Dark Desire (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 2) This book is excellent. It kept me on the edge of my chair the entire time I was reding it. I love Christine Feehan, she can really stimulate the mind.

Great Book I enjoyed the way it was written and the way she sticks with the storyline and not bouncing around.

"Dark Desire" is the 2nd book is a series of stories about the Carpathians. Not evil, but immortal and blooding drinkers, these compelling beings are under attack by true vampires and humans that hunt vampires. Jacques, a Carpathian who is younger brother to the Prince, has been taken captive and torchured by evil men and left in a basement in an abandoned building to suffer for years. He is able to overcome his pain and communicate with a woman who will become his lifemate. This story is interesting and unusually different than the others in the series. I have tried to read the series in order since characters are innerwoven throughout others' storylines. Dark Desire explains a lot about the history of Carpathians, and the physical and metaphysical differences between humans and immortals. Author, Christine Feehan, has a great immagination and writes well.

"Dark Desire" is the 2nd book is a series of stories about the Carpathians. Not evil, but immortal and blooding drinkers, these compelling beings are under attack by true vampires and humans that hunt vampires. Jacques, a Carpathian who is younger brother to the Prince, has been taken captive and torchured by evil men and left in a basement in an abandoned building to suffer for years. He is able to overcome his pain and communicate with a woman who will become his lifemate. This story is interesting and unusually different than the others in the series. I have tried to read the series in order since characters are innerwoven throughout others' storylines. Dark Desire explains a lot about the history of Carpathians, and the physical and metaphysical differences between humans and immortals. Author, Christine Feehan, has a great immagination and writes well.

Even after everything he'd been through, I had a hard time liking Jacques and I wanted to like him. He'd been so sweet and giving in Dark Prince, you just knew his story was going to be an easy one.

Boy was I wrong, but pleasantly surprised. Christine (funny, that I feel like I know her!) really made me WORK at getting to a place where I could even feel sorry for Jacques. That kept me turning pages.

You'll be rooting for him by the end!

What jacques goes through really gets to you. This story is about a love that stands through thick and thin. Jacques needs Shea just as much as she needs him. This novel is well written and filled with enough drama for an emotional roller coaster ride.

Write on, read on
N.M. Phillips

Dark Desire happens aproximatelly 25 years after Dark Prince, the first book of the series, and is the story of Jacques Dubrinski and Shea O'Halloran. He is your standard tormented anti-heroe, uber-dangerous and sexy, and she is the flawless woman (beautiful, compassionate, intelectually perfect) who will fall for his flaws and heal him. Not that there is any other chance: she is his lifemate, whether she wants to be or not, so it's a done deal and the reader knows that just by reading the intro.

So much perfection, clichés and predictability take a heavy toll on any book.

The romance happens in unbeliavable situations at times, which takes quite a toll on the story. The concepts of sharing of blood and sex, when being described as so intimate by the author, should be more carefully placed on the story instead of being used so repeatedly and many times without another reason than: "That's just how Carpathian males are" or "It's that kind of book, so people want to read about romance."

Dark Desire is still a lot better than its predecessor though, because the characters are better writen, the story is there and there is actually a plot. The writer took much better care of building a story and a background to the characters. Unfortunately, the dialogues remain repetitive, and it's fairly easy to tell where it is heading. Read the first book, and you've read them all in terms of how the relatioship develops between the two main characters. Thus, the chances of buying a third book are remote.

All in all though, it's still enjoyable, but do not expect any sort of intelectual stimulation from this book.

It is not the typical romance but I loved it. This is a good change and I could not put it down.

Jacques is a tormented/tortured hero, and Shea is a heroine clearly in over her head, but the two make for a wonderful story. I can't wait to read the newest book in the series.

For all of us who miss the Buffy the Vampire Series and believe that there ARE other species of goodness out there this is the series to read. I enjoyed the storyline, the passionate love and connection between the couple and hope that others discover this series.

I thought this was one of the best Dark series books. The story was very dramatic and pulled you right in. I couldn't stop reading it. In her other books, the Carpathians are strong men, although they are ready to turn to the dark side or kill themselves just before they find their lifemates. In this book, the hero Jacques, has been buried alive and tortured for 7 years. He's basically insane when Shea finds him, and can't remember any of his family including his brother Mikhail and best friend Byron when they try to help him. It was an awesome book and quite different from the rest of Feehan's books.

The Carpathians (Dark) Series:
(First 10 titles in the series listed here)

Dark Prince

Dark Desire

Dark Gold

Dark Magic

Dark Challenge

Dark Fire

Dark Legend

Dark Guardian

Dark Melody

Dark Destiny


Quick note: If you haven't already read it, I'd suggest starting this series from the first book, "Dark Prince". "Dark Desire" will have much more meaning after reading "Dark Prince".


The second book in the series, this story wasn't as good as the first. It still had characters and parts that kept me intrigued. The Carpathian males are very hot and their world is enticingly erotic. The only turn- off for me is in the fact that they must mate with human women who will never fully accept their lifestyle. This means that the Carp males have to become different men... modernized and tamed with conventional beliefs. I can't find anything about that enjoyable. I read paranormals to escape to ordinary.

Our hero in "Dark Desire" is Jacques, younger brother of the Carpathian prince from book one, "Dark Prince". He was light-hearted and youthful in the DP. DD begins 25 years after DP ends. Jacques has spent the last 7 years of that time imprisoned in a coffin that is sealed in a wall underground. He is immortal, so he can't die. Chained and starved, he doesn't have the strength to release himself. Surviving on bugs and rats, Jacques slowly falls into madness. In his telepathic visions, he sees a female that he believes to be partly responsible for his torture. Little by little, Jacques uses what strength he has to compel to the woman, bringing her to him to release him.

Shea is an extremely intelligent doctor in the United States. She spends most of her time researching a blood disease that causes people to need regular blood transfusions. She has a personal interest in finding a cure. She suffers from the disease herself. Crazed people who tend to believe in legends are hunting her, accusing her of being a vampire. She must prove that she, and others who suffer from the disease, are not the "undead" creatures from "Dracula" movies. Something is calling her towards the legendary Carpathian mountains. She knows her absentee father was originally from the area. She hopes that she might find the answers to her blood illness in his home territory. After living there in hiding for several months, she finds herself in an underground cavern. She is compelled to dig into the earth walls. She finds a coffin with a man inside who has obviously been recently tortured, killed, and buried there. She believes he was a fellow victim of the blood disease, whom was captured by the legend fanatics. When she realizes he is still alive, she uses her medical knowledge to save him. She doesn't know that he has plans to avenge his torture by draining her of her life's blood.

Before long, Jacques learns that this woman is not his enemy, but his true lifemate. After years of being completely alone, he can't bare the thought of her leaving him. He uses his enthralling abilities to compel her into bonding with him. Now he must convince her to want to stay. He can't survive without her. Worse, should he lose her, the world would become victim to his madness. Only Shea can keep him grounded in reality. Jacques will hunt the people who intend to kill Shea. No one will take her from him.

Mikhail, prince of the Carpathians, has learned that Jacques is alive. After thinking him dead for 7 years, Mikhail is blood thirsty for the people who entrapped and tortured his younger brother. When he locates Jacques, Mikhail finds a woman standing over him with blood on her hands. This woman will die. Mikhail prays that Jacques' madness will not prove a threat to his race, which would mean that his little brother would also have to die. Calling to his side the powerful Carpathian healer, Gregori, Mikhail will do whatever it takes to save Jacques and avenge his suffering.


With all of that going on, you'd think the story would move quickly. Unfortunately, the building relationship between Jacques and Shea (the part of the story that you would expect to be most interesting) slowed the story down a lot. It got old reading about Shea's rejection of Jacques' people and their way of life. Worse, it was all exactly the same as the heroine from "Dark Prince". I was reading the same heroine's story all over again, but with a different hero character. These women weren't forced to stay, but chose to. However, Shea threatened to deny Jacques children if he didn't agree to change his beliefs to match her own. She rejected his people's beliefs about everything from child- rearing, to health-care, to nourishment, to participating in battles to protect the Carpathians from human and vampire enemies. I understand she comes from the human world, but she is entering the Carpathian world. As I mentioned before, I don't enjoy seeing this paranormal world watered down with modern human ideals. The magic makes the story.


If you want to read the whole series, here is a link to the first book:

Dark Prince (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 1)

and the next 9 books, after "Dark Desire":

Dark Gold (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 3)

Dark Magic (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 4)

Dark Challenge (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 5)

Dark Fire (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 6)

Dark Legend (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 7)

Dark Guardian (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 8)

Dark Symphony (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 9)

Dark Melody (The Carpathians (Dark) Series, Book 10)

this second in her series is MUCH better than the original. I am glad Jacques keep after Ms Feehan's mind to tell his story properly. We get both male and female heros and such love and understanding we all wish for. Looking forward to the remaining set of Carpathian novels.

This is Dr. Shea and Jacques story.

Jacques had barely kept control of his mind after being buried alive for 7 years. He was able to telepathically communicate with Shea (and there's a reason for it), but she was unsure about her mental state herself and questioned what she was hearing.

It took her SEVIN years to finally follow her mind and that was practically forced upon her.

I liked this story. It starts right off and moves along. Nicely written and edited.

Another enjoyable read from Christine Feehan. I have enjoyed the entire series and await more to come.

If the whole vampire thing was my cup of tea, this series would definitely have me hooked. The fact that I've read "Dark Prince" and "Dark Desire" comes as a complete surprise to those who know me; so much so that four people started reading this series and are enjoying it.

"Dark Desire" takes off where "Dark Prince" ends. Though "Dark Desire" can stand alone, reading enjoyment is enhanced by having read background information in "Dark Prince."

Jacques Dubrinsky, younger brother to Mikhail Dubrinsky Prince of the Carpathians (Dark Prince) has been captured, tortured, and left for dead. Shea O'Halloran is more than his rescuer and lifemate. She fills in a few misplaced and/or missing puzzle pieces from "Dark Prince"; pieces readers may not have realized existed. Their story is intense, emotional, and builds further on the Carpathian species and existence while setting the stage for future stories. The whole: Carpathians as a different "species" - not human; alpha, primal, shape-shifter that can run as/with wild animals (including wolves and owls); with principal objective & actions center on the need to protect their lifemates and children on a primal or animalistic level. Again, their "alpha" mentality and behavior, may be off-putting to some, bit adds to their wild-animalistic, whole-other-species nature. Failure to view Carpathians as another species and humanize them instead detracts from the uniqueness and creativity involved in creating this whole other species, culture, and way of existence.

This is a wonderful paranormal with drama, feeling, action, explanations, and more questions sure to continue to draw readers further in the Carpathian world.

I thought that it was a very good read. I liked the fact that it was very dark and disturbing, as one would expect from a vampire theme. Readers should be prepared for the amount of blood in this book. Rivers of it, literally. Every single character involved in this book were either drinking blood, feeding others with their blood or simply bleeding from their always near fatal wounds. Come to think of it, on every page from beginning until the very end someone was always feeding or bleeding. Perhaps this book is not for everyone, but I thought that is was very different from the other books in the same category, and so I liked it a lot.

It is a good book. It follows the series well, the plot stays with the ones that come before it.
The sex scenes are too drawn out, the story line is good though. I have become accustom to skipping the 3-4 page long sex and then starting to read again.
I'll continure to buy the dark series, just because I like the stories.

It is a good book. It follows the series well, the plot stays with the ones that come before it.
The sex scenes are too drawn out, the story line is good though. I have become accustom to skipping the 3-4 page long sex and then starting to read again.
I'll continure to buy the dark series, just because I like the stories.

This is another exciting tale in the Carpathian saga. The characters were wonderful and the plot was exciting. I expected no less than excellence from this author and she has lived up to those expectations with this book.The love scenes were steamy and well written and the scenes outside the bedroom were enchanting and kept me engaged.5 huge stars for this book. I wish I could give it more!

This is another exciting tale in the Carpathian saga. The characters were wonderful and the plot was exciting. I expected no less than excellence from this author and she has lived up to those expectations with this book.The love scenes were steamy and well written and the scenes outside the bedroom were enchanting and kept me engaged.5 huge stars for this book. I wish I could give it more!

I found this book to be very good. Jacques is a brilliant character who has suffered so much, but when Shea comes for him and saves him, I just found that to be a brilliant plot. The ending is so happy for them! I wish I could write more about it, but I don't want to spoil it for you!

I found this book to be very good. Jacques is a brilliant character who has suffered so much, but when Shea comes for him and saves him, I just found that to be a brilliant plot. The ending is so happy for them! I wish I could write more about it, but I don't want to spoil it for you!

I've read all of the books for this series to date, and I must say that this is one of the better story lines. I'm a sucker for a truly tormented hero, and Jacques fits that role pretty well. His character transformation from what it was in Dark Prince makes him such an interesting character. It was almost shocking to see what had become of the once light-hearted Carpathian after his torture. Don't miss this book! I would recommend reading Dark Prince first though in order to get some background on Jacques so that one can really grasp the changes that takes place in him.

I must admit I did not expect Jacques story to be filled with madness from how he was protrayed in the first novel, but ti was a most wonderful surprise. This book touches on the darker side of a Carpathian's mind and shows how much they do in fact need their other half...their light. A must read for all Feehan's fans!

Bloody, dark and brooding, but good book. You really feel for Jaquces and his stuggle to regain his sanity.

I was really disappointed by this book. I've read several Feehan books and short stories and this book has had pretty good reviews, so I figured I would enjoy it.

Sadly, I was wrong.

Where was the story? Where was the passion? Where was the climax (ehhem! of the story!)? The "bad guy" was discovered and destroyed in what seemed like 5 pages. The leading lady just annoyed me because she was always in denial about what she was and had to resist everything. Half of the book was spent trying to get the two characters to meet. When I had finished the book I thought "where was the story? that's it?!?" The only thing this book accomplished was introducing new/upcoming story lines which sound more interesting than this book.

I feel bad that I didn't enjoy this book because off Feehan's little FYI on why she wrote this, but I just couldn't get into it. It took me 2 weeks to read this book when I usually finish one in 2 days! I'd say read this book if you can rent or borrow it, but save yourself the $! This isn't one you need to add to your collection.

I have to say, that this was another book I highly enjoyed after reading the first in the series, "Dark Prince."

Despite the fact that there really wasn't too much romance in the story, I really liked it, especially the continueation of what happens with Raven, Mikhail, and Gregori.

Any of the "good charachters" in the story I really liked except for the main charachter, Shea, who is a surgeon.

I am really not fond of the whole patient/doctor relationship thing, so that is why I give this four stars instead of five. Also, Shea really gets on my nerves. She is just one of those charachters I really don't like and she's kind of stuck up in the doctor kind of way in that she thinks that her ideas and facts are more important than anyone elses. Also, one minute she'll dislike Jaques (her lover) and the second, she's in bed with him.

Either way, I still had a hard time putting this book down, and I still highly recommend it to people who Christine Feehan. Also, I'm sure that others who like the whole doctor and patient fall in love scenario will enjoy this book a bit more than I did.

If anyone is new to the Dark series by Christine Feehan, you absolutely need to READ DARK PRINCE FIRST. Feehan introduces a new race of paranormal humans, and you need to know what about their Carpathian/vampire universe. Also, what happens in this book deals directly with what happened in Dark Prince. Dark Desire is not standalone. After Dark Prince you can almost pick up any of the other books.

Dark Desire has very little romance in it, so if you want to see some romance, don't bother. It's just one big pool of blood and torture. People are strangled, stabbed, staked, shot, mangled, manacled, healed and then injured again, bitten, bled...it just doesn't stop! Oh, and they have a lot of sex even whey they are still bleeding. Whatever.

And you almost need a scorecard and a handy family tree to piece together who did what and which people are being healed and by whom, and who else is near death at any particular moment. Not that I want to be babied through a book, but everything happens awfully fast. and it seems that way too much goes unsaid with these people, as if Feehan didn't bother to organize the nebulous mass in her head. There are too many characters and too many sideplots. Think of it as a cross between a gorefest and a soap opera.

Suffice it to say that everyone is okay in the end. So now you can get this from the library and skim to the sideplots that you're interested in. (for me that's the Gergori subplot). On the whole it's not a disaster, but NOT great in terms of a romance.

A little Different than the rest. Good for a change of feeling to the series, something different bt familiar.

I liked this installment in the dark series because it dealt with Carpathian instability. Many levels of mental instability were explored both through Shea's character and that of Jacques.

It turns out that Jacques the would be heir to the Carpathian Prince-dom lost his mind because of torture by the vampire/ hunters, then being buried alive. Does that give him the right to abuse his would be lifemate? You be the judge.

Shea is the daughter of an insane Carpathian male whom caused several disgusting endings to more than one "cherished" female. Finally, he has turned vampire,, What should Shea do with this information?

Although the assorted Carpathians came and rallied around the couple; one can not help but wonder if they took more than they gave? These among many other questions are left to the individual reader to claim rights or wrongs.

In the end, Jacques and Shea had each other, which is truly a good thing BUT,, what of trust of family and friends? That trust was severly trampled in this book, even though Ms. Feehan does explain how and why the Jacques kidnap happened.

In any case,, happy reading, its a good book and worth your notice in my opinion.

This book is simply horrible. Repetitive dialogue and situations. Characters that just make you groan and roll your eyes.

I've read two by this author and she's just awful. Both books used the same lines over and over again. The stories chased their tails in circles half the time. Dull, repetitive and annoying.

This book is simply horrible. Repetitive dialogue and situations. Characters that just make you groan and roll your eyes.

I've read two by this author and she's just awful. Both books used the same lines over and over again. The stories chased their tails in circles half the time. Dull, repetitive and annoying.

Ok...so everyone is getting wounded in this tale from Feehan. Seems like no one stays in one piece and about 1/3 of this book is fixing people up and giving each other blood. Shea is abused, injured, throat ripped out, and second degree burns caused by the sun ... well...in my opinion none of this should happen because it isn't very well address or even believably described. Jacques is badly wounded and this surgeon (Shea) ....while in the middle of the woods in a third world country and on the run from people who want to kill her...sets up an operating room just in case anyone may need surgery while they happen by her isolated cottage. HUH??? Is this a joke?

So wonder what happens to the hero and heroine? Well if you ever read a Feehan ....exactly the same thing that happens in all her books.

So why do I keep buying them? I ask myself over and over again WHY? Feehan does put a lot of energy into that first two or three chapters. I always believe that I am going to LOVE it, that this book will be different, but she gets into her same old routine and nothing new EVER happens.

I disliked the violence Jacques occasionally displayed towards Shea, with his 'insanity' serving as an excuse. Particularly in the scenes at the beginning of the book, such as where Jacques meets his brother again, the abuse was too much to ever allow Jacques to be a likeable, or even tolerable, character. This was my least favourite of all her Dark series books.

This was a very good book and I highly recommend it. I use to be a Julia Garwood fan now all I can dream of is carpathian men. It is hard for me to imagine how anyone could not like this series.

I won't go into the details of the story because the reviewers before me have done an excellent job doing that. I can only add what I think about this book. Dark Desire is not a literature piece; the writing is very simple and lacks style. It is definitely not a book for enlightenment. But that does not prevent it to be extremely entertaining; I have to agree with the other reviewers that the story is captivating. Once you start the book you won't be able to do anything else until you finish it. There is always something going on. There isn't a page where you can say "ok, I'll stop here and continue later". I have to warn you: you won't be able to stop. It is a very enjoyable book.
Like I said before, some of the writing is quite bad, but the author can still express intense feelings and relationships between the characters. And this is one of the things that make the book so addictive, you end up attached to the characters and their stories and want to know what happens with them.
I encourage you to read Dark Prince first since that's the first book in the series, and Dark Desire is the second. It's good to read Dark Prince first because many of the characters from that book reappear in Dark Desire and you will be able to understand them more if you previously read the first book. But, although you'll get more out of the story by reading the books in order, you will still be able to enjoy it if you just read it by itself.
I give this book 5 stars because although the writing is quite poor, this is just a book to enjoy and live the moment. And for that it is excellent!
Finally, I have to say that the book has many "scenes" of passionate love, so if you are one of those who "blush" easily, maybe this book is not for you...

My daughter and I are so excited that we found Christine Feehan. We have recently finished purchasing all of her "Dark Series". I believe that in itself is the best rating that I could give her.

We found that each of her books are a fabulous read, although Dark Desire so far is my favourite. It holds you. You feel the charactors, you envission the settings. I found I couldn't/wouldn't put it down, so for a few days the house work was ignored. These books are a must buy!!

IT'S A WONDERFUL STORY, I'VE ENJOYED A LOT READING IT, AFTER THIS AND "DARK PRINCE" I NEEDED ABSOLUTLY MORE...I'VE BOUGHT
EVERY BOOK OF CHRISTINE FEEHAN.

My only gripe about this novel is that it is much too repetitive. I swear phrases and sentences are used 4 or 5 times too much. I don't understand why Feehan does this - maybe to add more pages.

Other than that, the idea is good, I thought the characters were fine, and the writing is fine in some instances as well. If Feehan could just stop hammering the same thing over and over again it the novel would be better.

fast book to read, kept my interest, not overly sexually explicted. Charming, good time!

Jacques will keep on your toes. Just the thought that he just might turn and finish with his lifemate Shea life, kept me reading until I was done. Hope you will enjoy the book as much as I did.

Very good chemistry between Shea and Jaques. She isn't a doormat and is brave enough to try to help him, even though he is nearly (Ok, TOTALLY) mad from torture.

Like others have said, there is a bit more banter and humor in this book which makes it a fun read. There is also fore-shadowing of Gregori's future lifemate.

Nice escapism reading with those sexy, uber-alpha-macho (but Oh-so-loving) Carpathian males.

In this second book in the Dark Series, we see what happened twenty-five years after the first human female has been turned into Carpathian. Although you wouldn't be lost in the plot if you haven't read DARK PRINCE, I think reading it first would provide a richer understanding of the Carpathian world.

Betrayed by his own kind, Jacques Dubrinsky suffers extreme torture in the hands of fanatical vampire hunters who are out to destroy them. Maddened by the pain and sufferings they inflicted on him, and thinking that his friends and family have deliberately abandoned him, Jacques is now a shadow of his former self, with hardly any memory of the past. His only companion in the darkness is a woman who shared his mind.

Shea O'Halloran is a brilliant doctor with a psychic gift. When she inadvertently connects with Jacques, she is since haunted by his image. And when she once again finds herself running away from those fanatics who accuse her of being a vampire, she finds herself in the Carpathian Mountains unaware that her subconscious has responded to Jacques' call. When she finally finds him, the healer and savior in her feels compelled to nurse him back to recovery.

Because Shea thought that Jacques shares her rare blood disorder, unaware that there is more to their connection, she never gave much thought about how he managed to survive all these years. But as Jacques slowly regains his power, the beast in him grows stronger and more dangerous. And while he still cannot piece the puzzle of his past together, he is certain of one thing - the need to protect his lifemate who is the lightness to his darkness.

DARK DESIRE is a great follow up to the first book. It is as captivating and sensual although the violence is a little bit more graphic. I found that this is also more humorous than the first one and the witty exchanges between Mikhail and Gregory are funny. I laughed so much on the part when Mikhail tells Gregori that Shea obviously had brains after telling Gregori that she thinks he looks like an ax murderer. Another part is when Gregori says Mikhail looks as reassuring as a Bengal tiger, to which Mikhail answers "Oh, and you look like a bunny rabbit".

Although there are some scenes that lagged a bit, this is a well-written story and the reference to Aidan and Gregori sets up the pace for the next two books. I enjoyed reading this and I am now truly hooked and can't wait to start the next book, which is DARK GOLD.