A), Dark Promises (Carpathian Novel

I absolutely love to read Christine Feehan's Dark Series. Dark Promises does not disappoint! What is so beautiful to me is the passion between a strong man and a strong woman and the way Ms. Feehan weaves their strengths and weakness where together they are better than they are alone!

Okay, Christine Feehan is the author that actually got me into the paranormal genre. This series specifically. I have loved all the books that she's done, but after reading the reviews, I was expecting something terrible.
I REALLY LOVED this book! Okay, so he was really mean to her in the beginning, but that stopped almost immediately. Not to mention I was surprised and glad to see that Aunt Trixie had a story as well!
This was a great romance book. He realizes she loves another and does his best to show her he loves her too. What a fantastic book.
There was no "disgusting" BDSM in this book, nor is there any in any of her books. Was she submissive, yes. Did she want to be submissive. yes. So I don't really know what all the hooplah is about this book.
This is why I don't normally read the reviews, because they can bias you before you even turn the first page.
LOVED IT!

These books keep getting better & better. It took a little work to adjust to "Trixie " the grandmother being turned Carpathian & picturing her with these hot men! But, I guess what works, really works! Lol

I like a good story and yes I like good sex in the story but I want to look forward to her stories and know I I'm going to read a whole story.
Because of the lack of a whole story,it seems as if you're still waiting for the rest of the story when you reaach the . I would give only 3 stars. I look forward to her next headhunter and ghostwriter and for an excellent story.she is a wonderful storyteller after all.

As usual Dark Promises was well written and entertaining. I noticed that a lot of you are complaining about the blurb on the cover, I would like to point out that the author doesn't write those it's the publishing co. that does that and they got it wrong not the author. As for the ones complaining about it being Trixie's story, well I still think it was well written story and I can't wait to read Dark Carousel.

As always Christine Feehan delivered an excellent read! This time she had not one but two males who found their life mates and these life mates went on to help other unmated males perhaps find theirs!

After trying to give her several chances, I've decided to stop buying her books. It has became to repetitive, and boring.
To be honest, I had to pick up the book several times to be able to finish it. Totally disappointed.

I have read everything Feehan. I was starting to lose interest in her Carpathians and BAM! She pulled me back into the dark world with this book! I love the renewed storylines and can't wait for more!

not much story line. Doubled up on the sex. When you got to the story it was good but not much going on but the sex. I have read all of her Carpathian novels. Enjoyed all of them but not so much this one. sorry

Wow. Wow. Wow. Just when you think there is no possible way to improve a storyline, along comes Christine Feehan and shatters that whole illusion
The Ancients are dark, emotionless, predatory to the extreme. Yet they are portrayed with some compassion, some tangible need, that turns to a distant hope
Yes, Christine again surprised me.
What a journey, what a read
Thank you for shaking it up in the Carpathian world!

I too am very disappointed in the direction Ms. Feehan has taken, I have read all her books, and it could be that the time has come to close the Carpathians and move on to something else. I feel like she was and has been reaching for a story that was just not there. Andre and Teagan's story felt hurried and thrown together, Fane and Trixie were somewhat cute, I suppose, but Gabby's story was terrible and disappointing. I will think long and hard before I buy my next Feehan

The best part of this book was the fact that it covered more than one, nicely intersecting, love story. The additional storylines, however, made there a necessity of a bit less conflict between anyone, including a dearth of vampires.
As usual, there was a lot of graphic sex. I'm used to that. I'm even used to the over the top dominance, sometimes flat out impossibly bossy males. I'm not sure how I feel about bdsm in my vampire hunters.

I am a long time fan of Christine Feehan's Dark Series but this was the absolute worst book in the series. I seriously hope that it does not reflect the direction and timbre of future books in the series. Firstly, there was no storyline. I am completely baffled by the reviews from people saying what a great story it was. There was no storyline because 80% of the book was sex scenes. Not loving, romantic, caring sex scenes but bdsm pornographic sex scenes. If you take all the sex scenes out if the book, you would only have about 20-30 pages to read. Additionally, there was absolutely no character development. Pardon the pun, but I am in the dark about who Aleksei and Fane are and what their relationship was with Vlad. In other books where ancients, sent out by Vlad were the heroes, there was enough background given to make you have empathy and understanding of their sacrifice. In this book there was nothing other than a passing reference of Vlad and precognition. Finally to top the whole debacle off, we were subjected to the most idiotic heroine with Gabrielle. By far she is the worst heroine in the entire series. Weak willed, weak minded, and entirely unlikable.

I want to be clear here, I loved this book! It contains, probably, one of my most favorite couples in the Dark Series. It was unfortunate to me that they ended up becoming secondary characters toward the middle of the book. The couple that ended up taking the lead, I had a hard time relating to, both the lady and the man. The lady comes of largely as scared delusional and selfish, and the man selfish domineering and inflexible. Luckily though, as the story progresses we get to see more into them, there individual characters and what drives them and I was able to relate and even feel affection for them in the end. Now, the secondary couple I had a love for from the start. They had me roaring with laughter and I even remember proclaiming aloud how adorable they are together. I do. I adore them! They got me the the beginning and middle of the book. The man is so patient and sweet while still being a powerful and dark Carpathian ancient and his lifemate was a hoot! A kind of fiery but sweet and tough love personality. A very strong woman unafraid of who she is and unapologetic for her life and the tough decisions she had to made in life and I found that so refreshing! All in all, this book was a good read. The only other thing I can complain about is... the sheer amount of sex. Now I'm a lady with a high libido myself and I don't shy away from reading sex scenes but even this was a little much for me. Every time the point of view would change from one couple to the other we would be near immediately into another sex scene, sometimes twice! I find myself having to force myself through some of it (I refuse to skip anything in a book I read, even if I don't like it. I feel each story deserves to be read in its entirety.) Just to get back to the story. Ill admit that in the middle of the book it's much less story and much more sex. This is the real reason for the 3 star rating. I want so badly to give this book at least a 4, I do. I'd still recommend this book. At the end it just left me feeling so good but if you're the type of person that does not like to read through tons of sex scenes that recommendation is a little hard. Perhaps if you're alright with skipping through some or are able to push through Some of them and still enjoy some like I did. Other than that, I love the direction Christine Feehan went this. She definitely did something different, and it definitely paid off. Despite my rating of 3 stars, I'd say this might be ONE of my favorites. I may end up raising the rating to 4 stars in light of that.

Loved it, I loved the two love stories combined with the introduction of the elderly involved. Plus the hope that was given to the ancients. Watch it Feehan, my grandmother is going to be out there looking for love... ?

I have read every dark series book and i honestly love this book...It is a different side to her writing than the normal story line goes and it was a good read for me i read it in one day...its one of my top favorites, I cant wait for the new book to come out

I have been waiting for a minute. But I finished reading in less than a minute. It is getting to a line I am having trouble with. Male characters are darker but the women...there was no story, concerning...where does or can it go?

This was not a romance book. It was a poorly written bdsm book. There was no storyline; just lots of bad sex scenes. Rather than developing a good story with two characters, she for some baffling reason wrote two stories, if you could even call them that, about four characters. I am so mad that I spent $15 on this title.

I have to agree with the other reviews. The book was a disappointment. This should have been under Erotica, not Paranormal Romance. There was no romance. And truly if the sex was taken out of the book, the book would be a novella. Where is the substance and the intrigue? Where was the romance, the building of the characters so that they come alive to the reader. And my goodness, can we stop with the repetition? By now, readers know why the Carpathians need lifemates. Does it need to be repeated 5 times throughout the story? I pray Dark Carousel is better.

I have never given a Feehan book less than 3 stars (Dark Storm) and most were easy 5's. This book could have worked if Feehan had spent more time on story then the overly graphic borderline sadistic sexual content. I didn't care for the wimp she turned our Gabrielle into or Aleksei, but I loved the Trixie and Fane storyline. But since I skipped over the porn half of the book and the other half was sharing 2 storylines she did not do justice to either one. It was one story chapter, one sex chapter, story chapter, sex chapter. Not even liking one of the couples left me with little to like about this book. I thought towards the end she (Feehan) might redeem herself with more about the ancients in the monastery, you know something to look forward to reading about in another book. I've never been this disappointed in any book. I will have to start waiting for reviews before buying what was once an anticipated buy. Her "Game" series is the same. I did not bother with that latest release when Spider Game due to the poor reviews and my dislike of the previous Viper Game for the same reasons. To graphic.

I really tried to like this story if there was a story to actually like. 2/3 of the book was explicit BDSM content and completely unnecessary. The overall story arc didn't progress and the whole book takes place over a few days. No slow buildup. By a third of the way through we're at the first sex scene and it goes downhill from there. Aleksei is not likeable and Gabrielle is not the same person she was in previous books, just a pale weak imitation of her earlier character. If I wanted this much BDSM in a book I'd watch porn thanks. The only redeeming thing was the almost parallel story with Trixie and Fane. I'm struggling to believe this was even written by the same author as the previous Dark series. Time to put this series to rest, it's going nowhere if this installment is anything to go by.
*Edit* I had to review this down to 1 star as I'm still very disappointed with the book. Borrow it if you can because I can tell you, you will regret paying money for it (I paid nearly $13 for the ebook in Australia - blatantly ripped off. Bye, bye Christine!)

What a diaster! Sex, Sex, And more Sex. Very little story line and character developement. I' ve read on the dark series and I loved them. The first ones are wonderful. There was sex but also a plot, a story line that flowed into a climax that summed up the book. This was just sick ! I thinkthis is my last one. What a disapointment!

I am giving up on this author. I want a good strong story line like she used to write. The sex was uncomfortable to read because it was so rough and too close to rape. I am half way through the book and I just don't want to finish reading it. $13.99 wasted.

Christine Feehan has OUT DONE Herself! I have been with the Carpathian Warriors from the first book, but this one is Better the them All.

Usually Christine Feehan tells the story of one Warrior at a time, but in Dark Promises she has provided the tale of three Warriors and their Life Mates, and let me tell you, if Men like these Truly existed, We All Would be Happier Women, Enjoy!

I have been a fan of Christine feehan for many years since she first gave us the world of Carpathians. I have been getting more disappointed since they have gotten all sex and very little adventure. I wish her next books would get back to the storyline a little more.

I looked forward to this new book from Christine Sheehan and was sorely disappointed. Basically zero story line. Virtually every page is just sexual contact between characters. Her story lines are usually so interesting and entertaining and this book was neither of the above. A real shame.

I have always enjoyed Christine Feehans' Dark Series and have re read them.But the book with Andre and Teagan and Dark Promises were so awful.I could not feel anything for the characters except for Gary the brief times he was interacting with the other characters.I hope that the next book due out in August is better then Dark Promises.

I've read every Carpathian novel that Christine Feehan has written, and this book was truly disappointing. She's always portrayed the Carpathian men as dominant, but this book takes it too far. This was straight up rape and emotional abuse. The women had no minds of their own, and if they showed their mind, the men quickly set them straight and showed them what they SHOULD be thinking. I wasn't disturbed by Trixie being a great grandmother and finding her lifemate as some have stated. I was more disturbed by Gabrielle and Alexei's story.
Also, almost the entire book was just sex. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a nice torrid love scene in my romance books, but this book had hardly any plot at all. I don't feel like this book enhanced the story of the Carpathians at all. I don't feel like I know more about the Carpathian's journey to better solve the issues with infertility or fight the vampires. There was nothing good about this book at all. I'm very disappointed.

I ordered this because I thought I'd get the Heavily Shipped ending between Gabrielle and Gary....and yet, I fully expected that kind of a twist.

Now...the twist...I could get used to....however, the guy she ended up with was a HUGE.F-EN.A-HOLE!!! I f-en HATE HIM. There is No redeeming quality to him; I do not like him. I was happy for the parts where she defended herself and the context in her involvement with Gary, but Alexe (I don't care to spell his name right; he's a f-en pr**k; about as much of a pr**k as Gregory was/is in his story...f- him too) was just....an a**. All I could see was a manipulative d**k, who threw so much guilt at her that she was constantly apologizing afterwards...for everything. And then he had the NERVE to be upset/annoyed at her apologies, yet he never once said "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions at the beginning. Like, I'll always be like this; it's not an excuse for my behavior - I'm an a**...but I was wrong"...or Something to that effect. He never assumed Any responsibility for conditioning her to Be sorry; instead he's being like "well, you keep thinking like this and we're not that, so you have to understand where I'm coming from and deal" like, No Buddy, that's not an apology. You're not sorry and, somehow, I'm supposed to feel sorry for you?? No!

The main couple read like a romanticized battered woman's story, I don't like these types of portrayals; I don't like him.

However, I GREATLY ENJOYED Trixie's story! I loved Teagan and Andre's story and I was happy to see Teagan's grandmother being done the same way; Fane was funny, he was charming, like....he was sooooooo much better. I wanna give this a 4, because the only saving grace to this story IS Fane and Trixie, but a 3 is the Most I can honestly do. Like, at this point, it's just for the collection of the series, but if I ever pick up this book to read it, it will for Fane and Trixie, cuz f- the characterization of the main couple. F- Alexie; his sections are getting skipped! (yes I'm being petty!! I hate him).

Major Mislead. Gary Jenson was in the story for about a minute.

HATED Gabrielle and Alexie. He is a horrible creature. If he could hold his honor for so long why would he be such a A**hat! He was abusive and controlling. Demanding Dominance and submission. I don't read BDS or BDSM so why would I want to be tricked into buying a book the was filled with it?

Trixie and Fane were a refreshing glimpse of CF's beloved older stories. Their story added to this novel are the only reason this isn't a 1 star review.

I will finish with, I now know why CF can pump out 4 or 5 books a year. They are 80 percent sex, 20 percent story. If the next book does't have a love story like the original books in the series, it will be my last. Such a shame.

What is going on with the dark series, the last two books have been bad. I have read Christine Feehan's books from the beginning and am a huge fan. I always get the e-book, audio book and when I can pickup the hard cover for my library. After Dark Ghost, I only started with Dark Promise on audio. It is so bad I haven't been able to finish it, no plot! This was to be Gary's story and Christine has him just leave the love of his life with a jerk! This makes two books I haven't been able to finish, I will be checking Christine's books out at the library first before buying from now on or just giving up on her books.

My problem with this book is the percent of time devoted to sex and the binding ritual vs the time devoted to fighting the master vampires and its minions, etc. Fighting vampires and their minions, evil mages and other perilous things that plague the Carpathians has been an integral part of every Carpathian book---every single one, that is until this book! What has happened to cause such a disparity? Usually, the books in the Carpathian series nicely balance these elements, and the sex & rituals between the lifemates is romantic, even erotic. I have never skipped or skimmed pages in a Carpathian book until this one. At the 60% mark on my kindle, I realized there had been NO BATTLES--only sex!!! Still, I read on skipping forward through more sex scenes and more repetition. At the 80% mark I was really angry and frustrated, because not much beyond sex had occurred. There were 2 battles with the vampire, which I would have missed had I blinked. There was very short introduction to the ancients who had secreted themselves in the monastery. There was a brief segment where Gabrielle, Teagen and Trixie joined forces & discovered locations of possible lifemates for the ancients. These aspects of the book could really have been expanded and would have added much needed substance to this book. The battles could have really have been phenomenal, but they were over almost as soon as they began--ancient Carpathians have battled master vampires in previous books and have been severely wounded. They have had healing ceremonies, etc, and they have live to fight another day. In this book, these aspects were absent--and missed! What has happened, Ms. Feehan? Additionally, I have recognized for some time that Carpathian men are dominant alphas, but I see a trend that does not put the Alpha in a good light. (I saw the same type of male behavior in Shadow Rider, and I think Spider Game). I want the return of the stories that really worked up until now.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!

I hated with all of my being the fate of Gary and Gabrielle. That was a twist I did not expect, and I hated it. We've followed Gary since very early in this series and for this abrupt change in him all at once was a disappointing development. To rip him and Gabrielle apart was heart wrenching. I loved Gabrielle from the previous books, but here, her capitulation to Alexei's will was a little too quick for me, making it very disappointing. I do, however, understand that Alexei's choices compelled Gabrielle to embrace him as her true lifemate, but she lost herself in the process.

While I am ecstatic to read that Ms. Feehan has added a third black woman as a lifemate to a Carpathian (MaryAnn Delaney & Manolito De La Cruz-Dark Possession, Teagan & Andre-Dark Ghost and now Trixie & Fang). Notwithstanding, Trixie just semed like an overgrown, gullible, cartoonish child-like teenager rather than a strong, intelligent, mature woman in her 60. The part where Trixie uses the stake gun, holy water and other items from her "vampire-fighting kit" was jus plain silly, and totally unworthy of the character we were led to believe Trixie to be. There was so much room to make Trixie a richer, stronger and more substantive strong, intelligent adult woman. Such a missed opportunity. What happened Ms. Feehan?

All in all, 98% sex and 2% of briefly written substance. I have purchased all but 2 books in the Carpathian series, and I have read all of them, some twice. I will not abandon the series, because the introduction of the ancients, conjures many diverse and exciting possibilities for future Carpathian books --I hope! However, future books will be ordered from the library--not purchased. Ms. Feehan, please read some of your previous Carpathian books and get back to writing more great Carpathian books.

Thoughts: Every time I finish a book in this series I swear I'm done. I'm not reading anymore. And yet every time a new book comes out I end up reading it.

The whole Gabby and and Gary NOT being lifemates really pisses me off. I feel like Feehan broke trust with me as a reader because for close to twenty books now we've (at least I've) assumed that they would end up together. And the way it happened...well I almost threw my kindle I was so irritated.
Trixie was a hoot and a holler. I loved her spunk and determination.
Aleksei pissed me off and then had me crying because of his story...and how betrayed he felt whenever Gabby thought of Gary. Lucien has always been one of my favorite Carpathien heroes because of his honor but that is nothing compared to Aleksei's honor. He's one of my new favorite heroes in this series.
Fane is...the perfect mate for Trixie.
This book pissed me off, made me cry and then made me sigh with happiness. Is it one of my favorites? No. Will I still read it again? Yes. At least parts of it. Should you read this book? Absolutely as it sets up for the next arc in the series.

Grade B
Review by: Heather
[...]

I have been reading the Carpathian Saga since 2000 when I encountered "Dark Prince" in a drug store bookshelf.

Personally I think the saga ended with Dark Blood and I moved on. Then I heard about Gary Jensen's book and I thought ok, I love Gary. Fell for him in Dark Magic, so I can't wait. A friend of mine through the book at me. You give it a try I could not get pass page 50. So I graved the book and began to read. Ouch! Damn, what happened. Is she truly that busy? Why doesn't she just end the series? Is the money that important? The book has none of Feehan old soul and spirit. The old books, you can actually feel she cared. In this one I felt she just threw words together, finished it and shouted, "NEXT" and moved on to her next project.

The thing that saved this book for me was Trixie. I skipped all the Gaby and went to trixie. She was worth my time.
I cringed at the Gaby part. OMG what a dislikeable character. I thought I dislike Raven but I finally found one character at the bottom of the heap to truly dislike! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One thing I have to say I'm happy I didn't pay for the book and that my friend discarded her book to me. If I would have payed for it I would probably would be pissed.

I going back to my other favorite writers that I love. S.E. Smith which makes me think with her Scifi stories and Alien hunks which give me tons of action and to Eve Langlais that makes me laugh until my belly aches.

I did buy the Edge of Darkness just for the Blaze and Maksim story. That is when I got sick. I thought she crossed the line from paranormal to Horror. I don't do Horror. I can't travel her Carpathian series any longer. Is going into the Horror, twisted way.

Well, it was good till Dark Blood. To me that was when the series ended, but I did try with Edge of Darkness. I'm stubborn that way. But my loyalty can take me so far and I just walk away.

Thanks for the Memories, Feehan. It was good while it lasted. : )

As the series has progressed more sex has crept in and less story. My favorite all time series has diminished into repetitive sex scenes and shrinking storyline. Trixie's story saved the whole book and kept it from being a waste of time. Even though Aleksei needed a submissive mate, I did not find Gabrielle appealing, she was too much of a wuss. It makes me sad that such a great series has disintegrated and become such a disappointment. I will give it a 3 for Trixie's sake but for heaven's sake Christine, you can write, quit sexing and get back to story.

If readers are looking for a sexy paranormal romance story with lots of adventures in passion then Dark Promises delivers.

Aleksei is an ancient Carpathian and Ms. Feehan created her hero to be as deadly, dark and commanding as any she’s introduced readers to yet. The one element that is insidiously sensual is his dominance. All Carpathian men are control freaks due to their living in the time when men were warriors, but the author takes the hero to a new level. At first it is an extremely uncomfortable level especially when Gabrielle and Aleksei first meet. He’s wild, untamed, violent and uncontrollable. Fans of the series will understand what drives him and will more than probably accept his behavior with the understanding that he’s overwhelmed emotionally by all the feelings that bombard him all at once. Much of it comes from his misinterpretation of the situation. New readers might be turned off because his initial brutality is shocking; it was even for me, a longtime fan. Once the hero calms down and is able to listen, he slowly starts to figure out he was partly wrong. Never totally wrong, mind you, but certainly some.

Gabrielle is a hard heroine to completely like. She has her moments and I believe and agree with Aleksei’s understanding of her; she’s a submissive. How that revelation comes about needs to be read to understand why I agree. Submissive doesn’t mean ‘doormat’, it means she needs someone to lean on when she needs it and needs–here’s the big thing–to trust that the person will deliver, will be there for her and will understand her needs. When the heroine’s strength has to be counted upon, she comes through. Her character flowers under Aleksei’s care because he truly does ‘get’ her. One scene even dabbles with a little bit of light BDSM hence the mention of Gabrielle’s being submissive. I just didn’t like all the crying she did.

The flowering, so-to-speak comes from sex; lots of sex. I think Ms. Feehan basically shows how Gabrielle and Aleksei fall in love, come to terms with and learn about each other, through all the sex scenes that populate the book. In fact there is so much of it, page after page, that I was hard pressed to find an external conflict. There are a few token suspenseful moments but it goes right back to sex. Dark Promise is basically a hot, sexy romance with light paranormal drama to enhance the love story.

For me, what stole the limelight and the show away from the emotional drama that is the Gabrielle and Aleksei show was Trixie. When Trixie meets Fane, it was pure magic. I’m not sure how to describe their meeting but it was more romantic, fun and enjoyable than the main hero and heroine. I adored Trixie. I liked her sass, her moral compass and her dedication to family. I was thrilled with how Fane treated her, thought of her and talked with her. I felt happy, completely happy when they were on stage. As secondary characters finding their HEA, Ms. Feehan presented a winning combo. Fane and Trixie rock!

The book winds down with hooks for new books, new characters and Carpathian men to save. Certainly I want to read them because I never know just how the author is going to save the hero and what kind of woman is up to the job of taming her caveman Carpathian. That’s half the fun of this series – old fashioned warrior men versus strong-willed modern women.

Dark Promises does have a satisfying happy ever after and tells a good romance story. Many fans will enjoy it and for those that just love the sexy side of a Carpathian romance, those readers are probably going to be extremely happy.

originally posted at long and short reviews

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story overall. It's unusual in that it's actually based around two couples instead of one, Gabrielle & Alexsei and Trixie & Fane.

Trixie is the grandmother of Teagan (from [book:Dark Ghost|22152434]) and she's come to the Carpathian mountains looking for Teagan. Trixie got involved with a human vampire hunting group that she soon realizes us full of evil people. Trixie is worried about her safety (and Teagan's) so she separates herself from the group and goes off in hunt of Teagan on her own.

Alexsei and Fane are both ancients in the race of Carpathians. Carpathians are born vampires with other abilities like shape shifting (to any form, even mist), magic spells and psychic powers. The males of the Carpathians have a darkness in them and if they don't find their lifemates, they can lose their souls and become evil. Both Alexsei and Fane are residents of a hidden monastery that's filled with ancient Carpathians that are too far gone to hunt the vampires any more but don't wish to meet the dawn.

Gabrielle is a former human turned Carpathian. She's been in love with Gary (another human turned Carpathian) for quite a while and never wanted to turn Carpathian. Now that she is Carpathian, she shuns any connection to the race and doesn't even learn how to hunt or sleep under the ground. No one seems to remember to teach her all the skills she needs but she also never asks.

In Gary, Gabrielle sees her last connection to her lost humanity. Gabrielle clings to Gary as her last tie to humanity, completely ignoring the fact that he's no longer human either. Gabrielle hates the Carpathians and herself and seems to have the idea that if she can marry Gary and they go far away from the rest of the Carpathians, they can happily live human lives... Things go to crap on their wedding night when Gary says the binding words and they don't work. Gary had gained knowledge from the Carpathian ancestors but it had unforeseen consequences...it caused Gary to loose him emotions and colors much earlier than expected. Gary needs to be able to bind with his lifemate (which Gabrielle obviously wasn't) so when the binding words didn't work, he couldn't be with Gabrielle (no matter how much she cried about it).

When Gabrielle runs after Gary to the monastery, she encounters Alexsei who recognizes her as his lifemate. She doesn't care though and just wants Gary, causing Alexsei to go a bit nuts and carry her off over his shoulder. Based on what he heard and saw, Alexsei is convinced that Gabrielle and Gary were lovers and she betrayed him. Alexsei isn't kind to Gabrielle at first and she's not thrilled to be there but when he seeks to face the dawn because she wont accept him, Gabrielle finally faces facts and agrees to be with Alexsei. Gabrielle wants Alexsei sexually but is convinced she's "in love" with Gary so she's messed up and there's some drama and angst to be dealt with before things work out for Gabrielle and Alexsei.

Fane is the ancient that's "in charge" of the monastery...mostly because he's the calmest of the ancients there. While Trixie is looking for Teagan she finds the monastery and wonders in...right into Fane's room. When Fane wakes up and rises (out of the ground), Trixie is freaked and convinced that he's a vampire and that she has to kill him. Their meeting is actually rather humorous and I really liked Trixe and Fane. Trixie is extremely attracted to Fane but her age and lack of experience (she hasn't dated since she had her daughter as a teen) has her pushing Fane away at first. Not that it does much good and after some time and convincing (as well as a talk with Teagan and Gabrielle) Trixie is more accepting of the possibilities with Fane.

TBH, most of the story vacillated between the 2 couples...there was a bit of story outside of the 2 romances but it's brief. By the end of the story, I liked Gabrielle & Alexsei and thought they would end up being good together. I actually liked Fane & Trixie together from the start...I almost wish they had their own book (or maybe just more of this book dedicated to their story). My main complaint about this book is Gabrielle...I just didn't like her that much. Overall, this was an enjoyable story and I think it's a good addition for those that follow the series.

About Gary **spoiler** Gary is in bad shape and needs to find his lifemate. They were able to find a way to pin-point the areas where lifemates for the ancients might be located and it looks like Gary has one and she's somewhere in France. So Gary does have a lifemate and will have a book some time soon.

* note - I listened to the audio version of this book and the narrator did a very good job.

At the age of 61, I would have liked this book much better during my "bodice ripping" days 30 years ago! I like a good romance and I love the paranormal world. Though I realize this book was #29 in the series, I decided to read it anyway (actually I didn't have any other books in the room to read, having read all the others, so I didn't really have a choice). This book could have been so good if the plot was focused on more than the sex. As it was, it read more like a Laurel K. Hamilton (Anita Blake Series) book: l.o.n.g on sex, short on a plot which is why I stopped reading that series! I am not against sex in a book but when the book is page after page after page of sex and little or no character development or plot, it becomes a chore to read. I liked the PROMISE of the plot but the sex got in the way. IF the author would have focused more on the characters and the plot and a lot less on the sex descriptions, I would be happy to continue to read the series. At this point in time, however, I cannot see myself reading 28 books written like that. I'm not saying I will never read another Carpathian Novel again but I can say it will definitely have to be the ONLY book in the room. At this point, I would rather reread a book a read and enjoyed before reading another Carpathian Novel. This is sad because the book had such promise, both plotwise and character wise, before it became all sex, all the time.

I was glad that Trixie was introduced as a character and that she was a human woman my age! Once she was involved, even with the sex, the book became more readable. The writing of the book wasn't bad and the descriptions and words flowed smoothly but there was just TOO MUCH SEX for me! Wish I could have liked it better so I will keep searching for a series that has a blend of good characters, plot, and some sex. Note to other authors: horny teenagers and young adult are NOT you only reading audience! Non-stop sex does not continue into your golden years. A good book with well-written characters, a good plot, and ROMANCE will interest a larger audience than those who are just interested in full out porn.

Well, it seems that Christine has followed thru with the pseudo 50 shades of gray scenarios in this series too. Im sorry to say, another once great series, is down the drain.

Absolutely NO story, just sex sex and more sex. Abusive and domineering/submissive trash. Have all the publishers told their writers to write this junk because it seems that every year they pick another politically correct theme and all the books out that year have the same general outline. Alot of my old time favorite series have devolved into pornographic garbage. What a waste of talent.

Like I said in the past, thank God for libraries.

Every now and then in this series we get a Carpathian who really does not deserve the gift of a lifemate due to his treatment of her (Rafael in Dark Secret and Zacharias in Dark Predator). In this book we get a Carpathian male who deserves more in a lifemate.
I had not rushed to buy this book as I begrudge the high prices and was getting weary at the lack of exciting story in the last few books. I borrowed this from the library and am pleased I have done it that way.
I, like others, thought this was finally going to be about Gary and Gabrielle. Unlike others I loved the twist in the story as I never believed they belonged together.
Gabrielle has a been a feature in this series for long time now but there was always something weak about her to me. She used Gary as a crutch, even when human and even more so after they were converted. She CHOSE to be converted Carpathian to live but then turned her back on all those who had helped her, living in denial of all the changes in her life, clinging to being HUMAN. For goodness sake, she was still ALIVE and it was her choice.
In the beginning of this book she came across as weak and cowardly, an ostrich about her life. I really disliked her and felt sorry for her lifemate. Half way through the book when she is talking to Trixie I wanted to slap her silly. Sorry but I have lost any respect for her she had garnered in earlier books and basically skimmed the rest of the book with her in it. At the end of the book I still couldn’t care less about her.
Yes, she has done a lot to help the Carpathians and been instrumental in the safety of the babies and the fertility problems.
Aleksei deserved so much more than what he received in Gabrielle. Yes, he was an overbearing, extremely old fashioned Neanderthal in his outlook but what do you expect when he doesn’t even know what a cell phone is let alone anything about modern women. He was very dark, close to turning vampire and dangerous but his lifemate was supposed to be his and his alone, not in love with another man. How that must have hurt him and his relationship with Gabrielle was just one huge struggle for him.
I have read a lot of the reviews for this book and all the comments about Gabrielle being abused by Aleksei are rubbish. Aleksei was wrong in dragging her by the hair but I also understood that he had kept his honour for more lifetimes than we can comprehend and to find his own lifemate attacking him to protect another man, when he thought that he was PROTECTING her, as well as at the same time dealing with all his emotions coming back must have been the most heartbreaking and disturbing thing to deal with for him. He only acted badly for a very short time and even went to greet the dawn rather than force himself on his unwilling lifemate. And he apologised later on in the book.
Their relationship, if you want to call it that, was more D/s, and I am loath to say it, basically just sex. So much less relationship than in the earlier books of this series that I kept putting the book down which I never did with the earlier books. They were a read in one sitting job.
I found the actual lack of story in regards to any vampires unfulfilling to the reader. Two very short battles supposedly with master vampires which were basically over with in three pages. Where is the tension, the build-up that we used to have?
The other shorter story threading through was about Trixie (Teagan’s apparently dementia riddled grandmother) and Fane. Fane was as old as Aleksei but a totally different character. More laid back and easier going with a calm disposition. I just couldn’t see why his lifemate was a 60-year-old. I know Fane said once converted to Carpathian having children would not be a problem for them but Trixie just went okay, no thinking about it. I could not even get my mind around the fact of having children at that age. And before anyone says anything I am nearly that old so I can put myself in that position.
My heart was heavy for Gary in the end.
All in all, a poor book in this series and now we really do need Gary’s story and I hope his lifemate is someone so awesome that all the others will look inferior to her.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro

I’ve been waiting for Gary and Gabrielle’s story for so long!… Yet, I’ll have to wait for Gary’s a little bit more. Dark Promises has two main characters that have been there, throughout the Carpathian books, to which author Christine Feehan has been building up their back stories all this time. Gary has been helping the Carpathians ever since he met Gregori and has become like another member of the family. Gabrielle, not only lost her human life by trying to help a Carpathian, she has also been a great asset to finding a solution to the microorganisms destroying their race.

Both characters have become favorites within the fans. So much that we’ve been waiting years to finally find out if they are truly destined to be together… unfortunately it was not the case in this book.

The story starts off with Joie helping Gabrielle get ready for her wedding night. Gary arrives on a horse to take her away to this beautiful place he has prepared. But once he starts reciting the binding words, he loses all emotion and color, realizing that they are not meant to be. They are both devastated and Gabrielle blames the Carpathians for taking away her humanity and the love of her life, Gary.

Gary is sent to the monastery, followed by Gabrielle. There an ancient is woken up revealing himself to be Gabrielle’s lifemate. This is where Gabrielle’s pain towards her shattered dreams with Gary start a conflict on finding herself, what love is, and her new relationship with her lifemate. She was torn apart that everything she knew and had was taken from her, and felt that no one understood her. She felt as if she didn’t have a proper guide that could help her grow as a Carpathian.

On the other hand, Gary’s pain for losing his emotions and colors so fast, and Gabrielle not being his lifemate, is taken very calm and mature from his part. That is something I really liked because he didn’t go all maniac, like some of the turned vampires, and understood what was happening. Handled it like a true Daratrazanoff. There is still hope for Gary, and hopefully fans will get to read his story soon. There are still many mysteries regarding Gary’s past that need to be told.

This book catches the attention of readers instantly. It’s like a mystery to be solved, “who is whose lifemate?” and specially the other couple that we get to know about, which is found in a special situation. This is another aspect of the book that I liked, how Feehan can write about true love no matter the age!

All in all, an amazing book to the series to start off the year: old and new characters, hot scenes, fight scenes, and more mysteries. I can’t wait for Gary’s story and we have more coming this year with Dark Carousel.

I enjoy Ms. Feehan's earlier Dark books. I am not a prude but with her newer books it seems the sex (rather than making love) is far more graphic and really is not necessary. I believe she wrote this with the strong theme of BDSM because of the popularity of the Fifty Shades Trilogy, which IMO are horrible. Also I was so disappointed that Gabrielle and Gary did not become lifemates. Another issue with me is that the characters in her books are pretty much one-dimensional. All the men look alike and most of the woman are petite and curvy with most having a thick braid long enough to reach their tiny waists. The only thing the author does change is the hair and eye color. After reading a couple of her books, I actually burst out laughing at the same *descriptions* during the sex scenes...going up in flames, falling over the edge into the abyss, etc. Another thing I don't like is the noun she now uses for the male anatomy. Erection and shaft are fine..for some reason I wince at the male c-word. Another sexual element she has added is oral sex. This really blew (pardon the pun.) my mind as the *petite* women seem to have throats like pythons. If the men are so well endowed, as the author describes, believe me there would have been some serious gagging and choking going on. The basics of the story are great; the Carpathians and their way of life, lifemates and turning vampiric. I liked the story of the Sange Rau but the story of the wicked mage Xavier was a bit hokey although I loved the story of Ivory and Razvan. I love the use of the Carpathian language and the binding ritual. But the author needs to shake the ongoing story up a bit and perhaps throw in a tragedy once in a while. And she needs to address her descriptions; the words like glob and goo are horrible. I do have my favorites but that list is getting smaller and this book is definitely in the dislike category. I did not finish it. Ms. Feehan please go back to romance, intimacy and leave out the too graphic (and violent) sex.

>Book Review – Dark Promises
>I am an independent reviewer. This book is the 26th in the Carpathian series and ends in an HEA. Gabrielle and Gary were in love as humans, but once they were Carpathians, they were both heartbroken to realize that they were not each other’s lifemates. Aleksei, an ancient, is the lifemate of Gabby and feels betrayed that she is still having feelings of human love for Gary. Gary, however, has lost all feeling and color. All through the story, Gabby feels guilt for her feeling for Gary. The romance is very dark when Aleksei first claims Gabby.
>There is another couple in this story, Trixie and Fane. This relationship is different in that Trixie is a grandma. I love that the story has an older woman falling in love and becoming the all-important lifemate. The plot is continuing with the women coming together to try and find the lifemates of the ancients before they turn. This book is appropriate for an adult audience. I am giving this book 5 stars. This series is still so fun to read.

I checked out the Kindle version of this book from my local library.

Unlike some of the one star reviewers I didn't have a problem with the extremely ancient and very near the turn/walking into the sun point finding a lifemate. Was he scary and near violent? Yes! Did he rape his lifemate...not so I noticed. Was he insistent on having his way and the last word? Yes, but that is not unusual for Carpathian heroes.
There was a high concentration of sex in this book instead of the high concentration of vampire fights. It is a bit out of the ordinary and the story line was not up to Feehan's usual.
I did have one gripe with the writing or editing. Maybe I've just missed it before, maybe it was for more emphasis for the extremely ancient Aleksie, but it became annoying. That is the use of one word sentences. Here are some examples that probably would appear on one page of print:
"And. I. Am. Not. There." "Fury. Hot. Wild. Intense." "Get. Rid. Of. Her." This sort of style was throughout the book.

As a result of how irritating this was to read, I gave four stars in stead of the five I would have.

This was painful to read. I started this series in 2005 when Dark Secrets caught my eye and then I immediately had to go read every thing else to catch up. There were some bad stories (Dark Melody, Dark Symphony) but overall, it had flow and continuity. This plain sucked. It wasn't romantic, the characters weren't likable. This was a mess and should have never made it past the editor. No more Carpathians for me.

The series went from somewhat predictable love scenes to way too much sci fi and battle drama to now just bdsm and stale characters. I should have quit after Skyler's dismal story but I kept hoping she would turn it around; time to accept the inevitable--the carpathians we love are gone.

Let's just start by saying that I'm a HUGE Feehan fan! But, I can say with 100% certainty that I disliked this book. I felt like I was reading a Fanfiction not a real Dark book. If her name wasn't on the cover I would never have thought this was hers. Bare with me here while I explain why....

First off let's talk about our main 'Carpathian' male here..Lex. WTF? I get the fact he's an ancient and has probably not been around others, other than his 'brothers' in many many many years....But Holy Crow! His behavior screamed more along the lines of VAMPIRE than Carpathian. His treatment of Gabby at first? He was the complete opposite of how 'lifemates' are supposed to be with one another. He was nasty, cruel, aggressive, and down right horrid. And at what point did he get his hands on Fifty Shades of Grey?! He had extremely modern 'bedroom' talk for someone who's been hidden away for so long. Compared to this male, Zacarias is a damn saint. A Male Carpathian would never hurt his lifemate, right? Maybe his grabbing her throat and throwing her on the ground was just for fun......He did get more 'Carpathian' like towards the end, but for me the damage was done. He is one character I can say I have a HUGE dislike for.

And Gabby? Can we say Whiney??? Holy jeeeezzzzz. You would think she was 3 years old. Total brat at the beginning. She got a little better towards the end, but most of the book was filled with her crying...usually over that jacka** of a 'lifemate' she has.

Trixie was nuts. She was funny as hell, but she was all over the map with her attitude.

And Mikhail and Gregori?? I wanted to smack them in the beginning. They always preach about how females are safe with their lifemates. But they stood there and watched as Lex threatened to kill Gabby and all but ruffed her up before he took off with her...and they still stood there! Makes total sense......

And the book bounced between from Andre and Teagan, to Lex and Gabby, to Trixie and Fane, and back again it was hard to keep track.

Did it get better as it got towards the end...sure. Were the other ancients cool...yes. Was it amazing to see Gary again? Absolutely.

But overall I just feel like this story didn't fit in. I literally had to force myself to finish it and usually I read them straight through. Just felt like she was trying to fire up the series....but she completely ignored what made this series so unique.

Spoiler Alert. This is not a book about Gabrielle and Gary! Misleading. It is a story about Gabrielle and Alexie, because believe it of not. Gabrielle and Gary love each other but are not "in love". What a crock. I started this book last year in 2016 and first read 4 pages and put it down because I could stand the main character. I wanted to punch her whinny face. Picked the book up again 4 months later and got to page 12 and couldn't get in to the book. uh! I wanted to read the Dark Carousel book and I tried again 2 weeks ago to get this book done and was so disappointed. You don't meet the main male character until chapter 3. (page 39) I didn't like him either. I finished it and I really only like the ending, sad I know. She figures out a way to help the older hunters. That's all I came away with. I will not read this book again, considering it took me more than a year to get myself to finish it. Normal a book this long takes in a day!

Spoilers: I liked the fact that the women in these books are becoming more diverse in every way. The storyline w/ Trixie and Fane was great, and I say kudos to Fane for finding an older woman beautiful. My mother is about to be 71 and looks like she is in her fifties. Not everyone woman who is beautiful is skinny and in her 20s - athletic w/ curves and some wisdom from life is sexy. However, I do agree with some of the other reviews that the book had way too much sex, skirted the edges of rape, and seemed to be exploiting the "50 shades" angle. When I read Christine Feehan I don't want Christian. I was also very disappointed w/ the story line b/t Gabrielle and Gary, and the Alekski substitute was not rewarding - again I don't get the submissive sexual thing b/c it doesn't fit here. Yes the Carpathian men are dominant, but they are also very caring and romantic and don't subjugate their lifemates as rule, which seemed to occur here with Gabrielle. Hopefully, Gary's lifemate will be worth the drama because my heart broke for him.
On an up note, the set up for things to come seems interesting - the potential for Gary, the monastery Carpathians, and possible location change back to the states is promising.

*Warning: This review will contain major spoilers*

This book had me on an emotional rollercoaster from the first page. I have been a fan of Gary and Gabrielle’s since they met in Dark Descent and I’m so mad that I wasn’t more careful on Goodreads because I’m sure that I would have been freaking out so much more when the ritual words didn’t work. I had always wondered what would happen if a male said the ritual words to a female who isn’t his lifemate. Is that something that would happen with all of them or is it just Gary because of how he accepted being Gregori’s brother?

Even though Aleksei was an abusive ass at first, I don’t support it, I don’t love it don’t like it, but I do see where he’s coming from. Could he have handled it better? I actually don’t know if he could have, he was that far gone, that’s why he stopped killing vampires. Although, if he had actually gone through with forcing her I either would have skipped their parts and only read about Trixie and Fane or just closed the book.

That didn’t happen though, I am happy to say that he learned, he listened to her and found out what actually happened and worked at making sure she felt like she could talk to him and that she felt safe with him.

I loved that Fane was so ready to laugh but taking two blood exchanges from her while not really explaining anything too her was a little fast and overwhelming but again, I understand it, it’s two couples this book is about.

The writing and the pace were amazing and so emotional but I don’t think this furthered the major plot all that much. There’s still two Malinov brothers out there but I am very excited about Dragomir, he’s my favorite of the ancients. Him and Gary, I’m very excited but very nervous about their books. Oh! Since Gary’s lifemate is in France, does that mean he’ll spend time with Francesca and Gabriel?

Knowing this book was coming out, I re-read the entire series, bought the book in March but just read it in May and I have to say, it was worth the wait.

Dark Promise is the next instalment from Christine Feehan's Carpathian Series. This series has been continuing for so long that I think it deserves to be recognised as its own world. Could you imagine having a real Carpathian living amongst our world, it would be amazing, just like this instalment, absolutely amazing! Miss Feehan is a master storyteller and never disappoint her fans!

Dark Promise is the evidence that Christine Feehan can not only hold together a series together for 29 books, but she can keep the storyline unique and creative. This book is an amazing piece of work. It touches on subjects that are sensitive but done in such a way that it is realistic enough to believe the scenes but still fit the storyline perfectly.

The storyline originally sets the scene between our beloved characters Gabrielle Sanders and Gary Jensen. We know a lot about these two characters through many of the books before this one. We have always known they were destined to be together and it was only a matter of time before something great happens for them. A wedding night anyone would assume to be the night for great things, and in this book that is no exception except for the huge twist that comes with the wedding night.

Aleksei is an ancient and although we have all grown to love the ancients from previous books I have to admit that Aleksei isn’t my favourite. He has all the qualities that I usually love. He is a protector and alpha, and I do believe him to be a fine warrior. The chemistry between himself and Gabrielle is intense and the dominant BDSM ways are expertly told through a brilliant storyline.

Trixie Joanes and Fane were my favourite couple of this book. Trixie is the grandmother to Teagan who is lifemate to Andre from a previous book. Trixie has come to the Carpathian Mountains in search of Teagan who she is sure is in a great deal of trouble. What she learns to late is the people she has come with are there to kill Teagan and her friends. Trixie manages to lose them within the dense forest and finds herself high up in the mountains. She follows a song (which is her gift) and finds herself inside the monastery that several ancients have claimed as their own so they don't interact with anyone else and can stand off meeting the dawn or turning vampire.

Fane is one of these ancients and when he sees Trixie for the first time he is so happy and intrigued by her that he doesn’t know what he should do with her. After all, it’s not every day your lifemate tries to greet you with a stake to the heart. Thankfully Fane is such an easy going and lovable personality that he has the charisma to guide Trixie into realising just what sort of treasure she is. I loved Fane's personality. He was such a strong and dominant male, but at the same time knew how to let go enough to have Trixie's dominant personality reach out. Loved the chemistry between these two. Loved everything about them.

And what would a Carpathian book be without the vampires? We had several nasties in this one and they were all dealt with exactly how they should be dealt with. Deadly and Mercilessly! There was also the sensual sex scenes that we expect no less of from Christine Feehan books, and as usual they were as hot as you would have come to know.

My heart breaks for Gary and the only thing that keeps me going is the fact I believe Christine Feehan would never leave him in such a state and he will have his happy ending too. I’m hoping this will be in the next book or two, but after reading this book, I’m not sure if I could see a book before Gary's or not. I guess that’s something we will have to wait and find out.

Dark Promise is part of Christine Feehan dark series. This tells the story of Gabrielle who is about to be married but learns that the man she is about marry is not her life mate. She finds her life mate, and has hard time getting over the man she thought she loved and demons from her past. This story also has a duel story of a woman named Trixie who is grandmother to one of the characters in the previous book Teagan. Trixie despite her age also finds her mate and has to overcome some demons that she is dealing with. I like the story, I thought where she was going with the plot was good, but I don't think it was executed well. I think she could have done more with this plot, drawn it out more, had a few less sex scenes. I don't mind spicy novels, but the non-stop sex scenes in this story was annoying. I really liked the relationship between Fane and Trixie, I probably would have been happy if the book centered on them. The main couple Aleksei and Gabrielle was getting on my nerves. I like the balance between Trixie and fane. though he was protective of her, he also respected her. I felt that Aleksei was domineering to the point where he was an ass. The thing I found unforgivable in this character is that despite knowing what trouble childhood Gabrielle he still acted the same way. The things I liked about this book is that I thought it was written very well, and I got through it very fast. this is the first book I have read from the series, so I want to continue on with this seri

I wavered between 2 and 3 stars. First, the cover blurb is misleading. I also got tired of sex being the guys' answer to dealing with their women. Yes, I understand they are ancients and barely holding on, but really, communication is key. They need to understand that women need the support of other women, among other things. Each couple is not an island. They must interact with the others without freaking out.
I was really disappointed in Gabby. She is a genius, knows the power of knowledge, yet she rejected the support of her family and friends to help her transition properly into the Carpathian way. Also really disappointed in the prince, etc, on not making sure she was educated properly. She was really whiny.
I was also happy that Trixie first figured out that she had been led astray by the hunters and then found her man. I feel there is something missing in there, in that Teagan was looking for her, and then it seems part of the story is missing.
The vampire hunting seemed to be an afterthought in this story.
I got this book from my local library.

****** This review does have some SLIGHT SPOILERS but if you read the book blurb,you can read between the lines of what is going on in the book. It is just elaborating on that. ******

Wow! That is the best word to describe Dark Promises! This is truly Christine Feehan at her finest! I was an emotional wreck while reading this one! I'm not kidding! Big wet tears! I never seen it coming! My mind was screaming and crying, "Why!! How can this be"!! 
It's completely not where I thought their journey was headed but I grew to love the new spin, and I can see why things developed as they did. My heart hurts for all the Carpathians that have yet to find their lifemate, but Gary is just tearing me up inside!

Gabrielle has loved Gary Jansen for a long time. He made her feel safe when her world was falling apart. When she was turned Carpathian to save her life years ago, she put her human dreams to the side to help research solutions to their problems. She has held on to her humanity and hasn't accepted her new life. She doesn't like change and nothing will ever be the same again. 
Now that Gary is fully Carpathian, their should be nothing to stand in their way of finally being together. Except, something neither of them can control ... fate.

Even though your heart will be breaking at one point, keep reading. I can understand why it all changed. Gabrielle and Gary may end up leading separate paths but he will always be in her heart.

Aleksei is one of my favorite Carpathian males yet! 
He is ancient, dominate, deadly and on the very edge of darkness but has chosen the honorable path. When he hears his lifemate cry for another male, all bets are off and he succumbs to his dark side. He has endured for so long just to find she loves another. He has no intention of sharing any part of her, and he goes extreme alpha male on her! He is exactly the kind of man Gabrielle needs and he is determined to show her all the ways they can be great together.
 Aleksei ignites a hunger in Gabrielle that she never dreamed was possible. 
She is feeling so many different emotions so fast, but she knows Aleksei is what she needs. He is who, she wants to spend her life with. She is tormented over how things ended up with Gary and she wants to make it right with him but also not hurt Aleksei in the process.
 Together they have a lot to over come and there are enemies seeking to destroy their newfound hope.
 We also have Trixie to brighten things up! 
She was awesome! Hilarious! I loved her! Vampire hunting kit and all! I liked seeing her over come her insecurities about her age and her lifemate was perfect for her. I really loved seeing their relationship grow! If anyone deserved happiness it was her!
Teagan, Trixie and Gabrielle are fast friends and together they will give hope to all the Carpathians!
I loved every minute of this book and hated to see it end! The thrilling blend of dark passion and all consuming love will leave you breathless! Again I will say this is Christine Feehan at her finest!

Dark Promises starts off on such a happy note, with the wedding of 2 of the sweetest (and most essential to the Carpathian community as a whole) Human turned Carpathians Gary and Gabrielle who have been in multiple books in this series. That is until a huge monkey wrench is thrown in and they find they are not lifemates no matter how much they love each other. Thing get even bleaker for Gary because Gabrielle is soon claimed by an ancient Aleksei and Gary finds himself without color or emotions. It turns out of us out there who had though Garry and Gabrielle perfect, we were wrong. Aleksei was what she needed to blossom. Meanwhile another love story is going on, that of Trixie who had come to save her granddaughter Teagan and Fane the Guardian of the Monastery. I loved Trixie and her quirky attitude and her defective vampire-hunting kit. In the last chapters in the book Gabrielle, Trixie. and Teagan help the remaining ancients of the monastery, and Gary with time and a path to their lifemates. I hope they all find that special women that will complete them.

Welll -- what to say? I've read a number of Ms. Feehan's Dark series and they're all pretty much the same - but some are better than others with more character development -- Dark Slayer being the best in my humble opinion. Then we have the other end of the spectrum -- into which falls Dark Promises. Now if you are a person who truly enjoys soft porn and are not so much interested in plot or character development - then you will truly love this book. We have not only one dim witted human woman who is trying to grasp what it means to be a life mate -- but two -- bonus! So every other chapter is one long, long description of Carpathian sex -- the entire chapter of panting, groaning -- longer/deeper/harder, etc etc. There's very little else to this book. Ms. Feehan must have needed to churn this one out fairly quickly. The repetition of her phrases -- which is noteworthy in all her books, was truly over the top in this book. Two interesting developments -- one is that a 60 year old woman is discovered to be a life mate -- a serious departure! The other is, well -- a Carpathian male who yells at and hits his life mate -- seriously? Now this is done in the guise of sex spanking -- but hitting is hitting in my book. I guess Ms. Feehan had to throw in a couple of interesting developments otherwise -- well, soft porn is what it is. Even if you are a serious devotee of Ms. Feehan's books, I think you can skip this one.

Ha......That's ALL I can say about this book. I think that it was a waste of a Full book that one of her more interesting characters could've had. This could have just been an anthology or something. For me, who fell DEEPLY in love with her series from the very 1st book, I was very disappointed. It was a very hard read for me and I'll admit that after just a few chapters, I could tell that the plot was forced and SO predictable. I mean no disrespect to Ms. Feehan, but I have NEVER found Gabrielle interesting or wanting to know who she ends up with or how her life turns out. I THOUGHT I was gonna get to read about Gary's Upgraded badassness but I got this instead. I'm not sure it would sit as bad with me if in previous books there had been some character growth for Gabrielle or she was shown interacting more often with people. Instead, we got a WHINY Brat that blamed everyone else for her problems or how she ended up as a Carpathian or how THEY, the Carpathian people stole so much from her and Gary or how no one but Gary understands her a but he's ABANDONING her for the Carpathian Race. Hey, you were given a choice between Life or Death and YOU chose LIFE! No one forced that choice on you. I understand you were Human before the change and that afterwards would take some adjustment and relying on others who were just like you, once Human but now Carpathian would help with that adjustment. Instead of that, she avoids the issues or outright runs from them or places blame where none is due.

As for Grandma Trixie....look, I think Love at ANY age is wonderful. However, I am not the type that I want to read about them making out or having hot sex. I'm 32 and that's like asking me to read about my older Aunts or Grandmother having sex. Not a picture I want in my imagination, for once its seen or imagined it can't be undone. I don't want to carry that image in my mind for forever. That's NOT why I started reading Romance novels for in the first place, especially the Supernatural/Paranormal ones.

I'm sorry to the author but this book was a Serious disappointment to me. I've been in a rage about it since I read it. I can say that I have NEVER disliked reading one of her Dark Series books nor have I CRINGED through one or thought "I can't wait to be done with this" or thought about just chuking it out the window whether I finished it or not. Usually, i'm so engrossed in her Dark books that once I start reading it, I will not sleep until I complete it. I can read one of her books in 12-16 hours. I even go back and read the parts that I enjoyed. I read the books over and over so much that they should've turned to dust by now. I've even gotten my Mom hooked on them (FINALLY!). But both us VEHEMENTLY disliked this book. We both felt that she's written the Series for so long and things have become so convoluted that her confusion on where to take things next is showing through. I mean, after finishing Dark Blood I started to ask myself, "where is this was going?" In the beginning, the books radiated a sense of purpose, that she had a specific destination in mind. It came through in her characters and the settings and the way they could hook you and make you feel like YOU were the character and the emotions and things were what YOU were feeling. That's been lost over time. Dark Carousel saved me and drew me back. But after this, I don't know if I'll have the desire to want to read the next one. I probably will since I'm the type of person that if its in a series, I have to read, watch, or play all of the books, shows, or games it has. To come to this is truly sad.

Lots of opinions on this book but I'd like to start with the actual story.
A couple started out as human, helping a vampire-hunter race called Carpathians. This race has a troubled past, facing extinction, holding on to honor while hope slips away. If they don't find their lifemate, the other half of their soul, they lose the ability to see in color and face the potential of turning vampire or having to kill themselves to keep others safe. The race is not human. They have a different culture, different beliefs and finding love means something...more, to them. It means life or death. So much so that a lifemate who commits adultery, forsaking their mate, is condemning them to death, making adultery the equivalent to murder. It is important to understand that or you will not understand the hero, you will actually think he is violent, near-abusive and crazed. If someone tries to kill you, you lash out. And who does he think is trying to kill him? Gary and Gabrielle.

When Aleksei first sees his lifemate he sees her as a Carpathian who should know the rules. She is with another male who she clearly loves. The male is Carpathian as well. Aleksei has imprisoned himself in an ancient monastery to keep people safe from him. He is close to turning. He has been cut off from humanity for so long he is nearly savage. Then he sees his lifemate and another male doing what will surely end in his death, right there in front of him. After all of his sacrifice this is how he is repaid. He loses his mind and things go horribly wrong.

Yes, he is savage with her. She just tried to kill him, at least in his mind she did. But, before he actually does anything that can never be forgiven he stops himself. Even though it is his right to kill her, by rules established in Carpathian culture (these are NOT human rules), he spares her and accepts that his fate is to die.

Gary and Gabrielle fell in love as humans. But, when they converted, Gary most recently, they were brought into the Carpathian way of life and to the Carpathian rules of nature. Human love is different from Carpathian love. I said that already. But, it becomes heartbreakingly clear that those rules are imprinted in their genes. They cannot fight against it. It is sad. But, the trade off is that they are still alive and they are not immortal beings.

Is Aleksei violent? Yes. And so was Jacques in Dark Desire. He actually HATED his mate and wanted to punish her. But we forgave him because he'd been tortured and there were extenuating circumstances. That was the second book in this series. Akeksei's reaction is NOT out of the normal for the Carpathian mythology. If you are fully aware of the mythology this should not be a shock for you to read. There are unexpected events and some people were not happy with it, but the story holds true to the same mythology it started with.

Is there a lot of sex? Yes. And the sex reflects the circumstances of the story and its hero. But, by the end Feehan delivers a satisfying equality between the hero and heroine, just as she always has in her other books.

I'm not sure why people have gotten so sensitive about the sex and violence. If this was a thriller written by a man no one would question it at all. But this is a romance, written by a woman who has remained faithful to her own rules of mythology. You can't love every book, but I loved this one because I understand the history of the Carpathians and why it all happened the way it did. Not everyone is a die-hard fan like I am.

Okay so I have been mauling over the idea that someone else is now writing the Dark Series. I don't know if it's one of her children, relatives, friends, or publishers but the last two books do not sound like Christine Feehan. It's a completely different style of writing. Besides the strong sexual content, and weak story line; has anyone noticed how repetitious the last few books have been? I'm sorry but I prefer 100 pages or less of quality verses what's being published. Is Christine tired of writing the Dark Series? If so, please end the series. Nothing amazing lasts...sigh!!

Are all these books just about sex anymore? What happened to the storylines?

I really liked the parts with Fane and Trixie. They were great. Trixie's attitude and determination was fantastic. She was determined to find her granddaughter and "rescue" her if she needed it. Then she found out that she was in with a group of really bad people. I also liked that she saw each person as a song. And then she shot Fane with her vampire-hunting kit. I had to giggle through that. It was so funny. Fane was just totally amused by her. And, of course, thought she was the best thing ever. More time should have been devoted to them.

There wasn't really a lot to Aleksei and Gabrielle. Mostly she needed to feel safe. Aleksei gave her that. She had a hard time adjusting to being Carpathian.

The cool thing is that by working together Teagan, Trixie, and Gabrielle can help ancients find the lifemates - Teagan by using her crystals to resonate with their auras, Trixie to feed their song to Gabrielle so she can find a location on a map...

Need to get back stories and less about sex.

This is the first work of Christine Feehan's that I have read. So I'm approaching the book from a viewpoint different from most of the reviewers here. That's not to say I disagree with them--in fact most have hit upon the failings of the plot and character development quite well, in my opinion. But what makes Dark Promises stand out from other books I've read is that it has the longest, most detailed descriptions of physical sex that I've encountered, and plenty of them. All quite over-the-top, like nothing anyone can experience in real life. According to the author, only a psychic female and a near-vampire with a high sense of honor could possibly reach the orgasmic heights of passionate love her two main couples achieve. If the vicarious pleasures of reading these scenes appeals to you, then you'll probably forgive the weakness of the rest of the book. Even. The. Appearance. Of. One. Word. Sentences. Rather than a battle between good and evil, this is more like and gender-reversed telling of The Taming of the Shrew. But Ms Feehan is no Shakespeare.

This book is such a disappointment! I've read every book in the Dark series and have waited for years to read Gary and Gabrielle's story. I was thrilled to open the book and find it started with their wedding. Well, that didn't last long! It was disturbing to see them wrenched apart. Gabrielle ended up having a happy ending, but it didn't seem like the right ending because it wasn't with Gary. The story of Trixie was good. Interesting because she is so much older than the other lifemates. My biggest disappointment is when Gary's life is totally changed and bleak. His last memory is of Gabrielle and although there seems to be hope for his story, his life is totally changed in a dark, scary way. I'm not sure I'll be reading more books in this series. Shame on you, Christine Feehan for twisting this much awaited book!!

I read this series primarily for the relationship telepathy, the ability to share communication on common channels, and for the quest to destroy devastating evil. I do NOT like the descriptions of physical intimacy which rise to the level of gross soft porn. I skipped those pages and finished the book in a couple of hours. I love the idea of shared goals and community but don't appreciate the liquid descriptions of love making. Those descriptions make this fantasy more like inconceivable science fiction, and cause women to have a standard no mortal man could hope to attain. I have heard more than one friend wish her partner were more like Carpathian lovers. I reduced the stars from five to three because there were more relationships than in previous books, which caused three times the sexual activity and three times less the story. And I am appalled by how the Carpathian males are always in charge, always know better than their mates, and how submissive even the most strong willed woman becomes. A partnership is shared, not always reduced to me Tarzan You Jane stereotypes. I borrowed this book through the Sacramento Public Library via the Kindle the store program and I am so glad I didn't pay for it. From now on I will borrow Feehans books from the library prior to purchase.

Very very, very,..... disappointed. Most of the recent heroes of Ms. Feehan have been dark and abusive. The Carpathians are supposed to treasure their lifemates, not belittle, humiliate, and emotional (and sometimes physically) abuse them. The Dark series books will no longer be an automatic buy for me. I will have to check them out in B&N store before taking one home. I have been following Ms. Feehan's multiple series from the beginning. I protested Colby's story (way back) because it was very close to rape because the De La Cruz brother deemed it right even though she said NO. I am not a prude, I prefer a little sex with the story, not a lot of sex and little story. For shame if the author thinks that we all liked Fifty Shades and that ilk. Ms. Feehan, go back to the way it was before you lose your long time followers.

I am an avid fan of this series so was concerned when many of the reviews were less than stellar. First, I did believe Gary Janson was going to be the leading male character and was disappointed in his role in the book. I was NOT disappointed in the writing, or the storyline, just that I wanted Gary to be rewarded. Gabrielle was not as strong as other female characters in the series, yet she was the only one brought over to the Carpathian life without the true anchor of a lifemate. Her fears and reservations were understandable. I love Grandma Trixie's and Fane's romance and wanted more depth in their storyline. Their back story and that of Tegan in Dark Ghost left a lot to be desired. I give this book 4 stars because in no way did Gabrielle find a lifemate, stay up in the monastery and there be no appearance from her siblings, Jubal and Joie (and Joie's lifemate, Traian) However, I look forward to see how the ancients progress and if Dax of Dark Storm (my least favorite book) will ever have a role that connects him to the other characters I want to get to know and see grow.

While I wil be the first to say that I am sad Gary and Gabby dont become each other's lifemate I personally liked where the series storyline is heading. We have read about the monastery in other books in a vague reference kind of way but starting in dark ghost and continuing though dark promises we learn about these ancients, we also learn how the vamp hunting society lures women with psychic gifts in wihout setting off their alarm systems. We also learn the price a male pays to be converted into a Carpathian. The ending where the other seven ancients are introduced gives us a small glimpse of future book characters in a way that we will know where they are starting from. Also the outcry I saw about the bdsm and forced sex. That has been there in the background forever. Lara slit her wrists to escape and Natayla tried to break the spell cast by the lifemate vows. Also Alexsei did no worse with his initial reaction to Gabby's "betrayal" than Zacharias did overall when h converted his lifemate. Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to more .

Wow, I was really not prepared for this. I almost thought I was reading Fifty Shades of Grey. I didn't understand the storyline and didn't see how it fits together with previous books in the series. I found the characters to be offputting and really unromantic. I hoped I never would meet any guy like that who tries to manipulate, control, and overpower me...that's abuse, and yet he is her lifemate?? How can this stuff be in such a long running romance series? It flat out was not romantic. If I want bdsm I can go and read it elsewhere. I don't go to this author for that.

Christine Feehan been my favorite romance author since I first read Dark Prince when it came out, and I have purchased and read almost everything she has written since. I used to eagerly await her books, but lately, her books are disgusting and make me sick. She seems to have stopped writing romance novels with amazing storylines, and the perfect balance of intimacy and story is missing. Lately, it seems she has been moving instead toward sadistic porn with little to no story. SM is fine in appropriate cases, but that is not what she has been writing. Her main characters now rape and abuse their partners, and she acts as if this is love. There is no love, no storyline, and tons of rape and abuse. I am disappointed to say that I don't think I will buy another book from her, and I wish I could get my money back from the last ones in the Leopard, Game, and Dark Series.

Also, the description made it sound like this was Gary/Gabrielle's book, but that is a total lie.

I read the reviews when this book came out about how it was all about BDSM abuse and intimidation. Still I gave it a chance and the reviews are right this book is rife with that stuff. The male protagonist even says his mate would do well with rules and a Master. I stopped reading shortly afterwards because I don't go in for that kind of stuff. I also want to say that I own all the books previous to this one and I still plan to read Dark Carousel the book after this but I won't finish or read Dark Promises again.

I have been an Christine Feehan fan from the moment I picked up the first Carpathian Novel Dark Prince. However, this has to be the worst Carpathian story I have ever read so far. First, I'm glad this turned out to not to be Gary's story. He is a much beloved character and he deserves a much better story than the crap that in this book. Gabrielle is such a weak and whining and useless character, it would have been better if she had been turned into a deranged vampiress. It would have made for a more interesting twist. Instead we're left with a lead character that is so victimize that she thinks the relationship between her and Aleksei is love. And speaking of the main male main character in this book, because I can't call him a hero, Aleksei has turned out to be an unlikeable, abusive, bullying character as Trap Dawkins from Viper Game. Actually he's worse than Trap because Carpathian males always put the needs of their mates first and this character was so opposite of that. His first appearance in the story is with him terrorizing his lifemate. He's angry and abusive towards Gabrielle throughout the book, then he's suddenly loving and understanding? Where was the turning point for this behavior? What made him change his mind about her? He's a horribly written character for a horribly written book. Again I wonder if Ms. Feehan even wrote this story. She is a much better story teller than this. And I won't even go into the excess sex scenes. I think other reviews have pretty much summed that up.

The only redeeming quality in this book was Trixie and Fain's story which is why it got 2 stars instead of 1. And because of the excessive sex, we get cheated out of that. There was nothing about how she came through the conversion, and her new life as a Carpathian. There was very little interaction between her and her granddaughter Teagan. Truthfully, Trixie and Fain's story could have been a short novella separate from Gabrielle's story. They were definitely more interesting. I also I feel like the end with the other ancients was rushed. I know introducing them is a spin off to their own stories, but since it was a pivotal point in Teagan's story more attention should have been paid. I am still a Christine Feehan fan, but her writing style lately has made me leery about her future stories. I will proceed with caution....

Usually, I read Christine's books as soon as they release, but after seeing the numerous one stars and disappointing reviews, I was a bit afraid to read this book... *mild spoilers ahead*

Now that I've read this book, I was not disappointed. Yes, it definitely had a different flavor from the other books, but she was already heading in this direction with the introduction of the De La Cruz brothers and their stories (especially Zachariah).
Truthfully, I never did like Gary and Gabrielle together and I'm glad Christine went the direction she did. Gabrielle has always been portrayed as a scared, needy and clingy person that hid from the world and she needed someone that wouldn't pacify that, which Gary would have. I liked how Christine shaped their relationship...in my opinion, it was a perfect example of what the Carpathian men always told their lifemates in which the bond between life mates would overpower any human love. We've never seen that happen in any of the previous stories, so kudos to Christine.
I was a bit put off, at first, with how Aleksei and Gabrielle was first introduced, but then I remembered that these men in the monastery were different from the other Carpathians; they were the oldest of their species- colder, darker, as close to becoming vampire than any other. Christine had to show this relationship develop more different than all others and she did a great job.
Trixie's story was also unlike any other; this was no beautiful, young woman like all the others; this was a beautiful, mature older woman finding her life mate and still being able to hang, sexual wise, with the best of them. I absolutely loved this storyline.
In conclusion, an author has to keep their series popular and the best way to do that is to keep it from going stale. With this book and future books of the rest of the monastery Carpathians going out into the world to find their life mates, will prove very interesting..

A,s other reviewer’s have noted, there were essentially two stories in this book. I loved Trixie and Fane. Trixie was pretty spunky and funny. Gabrielle and Alexi were very disappointing. Sweet gentle Gabrielle was apparently a closet BDSM submissive who liked being Dominated. Alexi was just the abusive jerk to give her what she wanted. I was angry at her for (pardon the pun) being so whipped and feeling “safe” by his dominance. Last time I checked, you don’t have to be a real butt wipe to be a strong capable warrior. In fact I would say that just the opposite is true. Nor did I buy the explanation for her being always afraid because of her mother’s temper. There are some that make allowances for Alexi’s behavior because of his age. That doesn’t fly because Fane was also Ancient and treated Trixie With love and respect. Alexi is just a control freak. Normally I buy my books, however in this case I am very grateful to other reviews Giving me the heads up to get this one from the library!

Their is a couple of spoilers here.
Read my book in one sitting. Loved all the Characters. Must say I was upset with Gabrille at the beginning of the book but really understood her by the end of the it. Loved Alexsie and must say those two dominated the book for me but, enjoyed Fane and Trixie.

Teagan, Trixie and Gabreille have an excellent gift in that they can help give hope and a direction to a male Carpathian's LM

Lastly I felt so badly for Gary. Not so much that he lost Gabrille but the fact that he lost colors and emotions all at once. Hoping Luiz is OK and can be helped through it. Understand if Gary hadn't been taken to the warrior caves it probably wouldn't have happened but his life wouldn't have been whole either. Hoping we get a book with him finding his LM in the future.

The other reviews for this book are correct. If you're looking for a book with plot, or are hoping this moves the story along, keep looking. In fact, you can probably skip the first 3/4 of the book and just read the last thirty pages our so. Most of the story revolves around two different couples and the amazing sex they are having, which naturally solves all of their problems. In addition, Feehan introduced several new characters at the end and sent them off to find their own lifemates, so we can expect many more books involving domineering men and women who bend to their nature.

I've read this series from the beginning and it makes me sad to see how little has changed. Solve some problems, move the plot along. This can all be done and still be woven in with a decent love story. We don't need 200+ pages of sex scenes. It's like that's all she knows how to write anymore. Glad I can get these books from the library because I would be annoyed if I'd actually paid to read it.

Okay, fine. I quit. <throws hands in the air> Where's the Christine Feehan that wrote Ivory and Razvan's story and Byron and Antonietta's story? Where is she? I didn't even finish the book and I don't know if I will. Hey, I may be opening a can of worms here but do Feehan's attempts at throwing in some racial diversity into her last few books end up seeming awkward and flat? Anyone? I don't know if she's under a constant deadline or what but the quality has dropped in her writing. She uses the same phrases over and over again to describe her characters. If I read one more time that one of her heroines has a "tiny tucked-in waist" I'm going to scream.
I felt this book was a long time coming and I was very disappointed by a surprise turn of events, and then the following story was just awful. No real plot, poor to no character development, graphic sex scenes that took up whole chapters at a time instead of moving the plot along. Come on, Christine, don't insult our intelligence. (Yet ANOTHER word she over uses! Has anyone else noticed? Am I the only one?)

I am a big fan of this author, and have enjoyed most of the books in this series. However, with this book I had to put it down several times, read another book, them come back to this one, to finish it.

I think the problem I had with this book, was that it involved two couples finding their lifemates.....and the over abundance (FILLER) of sex scenes. I mean come on, to me, the book got boring because of it. I spent so much time skipping pages to get to the meat of the book, and there wasn't much meat, I got aggravated, and did not enjoy this book at all.

Being converted saved their lives, but Gabrielle has had enough and wants a life far away from the Carpathians with Gary and Trixie Joanes has come to the mountains to search for her granddaughter but fears she has been lured there by something unspeakable in this thrilling paranormal romance. I have been waiting for Gabrielle’s story and I have to say that I certainly did not see that surprising twist coming but it is fitting and right in the way that things happened and I was completely captivated by her story. Note: I do not like the blurb very much as it is a bit misleading but at the same time it certainly ensures quite the surprise.

“Copyright Night Owl Reviews”©

See my full review at: Night Owl Reviews .com

4/5 porn, 1/5 unfinished plot

4/5 of this book was nothing but porn, no plot to mention at all. And what's worse about it, you can't even SKIP the porn scenes to get to the plot, or important, informative dialogue, because even THAT takes place while sex is also going on. I mean - GAH BORING.

SPOILERS

We find out that Gary and Gabby are not lifemates, not much of a surprise here if you consider Carpathians, but sort of a surprise that the author took that route

I don't even remember how/when the two of them got injured and converted into Carpathian (some words on this, a few pages or a chapter, to refresh our memories with details on this would have been nice instead of MORE sex scenes), but both of them WERE humans and in love, or thought they were at least. They were involved in serious research to fix what's wrong with the Carpathians.

Did that mysterious bracelet Gabby's brother gave her rip the light from Gary or what? We don't get ANY info about that bracelet, or why it wanted to harm Gary, rip him apart, when the two were talking before he lost his light. NO info on that. At least a few lines would have been good, Gabby having a conversation with her brother about the bracelet would have been nice.

What happened after Gregory and Mikhael took Gary? NO INFO. Did that just happen to Gary due to how he was converted (details, a refresher please) or did the bracelet do it? I have no idea. Feehan didn't tell us. she gave us more sex scenes instead of information.

BIG misunderstanding with Aleksei finding Gabby, his lifemate - misunderstganding over her love for Gary and defense of him. Someone could have just put the info into his mind to clear that up fast, but that didn't happen. why not? But then more than half the novel is spent with even CONVERSATION taking place with sex sex sex - we can't even have a conversation. A bunch of sado masochistic crap and anger over what we all know could have been cleared up immediately. I mean - COME ON already. ENOUGH.

This book, and the last one "Ghost" - it's as if the two books took place isolated from everything else, lonely, barely no interaction except a few INTERESTING magical workings later on near the end, a fight, also interesting, but another fight broke out earlier and we didn't even get details on it; not even a glimpse of it - it got mentioned on hindsight. Some dialogue about Gabby's family history, interesting, but only a few lines, not even a chapter. I found Teagen irritating, but her magic is interesting. I find Trixie irritating, but also her magic is interesting. And we never got to read about the execution of the scumbag Denny and the other human hunters/serial killers.

I remember her books having details on all of this, taking place with other characters and interaction. The past books were interesting. The sex scenes in prior books were at least isolated to when they DID get alone - and they didn't span 2/3 or more of the book. It would have been FAR better is she summed up, in a short space, details about how Gary got injured, how Gabby got injured - what was going on, JUST to remind us - she didn't give us enough to recall it at all. Gabby got in front of Natalya and got stabbed. I don't remember that at all. Some refresher would have been good especially if she needs to take up space in the book. Fill it with that instead of MORE porn. The last two books were lonely - that the feel of both of them. Lonely AND boring - and the information about the mystery of solving the problem they have, information about a lot of other things, is just not there, there is no interaction with others as there was in other books.

These books were 100% better when 4/5 of the book took place OUTSIDE of the couple being alone, and things were happening, interactions, battles, even interesting dialogue or magical workings. Then 1/5 of the book devoted to the couple's alone time and sex - and at least you could just skip it if was not interesting or boring. But DO NOT intersperce interesting details in the middle of porn - it's unbearable - and not fair to readers, imo.

The books were at least SOME urban fantasy and SOME romance. Now they are ALL porn, a few sentences, not even a chapter worth, of plot.

Some of the BEST ones so far was the one about Ivory and Razvan, the one with Skyler and Dmitri. What happened? Something has gone wrong.

I used to love reading her books....followed her from the start and then in the past two years have not purchased as many of her books. This was bad. Ok honestly I didn't like the age gap or the personality of Trixie with her mate. That is like me envisioning a young man with my mother. I suppose if she was happy (in real life) I would get over it but I sure do not want to read about their sex life! I think I am done with her books....this is just one of several disappointments over the last few years. I miss her old books and will 're read them instead.

This was a departure from her latest Carpathian love stories, however, I think it had to be given the circumstances of the characters. Up to now, everyone met their life mate and lived happily ever after. These men did not have that hope or option. They are waiting to die. Based on their history a normal relationship is probably not going in the cards and the women will have to realize that and be strong. The story still has the unconditional bond between life mates as all the other stories. I look forward to Gary's journey which did surprise me and may be a little complicated.

The first few chapters were fine to read. Then the story was tossed in favor of sex. No romance, just sex. It went about like this: first couple of chapters-Story- then sex for about 20 pages. a page of story, 30 pages of sex. half a page of story then more sex BUT WAIT! Right in the MIDDLE of a sex scene, a bit of story! Then 20 more pages of sex. 2 pages of story followed byyyy yes, indeed. 30 pages of sex. I have never been so bored reading a Feehan book. I skipped so many pages cause Hey! Romance? NOOOT. Nope. And no respect for the Hero. A Male does NOT treat his salvation in such a deplorable manner. Hope this isnt a trend, cause I'm not likin it.

I just don't understand what has happened with this author's attitude toward our beloved Carpathian Men who put the happiness and well being of their Lifemate's, who are the light to their darkness, on what seems to be the back burner now. When I first started reading the Dark Series, I was hooked right from the start. They loved and cherished their lifemate's yet as same time protected them and did let their lifemate's sway them into doing some things that the Carpathian Males knew they shouldn't let their women do. Ha!! Our wonderful arrogant males found out how true love of one heart and soul to another changes you. It pains me to say that something seriously went wrong with Feehan's original writing with the dark series. I've read so many reviews and comments and we all seem to agree. Now I have a question so PLEASE SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION because I am NOT buying the book that I had thought was going to finally give GARY his OWN story which he should have been given Long ago. In one of the reviews someone said something along the lines of " why didn't Mikhail or Gregori fight to keep Gary from killing everyone and then meeting the dawn"??? Ok I'm hoping that I just misinterpreted what I read or thought I read! After all, it is 6am in the morning as I am reading these reviews. (I'm an insomniac). Please tell me that after Zev and Gary were made into warriors or whatever, that in the next book he didn't freak out and decide to become vampire because Gabrielle's true lifemate was a total scum bag that one of the Hunters should have killed!!!!

I really, really, really did not like Gabrielle for the first part of this book nor was I that crazy about Aleksei. He was way too overbearing even though he was an ancient. I understood Gabrielle better one she explained about her mother but she's far from my favorite female Carpathian. Fane's and Trixie's story was a smaller part of the book and I liked them both better from the start. I'm glad I read the book and I'm sorry for Gary yet am looking forward to his story along with all of the other ancients but hope they are not as Neanderthal as Aleksei. In the end, I believe he was exactly what Gabrielle needed but was definitely not my cup of tea.

Christine's last 3 books in the carpathian series dark crime, dark ghost, and dark promise were a definite let down for me. I love all the other books in the series but it seems like these 3 were mostly just about sex - no real story line. I think that she is a great author but I don't know what happened to her in these last 3 books - it definitely didn't fit the style of her other books. To much sex, not enough plot, no real handling of the vampires as in the other books. I will continue to buy her books but I really, really hope that she goes back to her original writing style.

I enjoy Feehan’s ability to weave a great story and looked forward to this release. Like many I was disappointed. The book should have been released as a novelette and most of the sex scenes cut out as they didn’t move the story along.

As a long time reader you know that there is a possibility of 8 more story lines + moving back to the States for some of those, and other possible, storylines. Unfortunately Dark Promises left me so unfulfilled (no pun intended) that my desire (again… no pun intended) to continue to read the series has gone limp (OK – that pun WAS intended!).

Prior to beginning Dark Promises, I’d just finished the Game series and asked my husband to read it – something we often do so that we can talk about story, an authors perspective etc. After the 4th book his comment was that when she runs out of story she turns to sex. Very apparent in Dark Promises.

Another comment mentioned that she’s gone more BDSM\dominate in her Alpha males (a dynamic also very apparent in Viper Game and Spider Game), that doesn’t bother me and I can and do skip over scenes that don’t add to the story, but with Dark Promises I missed connecting with the characters Christine in so good at introducing us to.

I'm very happy that I read the book even after I read some of the bad reviews. I read people talking about rape. That didn't happen in this book. The male characters in the book, loved and cherished their life mates. The character Alexi does like sex rougher than previous characters but that doesn't mean rape. Some people like the rougher type of sex. The characters in the book are so close to the darkness they have separated themselves from everyone. This means it won't be easy for them to be romantic and soft. I liked that this book is different from before. I was beginning to get bored with the same old story. Thank Christine for the change up.

Sorry for the spoilers, but I'm too angry to hold back on them. When I picked up this book, based on the back cover alone, I thought this was a book about Gabrielle and Gary, a couple I've been rooting for since Dark Descent. Not at all. Instead it's about Gabrielle ending up with a borderline abusive lifemate who I positively despised. I couldn't find any enjoyment from this book. If Garbrielle and Gary weren't going to end up together, then why drag their relationship on for so long? Why have an incredibly misleading book summary on the back of the book, which in no way mentions the name of Gabrielle's actual lifemate? I'm done with this series. I don't care about Gary's eventual book about him finding his lifemate because his lifemate should've been Gabrielle. Just my opinion.

I enjoyed this book, more than I have any other in a long time. I never thought Gabby & Gary would have been or should have been life mates. It bugged me to no end over all these years. To me, it would have been too convenient. So I was angry at the beginning of the book...then I was pleasantly surprised.

I know some people are upset that their was an older woman having sex, but I think it was nice. Nice to know that not every life mate a white female, between 19 and 29 years old. If these men have been waiting a lifetime on the wrong side of the world, this makes more sense, a woman of any age and race could possibly be a life mate. I say brava! and I will continue to read with all these new developments. I like it.

I have been a fan of Feehans Dark series from the beginning. I had been looking forward to this book for a long time. I was extremely disappointed in this story. The book was 3/4 sex & no story. There was potential for some good scenes but no follow through. The fight scene with Gary & the vampire could have been good, but no description or details about it. Very lame. No other fight scenes. Christine has been putting in alot more dominant violent sex scenes in her books which i find very disturbing. Her previous books all had good story lines & you could skim the sex scenes. If you skimmed the sex in this book you might as well not read it. No story. All her other books took place in more than a 48 hour period & had well planned & described stories. i was very disappointed. So much so that i will not be buying any more of her books & are hesitant to even check them out from the library to read.

Spoilers!!!!!!!!!! I always wondered what would happen if a Carpathian found his life mate and she was already in love with another man. This book answers that question. This was a really good read. I have accused Ms. Feehan of using a ghostwriter in her last few books. I can happily report that this finally feels like a Christine Feehan book. The novel starts with the wedding ceremony of Gary and Gabrielle. Disaster strikes before Gary can say the binding ritual to tie him and Gabby together forever. They both realize that what they are doing is wrong. They are not life mates. Gabrielle refuses to to accept the truth and begs Gary to live a human life with her. Her voice awakens Aleksei, her true lifemate. Hearing her beg for another man drives him into a killing rage and he attacks Gary. What follows is a brutal battle that ends with Aleksei kidnapping Gabby. Folks, do not read this book if you hate extremely dominate males. Poor Gabby did not stand a chance once he set eyes on her. Fane and Trixie are another couple that discover each other in this book. If you remember, Trixie is Teagan's grandmother. Trixie was cute and had me laughing out loud at times. At the end of the book, all I could say was poor Gary.

These last two books were horrible. I skipped over Alexei and Gabrielle scenes. Where was the communication? And I am getting tired of these insecure men who are afraid to have the women be near or have contact with other males. If she is your other half then she is yours alone, especially after you have binded her to you. Totally disappointed in the lack of Gary scenes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with sex, but what she is writing is degrading sex.

It's a go thing I do not read reviews till I finish reading a book. I really enjoyed this book! There is more than one story line going on. I enjoyed all the steamy bits. There always needs to be a softer book in a long series that, has a chance to move forward a lot of other story lines. This book delivers that.
Gabrielle gets someone who will have her back. Trixie gets her story told. We find out about other Carpathians going to find their mates. I am looking forward to their stories. Christine Feehan thank you again for a great story.

I loved Christine Feehan's latest book Dark Promises. I waited on this book thinking this was to be Gary's story but that's ok. I loved the storyline. The book was full of surprises and not just for one couple. Gabrielle Sanders has been waiting on her story to be told also. This book was different from the rest of the series but our hero while at his worst as far as lifemates was also still standing with honor. Going back to other books in this series, Ms. Feehan has always shown her Dark Hero's jealous sides for any other man around their lifemates. Our Dark Hero in this book is hit by the full brunt of his jealous side (along with his first emotions and seeing in color) with good reason, he thought his lifemate was marrying another man.

I also loved Trixie's story added into the book. Being Trixie's age I enjoyed reading her story. She spent her whole life taking care of others, now it's her turn. She's feisty, gutsy and embraces life fully looking for her granddaughter. I really think she enjoyed the adventure. I don't agree with some of the bad reviews, I thought it was great. Yes the storyline is different but that's what makes Christine Feehan such a great writer.

Personally I'm sick of her books having more sex than story. The storyline had potential but it was ignored for page after page of sex. The disappointments in this book were many. First we were lead to believe this was Gary's story. Well it's not. He's in the beginning and at the end. What he was going through was not explored at all. Basically he was a side character. Second Gabby annoyed me to no end. I wanted to smack her. She has lived among the Carpathians for years but acts like she knows nothing about them or the customs. For a genius she came across as an idiot. Third the relationship between Fane and Trixie was lacking. It was sex plain and simple, no emotional ties whatsoever. And lastly the action scenes were short and boring. The master vampire presented no challenge at all. The only reason I gave this book 2 stars was due to the power Gabby, Teagan, and Trixie had. I hope we get to see the results of what they can do.

I've been a big fan of this series until the last 3 books which have been a big disappointment. This series used to be about romance and a great vampire story but now it's all about sex and more sex with really no storyline. I still have allot of the original Carpathion novels and I will be reading them again. This story was like reading a BDSM story which was a shock to me. Regrettably This Will Be My Last Carpathion Novel.

Ok, so I didn't buy the last book in the series because the reviews said it hadn't moved the series along any and the story was just so so. But since I really like this series and I wanted to see Gary's story I bought this one. Well this really isn't Gary's story. The book started off really well and I was really into it for a while. It's really about 2 couples and so you would think you would get more story than sex. Well that worked some what, but then it just switched back and forth from one couple to the other having sex. I ended up skimming most of the last 3rd of the book. And that just upset me because the rest of the "story" had some really interesting thins that could have been expanded on.

And I thought Gaby was just a really weak character. Come on CF, give us us great book to end the series instead of just dragging out these never ending sex scenes.

Practically unending sex, very little story. Made for a very quick read since it's easy to skip the frequent, lengthy sex scenes. Do yourself a favor. Read the first 3 chapters, then chapter 8, 19-20. Seriously. That's about all you need to read to get the story. I basically started skimming the book after chapter 4, trying to catch only non-sex conversations and happenings. There wasn't much. Took about and 90 minutes to read, if that long. I think I will skip the rest of the books and just ask someone else what happened. That's the only interest I still have in these. And, truly, I'm not sure I even have THAT much interest left. So glad this one came from the library.

Perhaps Ms. Feehan is intentionally changing her writing style. The last books in each of the series have been very similar: predominantly graphic sex, Uber-Dominant male, doormat woman. Someone called it mostly BDSM and I'd pretty much agree. Not what her writing used to be like.

This ranks as one of the best in this series, except for one detail. It is a damn good thing Gabrielle is Carpathian...if not her bottom lip would have been gone by chapter four. Just how many times in a scene CAN a character "bite her lip, hard"? I lost count and as the book passed, it just became an irritant. The story merits five stars...the overuse of lip biting deserves one star. I controlled myself and gave the overall book a better rating than the writing skills deserved.

Please Christine if you are going to write anymore Carpathian books about the Ancients , Joseph and Gary please make 2/3 story and 1/3 sex. After I skipped all the sex in this book there was very little to read. Leave the S&M to Fifty Shades of Grey , it was a gimmick and worked for that book (sorta) but doesn't work for your Carpathian world. Your earlier works were interesting ands your characters 3 dimensional. In this book the only characters I liked was Fane and Trixie. Gabrielle needs a backbone and Alexis needs to get a life. He was a flat as cardboard. Your fans expect better of you.

Gabrielle had been human before she was turned and now lives as a Carpathian. She doesn't feel like she fits in and isn't comfortable with her new Carpathian life. She and Gary, who was also turned, were in love before they had been turned and Gary is about to make them lifemate's by saying the sacred words. But things don't go as they were supposed to and ended up taking a very bad turn.

What do you do when you find out that the man you love, isn't your lifemate?

Things go from bad to worse when a very ancient Carpathian male hears his lifemate screaming at the gate to the monastery he's taken refuge in. Aleksei doesn't know what's going on, only that his lifemate is in distress and he must go to her and stop the man who is upsetting her, even if she wants nothing to do with him and wants another Carpathian male. Aleksei is not a modern male at all, he's very old and expects his lifemate to fall at his feet and obey him. When she doesn't, he does what most Carpathian males do, he throws her over his shoulder and whisks her away.

At first I hated Aleksei, he was overbearing, controlling and domineering. This guy would have gotten a frying pan to the face from me but he turns out to be exactly what Gabrielle needs.

Now usually there's one couple in a romance book getting to know one another and the storyline revolves around them but that's not the case with this book and I loved that. We get a bonus second couple who find each other in this book. Teagan's grandmother has come searching for her grandaugher. Trixie is in her 60's but that doesn't stop this sassy lady from carrying a box full of vampire killing tools with her, thinking that she's going to have to kill a few vampires in order to find her granddaughter. What she finds first is a huge shock to her and to me, because I wasn't expecting this story line at all but dang if I didn't love it.

If you've been a fan of this series but the last few books have been a let down to you, then this is the book you've been waiting for. This book is more like the first few books in the series and I was oh so happy to see so much going on. We finally get a look at some of the ancients that are close to turning vampire that reside in the monastery and find out how some of the female lifemates are going to help them. This book is full of story, full of new characters and full of fun.

Review originally published on I Smell Sheep blog.

3.75 stars--DARK PROMISES is the twenty-ninth installment in Christine Feehan’s adult DARK paranormal romance series focusing on a community of supernatural beings known as the Carpathians. Two ancient warriors will find their mates, and two psychic human females will struggle with their new life.

SOME BACKGROUND: All Carpathian males, must find their lifemates before they turn vampire or greet the dawn. Without a lifemate, the males no longer see in color, feel pain or experience emotions. A lifemate is the light to their dark. She is the keeper of his heart and the keeper of his soul. As the unmated Carpathian male ages, the darkness begins to envelope his soul.

At the onset of the story line we revisit the relationship between Gary and Gabrielle –once human, but now both have been converted to Carpathian due to fatal circumstances. As their wedding hour draws near, Gary soon realizes that to claim Gabrielle as his lifemate is something he is unable to do……

Told from several third person points of view DARK PROMISES tells the tale of two ancient Carpathian males-close to turning, Aleksei and Fane have been secluded along with several other warriors in a monastery in the Carpathian Mountains. As they approach the end of their supernatural existence, these warriors find themselves on the verge of turning vampire or greeting the sun. The monastery is the last line of hope for a once proud group of Carpathian men.

Aleksei will be awakened when he ‘hears’ the cries of his fated female as she comes to realize that everything she had hoped for in her life has come crashing down. Aleksei is an ancient who demands obedience and respect, and in this his lifemate will struggle with the arrogance and dominance of the Carpathian male. The former human female Gabrielle is unprepared for the Carpathian lifestyle, a failing that falls upon the Carpathian race. The $ex scenes are aggressive, seductive and provocative- Aleksei is a male who likes to discipline his mate during $ex;. Aleksei is initially abusive towards his new lifemate which is a recent, ongoing issue with many of Christine Feehan’s leading males (in all of her series), but like all Carpathian males, he will come to see that his lifemate is the light to his soul, and his initial treatment was questionable and dishonorable.

Fane is another ancient who will find his lifemate in the guise of an American vampire hunter-Trixie Joanes-Teagan’s (Dark Ghost #28) grandmother-and a woman who is a bit of a snarky, spitfire with attitude to spare. Unlike Aleksei, Fane welcomes his lifemate’s idiosyncrasies, and the couple easily adapts to one another’s emotions. I did have a bit of an issue with the explanation as to her age and fertility, but I leave that up to Christine Feehan to explain this one to the reader!

DARK PROMISES is a story rich in sexually graphic details, but to be fair there are TWO couples who find their happily ever after, and each is given some page time to build up their new found relationships. Christine Feehan’s story lines have always traversed a path of erotic fantasy, and DARK PROMISES is no different. The characters are varied and colorful although Gabrielle’s personality and persona are fragile and weak. The romances are passionate and energetic.

Christine Feehan has, once again, ‘tweaked’ the Carpathian backstory and lifestyle to suit her most recent adventures into the Carpathian Mountains. At one time NO male could be converted, let alone be imprinted with the ritual words of the lifemate vows. There is also an issue with Gary’s conversion that sees a development that Mikhail and Gregori never saw coming; and the latest trio of women introduced to the Carpathian world combine their own psychic powers enabling them to help the ancient warriors. With the conversion of two males and the difficulties of addressing the new complication, the series premise has been modified to allow for another change in direction to the story lines.

Like many others writing reviews of this book, I have been an avid Christine Feehan fan for many years, own all her books, except for the Spider Game after the horrible Viper Game, and considered her my favorite author in this genre. That has definitely changed. I find myself flipping over the too frequent and too long and detailed sex scenes. I used to do that with some of the fight scenes, but in this story they were just side notes. What happened to the interesting plot that was starting to develop at the beginning of the book? Every now and then I had a flimmer of hope that something interesting was going to happen, and sometimes it did for a page or two, but basically the plot was never developed! After any brief plot development came 20 pages of sex scenes. There was at least some variety there, because there were two different couples involved. One should be thankful for the little things.
One thing I'm definitely not thankful for and cannot understand anymore is the price of the Carpathian Series. This one was way too expensive for the value of the story and the next one is even more expensive. Even if I have loved this series and find it difficult to imagine not reading the next ones, it's something I'm seriously considering.