I have no words. Honestly, that’s how I feel, but we all know that’s crap. I know it’s been a while, so I’ll start with the good and weave in what I didn’t like or what could’ve made this book so much better. Before we hop on this rollercoaster, let’s get the norm out of the way.
Let’s start with the basics. Dark Ghost is a love story, mostly.
Monk. Bounty hunter. Vampire slayer. Andre Boroi has spent centuries battling the undead, holding out against the dark with honor. But now, gravely wounded by master vampire Costin Popescu, Andre will be easy to track. His only chance is to disappear into the gray mist of the Carpathians. To wait. To hope.
In the mountains in search of a precious crystal, geologist Teagan Joanes suddenly finds herself hunted by those she once trusted. Then she comes across the warrior—wounded, wanting and irresistible. Andre has been craving her for an eternity: his lifemate. Her warmth envelops him. Her scent pulsates. And with every beat of her heart, Teagan surrenders to a passion she can’t possibly comprehend…
We’re almost to the point of no return. This is your ONE and ONLY warning, spoilers ahead! Continue reading at your own risk.
I’m sitting here, trying to come up with one thing I liked about this story and the only thing I can come up with feels like a joke. Like seriously, who only likes the overall story? But it’s all I’ve got. I spent half of the book confused because I had no idea what exactly Andre was or how a Carpathian differentiated from a vampire. In the first chapter, it was made clear that Andre, a Carpathian, hunted vampires, but I had no idea why, since they seemed quite similar. Allergic to the sun. Feeding on blood. Long claws. But straight up, Andre says, “The same society [vampire-hunting society] killed Carpathians and vampires alike, without distinguishing between the two” (Feehan, 52). So? What’s the difference? I really would’ve liked to know around this time.
Yes, I know this is like book 27 in the series, which I guess just means Feehan never expected anyone would start in the middle of the series or toward the end. I’m not sure how many books there actually are. And if this wasn’t on the reading list for my romance class, I probably still could’ve started somewhere in the middle. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Moving on. You know, my favorite part of any romance book is the sex scenes. I can say it. Hell, I even said it was my favorite part to write! So, of course, I’m extremely judgmental and expect that the sex is going to be off the chain. Like serious mind-blowing sex. I was SUPER disappointed in the sex between Andre and Teagan. Let me back up five seconds here. It gets made quite clearly that BOTH Andre and Teagan are virgins. Yes, VIRGINS! Teagan even says, “she had never kissed a man before” (Feehan, 74). She’s in her twenties, this story takes place in current society; how is this even remotely possible? Then you have this centuries old Carpathian and he was educated on coitus. He tells Teagan, “I know what to do, Teagan” (Feehan, 91). For real?
Okay. Let me get off my soapbox. Because I’m fairly certain that I’ve given you enough information to tell you how frustrated I was with this book. Teagan was whiny as hell, Andre was demanding (but I was kind of okay with that … to a point), very little about them was believable and Feehan repeated SO MUCH. How many times in the story was it necessary for the reader to know how lonely Andre was or how out of character all of this was for Teagan? OMG! I cannot tell you the number of times I wanted to throw the book and it was just because I couldn’t deal with hearing that crap one more time.
At this point, I would normally add in a few more of my favorite lines, but I didn’t have any. None. Yeah. This was not a book I would’ve normally chosen for myself. Feehan could’ve done so much better with this. Since I picked up book 27 in the series, I can’t attest to whether or not she’s bored with the series or if her writing has just gotten worse over the years. This is the only Feehan book I’ve ever read and I’m kind of hoping it’s not a representation of all of her work.
Like I said, it was a decent story, but it needs a lot of work to be AH-MAZING. If only the author had taken the time to get it there.
Given everything I’ve said, my overall rating is … 2 stars.
Brigit Rosé 