Desert Isle Keeper

Fans of Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series will not be disappointed with the newest in the series. I consider this to be my favorite, even more so than Gregori’s story, Dark Magic. Although I’m not normally a fan of extremely alpha heroes, I accept them in these particular books because Christine Feehan set up the Carpathian race and background so well.

Julian Savage, Carpathian vampire hunter, has one last duty to fulfill before he gives himself over to the dawn and to death. Since he was a young boy, he has lived with a stain on his soul that has kept him separate from other Carpathians, even his twin brother, Aidan from Dark Gold. He can no longer fight that dark stain, or his loneliness, but he plans to fulfill his last mission – he will warn the famous singer, Desari, that she is being targeted by vicious human vampire hunters who will stop at nothing to hurt those they believe are vampires. When Julian finds Desari he also finds his emotions and sees colors again, signaling that he has discovered his lifemate.

Desari is most definitely Julian’s match. She has great powers of her own, which reside in her voice. Her “family” with whom she travels are much more than members of her band; they are extremely close knit and protective of each other. Desari is not happy when a mysterious stranger enters her mind and begins giving her orders!

Unlike the heroines in some of the previous Carpathian books, Desari has power enough to challenge Julian’s dictatorial actions. In my opinion, this is probably the first time in this series that a woman’s power is equal to that of the man. Julian is still arrogant and overbearing, but the struggle between them is more interesting because they are equals. Instead of Julian bending Desari to his will, he learns the fine art of compromise. Julian and Desari actually come together as a team to defeat the nasty bad guy.

My only quibble with this book was the overabundance of love scenes. When I start skimming the love scenes to get back to the plot, I know there are too many. Fewer love scenes and this book would have earned an unreserved A rather than a still-terrific A-.

The secondary characters and side plots captured my interest without overwhelming the main plot, and I hope to meet some of Desari’s family again. I recommend this to fans of the series, and those who like paranormal romances with alpha heroes. It is not particularly necessary to read the books in this series in order; Julian and Desari’s story is an excellent starting point.