i love all the books in the Carpathian series.

After the recent attack on his life, prince of the Carpathian people Mikhail Dubrinsky has called together all of the hunters and their lifemates for a Christmas celebration in the Carpathian mountains. For some time, his people have been hunted not only by vampires, but also fanatical humans from the Morisson Center for Psychic Research. Now a new threat has surfaced in the form of the evil dark mage Xavier and his grandson Razvan.

With enemies joining forces and surrounding his people, Mikhail has begun to worry that they will soon realize that the key to the extinction of the Carpathian race lies not in the destruction of it's hunters - powerful and ancient males - but instead with the annihilation of their lifemates and children. Without the light of a lifemate to anchor the hunter, he would become an incredibly deadly force, capable of unspeakable evil. As one after another of the Carpathian females falls under attack, the people must band together, lending their strength to one another, and work to identify and destroy their assassins.

Despite the malevolent forces that seem to constantly besiege the Carpathian people, this book is probably the "lightest" Dark book I've read so far. For the first time in centuries, there are children among the people and someone must play Santa Claus - think about that for a moment... one of the dominant, aggressive, mighty Carpathian males, living legends in their own right, has to play jolly old St. Nick - a much more cheerful and carefree legend. That alone is worth reading the book for - and I'm not going to tell you who receives this grand honor!

There is also the small matter of the Christmas feast. As the Carpatians are sharing this holiday with human friends there must also be actual human food, and Raven Dubrinsky, lifemate to the prince, is determined that the women cook the food themselves. The fact that none of them has any real skill in the kitchen seems to have escaped them, and their are plenty of kitchen fires, blown up appliances, and messes in every Carpathian home in the mountains. Even funnier, some of the men attempt to help - picture them in the kitchen with aprons on and flour all over the place!

Dark Celebration is definitely a Carpathian book - with new beginnings for some lifemates, pregnancy and birth for others, and revelations about unknown jaguar people and Dragonseekers. It was wonderful to see all the familiar beloved characters from all the other books, and Feehan did a great job of recounting each of their stories as the book went on, to trigger the reader's memory. I enjoyed reading it so much that it was hard to put it down and go the bed. I read it quickly, in less than 2 days, and I really want to re-read the entire series now! ( )

It’s a Christmas party and all Carpathians, family and friends are invited to the Mountains that so many of them have not seen for many, many centuries. The gathering of so many hunters and their lifemates should be enough to keep any self preserving enemy away, but after several attacks on the women and a strange feeling in the area, some begin to wonder if this party was a good idea. The duty of the prince, Mikhail Dubrinsky is to ensure the survival of his kind, each male helps to see to the safety and happiness of the women and children and this party was what they needed. Quick thinking and strong, the warriors take on the attacks and the show goes on to the delight of the children and all of the adults.

Book 17 ….. A Carpathian Reunion it is. If you have not read every one of the previous 16 stories, you will not understand everything. The author note states that there is no hero or heroine of this book because there are too many strong characters, yes and no… Most of the characters are the heroes in this story. I really enjoyed finally ‘meeting’ Dimitri and Manolito and revisiting all the others, I know (from looking ahead) that Manolito gets his story next and the set-up for it is a bit obvious. Really enjoyed the humor that was interlaced throughout the story, Gregori will now live in my mind as a ’teddy bear’ and it would be fun to see how that (revenge) plays out. I liked the happy delivery, but the build up was so much better, I expected …well, more. Some of it might have been that the story seemed too short (ended on page 298, book has 393 pages), the plus side of that is the neat additions; not only a chapter of Predatory Game, but a section of ‘Deleted Scenes’ (which I can see why of them were taken out, but still fun to read them), also ‘Dark Desserts’ recipes sent in by Christine Feehans fans (I am eager to try a few), an appendix of healing chants, and an appendix of the Carpathian language. All those extras are fun but the story was a blast, thank you Ms. Feehan for finally agreeing to the reunion, even if it turned dark. ( )

I'm not really happy with calling this a romance, because it doesn't have a romance plot. But it's not not romance, either. So I'm going by Barnes & Noble, which says it's paranormal romance. Bah. All these genre definitions...

Dark Celebration is a Feehan fan's dream come true. It's like the ultra version of those epilogues in romance series that catch you up on the previous couples. The setup is that all the Carpathians are gathered in the Carpathian mountains for a Christmas celebration. Each chapter shows a different couple, and tying it all together is a suspense plot.

Anyone who's been reading the series knows that the Carpathian race is dying out--there are few women, even fewer pregnancies, and fewer yet successful ones. Even when a baby is born, it seldom lives long. They're starting to make headway on understanding and solving the problem, but it's a slow process.

So women and children are the race's weakness, and with them all gathered together like this, someone is targeting those women and children.

Besides the reintroduction of all the characters (I swear I must have missed a story or two somewhere because a couple of the characters were unfamiliar), there are lots of sex scenes, lots of funny scenes, a couple of fights, a couple of revelations, and a couple of lifemates are discovered.

It's very typical of the Dark series, both the good--the sensuality, humor, and suspense, and the bad--the uncomfortable dialogue. I wasn't too convinced by the Carpathian women's determination to cook a Christmas dinner by hand: Carpathians don't eat food, and could conjure it. I was going to complain about the sexism of the idea, but, well, this happens in real life, too. And it led to a lot of the funny parts.

My favorite parts of the book, though, were those dealing with the as-yet-unattached characters. Teenager Skyler is struggling with the prospect of having a lifemate in her future, Carpathian Manolito is tempted to give in to the dark side, and newly-turned Gabrielle may have to choose between desire and duty. There are hints of at least three future stories.

At the end is a collection of dessert recipes sent in by readers. Most of them made my teeth hurt just reading them, but a few looked interesting. And there are sections on the language and healing chants that I think I saw on the website.

Bottom line: if you're a fan of the series, it's a must-read. If you're not, you'll probably want to skip it. ( )

After centuries as the Prince of the Carpathians Mikhail Dubrinsky fears he can’t protect them for long from their greatest threat: the extinction of their species- a fate that has become the wicked prayer of his enemies. To ensure it, they are devising a scheme to slaughter Carpathian females. But even with his own lifemate, Raven, and their daughter, Savannah, vulnerable to the encroaching evil, Mikhail's hope is not lost...

In this desperate season, Carpathians from around the world are gathering to join their strengths, their souls, and their powers to bring light to the darkness. But so too are their adversaries uniting – hunters, vampires, demons, and betrayers – bringing untold dangers into the fold of the Carpathian people.

Now for the first time, born from the uninhibited imagination of Christine Feehan, all the inhabitants of Carpathian legend are reunited for a celebration of sensual adventure, undying passion, and astonishing fantasy – one to remember for a thousand lifetimes. ( )

This is the kind of book I read this series for! Lots of interaction with old characters that feel like friends, some humor and some suspense. Good read! ( )

I really liked seeing all her old characters from this series again, and the running gag was a lot of fun! This paperback version also has a deleted scene that the hardback doesn't. ( )

http://jacescribbles.blogspot.com/200... ( )

I originally read this in hardcover, and just re-read it paperback. It is a wonderful book, and stands up to re-reading. I prefer paperbacks, and therefore actually enjoyed the re-read more than the first time around. ( )

This tops my starlist of books.
In which a dark story becomes funny, romantic and bubbly! A reunion book like no other. So much things happening in a span of two hours. It's good thing they are Carpathians. Otherwise, things could get really messy.
Raven wants a reunion. Mikhail has no choice but to grant. So all Carpathians all over the world and their families are invited.
Not everyone is thrilled. For the male Carpathians who are bound to a lifemate, they struggle with their mate's cooking instructions. The unattached males are jealous of the attached ones. Vampires and mages are crawling over the Carathian mountain to ruin the celebration.
It's up to prince Mikhail to make sure everyone is safe and the celebration must push through.
From warewolf and shadow attacks to hilarious witty cracks, Feehan can mix trouble with fun, Romance with Thriller and Traditional Carpathian ideas of Mikhail to the modern touches of Josef. It's a must read for Dark Series fan.

Excerpts:
http://mermaidarium.blogspot.com/2007... ( )

For true fans of the Dark Series, this book gives a glimpse into the Carpathian society. To see all these different characters interacting with each other adds dimension to their personalities and depth to the Carpathian reality.

By tying up some loose ends and laying the ground work for future stories, this book is a true delight - I only wish it were paperback and not hardcover. ( )