Dark Prince - Christine Feehan

I started reading this book with a great expectation, I first read it 5 or 6 years ago and I had never picked it up since. I read most of the other Carpathian novels but after 12 or 13 books I was a bit tired and finally gave up buying them. Since I am now in the process of adding my keepers to my Library Thing account I decided to reread some of them and see if they stand the test of time. I'm happy to say this one did.

He came to her in the night, a predator -- strength and power chiseled his features. The seduction was deep and elemental; he affected her soul. His need. His darkness. His terrible haunting loneliness. Her senses aroused, she craved the dangerous force of his body. Burned for him. And he had only touched her with his mind.

She came to him at dawn, his bleakest hour. As the beast raged inside him, threatening to consume him, he vented his centuries-old despair in an anguished cry that filled the waning night. And she answered, a ray of light, piercing his darkness. A beautiful angel. Her compassion, courage, and innocence awakened in him an exquisite longing and tenderness. He knew he must possess her, for only she could tame his savage side and lift the dark shadow from his soul. Apart they were desolate, bereft. Intertwined physically and spiritually, they could heal one another and experience an eternity of nights filled with love.

Michail is the learder of the Carpathians, a dying race of people who need blood to survive but are far from being vampires. They loose their emotions and the ability to see colours when they are still young and both can only be restored when they find their true life mate. Raven is a human with telepathic powers who feels his pain one night and contacts him.

I'll start by mentioning what I didn't like, at times the language was a bit on the purple side. Mickhail kept calling Raven little one and I found that a bit annoying. And I doubt that any small woman would like to be called that not to mention the fact that is a bit childish.

Now what I did like, and there was a lot to like!

Feehan's writing style keeps us totally immersed in the story, at least it did me. Being a reread it was still a page turner and once I started I couldn't stop reading.

The characters were also likeable and interesting. They actually try to get to know each other, to understand each other's traditions and beliefs. More Raven than Mickhail because he has been around humans for a long time and knows how they work. But despite his possessivness and aparent arrogance he still respects her beliefs and everytime she fights his commands he explains why he acts the way he does. I felt she won most of the discussions! He avoids telling her about his different race at first but it's also very clear that she is essencial to his well being and that he does it out of fear for her and not to hide her anything bad. The fact that he does hide what he is for a while and drank her blood without her the consequences at first were the only thing I can recall that I felt he did bad. Although to him the Carpathian mating ritual is what binds them together he still wants her to have a marriage because that is the human tradition and he never let's her feel when he takes her to ground because he knows she feels like she is being buried.

Mickhail has an image to protect as the Prince, the overlord, there's something almost medieval in the way his subjects behave towards him. However the distant and cold atitude just disappears when it comes to Raven. He is never less than tender and caring with her. He hardly ever tries to enforce his will on her and certainly not after they have become involved. Although most of his people keep mentioning Raven as their salvation because without her he will choose to die we never feel that he is only interested in her because she can save them, he actually cares for her.

The mystery part about who is trying to kill Carpathians was also interesting. It led Raven to get herself in danger but I couldn't fault her because things seemed just to unbelievable at that point for her to be truly aware of the real danger. She was still trying to understand the Carpathians and their world. Speaking of which I think Feehan did a wonderful job of world building around these characters (or maybe I should call it race building). And has you can see it was the characters that made the book for me.

Well that's my take on it and yes, it's an A for me.