Dark Desire by Christine Feehan

Dark Series # 2 Copyright: 1999 Pages: 369 Genre: Paranormal Romance Dark Desire is book 2 in the Carpathian, Dark Series & this is Jacques and Shea's story. Jacques Dubrinsky was betrayed to a group of human vampire hunters by a vampire referred to as The Vulture. He has been cruelly tortured and buried in the Carpathian Mountains. After seven years of suffering, Jacques is teetering on the brink of insanity but he has formed a mind link with his lifemate Shea, a psychic human and surgeon in San Francisco. This book is very dark and emotionally intense, the torture descriptions are quite graphic and reminded me a lot of Kyrian's story in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Night Pleasures. But I admit to being a bit of a ghoul, I do like the whole 'tortured' hero theme but at the same time the 'sensitive' side of me finds it distressing (but not enough to stop reading lol.) So, gotta love it, another dominating but severely damaged Carpathian male and an equally engaging heroine. Shea is no weak, simpering female. She's strong, independent, a gifted surgeon and healer, and she's spent years researching the rare blood disorder she believes she suffers from. This leads to some fascinating reading about Shea's complicated past. Mikhail, Raven, and Gregori from Dark Prince, return in this book and are an integral part of the continuing Carpathian tale and the battle to save their race. My only complaint; the language does become a little repetitive but Carpathian males are extremely compelling so I'm looking forward to Dark Gold & Aidan's story.

Christine Feehan's website has an excellent Carpathian Guide section where you can get some cool info on the Carpathian Family Tree, and the Carpathian language & chants.

This month on The Eclectic Reader you could win Blood Promise by Richelle Mead OR Destined For An Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost OR The Other Tudors by Philippa Jones. Check this blog post for details. International entrants welcome.