Dark SlayerA rumor has persisted in the vampire world of a dark slayer—a woman—who travels with a wolf pack and who destroys any vampire who crosses her path. Mysterious, elusive and seemingly impossible to kill, she is the one hunter who strikes terror into the hearts of the undead.
She is Ivory Malinov. Her only brethren, the wolves. Long ago betrayed by her people, abandoned by her family, and cast out by everyone she held dear, Ivory has lived a century without companionship or love. She has sustained her sanity by the habit of the hunt and the custom of the feeding. Until the night she picks up the scent of a man, her unexpected salvation. Her lifemate. The curse of all Carpathian women.
He is Razvan. Branded a criminal, detested and feared, he is a dragonseeker borne of one of the greatest Carpathian lineages, only to be raised as its most despised—and captive—enemy. Fleeing from his lifetime of imprisonment, Razvan now seeks the dawn to end his terrible existence. Instead he has found his deliverance in the Dark Slayer.
In spirit, in flesh and blood, in love, and in war, Ivory and Razvan are made for each other. For as long as they dare to live.
REVIEW: I have been reading this series for years and loved it, however the last couple of books have been real duds for me. The last book that I read in this series that I enjoyed was Dark Celebration. I read Manolito’s story (Dark Possession) okay I have to insert this here as his name always makes me laugh and here’s why, she has put together an english word ‘man’ and a spanish ending ‘lito’ together, not super uncommon, however this is where I find it funny, ‘ito’ is almost always added to make something smaller ‘hijito’ means ‘little son’ so when ever I read his name I always think ‘little man’. Okay back on topic, I also read Lara and Nicolae’s story in Dark Curse because they were in the series, but I didn’t enjoy them.
I went into this book with no expectations. In fact it has been out for quite sometime and the only real reason that I read it now instead of waiting for it on paperback is because I needed to read a Christine Feehan book for my RomCon reading challenge. So I picked it up from the library and started reading it at the salon while I was getting my hair done, and was immediately drawn in and had to stay up late to finish it.
In the previous books in this series the man is ALWAYS in charge, very dominant and very Alpha male, deciding as soon as they meet their lifemates to bind them together, sometimes without her permission, and as soon as that happens the sex starts and there is a lot of sex.
This book wasn’t like that at all. In fact it was very refreshing to read of an Alpha male that understands exactly how strong and capable his lifemate is.
Ivory Malinov was thought to be dead by the Carpathian people, and she likes it that way. Over the centuries she has become very powerful, both as a warrior and as someone that has studied Xavier and his power. She has spent centuries studying him, she lives for one thing and one thing only the destruction of Xavier.
Razvan is thought to be a traitor and the Carpathian’s biggest enemy, he is found half dead after escaping Xavier his grandfather after centuries of captivity, where he was made to do unspeakable things to those that he loves. Now all he wants to do is greet the sun.
When Ivory stumbles across Razvan laying in the snow, at first all she see’s is that he is a Dragonseeker, and then she recognizes him as her lifemate, she knows that as soon as she talks he will know that she is his lifemate, however she is unable to keep silent and he knows that she is his lifemate.
Now this is what I liked about this book, they knew that they were each others lifemates, however Razvan refused to bind her to him because he could put her at risk, even after he is no longer linked to Xavier, and also because he knows that she would be uncomfortable with it. Also instead of this book taking place over a short time it takes place over months, allowing them to really get to know each other.
Due to injuries that they both sustain while fighting the vampires Ivory convinces him to bind them. They then spend weeks in the ground, only able to communicate with their minds, and are able to share everything with each other. I liked this part of the book best I think because we were able to watch and see their relationship develop, with out all the sex, and sexual tension.
One of the best parts of this book I think is when Savannah goes into labor adn we get to see a side of Gregori that we have never seen before. My only complaint about this part is that one of the things that is stressed about in this series is family relationships and also how a hunter can’t and won’t leave his lifemate or children, and yet when he needs his family most none of Gregori’s siblings are mentioned at all. I can’t imagine Gabriel leaving Francesca and Skyler and yet no mention is made at all of him, Lucian, Darius and Desari.
Other than this, I really enjoyed the book and thought that this was one of the best books in the series. I do have to say that as this book ended I felt like Ms. Feehan is beginning to wind down the series, now this is just my opinion on the matter.
I give this book a 4.5 out of 5
