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Book Review of Dark Secret (Carpathians (Dark), Bk 12)

Dark Secret (Carpathians (Dark), Bk 12)
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This book tells the story of Rafael de la Cruz and Colby Jansen, a mismatched pair who struggle with their relationship after Rafael, a Carpathian, binds them together in the manner of his people. Colby is a rancher, a tomboy, looking after her two younger siblings and struggling to keep her ranch afloat when Rafael barges into her life and up-ends everything, helping her out financially and saving her ranch but also introducing her to a world of vampires, Carpathians, and Dragonseekers that terrifies her. They have quite a struggle to get along, these two, and I admit theirs is my least favorite romance of the series. Rafael is too domineering jerk and Colby is all over the place, weepy one minute, rebellious the next. She's a bit of a dim-wit and appears incapable of thinking even five minutes ahead about the consequences of any action she takes. I had a hard time caring about her and Rafael the way I cared about Lara and Nicholas in "Dark Curse" or Natalya and Vikirnoff in "Dark Demon", one of my favorite of the "Dark" series, where you can actually see the couples slowly falling in love.

On the plus side, Christine Feehan explores the world around the Carpathians more deeply and has some interesting bits of history and back-story, and the climax of the book is excitingly written, with a really scary villain and some imaginative underground battles. If you like the "Dark" series then "Dark Secret" contains information you will want to know, even if the romance is, in my opinion, not the most satisfying of the series.