DARK PROMISES is Book 29 in Christine Feehan's
Dark series. DARK PROMISES has more resonance for
longtime fans of the series, especially ones who have
read DARK MAGIC, the book that introduced Gary Jansen.
Christine Feehan has done a spectacular job of
chronicling Gary's evolution over the course of the
series. Reading about his journey, and being so invested
in the character, makes the events in DARK PROMISES so
powerful and poignant.
DARK PROMISES opens with all the potential of a Greek
tragedy in the making. As I read DARK PROMISES, an emo
soundtrack was playing in my mind. Gabrielle Sanders is
an incredibly sympathetic character. At the opening of
the story, her hopes for the future and dreams are
shattered and reformed. Gabrielle goes from an
anticipated wedding with the man she believes she loves,
almost immediately to an unexpected and torrid mating
with a half-crazed ancient Carpathian with a serious case
of righteous indignation. I love that in DARK PROMISES,
Christine Feehan tackles head-on the themes of fate as it
applies to romantic love, and whether magic and biology
trump strong feelings of love that develop organically
over years. This is a question that has been flirted with
in almost every book in this Dark series.
Over the span of Christine Feehan's Dark series,
she has had a wide range of alpha male characters. Two of
her more strong yet gentle male characters, who also
appear in DARK PROMISES, have been Andre and Fane.
Aleksei is an extremely dominant man with few soft edges.
However, in spite of his hard edge, he rocks Gabrielle's
world and provides everything she discovers she needs and
wants both sexually and emotionally. Aleksei ventures
more out of his comfort zone as the story progresses in
order to please Gabrielle, and because he becomes more
secure in her feelings for him. Aleksei and Gabrielle's
path to love is highly erotic and a blazing one involving
domination and submission.
DARK PROMISES is a fiery and unrelenting romance as well
as a compelling story that ends with hope. The secondary
sweet and sexy romance involving Fane and his fated mate
makes a fascinating and enjoyable counterpoint to the
intensity of Aleksei and Gabrielle's relationship.
Christine Feehan balances the darkly erotic elements in
DARK PROMISES with a well-crafted mix of longing, despair
and hope. These strong emotions are captured so
exquisitely that the reader can't help but feel the
ferocity of them. The new characters Christine Feehan
introduces in DARK PROMISES are intriguing and make me
excited to read the next book in this Dark
series.
Lovers challenge destiny and risk their lives in the new
Carpathian novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling
“queen of paranormal romance.”*
Gabrielle has had enough of battles, of wars, of seeing the
man she’s
engaged to nearly lose his life when it isn’t even his
fight. Once Gary was a gentle and very human
researcher. Now he’s a fearless and lethal Carpathian
warrior with the blood of an ancient lineage coursing
through his veins—a man Gabrielle still needs and dreams of
with every breath she takes. All she wants is a life far
away from the Carpathian mountains, far from vampires and
the shadows cast by the crumbling monastery that hides so
many terrible secrets. But Gabrielle soon learns that
promises made in the dark can pierce the heart like a
dagger.
And she isn’t the only one in
search of answers in the corners of the unknown....
Trixie Joanes has come to the Carpathian
mountains in search of her wayward granddaughter, fearing
that she has been lured there by something unspeakable.
Instead, Trixie has stumbled onto the path of a desperate
woman on the run. And they’re all fated for the lair of a
mysterious ancient with revenge in his soul and the undying
power to make bad dreams come true.