominant male and his independent life-mate/wife?

I found Alexandria to be the most believable of the female leads. She resists the changes happening to her, not knowing how to handle everything. Her first encounter with a vampire is a traumatic one and she doesn't understand (or want to understand), the differences between a vampire and a Carpathian. Aidan tries his best to protect her, though I found that he did very little to explain her new powers (telepathic communication, shape shifting, etc...). Aidan lets her have her space to try and find her new self, (though he is never too far behind) and I found that to be a refreshing change.

One of my biggest disappointments in the story is the lack of interaction with the previous characters. We see Gregory (and have throughout the books) and I have to assume that the next story will be his. But we do not see anyone else, not even Aidan's brother. Since the Carpathians are to some extent telepathically connected, I would have thought Mikhail would have at least shown himself to welcome the newest female to the clan. I would have also liked to have heard some news about Jacques and Shea (since at least 18 years have past since the last book). Well maybe I'm getting too nit-picky. I did enjoy the book, and suggest reading it, though I suggest picking up Dark Prince and Dark Desire first.

Aidan Savage is a Hunter. Little did he know that the woman he thought to be a vampiress was actually his lifemate - thank goodness he didn't destroy her before it was too late! Who cared that she looked like a hag and hated him on sight (talk about having to gain someone's trust), Alexandria Houton was the woman for him! Once he was able to heal her that is.

This book was a little different from the previous books and although Mikhail is mentioned, only Gregori makes an appearance. It takes place in San Francisco and has a more modern feel to it. Not to mention more family: Aidan has adopted a "human" family (Maria and Stefan), not to mention his brother Julian Savage (who has his own story in Dark Challenge) and Alexandria little brother Joshua.

Although this story was very good I found it missing that "extra, special something" that Dark Prince and Dark Desire had. Maybe it was his appearance (Aidan and Julian are the "golden twins" where everyone else is dark) or maybe it was the lack of Carpathians involved, I'm not sure. The book was very good but in order to be a 5 star book, it has to be extra special!

Unlike other reviewers here, that's the first one I've read of the dark series. So my review probably won't be enough since I haven't compared with the other two books. When Alexandria Houton and her little brother are taken captive after they witness the murderous rampage of a crazed vampire, she holds little hope of ever living to see the next day. Little does she know that the tale she spins to reassure and calm her brother of a golden haired savior coming to their rescue is about to come true, or is it? Has he come to save them or are his golden good looks hiding the heart of a monster? Alex soon learns that although this dangerous being has saved her life, the price he requires in return may be too high to pay. Aiden Savage has taken on the task of hunting down and destroying the creatures of his race who have given up hope and given in to the lure of the thrill of killing. Until he rescues Alexandria, he fears that he too is on the edge of turning. When he meets Alexandria he realizes that she is the only one who can save him, the only one who can bring color and emotion back into his cold, gray world. But Alexandria is not like any woman he has met before. How can he find a way to balance his inbred need to control and protect her with her desire for independence? He knows he can never give her up. With Dark Gold, the third one of her Carpathian series, Christine Feehan establishes herself as the mistress of Torture and Suspense. The torture of waiting for her next book to come out and the suspense of turning each page to find out if this book will be even better than the last! I am happy to say that Dark Gold gives us everything we have come to expect from her books and more. Making it a worthy addition to the series.

I like Christine Feehan's writing - some of it. This is the first of the Dark series I have read and if the rest are like it, forget about it. I'm about ready to take Alexandria's head and give it a good shake. I mean really... this chick understands nothing. The entire book is her not listening, not understanding, not having a clue. AAARRRGGGGhhhh. Christine can do a lot better than this!

I think that this is the worse written book out of her whole series. It repeats itself soooo many times that you can skip paragraphs without missing anything. The writing style is not consistant with her other books in the series and almost seems that a different person wrote each paragraph. One of many inconsistancies that I found in this book was the conversion from human to Carpathian. In all the other books it states that it take 3 blood transfers to convert - in this one it states 4. And I just wanted to yell at Alex and tell her to get over it already - the vampire had almost converted her completely anyway. And also during the conversion it states that Alex threw up the tainted vampire blood, yet she had just taken blood from Aiden and they are supposed to be able to push the toxins out of their pores - not throw it up after a day has passed since the first vampire exchange.

I've read 9 of the books, but not in order and couldn't wait to read Aiden's story, but I am VERY dissapointed in this one. It was so poorly written that I would have given it 0 stars if it was possible. If you like strong females - I suggest reading Dark Destiny.