Dark Curse Review

Dark Curse is a novel in the Carpathian Series by Christine Feehan. The story is a fantasy romance set deep in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania. The series revolves around the lives of a nearly extinct race that is separately trying to stay alive despite the fact that there are more men than women and their children are dying more often than not. They are also faced with the fact that many of their men are turning against their people by giving up their souls for the fleeting chance to feel something.

Dark Curse starts off with a prelude that flashes back about twenty years to the day Lara Calladine escaped from her great-great-grandfather. When the first chapter starts, the story is in present day and Lara is accompanied by two male friends as she tries to find the entrance to the ice caves where she was born in the Carpathian Mountains. While they search for the entrance to the caves, one of her two friends is attacked by a mutated snakelike plant and infected with some kind of parasites. Lara recognizing the malicious nature of the plants as something Xavier, her great-great-grandfather, had created, she quickly helps her friends flee the mountainside.

The group flees back to the relative safety of the village inn, hoping to find someone who can help her infected friend. When she gets there, her instincts flare to life telling her that someone dangerous is present at the inn. She searches the area and finds a mysterious man standing by the inn. The man is Nicolas De La Cruz, a Carpathian male, and as Lara's instincts warned her, he was a dangerous person. Lara quickly instructed her uninjured friend to help the other friend into the inn, while she prepared to defend them against this mysterious man.

Nicolas is instantly drawn to Lara's scent and as soon as the men are inside, he attacks her. She tries to fight him off, but he is too strong for her. However, she manages to get her knife free from her belt and stabs Nicolas in the chest. He promptly releases her neck, holding her upright. Recognizing the fact that he can see the color of her blood, his instincts call for him to claim her as his lifemate.

The story continues from there as Nicolas and Lara learn what it means to be tied to one another. There are a series of flashbacks to Lara's youth in the ice cave and the repercussions of that time on her mental stability. She convinces him to return with her to the caves because she wants to rescue her aunt's bodies from the cave. She is convinced that even though they cannot still be alive, no part of them should be left with Xavier.

I recommend Dark Curse to anyone who has read the rest of the Carpathian Series. Although it is not essential to the understanding of the story, there are enough references to previous volumes of the series that it is a good idea to start reading it with the first book, Dark Prince. One example of the information that could be confusing to new readers is that this book has several characters in it who were introduced in their own novels within the series.

Overall, Dark Curse is a compelling read. Feehan makes her characters stick in her readers' minds. By the end of each novel, I want to find the next novel and read it to find out what happens next. I will warn that as this is a romance, there is sex and it is mildly graphic. There is some mild domination play and the rest of the story contains some violence. That being said, I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a captivating story.