Customer Reviews

Dark Possession (Carpathian)

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Book Description: Dangerously close to becoming a vampire, Manolito De La Cruz has been called back to his Carpathian homeland-and has unexpectedly caught the scent of his destined lifemate, MaryAnn Delaney. MaryAnn is human and well aware of the aggressive instincts of Carpathian males. A counselor for battered women, MaryAnn has no room in her life for someone like Manolito. But when she goes to South America to offer guidance to a young woman, she has no idea of the trap awaiting her. For she's been lured there by Manolito, who has seductive plans for the irresistible human female. Once there, she'll be his. Once his, she'll never be released. She is his dark possession.

In my humble opinion: great couple, book, story, etc. How do I tell you about the story without giving away spoilers, especially this early in the game? The story is the book description with a touch of "Dark Prince" (a new species is incorporated into the Carpathian family - Can it be done?); combined with "Dark Desire" (dark and unstable - Will he be whole again?); meets "Dark Magic" (almost vampire - Can she save him?).

You have to love this couple! They combine alpha Carpathian, De La Cruz influenced, self-sacrificing, unique Manolito with the girly-girl, fashion-conscious, independent, compassionate, MaryAnn as they unravel a little more of the big plot while falling in love. Another Carpathian is "introduced"; others are mentioned, pasts explained; and Zacharias makes another brief but powerful "appearance" in the story as does a few other surprising Carpathians and vampires. CF Dark Series fans will enjoy this installment. You hit the ground running from the beginning (almost literally) with action, romance, adventure, paranormal, suspense, and of course the required spice is thrown in. (C'est bon!)

This review may not help, but to say more in the beginning may ruin it for others; a little suspense is sometimes a good thing.

I don't mind formula writers, but this latest effort was so aggravating and disappointing. I read the other reviews and I will even go so far as to spruce up details about characters just so I'll like them more. But even my imagination and good will toward this series couldn't have saved this disaster of a book. This book was 70% emotional introspect, both characters going on and on about how much they want or don't want each other, which could have basically been copy and pasted from any number of the previous books right along with the sex scenes. There were about 5-6 scenes that were different, interesting, that could have filled 2-3 chapters and we could call it a day.

Here we are at the 18th book in this series, and our hands are still being held. We get it, he's been alone for thousands of years, now he can feel, and see color and he must claim her! She wants no part of it, but oh, he sure is hot, and the things he does to her body make her toes curl...That information doesn't need to be repeated 30 times, in 100 different ways. I love this series, but I don't look forward to it like I do the Drake sisters or the Ghost walkers. This series has got to get fresher somehow, and out of the jungle! I could relate to the heroine, and I couldn't stand her, which was a first for me. If we wanted to be in the Jungle we would be reading her Leopard series, what happened to the cities, the sights, the secondary characters, and a hardcover? I'm not even going there. And please stop with this ridiculous second language, I kept referring to the back of the book to see what the heck he was trying to say to her and half the time it wasn't even there! What a mess. 2 stars because this author has given more than she has disappointed, I'm still grudgingly faithful.

I just finished this book and I have to say.. it is my favorite out of the whole series. I wasn't sure going into it knowing what Manolito did to MaryAnn in Dark Celebrations. I figured it would be kind of like what Rafael had done to Colby but it was nothing like that. Manolito is a kind, if not troubled man, who has more honor and strength than I imagined.

New bloodlines are revealed and past Lifemates. Hints at future lifemates and a whole new ballgame for our couple. Things happen in this book that I had hoped and guessed and talked about with others. Wonderful things and scary things. The De La Cruz family is starting to quickly win favor in my eyes. Strong, noble and oh so yummy and there are still two of them left without lifemates.

There is suspense, romance and love blended together with courage and instinct. Fantastic read and I couldn't put it down. I hope we don't have to wait another year for her next book, but this one was WELL worth the wait!

Fantastic job Christine Feehan... your best work yet!

As a fan of Christine Feehan's Carpathian series this book is absolutely wonderful. I have not liked the De La Cruz men from the start but this book has turned all that around for me -- now I can't wait for the next De La Cruz brother to find his mate! Really good characters, a heroine to admire and a hero to love. There are lots of interesting developments for the fans of the Carpathian series!! Lots! For fans this is a do-not-miss and although I don't like paying the Hardback book price it was worth every dime. If you are on the fence buy this book now don't wait! I will re-read this story several times before the paperback ever comes out.
My only negative thought about this book is there are so many developments in the Carpathian story that I would never recommend this book as a good place for someone new to the series to begin. I think someone just starting out would find all the various events confusing and un-anchored in past history. I myself started with Dark Symphony and loved it so much that I read every other book by Christine Feehan. The Carpathians is by far my favorite series! I would recommend most other books in this series to someone new but not this one. Teaser -- There are good reasons why a reader will benefit from reading all the others first!!

I have been a loyal fan of Christine Feehan and this series from the beginning and still go back and re-read the earlier titles, but I was hugely disappointed in this new venture into the Carpathian world. After Dark Celebration, I was avidly looking forward to Manolito's story, and I have to say that I feel completely let down. First, I have rarely met a heroine that I disliked so much. For someone who makes her living as a crisis counselor, she has some serious issues with both men and her inability to relinquish even the tiniest bit of control. Someone needed to tell her to get over herself and make up her mind. Manolito, at least, had an excuse for having problems dealing with his emotions, since he hadn't had any for the last millennium. In my humble opinion, way too much time was spent with the characters feeling sorry for themselves and trying to understand their emotions. Dark Possession might have been better entitled 'Dark Therapy'. Or possibly 'Carpathian as a Second Language', considering the amount of dialog spoken in that tongue. And I was sick of reading every detail about MaryAnn's highly accessorized and perfectly coordinated outfits. Just how many suitcases did this woman bring to the Amazon rain forest anyway?

Another thing that drove me crazy was the introduction of werewolves(!?!) to the series. Jaguar people are not new to the Carpathian world, having tied together Feehan's worlds back in Dark Symphony. Dragonseekers and Mages have also been alluded to before we actually met some. But werewolves?! This is the 18th story in the series and all of a sudden there are races that are popping out of nowhere. It feels like a cheap attempt to extend the Carpathian series beyond it's life expectancy. And it seems that werewolves are more powerful magic users than all the others, since MaryAnn can block anyone she wants to, induce the thoughts and actions of anyone she wants to, AND, she can knock out Mages and send Carpathians flat on the butts with a mere angry thought. If this is true, why are they one of the supposedly extinct races of legend? Of course, MaryAnn doesn't know she doing all of this. Give me a break!

I am still anxiously awaiting the next Drake Sisters and Ghost Walker books (the match between Ilya and Joley Drake promises to be explosive!), but I am heartily relieved that I borrowed this book rather than shelling out $24.95 for the hardcover (another VERY sore spot, but one that has to do with the publisher and not the author). Don't get me wrong, I will buy this book when it is released in paperback for my collection, but I hope this isn't a sign that Christine has given up and is merely 'phoning it in'. She has managed to keep this series alive a long time (Sherrilyn Kenyon seems to be running into similar issues with some of her dark hunters), and I sincerely hope that she can find her passion for the Carpathians again. At least until we can see the plot against the Prince foiled and the race back on its way to recovery.

This audiobook was fantastic. Phil Gigante & Jane Brown should be proud of themselves they brought the characters to life. Phil Gigante has a great accent for the main character, super sexy. I can't recommend this highly enough especially, if like me, you are used to the audiobooks read by the one reader. I love it....have I metioned that :)

I have been a fan of Christine Feehan from the first Carpathian novel and own all of them. This book just did not match up to the previous ones in my humble opinion. Too many characters, too many side plots, new species, threats from the shadow world??? I mean, come on, if you are going to introduce new things, do it one at a time so everyone can follow the plot line more easily. The worst thing I can say about this book is that I'm sorry I bought it. I should have waited for the library to get it.

Yes, I agree with other reviewers that it advances the Carpathian struggle along. And yes, it's probably necessary to have those twists and turns, but why combine them all in one book??

I disliked Mary's character immensely! Who cares about clothes when you are fighting for your life!!! I'm a city girl myself, and would be terrified and horrified to be dropped in the middle of a rain forest without indoor plumbing and air conditioning, but I'd like to think that frivolous stuff like clothes and shoes would be secondary to staying alive.

I'll look for her next installment at the library before deciding to buy it. Take that as you will.

Did I LOVE it... mmmm ... I liked it.
For me, I like when the focus is on them battling the forces of evil, and not so much of their "internal" battle.
I felt this was way too much of the whole internal self battle -
Way too much.
The story was good, and I did like the characters and the little twist.
I am glad other people LOVED it, because I do love reading Feehan's books and quite honestly her "pretty good" book is usually way better than others "great" books.

I enjoyed this book because it moved the story of the Carpathians along. The reason it doesn't have 5 stars is because I feel to much was jammed in to short of a book to the detriment of the main couple. Also, a new reader would be left wondering about much of the backstory.

The main couples story seemed a bit rushed. A lot of people disliked MaryAnn because of her fashion conscious ways and I have no idea if the writer meant this but I took this as the way she had developed over the years to control/keep in check her "POWER". When one looks at what MaryAnn brings to the table I think she actually is one of the most powerful lifemates in that the conversion for Manolito and MaryAnn is a two way street with her giving her "POWER" to Manolito as well as receiving his gift of longevity. Manolito is just as old and just as dominant as the other heroes in the dark series but he is the first one that took the time to think about his actions and how they affected his lifemate. It didn't always stop him from doing or saying something stupid but at least he gave some thought to his words or actions instead of the usual "It is my right, she must submit, yada yada."

I really like this series and although I enjoy each new set of lifemates what keeps me interested is the mystery of how the Carpathians got where they are today and how they are going to recover. I can't wait for the next book because I want to know what they are going to do with the new information gained.

I do recommend this book to readers who like paranormal romances but I would not start the series with this one.

I just finished reading my book an I cannot express how much I loved it. Manolito and MaryAnn did NOT in no way disappoint. Manolito was hot, sexy, inspiring and totally alpha, MaryAnn was awesome. She is my new favorite Heroinne. A girliegirl with umphhhhhh! The story was exciting, terrifying, heartbreaking, encouraging and loving. I cannot wait for the next installment. Please hurry Ms. Feehan.