Dark Destiny

I love this series. People says that they are all the same but the stories are different and I enjoy them so I don't care what other people say. I am not good at reviewing books.

I absolutely loved this book. It was written so that you got a sense of Destiny and Nicolae. I like that they didn't rush into anything relationship wise, considering Destiny had a terrible past with a vampire. Nicolae took his time with Destiny, getting her use to the idea of having a relationship with him. Everything just fell right into step for the two of them.

You can read everyone else's reviews and there are tidbits of truth in them all. For me, it was a fun read. For some reason Destiny reminded me of the Myers-Briggs INFP personality type....those believe they are battling the evil in themselves. Her struggle is to find that what she carries inside her (vampire blood) is not 'who' she is. And Nicholae is probably up there in my top 5 favorite uber-alpha-macho Carpathian males. He's protective, but he's also very aware that she needs her space and freedom. That forcing her will only drive her away or into madness. His actions speak more of true love instead of auto-response to Carpathian genetics.

To preface my review, I'd like to ask readers - Do you know that one out of three women have suffered some form of abuse - either mentally or physically sometime in their life, many as children? And the memory and guilt they carry lasts a lifetime?I ask this question because if you know this little known fact, it will help you understand the issue of trust in DARK DESTINY.I've read some of the reviews where they felt Destiny was whiny and Nicolae was wimpy. My opinion is so different that I needed to write a review to express my thoughts.Can you imagine the torture this little girl went through from the time she was only six years old? First seeing her parents brutally murdered by a vampire, then 'USED' for his pleasure through horrible, obscene ways to this tiny little girl until she was old enough to escape him? Could she EVER rid herself of feeling unclean? Or, feel she was beautiful ever again after being so horribly violated for so long? In my opinion she was a super woman of incredible strength and fortitude to continue even wanting to live, let alone protect others from the evil ones.And, Nicolae - In my opinion, he's the strongest Carpathian alive holding back his own desires because of his deep love for his lifemate - waiting for her to trust enough - going so far as to risk his very life because she meant that much to him. I wonder how many know a man such as he - to do anything and everything for love. For me, he shows compassion, patience, and the strongest love for Destiny, and he is a total opposite of a weak man - showing great strength in subtle ways as well as physically. It takes more to hold back than to take what you want...The secondary characters in DARK DESTINY made for a beautiful neighborhood. The sometimes looney sisters who loved and cared for their neighbors, worrying when things weren't 'right'. And Mary Anne, the compassionate neighbor with unconditional love for everyone around her, wanting only to help battered, abused women find a way again.I'll stop here, but there's more to this story than first appears. There's romance, sensuality, action, adventure, and suspense. And it's one story you really don't want to miss reading!Carol Carter

I loved this book and I feel that it is one of her best. I have often wondered if a woman was turned by a vampire, did she have to be evil? In DARK GOLD we found that her lifemate was able to save Alex.I wondered if Skyler could be saved and welcome the love of a lifemate after all that she had been through. Well it seems to me this book answers all those questions.As well as the question of a vampire finding his lifemate too late. The one question I didn't get answered is; What if his lifemate is old when he finds her? I had hoped to find that answer with Velda and Vikirnoff, but she wasn't his lifemate.This book has all of the things we look for in a DARK book. However, Christine has more in store for us. The questions are there and I'll bet she has the answers. I can hardly wait.Destiny was kidnapped at 6 years old, after watching a vampire kill her parents. In her anguish she screams psychially and connects with Nicolae who helps her get through several years of abuse and horror. Whenever she calls out, he is there. He opens his mind to her and and shares each and every indignity visited on her by her captor, he then teaches her to kill the vampire. She is 14 before she is strong enough to free herself of the vampire.Nicolae has searched for her all these years. He does not know she is his lifemate, until she speaks to him telepathically after several more years. She fears he is what she had to kill to escape, another vampire. Although he has tried to tell her the difference between Carpathians and vampires. She no longer has any trust.When Nicolae and Vikirnoff find her, they find a group of vampires who have bonded in a new way. Because of the vampire taint in her blood the vampires, at first think Destiny is one of them.There seems to be a great plot in force to destroy all the hunters so that they can rule the world.There is a strange alliance amoung these vamps. Although several of the women in this place are psychic the vamps are not trying to convert them. There is also a lot of unusual violence against men and women by their most loving and trusted friends and lovers. But Nicolae and Destiny can find no trace of control by the vamps in these attacks.Fighting vampires and Destiny's distrust, Nicolae must find a way to reach her and save not only himself but Destiny from the horror of the tainted vampire blood.Gregori and Savannah make an appearance toward the end of the book to help Nicolae save both himself and Destiny. They are near because they have just helped Dayan save his lifemate and new daughter. (DARK MELODY)I loved the richness of this world and I think Christine is branching out into a more fully developed world with a fuller texture and understanding of the characters she has brought to life.Don't miss this one.

Her childhood was a nightmare when a vampire brutally murdered her family and converted her into a creature of the night. Only the angelic male voice in her head kept her alive and helped her survive the changeover. Her adulthood is more loneliness as she goes alone killing her own kind for Destiny is a vampire who works the night ridding the world of this pestilence.Ancient hunter Nicolae knows patience, but his wait for his soul mate has become wearying as he has only connected through the minds and not the flesh. Although he continues to meet his centuries-old pledge to rid the world of vampires and protect Carpathians and humans, he waits to find his Destiny as soulmates forever. When he does meet her, he hopes that in the Carpathian Mountains, the Prince can heal her vampiric disease. First, he must find her and second he must overcome her distrust of him, but while he begins making progress, the duo falls into the midst of a vampiric conspiracy nothing like the world has ever seen before and never will again.DARK DESTINY may be the best of the long running Carpathian tales as readers obtain an action-packed thriller intermingled with a terrific romance starring a rarity, a female huntress. The story line never slows down, as Nicolae knows his Destiny is his soulmate, but will need help, something this lone ranger never wants, for them to finally make it. The subplot involving the vampiric conspiracy is devilishly devised so that between this exhilarating potential world-ending calamity and the deliciously impossible romance, the audience has Christine Feehan's best work perhaps in the entire series.Harriet Klausner