Customer Reviews

Dark Secret (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 12)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

Christine Feehan seems to be getting better and better (if that's at all possible). After her mother and father die, Colby Jansen raises her brother and sister while trying desparately to hold onto their legacy, a ranch that's being beseiged by accidents and thefts. Her father's relatives, the Chavez family, want to take her brother and sister away to live in Brazil. Colby has a steel backbone and is stubborn to the bone. She adamantly refuses to give her siblings up and wants nothing to do with the Chavez family. Realizing they need assistance, the Chavez family have enlisted the aid of Nicholas and Rafael De La Cruz to help them. When meeting Nicholas De La Cuz, Colby senses she's way over her head with him, since she senses he is dark, dominant and dangerous. She decides to steer clear of Nicholas, only to meet up with his brother, Rafael, who is more dominant and dangerous than his brother. Unknown to Colby, Rafael is an ancient Carpathian hunter. Both Nicholas and Rafael are very close to loosing their battle against the darkness and have not experienced any type of emotions for over two thousand years. As soon as Rafael sees Colby, he realizes he has finally met his lifemate. Now the problem is - he has to claim her, but with his dominant nature and Colby's stubborness, it's not going to be an easy task.

Rafael is probably the most dominant Carpathian in Christine Feehan's books other than Gregori. The chemistry between Rafael and Colby causes sparks to shoot off the pages. Although there are additional characters in this book and a lot of twists and turns, it's very easy to follow and you'll find yourself thinking "Okay, this character might be the focus of her next book". The first day I started reading the book, I made the mistake of starting at 9:00 at night. I was still reading it at 2:00 in the morning. Is it good? If there were 10 stars it would rate a ten. Don't miss this new installment of the Carpathian series.

Sorry, but this is the first of the Dark series where I wanted the male (Rafael) to bite the dust. Literally. Even at the end, I was still so major miffed with his behavior during the book that I wanted to slap him silly...and her too for 'loving' him at the end.

I'm giving it two stars intead of one because I liked the change of venue and Colby. In fact, I was excited at first about a bit of a Western (I had visions of it going down such a different path).

The female (Colby) behaved in a pretty normal manner for what was happening to her... I could relate! Sorta like "Hey you! Butt-insky! I've got a life here. Show some respect!" And she resisted him as best she could, but it was very upsetting when you were told repeatedly that she was out-gunned and outmatched. That she 'would become his!'. Geez louise, I kept wanting her to just drive a stake through his heart and plant him in the petunia patch!

Instead you have a dominant, Dominant, DOMINANT! male Carpathian who pretty much sees her as an aquisition, or a way to fix 'him'....or worst of all, just plain ole property. Banter between he and his brother about her made me wanna through the book against the wall with remarks to the effect of 'Just convert her...she'll come around later.'

Oh, did I mention, he was DOMINANT?!?! and a predator too! ;)

OK, enough snark aside. What made me love the other Dark books is that the male 'came' around to being kind and loving a lot sooner (like the first few chapters) and you got watch their relationship grow. However, vacillates between 'love' and 'dominace' to the point you really don't believe he loves her. In this book, readers be warned, he's pretty much a jerk until about the last 2 chapters, then he does something heroic and selfless...

And VOILA! Colby loves him. Yeah, right. I was still smoking and pretty annoyed that she just went 'OK, I love you now!'. Too trite, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. OK, so I guess I wanted a few chapters of groveling from him. Like for every chapter of him being ultra-a@@, a paragraph of her dragging him through the wringer. Sorry, but even his 'sacrifice' at the end wasn't enough to appease my anger...now ain't I a stinker ;)

Lastly, and I can NOT believe I'm writing this, but there is almost too much sex in the book. It was to the point that I was flipping through the pages to get to the dialogue, (that is SO unlike me!) Mostly because Colby didn't feel love for him and was disturbed by being out of control of her body, the sex scenes were extremely creepy and almost sickening instead of steamy. So you'd have hot sex scenes and then her upset, conflicted and angry at his controlling her (how Rosemary Rogers! for those who remember ;) ) It's disturbing for the reader, because you want to enjoy this part of the book, but instead, you feel like you're witnessing something tainted and ugly.

Understand, I love uber-alpha males, I enjoy rescue stories, I love good love scenes but most of all, I really, really enjoy reading about love that starts small and grows. The thing I love most about the fictional Carpathian males is their ability to love deeply and unconditionally, and to express it. Sadly, you won't find this until the very end of the book. And then, for me, it was just too dang late.

I'm a big fan of Christine Feehan's, so maybe I'm rating this one too low because my expectations were too high - I loathed this book, and had to force myself to reread it to see if I missed something before writing this review.

Okay, the main premise of the Carpathian series is that the males are NOT HUMAN, so their predatory nature and their instincts to claim their mates can't really be judged by human standards. This works for me as a fantasy - I like the idea of being overwhelmed, of being irresistible, of being totally out of control - it certainly takes the guilt out of sexual pleasure. Most of the Carpathian males seem to acknowledge that their human lifemates weren't prepared for this, and they try to cushion the shock of blood exchanges, etc., and hope that their lifemates will come to love them in time. This guy is the opposite - he not only refuses to make anything easier for Colby, he seems to deliberately show his worst possible behavior, and then he feels outraged and betrayed that she doesn't immediately adore him.

Shortly after their first meeting, he insists that she dance with him or cause a scene - in other words, he would hurt all the friends and neighbors who would try to come to her defense. So much for the centuries of protecting humanity. This guy is a noble hero? There are soldiers, police officers and firefighters putting their lives on the line for others every day, but that doesn't mean they're perfect or excuse every other flaw - and it's not enough to fall in love with.

[...] What I couldn't believe or accept was that he was in her mind after this and felt her shame, her feelings that her body betrayed her, her feeling that she had been violated and that he had violated her - and his response to her despair was that he wasn't a filthy rapist, that he had thought it was an act of mutual love. Maybe I'm judging him too harshly, since he was feeling her feelings the whole time, maybe he's just a lot dumber that your average Carpathian? But no, he doesn't feel remorse that he caused her to feel so bad, he doesn't try to comfort her or acknowledge her feelings, he doesn't even try to reassure her that her body's reaction to his was natural and beyond her control, that he's not the playboy she thinks he is and that she's the only woman in his life, that she has a right to feel how she does and that it's his fault - no, he's frantic to make her acknowledge that he's not a rapist. Yes, it's all about him. Gregori showed a lot more class.

For me, a romance novel has to end with two people in love, and I couldn't believe that he really loved her. They never laughed together or enjoyed each other's company in any non-sexual way, so when she "realized" that she loved him, I figured it was either Stockholm syndrome or some Carpathian survival instinct - eternity with this be intolerajerk would ble without some hormonal whammy to soften the brain cells.

Christine Feehan has been my life line. In 2003, I was diagnosed and treated for end first stage colon cancer. What that means is I was miserable, cranky and tired for 9 months while they pumped who knows what in me.
I love to read, and nothing could keep me focused until I found the Dark Series and all her other wonderful books. I've worn out three copies of Dark Desire and two of Dark Magic.
Gregori, Jacques and Lucien are my favorite heroes from her Carpathian world. I looking at them I can see exactly why I was let down.
Rafeal is the requsite vampire hunting Carpathian trapped in a world of shades of grey and no emotions. Colby, a spunky red head (as a spunky red-head can we please get rid of this stereo-type? Just one grumpy in the morning red head would be nice) is his life mate. He must claim her to regain his hold onhis soul.
Colby is fighting to keep her ranch and custody of her brother and sister from mystery relatives associated with Rafeal.
That said, Rafeal doesn't seem to have thedeep suffering and passion that Gregori, Jaqcues, Byron or any of the other Carpathian men.
I honestly wanted him to go away and let Colby live on her own.
Yeah the sex was good, but 8 times out 10 it felt like some version of date rape.
Something was missing.
Try the other books in the series rather than lose faith here.

I must say, I was a huge Feehan fan. Huge. And I could not be more disappointed with this book.

This hero is as rude and unlikable as they come. Maybe he has his motivation for acting this way to the heroine--I never could tell. He threatens to slaughter a bar full of people if she doesn't dance with him. He tricks her into letting him into her bedroom. He is stubborn, unfeeling--unless it's jealousy or anger--and completely uncaring. And, here's the unforgivable--he rapes her.

This is not hero behavior. This is not romantic or sensual. This is the violation and degradation of a woman, plain and simple. She cries the whole time. Afterward, she says, "You raped me, I hate you." His response--"No, I didn't!" So to prove it, he does it AGAIN! He's waited how many thousands of years for a lifemate, and he can't treat her with anything even remotely resembling respect.

And now's the kicker. Twenty-four hours later, she's happily making love with him and everything is peachy keen, she's falling in love with him and thinks, how'd I ever live without him?

Yes, these are dark stories that contain violence. Yes, I understand that these are modern gothics, and the heroines have to be clingy and needy for the genre. They do not have to be raped. Real heroes, no matter their species, do not have to force a woman. I am honestly surprised this story ever saw print.

Dark Secret was a great book from a great author. All the characters in this book are actually real and I love the fact that the main heroine and hero had to learn to accept their faults and differences and that what they wanted wasn't always what they were going to get and that in itself is real love loving someone with faults and all.

Unlike Feehans prevous novels where the Carpathian males "conforted" their lifemates, the major premise the author conveys throughout the entire book is that Carpathian males are not human, that they have are a different race with a different set of moral societal standards therefore it is impossible to judge them by human standards because they are not human.

In this novel the Carpathia males portrayed were very dark, very dangerous, and very scandalous. Feehan exhibits more closely the torture carpathian males suffer were they are close to converting to vampire. She does a great job conveying their desperate anguish and dilemma and you actually for this first time see why finding a lifemate is so important to the male speicies of the Carpathian race.

Although there some reviews on this book who felt that the hero was a "rapist" I strongly disagree with that assumption. At no time did the hero ever actually force the heroine into forceful sexual relations he does however betray the heroine with a choice that almost shatters the complete trust of his lifemate, which causes him almost to lose her love and faith in him however the hero wins the trust of his lifemate by understanding her cultural differences and appreciating her choices and most importantly bending his domineering ways so that there can find a middle ground a necessary trait in a male and female relationship.

In conclusion, Dark Secret revealed the secret of Carpathian history not really discussed in the other prevous books and we actually go somewhere with the mysterous woman who the vampires are trying to find. In addition the author communicates to the reader that no male is perfect even a Carpathian male, yet with understanding and patience you will encounter the greatest gift of all: A powerful love.

I have read all of Ms. Feehan's Dark series and I must agree with the negative comments made by others on Dark Secret. I did not like Rafael nor did I think he was in love with his lifemate. He was completely selfish, did not consider her feelings at all and raped her beyond a doubt. Rafael rushed into the relationship and looked at Colby as his own personal property. I had a very hard time getting through this book and I must agree that Rafael is the most heartless of all the Carpathians in the Dark series and did not redeem himself anywhere in this story. I hope his brother Nicholas does not react in the same way when his lifemate comes along. I miss caring about the Carpathian hero and rooting for his success in converting his mate and the mutual love that eventually develops between the two. Please Ms. Feehan, do not write anything like this again. As you can see it is hard for your readers and detrimental to the series. I wonder if anyone noticed the introduction of a future lifemate in this book. Dare I hope her story is not going to be on the same path as Dark Secret.

I'm a huge fan of Christine Feehan's. I own every book she's written and to date the only ones I'm not such a big fan of are what I call her jungle series. The De La Cruz brothers.

In particular, I found this book to be extremely boring. Mostly because I thought the characters were dense, thick headed when it came to understanding one another. I found myself skimming, hoping something different or exciting would happen. It finally did about half way through when we finally get introduced to Kirja, a Carpathian turned vampire.

What I found interesting about his entrance is that for the first time, a vampire was able to attack a hunter without first being detected. Interesting twist to the norm, and the scene was very very good. It was exciting, interesting, and graphic. Love that!

The sex scenes were just that...sex. Mating for the sake of binding the two main characters together. Romance? The intention is there in the written word, but was it pulled off? In my opinion, it wasn't. Rafael and Colby were two halves of the same whole who finally collided together and it was a must that Rafael mate with Colby because one was meant for the other and vice versa. Usually...I like Christine's sex scenes, but I found the ones in this book to have more of an animalistic appeal than romantic. I suppose that was the intention sense the reference to Rafael being so dominate kept coming up over and over again, and a point was trying to be made in regards to Rafael's personality.

The characters lacked any kind of warmth, compassion or understanding toward one another. I did not find myself rooting for them or reading with any great expectations because they were so repetitive in dialoge and behavior to one another.

Colby cares and loves her brother and sister. She would do anything for them. Rafael, he cares deeply for his brothers and loves Colby because she's his lifemate. But all those feelings, those emotions....they come through about as dry as reading the first two sentences of this paragraph. Stale.

There were hints of greatness in this book. But alas...it fell way short because it never "got there". And that's because the emotions of the characters were not written in a way that would affect me...the reader.
Overall, I rate this book "Okay". I read it through because it is part of the series and I'm looking forward to getting to Dark Celebration and finding out who shows up in that one.

Rancher Colby Jansen demands that Juan and Julio Chevez leave her spread immediately and that she will never hand over her young step-siblings to them as they command. She detests the Chevez family for not responding to the request of her "adoptive dad" who never adopted her. He wanted to end his estrangement with his sons their nut they never went to see him before he died. They conveniently show up to take the blood members back with them to Brazil except for Colby who they believe is tainted since her mom never married her biological Chavez father.

Accompanying the Chevez males is Carpathian siblings Nicholas and Rafael De La Cruz. They are both shocked that this slight female mortal can block their mental attacks although she does get headaches from doing so. Rafael is stunned when he realizes that the feisty American is his soulmate that he has waited centuries to find. She refuses to have anything to do with him as long as he is on the side of her enemies, which loyalty demands he must be. As Rafael struggles to persuade his beloved they belong together, someone is stealing her equipment, vandalizing her machinery and escalating the assault on Colby, which her beloved will not tolerate.

DARK SECRET is a refreshing Carpathian tale that uses a different location to tell an entertaining story. Colby is a courageous mortal refusing to allow any harm to her step-siblings while battling against impossible odds. Her counterpart Rafael is typical of the Feehan alpha male, but knows he has met his perfect match in the feisty American. With a strong support group that further brings out the personalities of the lead couple especially during the war of words and attrition, fans of the series will enjoy this fine gender battle.

Harriet Klausner

Ms. Feehan has dropped the ball on this one. I have read all of her books and this one was a total disappointment. Rafael may have loved Colby but I could not tell. The impression I got was that he was God and what he said was law. I did not like the way Colby was treated by Rafael. Her conversion took forever and when it happened Rafael did not seem to understand what was going on. It seemed strange that when a Carpathian is hurt that everyone comes together to help. However, the Carpathian men or either to proud or stupit to ask about the experiences other Carpathian men have had with their lifemates. Rafael may have had his feeling returned to him but he did not know how to share OR CARE about Colby feelings. The next book cannot be worse than this one I hope.