In the twelfth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Colby Jansen is desperately trying to keep her ranch up and running, but she’s in serious debt and dangerous “accidents” are happening on her property. After the death of her mother and stepfather, she’s raising her younger half-brother and half-sister the best she can, but then her stepfather’s brothers and the brothers’ wealthy employers arrive to take her siblings away.
Rafael De La Cruz knows Colby is his lifemate at first sight, but he doesn’t care about her hopes or feelings. To him, she is his property and the only thing that will save him from eternal damnation, from turning into a vampire. He literarily needs her, so he takes her. He manipulates her mind, seduces her, and begins her conversion—all without her knowledge or consent. Even though he feels remorse for his actions—after realizing she feels violated—he’s still shocked that she doesn’t want him.
Rafael and Colby are very stubborn characters who usually refuse to compromise, especially Rafael. He’s harsh, cold, and demanding, but he does care for Colby and wants her to be safe and healthy. Her happiness, however, takes second place to her safety, so they were often at odds.
Colby is insanely attracted to him. Though she felt torn about what to do, she usually submitted to him but kept their relationship sexual. She fought him and their budding romance every step of the way, which became annoying after a while.
Nicolas, Rafael’s brother, is just as arrogant and frustrating. I didn’t like him much in this book, but I know that he’s calmed down and is a better man in his own book, Dark Curse.
Natalya, a rare Carpathian female, is kickass and awesome! I love the history of the Dragonseekers. Her and Colby’s family line is one of strongest in the series, and one of the most controversial.
This isn’t my favorite Carpathian book by far, but it’s special to me because it’s the first one I read years ago when I first discovered this series (back when I was in my very early 20s). I know a lot of readers abhor this book, and I understand why, but Rafael’s intense control issue does make sense for the character. He’s not in control of his dark side, so it’s obvious problems will arise. If Ms. Feehan wrote him like most of the previous heroes, then she’ll just be recycling the same old character. Rafael is something new.
The writing style is the same as usual, but I’ve grown accustomed to it.
3 Stars
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It’s a quick read about a Latin American vampire named Rafael who comes to America in search of a group of orphaned children who his deceased friend (their father) asked him to bring them back home with. He finds the eldest, a cow girl, taking care of the younger siblings and the ranch and finds her as his soul mate. This series refers them as ‘lifemates’. Colby, the eldest, doesn’t know that she’s not fully human and has otherworldly abilities before Rafael meets her.

I like that Feehan changed the setting of the book on this one. I’m typically not a fan of the western setting and cowboy theme. However, with this novel, it was not overdone. I also liked the concept of family that she had instilled within the human family and not just the Carpathian one. This one was action packed and moved at a good pace when it focused on anyone other than the couple. I also liked that she brought in previous characters into the storyline.

The biggest thing I didn’t like about this book was Colby. Literally 90% of interactions with her were the same. Negative, prejudiced, and honestly she was just annoying.

★★★ It’s worth an okay read if you can put up with Colby. I would recommend reading the series in order. ( )

I guess I just can't buy that they sent these Carpathians to South America so long ago. Doesn't make sense. Story was so-so. ( )

At first i wanted to throw this book repeatedly against a wall for just how dominating Feehan made this man, but for a change this one actually felt guilty for his pigheadedness so i was slightly okay with him at the end.
I still want her to for once write more than just one man who isn't a total control freak. /end rant ( )

There's always that one guy. Rafael is that guy. This rapey, hard-to-take installment in the series left a bad taste in my mouth. We have a very strong, determined female lead, and she gets stuck with this utter douchebag for a lifemate. There is no point in this book, including at the end, where we don't feel sorry for her, for being fated to love and spend the rest of her existence with this jerk.

We do get some series arc action - we meet Natalya, who is important, and Vikirnoff, who is trying to catch her (and is obviously her lifemate, we figured that out back in Dark Destiny). We are introduced to the evil vampire overlords, the Malinov brothers. We get a brief glimpse of Nicholas and feel sorry for him. But we never feel sorry for Rafael, no matter how kind he is to little kids. He's just a douche.

Unless you're really in love with the series, this is one to miss. The only thing that really happens here is that we find out Natalya is actively avoiding hunters because she thinks they're going to kill her, because she has a Dragonseeker birthmark, and she was told they'd kill her for it - and Colby has the birthmark, too. Who's been spreading Dragonseeker genes among the human populace? Natalya believes she's Colby's aunt. And we see Vikirnoff being a good guy again.

This is Rafael and Colby's story. Did I mention that Rafael is a douche? He is. ( )