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THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERChristine Feehan has enthralled a legion of fans with the seductive world and unforgettable characters—both human and not—of her dark Carpathian series. Now, as Christmas draws near, she reunites all of them for a Dark Celebration…
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 by the immortal enemies who are devising a scheme to show more 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.
Carpathians from around the world are gathering to join 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. show less
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In the fourteenth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Mikhail Dubrinksy calls his hunters home to the Carpathian Mountains to celebrate Christmas. Though the Carpathian men are not religious, many of their lifemates used to be humans and still enjoy human-type celebrations. Most of the men hadn’t been home in centuries—living elsewhere in the world to fight vampires—and several heed the prince’s call.
Each couple from the previous books return, and it’s great to see how their relationships are progressing. This story follows Mikhail as he visits those couples, some single men in need of lifemates, and lots of children who need protection.
Two new lifemate pairs are introduced, but the men are unable to claim their women.
My heart show more ached every time Skyler and Dimitri were on page together. Skyler has had such a hard life. Most males cannot recognize their lifemates until the women are adults, but Dimitri recognized Skyler as his even though she’s only 16. Given her past, she’s matured quickly. Gabriel, her adopted father, is not happy about this and is determined to keep them apart. Even though she’s scared of falling under Dimitri’s thumb, she stands up for him against Gabriel. I enjoyed every scene with them, especially the one where they’re dancing and finally connecting.
The other new couple is Manolito and Mary Ann. I’m not a fan of the De La Cruz brothers, but I felt so bad for Manolito. He nearly dies and no one knows he’s found his lifemate.
I loved the scene when Mikhail visits Joie, Traian, and her siblings, Gabrielle and Jubal. Even though Gabrielle and Gary are in love, she’s now a Carpathian and they can no longer be together if Gabby finds a destined lifemate with a Carpathian male. Gabrielle’s mom hates Gary at first sight, and this is when we readers discover that Gary is distantly descended from the Jaguars. When the mom attacks Gary and tries to go through Mikhail to do so, Traian fails to protect his prince as he’s supposed to, and Gregori berates him like crazy. It’s a very intense scene, even though Mikhail is amused, if not exasperated, with his second-in-command.
Since it’s Christmas and there are lots of small children present, someone has to play Santa. Poor Gregori. It’s so hilarious when Mikhail, his father-in-law and his prince, “request” this of him, and Gregori’s brothers are there watching from the sidelines. Savannah, however, Gregori’s lifemate, isn’t about to let her father win, so she makes Gregori into the best Santa ever.
With so many Carpathians and lifemates in one place, it’s the perfect time for their enemies to strike. The evil mage Xavier and his grandson Razvan cause trouble, and it’s a bitter reunion between Razvan and his twin sister Natalya.
I absolutely love this story. It’s my all-time favorite in the series.
5 Stars show less
Each couple from the previous books return, and it’s great to see how their relationships are progressing. This story follows Mikhail as he visits those couples, some single men in need of lifemates, and lots of children who need protection.
Two new lifemate pairs are introduced, but the men are unable to claim their women.
My heart show more ached every time Skyler and Dimitri were on page together. Skyler has had such a hard life. Most males cannot recognize their lifemates until the women are adults, but Dimitri recognized Skyler as his even though she’s only 16. Given her past, she’s matured quickly. Gabriel, her adopted father, is not happy about this and is determined to keep them apart. Even though she’s scared of falling under Dimitri’s thumb, she stands up for him against Gabriel. I enjoyed every scene with them, especially the one where they’re dancing and finally connecting.
The other new couple is Manolito and Mary Ann. I’m not a fan of the De La Cruz brothers, but I felt so bad for Manolito. He nearly dies and no one knows he’s found his lifemate.
I loved the scene when Mikhail visits Joie, Traian, and her siblings, Gabrielle and Jubal. Even though Gabrielle and Gary are in love, she’s now a Carpathian and they can no longer be together if Gabby finds a destined lifemate with a Carpathian male. Gabrielle’s mom hates Gary at first sight, and this is when we readers discover that Gary is distantly descended from the Jaguars. When the mom attacks Gary and tries to go through Mikhail to do so, Traian fails to protect his prince as he’s supposed to, and Gregori berates him like crazy. It’s a very intense scene, even though Mikhail is amused, if not exasperated, with his second-in-command.
Since it’s Christmas and there are lots of small children present, someone has to play Santa. Poor Gregori. It’s so hilarious when Mikhail, his father-in-law and his prince, “request” this of him, and Gregori’s brothers are there watching from the sidelines. Savannah, however, Gregori’s lifemate, isn’t about to let her father win, so she makes Gregori into the best Santa ever.
With so many Carpathians and lifemates in one place, it’s the perfect time for their enemies to strike. The evil mage Xavier and his grandson Razvan cause trouble, and it’s a bitter reunion between Razvan and his twin sister Natalya.
I absolutely love this story. It’s my all-time favorite in the series.
5 Stars show less
It is Christmas in the Carpathian Mountains and from all over the world these intensely sumptuous and dangerous men are returning to their homeland. Some are bringing their lifemates and some are bringing their children. But all of them are looking for a moment of peace and happiness. This was my absolute favorite of the "Dark" Series books. All of the characters from the previous books come together, they are touching in their desire to interact with the humans. It's like reuniting with old friends and family. I would give this a dozen stars if I could.
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. show more 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! show less
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. show more 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! show less
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 show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
Loved this book. It was great to revisit the couples we have already read about and meet some of the upcoming couples. I think CF did a great job of holding each character true to their personalities, despite the gap since she had written about some of them. They generally have quite distinct personas, and this book highlights this. (Well, Carpathian males are all dominant, protective and possessive, but ignoring THAT trait...) If you are reading the series, DO NOT leave this off your list!
***
Reread: 4 June 2014 (4 stars)
Audiobook narrated by Richard Ferrone (3 stars)
Feehan can pull such a range of emotions from the reader during this book - sadness, humour, joy, anger, concern. Whilst I now get pretty bored during the lurve-scenes (of show more which there are many given the number of couples visited during the book), she opens up new and potential storylines and adds richness to the Carpathians lives.
Past, present, future. It is all addressed. I now want to go back and read my favourite couples :) show less
***
Reread: 4 June 2014 (4 stars)
Audiobook narrated by Richard Ferrone (3 stars)
Feehan can pull such a range of emotions from the reader during this book - sadness, humour, joy, anger, concern. Whilst I now get pretty bored during the lurve-scenes (of show more which there are many given the number of couples visited during the book), she opens up new and potential storylines and adds richness to the Carpathians lives.
Past, present, future. It is all addressed. I now want to go back and read my favourite couples :) show less
There's no primary couple in this book, unlike the others - instead, we visit the Carpathians during Christmas, and catch up on what everyone's been doing. This book is reasonably important to the series arc plotline. Lots of humor (Mikhail asks Gregori to play Santa Claus, Carpathians try to cook), and also some emotional tragedy (Dimitri and Skyler's first meeting). Scary mage stuff, and Manolito de la Cruz discovering his lifemate and acting like a total creeper. Back end of book full of somewhat uninspired food recipes. We spend a lot of time in Mikhail's viewpoint, which is good. One not to skip.
I know I have read several books by Christine Feehan. But apparently it was before I started keeping track of what I was reading, and I have forgotten which ones I read and which ones I didn't.
Dark Celebration brings together all the characters from the Carpathian series. Some of these people I remembered, some I didn't. I felt this book was a little too gimmicky. With one chapter dedicated to each of the couples, the book began to feel very repetitive. There was a cohesive plot tying it all together, but I still felt the author tried to hard to give updates on each of the couples.
The ending of the book was a let down. It seemed very abrupt and left some unanswered questions. I wanted to know more about what went on at the party after show more the main group left.
I think this book will be good for fans of the series to catch up on the different characters. But for the casual reader it felt too disjointed and tried to cover too much ground. show less
Dark Celebration brings together all the characters from the Carpathian series. Some of these people I remembered, some I didn't. I felt this book was a little too gimmicky. With one chapter dedicated to each of the couples, the book began to feel very repetitive. There was a cohesive plot tying it all together, but I still felt the author tried to hard to give updates on each of the couples.
The ending of the book was a let down. It seemed very abrupt and left some unanswered questions. I wanted to know more about what went on at the party after show more the main group left.
I think this book will be good for fans of the series to catch up on the different characters. But for the casual reader it felt too disjointed and tried to cover too much ground. show less
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Christine Feehan is the author of over 40 books including Dark Wolf, Dark Blood, and Earth Bound. She writes numerous series including Dark, Drake Sisters, Ghostwalkers, Leopard, Sea Haven, Carpathian, and The Shadow Series. She also wrote a manga comic, Dark Hunger, which was released in October 2007. Dark Prince won three Paranormal Excellence show more Awards in Romantic Literature in 1999. She has received seven more for her other books. She also won two Golden Leaf Awards, the Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine for Contemporary New Reality, the 2004 RIO Award of Excellence, and the Borders 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. Her titles often appear on The New York Times Bestseller List. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Dark Celebration
- Original title
- Dark Celebration: A Carpathian Reunion [English]
- Original publication date
- 2006-09-05
- People/Characters
- Mikhail Dubrinsky; Raven Whitney Dubrinsky; Savannah Dubrinsky; Francesca Del Ponce; Gabriel Daratrazanoff; Tamara Daratrazanoff (show all 62); Skyler Rose Thompson; Corrine Wentworth; Dayan; Jennifer Wentworth; Shea O'Halloran Dubrinsky; Gary Jansen; Gabrielle Sanders; Gregori Daratrazanoff; Jacques Dubrinsky; Slavica Ostojic; Razvan; Lucian Daratrazanoff; Margaret "Maggie" O'Halloran; Eileen Fitzpatrick; Alexandria Houton; Jaxon Montgomery; Aidan Savage; Julian Savage; Dimitri Tirunul; Josef Belandrake; Byron Justicano; Jubal Sanders; Joshua Houton; Falcon Amiras; Sara Marten; Desari Daratrazanoff; Barack; Syndil; Antonietta Nicoletta Scarletti; Tiberiu Bercovitz; Darius Daratrazanoff; Tempest "Rusti" Trine; Xavier; Natalya Shonski; Colby Jansen; Raphael De La Cruz; Dominic Dragonseeker; Paulo Chevez; Ginny Chevez; MaryAnn Delaney; Vikirnoff Von Shrieder; Riordan De La Cruz; Manolito De La Cruz; Jasmine Sangria; Zacarias De La Cruz; Nicholae Von Schrieder; Nicolas De La Cruz; Mr. Sanders; Mrs. Sanders; Juliette Sangria De La Cruz; Destiny; Emma; Rhiannon Dragonseeker; Travis; Chrissy; Maria
- Important places
- Carpathian Mountains, Romania
- Dedication
- For my beloved daughter, Cecilia, who had always
given us reason for celebration! - First words
- Stars glittered across the night sky and the moon spilled light, illuminating the trees below and turning leaves a glistening silver.
- Quotations
- Page 175-176
Ot sisarm ainajanak hany, jama.
Me, ot sisarm kuntajanak piradak sisarm, gond es irgalom ture.
O pus wakenkek, ot oma sarnank, es ot pus funk, alnak ekam ainajanak, pitanak sisarm ainajanak elava.... (show all)
Ot disarm sielanak pala. Ot omboce palada juta allât o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak.
Ot en meek naman: kulkedak otti ot risarm omboce palajanak.
Rekature, saradak, tappadak, odam, kana o numa waram, es avaa owe o lewl mahoz.
Ntak o numa waram, es mozdulak, jomadak.
Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvinak, ecidak alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak.
Fazak, fazak no o saro.
Juttadak ot sisarm o akarataban, o sivaban, es o sielaban.
Ot sisarm sielanak kana engem.
Kuledak es piwtadak ot sisarm.
Sayedak es tuledak ot sisarm kulyanak.
Nenam coro; o kuly torodak.
O kuly pel engem.
Lejkkadak o kanka salamaval.
Molodak ot ainaja komakamal.
Toja es molana.
Han cada.
Manedak ot sisarm sielanak.
Aledak ot sisarm sielanak o komambam.
Aledam ot sisarm numa waramra.
Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvijanak es sayedak jalleen ot elava ainak majaknak.
Ot sisarm ela jalleen.
Ot sisarm wenca jalleen.
My sister's body is a lump of earth close to death.
We, the clan of my sister, circle her with care and compassion.
Our healing energies, ancient words of magic and healing herbs bless my sister's body, keep it alive.
But my sister's soul is only half. Her other half wanters in the nether world.
My great deed is this. I travel to find my sister's other half.
We dance, we chant, we dream ecstatically, to call my spirit bird and to open the door to the other world.
I mount my spirit bird, we begin to move, we are under way.
Following the trunk of the great Tree, we fall into the nether world.
It is cold, very cold.
My sister and I are linked I'm mind, heart and soul.
My sister's soul call to me
I hear and follow her track.
Encounter I the demon who is devouring my sister's soul.
In anger, I fight the demon.
He is afraid of me.
I strike his throat with a lightning bolt.
I break his body with my bare hands.
He is bent over and falls apart.
He runs away.
I rescue my sister's soul.
I lift my sister's soul in the hollow of my hand.
I lift her onto my spirit bird.
Following up the Great Tree, we return to the land of the living.
My sister lives again.
She is complete again. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)" . . . There's hope for our people again."
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