Dark Gold by Christine Feehan

Dark Gold by Christine Feehan


My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
What is it about these Carpathians? I can't seem to stay away from these books. This time I lasted three months. I started reading this book, and soon I was fully immersed in this world of dark sensuality and supernatural beauty, where the creatures of the night are a race of ancient immortals who live on blood. They fight against their own dark natures, and against their brethren who have succumbed to the darkness and became the evil vampires who pray on humans and destroy them. They walk through centuries hoping they will find the one woman who will be their other half, their salvation from the darkness inside of them.

Poor Alexandria was just trying to get a job when she encountered the vampire who would change her world irrevocably. And the whole time she was dealing with foul creature, I was waiting for Aidan Savage to make his appearance. As typical for Carpathians, he made a dramatic entrance. I was like, "It's about time!"

Alexandria didn't sign up to be a lifemate, to live in the darkness, to have to drink blood to survive, but Aidan had little choice but to change her, since she had been fed on twice already by the vampire he destroyed, and forced to drink its blood. The third time was when he thought she was a vampire herself and was going to bite her to kill her. But meeting her was fortuitous to him, because he sees colors. That's a sure sign to him about something....He knows she's his lifemate, and he's selfish enough to want her to live and to be in his world, for she is his salvation. But Alexandria won't come into his world alone. She has a little brother that she loves dearly, and has cared for alone, since her parents died.

This Carpathian book started very dramatically, and the tone didn't abate. Simply put, I really enjoyed this book. I guess it goes without saying that I am a pretty big fan of this series. I like the uniqueness of it, the old world Carpathian men with their heavy air of mystery and magic. I like the dramatic, flowery language, the scary fight scenes in which the nasty vampires pull all sorts of monstrosities out of their bag of tricks, only to be vanquished by the Carpathians and their lifemates. I like the elegant nature they have, their constant struggle with the dark side, and their reliance on their women to save them. Their behavior is on the edge of what's acceptable in a modern day romance. They don't have much qualms against carrying their lifemates off and 'convincing' them that their future is tied to their own. Some are a little more cavemanish than others (Rafael I'm talking to you). In the spectrum of un-PC-ness of some of the Carpathians , Aidan was practically a New Age male. I feel that Aidan tried to give Alexandria room. Her situation was tough in that he really didn't have much choice about changing her since the vampire had already started the conversion, and she would have died if he didn't give her his blood. He did try to give some freedom and time to adjust, as much as possible. Alexandria was in denial about her new nature, and I can't blame her too much. I'd be a bit upset if I found out I had to stay out of the sun, and drink blood to survive (Although I don't think I'd mind the hot guy saying I was his lifemate too much). Not to mention the fact that her new lifestyle would preclude her being a full mother to Josh in some ways (no baseball games and stuff like that). Aidan really showed a lot of patience with her, only getting mad when she freaked out and ran out into the full sun, and got one heck of a sunburn. Otherwise, they had a fairly gentle courtship for a Carpathian and his lifemate.

It's hard to condense down what appealed to me about this book. It was fun and interesting. When I read this series, it's unlike any other that I've experienced, and in a good way. I like this world, although it's pretty dark and scary. I like the concept of these ancient males searching through centuries for their other halves. I like the humor and the passion, the intensity of emotions that the characters experience. And the action scenes are very good also. Although I can't typically read these books back to back, when I pick one up, I fall in deep and enjoy the time I spend reading them. Dark Gold was no different.

Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.

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