Dark Blood

In the twenty-third book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Branislava Dragonseeker has tied her soul to an injured Lycan warrior on the verge of death. The connection between her and Zev is earth shattering, and she cant live without him. Hes her lifemate, but she doesnt understand how that could be since hes Lycan and shes Carpathian.

As an elite Lycan pack alpha, Zev Hunter has guarded and advised the Lycan council for centuries, and now hes acting as their liaison with the Carpathians. He and his pack often kill rogue werewolves and sometimes the rare Sanga rau (mixed-blooded werewolves and vampires). Lycans believe all mixed bloods should be exterminated, but Zev is siding with the Carpathians over the Guardians (mixed-blooded Lycans and Carpathians). After hes terribly injured protecting a Lycan council member, hes fed Carpathian blood and put to ground to heal. When he rises, hes more than just Lycanhes Carpathian. Unbeknownst to him and everyone else, hes also the last of a long dead bloodline.

A new lineage is introduced in this book, and apparently, the Dark Blood line is much stronger and more revered than the Dragonseekers, the Dubrinskys, and the Daratranzanoffs. Also, the Dark Bloods can walk in sunlight and the women were allowed to fight with their men, which doesnt align with the established history and genetic make-up of the species.

I liked Branislava and Zev. She was trapped with her sister Tatijana in the ice caves for countless centuries, but she learned all sorts of dark magic from her evil father, Xavier, and from his vicious brothers. Zev was rougher and more controlling than Fen and Dimitri (the heroes from the previous two books), but he still respected Branislava as a woman and a warrior, even though his possessive inner wolf demanded he keep her out of danger.

Zev was often compared to Gregori, but I didnt see many similarities. Sure, Zev is demanding and bossy, but hes not a male chauvinist like Gregori. Now, dont get me wrong. I like Gregori a lothes a kickass secondary characterbut in his own book, Dark Magic, he was way too controlling of his lifemate Savannah. Luckily, Gregori has calmed down over the years and now treats all women with more respect.

This book is the last of a trilogy within the overall series. Multiple sex scenes, drawn out fight scenes, repeated information, and detailed chants and rituals affected the pacing. After reading so many books in this series, those types of scenes just blur together in my mind since theyre all very similar.

On a side note, I dont understand why Natalya wasnt there. Shes a powerful Dragonseeker and shouldve been fighting alongside her kin to save their people.

Anyway, Mikhail, Gregori, Fen and Tatijana, Dimitri and Skyler, and Razvan and Ivory returned and added a lot of humor, emotion, and depth to the story. The best thing about this series is the cast of secondary characters. Ive read several reviews for this story and even though some of those readers werent happy with Ms. Feehans choice of villains, I actually liked that Xavier was a triplet and his two evil brothers masterminded the plot to pit the Carpathian and Lycan races against one another.

Overall, I liked the H/h and their friends and family, but the slow pacing kept drawing me out of the book.

3 Stars