Rating: 
Summary: Scream and Squirm
Review: I fell completely in love with the Carpathian men. They are dark, aggressive, very wild and animal like, more primal than anything..... possessive and utterly wonderful. They can not help but yield to their animal instincts of protecting their lifemates. It is love, compassion, desire, and instinct. The story was wonderful, Feehan did a great job ! I have just read her second novel "Dark Desire" and I can not wait to read the rest.
It did get a bit annoying that Feehan used the same words over and over, I thought I would scream if I seen "Silk Warmth", "Liquid Velvet", and of course... "Black Magic" as a description for things. I did scream, seeing them used over and over again... but it was well worth it because I also screamed and squirmed with feelings for these characters. It was all in all fabulous ! I would recommend to anyone, and have done so.
Rating:
Summary: A different kind of romance
Review: Most romance novels follow a general formula, and even paranormals are no exceptions. Ms. Feehan's Carpathians, however, add certain elements that captivate the reader and give the series an exciting edge that makes the books difficult to put down.Carpathians are a sort of pre-Vampire creature. Vampires themselves are not necessarily new to paranormal romances, but making Carpathians a different sort of creature altogether voids the usual good vs evil struggle so common to vampire paranormals. There is a different struggle in these books: the struggle to find external goodness, in the guise of a light-bearer, the other half of the soul, that is, one's lifemate. Within Dark Prince, Ms. Feehan has juxtaposed evil creatures from both the supernatural and the human world, showing cleverly that the main lovers of the story will indeed perhaps be able to live happily ever after. After all, if evil can come together, how much more can good come together? Mikhail and Raven are strong protagnoists, for the most part. Raven is, at times, a bit whiney. However, we will allow that, as she has been thrust into a strange world made of strange creatures who drink blood and shapeshift. Mikhail is a bit dictatorial at times. We will, however allow that, though, since he is used to commanding the elements on a regular basis. And in truth, what good characters don't have flaws? Another strong point of this book is that it sets up the rest of the series while at the same time never neglects the main story. Be prepared to purchase the other books in the series if you haven't already. The weakest point of the book, in my opinion, is the author's portrayal of Raven. It was unclear whether or not Raven's claim to be an independent, intelligent woman, and her refusal to see to her own safety if it meant following someone's orders (thus refuting her own itelligence) was a contradiction of the author's character sketch of Raven, or simply a built-in character flaw of Raven. Be warned: these books are not meant to compete with Laurell K. Hamilton's or Anne Rice's. They are not in the same genre. So if you are expecting those types of books and come away disappointed, you have nobody to blame but yourself! These are romance novels! Don't be deluded on that point.
Rating: 
Summary: You couldn't pay me to read it again
Review: The plot meanders all over. The dialogue is stilted. The heroine is pretty stupid. The romantic bits are mostly of the form, "I love you... quick let's have sex." How many more sexy/innocent heroines do we need? And sexy/innocent heroines who, after having been nearly killed a few pages before, yell, "I can take care of myself!"? This woman, while a psychic investigator, has no skills of her own. Despite her claim to modern American independence, she is no Anita Blake. I couldn't care what happened to her. (...). Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: I was so glad when it was over
Review: The heroine is stupid. She can't figure out he's a vampire. Anything he tells her to do for her own safety, she doesn't do because she's "an independent American woman." The sensual scenes are wham, bam, thank you ma'am. The plot is broken into pieces as if the author kept saying, oops, I didn't write quite enough yet. I finally gave up, and I hate to not finish a book. But I was so relieved when I parted company with it! Anne Rice's title is safe.
Rating: 
Summary: Neat Vampire Romance - but needs work
Review: This is my first foray into the vampire sub genre of romance. I'm usually glued to Medieval Scottish Historical Romances myself. The story is neat, the hero Mikhail is a little sexy, I like the heroine a bit, her telepathic powers makes it interesting component to their relationshiop, but unfortunately the author's writing is weak. She could use the services of a good RWA chapter group to bring more oomph to her writing and fix some weak parts. There is no real sexual tension in the story ... heroine and hero pretty much love each other right away. I also would rather have the heroine tell us what she sees of his features and read/feel her reaction rather than the author telling us from the hero's point of view "his handsome features" ... that makes the hero come off as pompous. I know that is not the author's intent, she was trying to tell her readers her hero is handsome, but I'd rather hear it from the heroine's POV please and I would like more description in the story. It took until chapter 3 to find out the story and these Carpathians live in Romania. Before this I had no idea where we were except that we are not in the United States. Other things irked me as a reader, things like a secondary character was accused of harrassment and bullying and I had to reread a few passages previous to find the evidence of this and there wasn't really any. Add to this, problems that the secondary character and heroine act as if they've known each other a long time, then the heroine states to the secondary character (a man) "you do not know me or my life at all" or something along those lines. Too many of these small problems that could be fixed if the author had taken her work to a critique group. If she hasn't taken workshops or joined RWA (Romance WRiters of America) yet, she should and then she'd could create more sexual tension, more passion, some depth. The premise and story of these Carpathians is excellent theme, but not executed well to my satisfaction and the pace of the story is slow. Mikhail, the dark Carpathian prince had the potential to be a real hot alpha hero, but calling his heroine "little one" all the time ... just doesn't cut it for me, it bothers me. He had the potentional to be a wonderful "dark" warrior. I can not recommend this book in all honesty. I'm sure there are better vampire romances out there, I'll have to check around. The Dark Prince had the potentional to be an incredible romantic read, but the weak writing, slow pace and lack of sexual tension and the 2 dimensional feel of the setting and characters is a dissappointment. I will not pick up another of Feehan's books in the future, though I'm glad I did, I got to see what all the fuss was about.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and Highly Sensual Series
Review: Dark Prince is the first in the fascinating and highly sensual Dark series created by the very talented Christine Feehan. It is a world of mystery, danger, intense emotions, extraordinary psychic and physical power. The Carpathians are a wise and ancient species, appearing just like humans except that they can live for millennia and have amazing psychic and physical powers. Only sunlight and violent wounding can destroy them. They sleep during the day, deep in the healing earth, and are awake at night, thriving in the darkness. They are in perfect harmony with the earth and all its plants and animals. They can shape shift into any animal and even become as fog. They move, travel and heal themselves with phenomenal speed. And they survive on human blood-yet they never kill the donor and gently wipe out his/her memory of their "feeding." The male is a predator, dark and dangerous, and this darkness grows until he finds his life mate-the feminine light that perfectly balances and illuminates his darkness. If he does not find his life mate soon enough, the male gradually loses his emotions and his ability to see in color. He is condemned to a lonely, dark and despairing world devoid of all happiness. When he does find her, he regains his emotions and his world becomes brightly colored, full of joy and hope. But for many hundreds of years no female Carpathians have been born, and few males have survived infancy. To make matters worse, many males who have not found their life mates have become so filled with dark despair that they have "turned," becoming vampires who can then feel exhilaration by murdering humans and Carpathians. Carpathian males have had to focus much of their energy on tracking down and destroying this threat to all life while themselves resisting the overwhelming temptation to turn. Some have tried to take human women as their life mates, but the women have gone violently insane when their bodies were converted to Carpathian and had to be destroyed. When Dark Prince begins, Mikhail Dubrinsky, the very wealthy and handsome prince of the Carpathians, has decided to walk into the sunlight and thus end his life. He wields enormous power over himself, others and all the elements, but his extreme loneliness and despair at ever finding a life mate have become overwhelming. He can no longer bear to go on, even though he feels a strong duty to lead his people and to wipe out vampires from the earth. He is afraid that he will turn himself if he waits any longer. And then he hears a sweet female voice in his head-one of compassion and comfort. Raven Whitney has journeyed all the way from America to the remote and beautiful Carpathian mountains for a much-deserved rest. She is a supremely gifted psychic who has assisted the police in tracking down mass murderers-a nauseating task that damages her body and spirit but which she undertakes because of her compassion for the victims. She is all that is light and goodness, and she reaches out to Mikhail when she feels his overwhelming loneliness and despair. She is herself no stranger to loneliness; she must keep as far away from other people as possible to avoid being bombarded by their thoughts and emotions. Mikhail is astounded by this psychic contact and immensely enjoys the teasing banter Raven mentally projects to cheer him up. He travels to her in the form of a bird and, observing her, realizes that she is his life mate. But how can this be? She is human. And how can he convince a woman who doesn't even know that Carpathians exist that she is his life mate? Mikhail and Raven embark on an extraordinary relationship-fun, tender and sensual-that keeps the reader riveted. In the meantime, they are faced with danger from a group of fanatical vampire hunters bent on killing anyone who's not human. Mikhail and Raven team up to stop them, but clash over Raven's determination to take an active role that often places her in grave danger. As a Carpathian, Mikhail is extremely protective and highly possessive of this woman he loves with a passion that goes beyond the most intense human feeling. He is tender, gentle and caring toward Raven while utterly ruthless and violent with his enemies. He will faithfully cherish her forever and will himself die if she does. Once life mates unite, they cannot live without being in frequent contact with each other. But how can he live forever with a human or convert her to Carpathian without destroying her? And how can he protect her from evils she doesn't realize exist? Dark Prince is a riveting story full of action, surprise, passion and the depths of love. Feehan has created a mesmerizing hero that every romance reader can fall in love with and the wondrous world of Carpathians that is fascinating to explore. I could not put Dark Prince down and am eager to read all the novels in this unusual and compelling series.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome series!!
Review: If you're into paranormal stories you'll love this series. I could tell you the same things that other positive reviews have said, but since it's already been said, there's no need to repeat it.
As long as you're into this kind of books then you'll be hooked.I couldn't put it down once I started reading it and I had it read in about 4 hours. It's a excellent book, as well as all the other books in this series. I own every book in this series as well as many other books written by Feehan and have read all the books more than once. They're such wonderful stories! And I can't wait for her next book to come out in November.
Rating:
Summary: Deep Emotional Connections
Review: Ms Feehan introduces us to a new twist on the vampire legend. This book won several awards, which is quite an accomplishment for a first-time author's release. The first book in Christine's Dark series, the reader is introduced to the deeply devoted and passionate Carpathian people. Christine develops a unique voice that will carry through the entire series. This book along with the series is intricatly layered and intense. Giving the reader a chance to escape the cruelties of our world, to a place where someone is truly fighting evil. People who only want traditional vampire stories or are looking for a light shallow read should stay away.
Rating: 
Summary: uh....didn't he just say that?
Review: Okay, I really like vampire stories. I love the whole idea that a vampire or Carpathian have these heightened senses. I can't imagine being so sure of my mate like what happens when Mikhail and Raven meet. I think Raven's human ideas of being your own person are valid. And to relinquish not only yourself but all of your mind and time, never to have anything left for your own would be overwhelming. But she didn't have any family left, she was living a miserable existence, she couldn't physically touch anyone else, so exactly why was she so reluctant to sacrafice everything to be happy. She should have been exstatic to finally be capable of being with someone. Mikhail's actions are primitive and possesive but for a species that hasn't evolved from their animal ancestors it is completely understandable. So I get his character but I didn't think she was justifiable. The "joining" everytime that Raven and Mikhail have sex, yeah, I am into that too. The scenes are constructed so that you don't feel like it is a "I get off on pain infliction" thing but I complete amalgam of emotion, senses and soul mating. It ewas the whole taking and giving at the same time was intense. I liked that. I guess the low rating I gave it is because, well, it just isn't very well written. Feehan needed to break out the thesaurus for some new adjectives. The descriptions just kept creating the same visuals for me. So every scene seemed like the one before. And the dialogue sucked! Everyone said the same dang thing when describing Mikhail...loyal, caring, mysterious, dangerous, dutiful....and always the same thing about how he would never harm you, always be faithful to you, give his life for you. Okay we get it, enough already. The story was still good, and I love vampire stories. I might read the next one if it falls in my lap but I am not rushing out to buy the next one. Which is disappointing because there are alot in this series and I was looking forward to a long stretch of quality reading. Guess I'll keep searching the shelves for something else.
Rating:
Summary: No plot, just sex...
Review: I found this book very hard to get into but kept going since a lot of my friends really like this series. I was looking forward to a series as good as the Anita Blake series; however, so far I am disappointed. As other reviewers state, the hero falls in love with the heroine before they even meet, and he is quite chauvenistic throughout the book and the woman just takes it. It is really quite annoying. There is barely any story to this book. I learned the bare outlines of what a carpathian is and also learned that some people want to kill them. The rest of the book was just sex scene after sex scene.
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