Dark Legend (Carpathians, #8) by Christine Feehan

382 pages
Rating: 5/5

Gabriel

He woke deep within the ground, and the first sensation he felt was hunger. An overwhelming hunger for blood that demanded satisfaction. But as he hunted the dark streets of Paris for prey, a voiced called to him, soothing, calming, giving him the strength to control his craving. Francesca Del Ponce was a healer, a woman who radiated goodness as powerfully as the sun did light. But surely his obsession with her would turn him as his twin brother had turned, leaving the world with two monsters instead of one.

Though he knew she would be like hot silk in his arms, though he knew the taste of her would be addictive, he feared for her life and his soul if he took her. Then with one mind-shattering vow she gave herself--"I offer freely, without reservation, I offer my life for yours as is my right"--and with a firestorm of long-forgotten feelings, he glimpsed salvation


I loved this book the most so far. Its very different from the other books - a much more developed storyline with an amazing ending.

I've been waiting for Gabriel and Lucien's stories for a while now, and it does not disappoint.
Francesca isn't your typical female lifemate - she's made a life of her own and the book doesn't have much of the arrogant male references that the other books seem to have. One thing I've noticed is that the older the Carpathian male, the lesser "male amusement" Feehan adds in the book. Also, Gabriel makes an effort to give her space and court her as such. They have a much more believable and natural relationship that the other couples have had. The fact that there was a wider plot and more characters than just the typical blood and sex and rebelling-but-eventually-giving-in-female is what makes this a good book.

Gabriel's relationship with Lucien is awesome (I'm running out of proper adjectives to use i think, but the sentiment is the same) The fact that they're so close that Gabriel cannot but help connect with him even when he thinks Lucien is a Vampire and Lucien, despite the games he's playing, cannot help coming to his brother's aid is what makes this my best book of this series.

I kept wondering throughout the book but the ending, despite hoping (anticipating) it still was a welcome surprise.

**Considering that i'm bout 25 books behind in my reviews, i'm just publishing what i have regardless of the order of the series. The books i liked, like this one i wrote up automatically, the others i've kinda forgotten already. Sigh