Dark Challenge

I was very disappointed in this one, as I was looking forward to reading Julian’s story. This one just didn’t do anything for me. I found the whole “family” ordeal of Desari, Darius, and the other three to be an annoying addition to things. I think if Desari had perhaps been by herself (or at least not shackled by those others), I would have enjoyed this story more. That whole family deal complicated everything and made the story vastly annoying. I think the inclusion of those other characters also prohibited the natural development of Desari and Julian’s relationship.

I didn’t particularly like Desari, so that was another factor. She was rather dull and somewhat whiny (and an all around annoying pain in the rear), so those factors were problematic for me. And even though I loved Julian’s twin brother, Aidan, in his book, I found it hard to really connect with Julian’s character in this one. I guess I was just expecting a lot more from this story.

While I have been able to read and enjoy the previous books in the series, I had to skim through many parts of this one in order to get through them. Overall, it was a tedious and rather unenjoyable read. Very disappointing.

good book but a lot of repeating history, very long drawn out sex scenes that really doesn’t touch hot scenes that you can see in your mind, nothing like other writer’s sensual sex scenes that I’ve read. I mean the sex scenes would last for pages and pages, to the point I started skipping all of them because they did nothing for me or my imagination. I enjoy the stories but there seems to be more and more “fluff” with each book. I may read the next book because I do love the characters and character development but not sure I will continue because of the $5.99 and $7.99 prices and I feel I skip over at least 1/4 of the book. It’s also not a book that grabs me and won’t let go, I can put it down and it doesn’t call to me to pick it right back up. I guess I was a little disappointed in the last few books in this series.

Deliberately waited to start reading any of Feehan’s books, because I heard they were addictive. Still, I was not prepared for how wonderful they truly were. Articulate, well-developed story lines and fabulous characters. The world just seems to fall into place, book after book. I can see how so many authors would try to emulate Feehan’s style! After having read this one, I just went ahead and bought the rest of the series (Happy Birthday, to me!). I just started book 10 and the rest have been as fresh as the first one, redundancy is kept to an absolute minimum and she hasn’t recycled the same plots/characters. I have to say, both Books 4 & 5 (Gabriel & Julian’s stories) are particular favorites. The sophisticated, caring, gentle, loving way the men interact is closer to the realistic relationships I have seen in my life than the overly-macho, socially damaged bad-boys that have taken over a lot of romance. Yeah… Feehan is still a standard for Paranormal romance.

Dark Challenge the 5th book in the Dark series by Christine Feehan was a nice read. But for me a little slow which is why it’s a 4 star and not 5. Julian and Desari are a very sweet couple and I enjoyed reading about Desari’s family. There is just something I love about the Carpathian series. It’s my Happy Zone. The whole lifemate thing is so sweet. I love the idea of one soul mate fated forever. Though a few things happened in this book for the most part it was a more laid back easy read and focused more on Julian and Desari’s relationship.
Julian was a very laid back chilled kinda guy. He had a very sarcastic sense of humor. Julian could be pretty caveman in his thinking but most of the Carpathian men are. Julian had a very lonely life. He had a secret that he was deeply ashamed about. Julian was a quick learner when it came to women, his lifemate in particular. He gave up his idea of women listening and obeying for the pipe dream it was, and learned to compromise. Desari was very independent and confident in herself. Desari loved her family and career and had no plans of giving them up. She was an ancient like Julian so she had her own power and good control over it. Desari was a bit of a trouble maker, she didn’t like being dictated to. Desari fought her relationship with Julian for a very short time, but for the most part jumped right in.
Both Julian and Desari were pretty accepting of finding their lifemate the bumps in their relationship were more from learning to live together. There was a lot of steamy hot sex in this book as our couple couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Julian and Desari got along well together and Julian fit in nicely with Desari’s family.
I really loved getting to know the members of Desari’s family Darius, Dayan, Barack, and Syndil. Barack is a bit of a playboy. Syndil was attacked by a vampire so she was very withdrawn, and fearful of men. She carries shame feeling like she somehow caused the attack. Dayan has a poet soul. Dayan is more of a lover not a fighter kind of guy. Darius is my favorite of the group. He is a lot like Gregori which is understandable since him and Desari are Gregori’s lost brother and sister. Darius is very powerful. He has a lot of honor and raised all the others since they were babies when he was only 6. He is bossy, and arrogant of course. I can’t wait for Darius’s book! Overall a great read and a nice addition to the series!

Another smash hit with an excellent evolution for the female / secondary protagonist. The Carpathian books are amazing and the stories are well written, but I’ve been surprised at everything the women are all but entirely forced to accept. While they’ve all been at least mildly obstinate, in this one we finally get to read about some real strength and literal direction from the primary female lifemate – an awesome new ‘twist’ to the dynamic to be sure! There are MANY volumes in the Dark Series and I’m eager to continue reading their respective stories! I’m also eager to see the stories reconnect to Mikhail & Gregori families. (Probably more so for Mikhail – he is the Carpathian prince & leader so I’m interested to see a segue back to the Carpathian mountains and more of them back on home soil even if only to see he & Gregori as the most powerful join forces again and truly massacre some evil!)

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