The combination of a tortured and vampire hero was too much for this reviewer to resist. I devoured (pardon the pun) this book in one sitting. This romance is not for the faint of heart, however. It has one of the most tortured hero and heroine pairings I’ve ever discovered, and there are elements of blood and gore, including torture.

Jacques is a Carpathian male (not an actual vampire), which means he must drink blood to survive. (True vampires are Carpathians who have given themselves over to blood lust, and kill when they take blood.) Carpathians also have other special talents such as telepathy, but at a few hundred years of age, the men lose their ability to feel and see colors. Only when matched with their true mates do these lost senses return. To compound the Carpathians’ troubles, there hasn’t been a female Carpathian born in hundreds of years. Jacques is a younger Carpathian male, with memories of his emotions, making him one of the lighter-hearted males. At least he was in Dark Prince, the first book in the series.

Jacques has since been betrayed and captured by a vampire. He endures seven painful years of torture, during which time he is unable to mentally contact any other Carpathians. His only link is with a human female, Shea O’Halloren. Jacques’ reaction to the torture is described in excruciating detail.

In Dark Desire, the heroine matches the hero torture for torture. Her mother withdrew emotionally from Shea when she was very young. She knows not the identity of her father, and her mother killed herself when Shea turned 18, and was old enough to be on her own. She has a disease which requires her to have a blood transfusion daily, and has sult herself off from the world, throwing herself into her work as a surgeon. When she starts having nightmares about Jacques, she merely hopes they will go away.

After a series of events that lead Shea to believe she is in danger, she travels to Europe, and feels drawn to an area in the Carpathian mountains. There she (literally) digs up Jacques. He is a bizarre medical mystery to her, and she attempts to heal the horrible injuries he has suffered.

Jacques has no memory of who or what he is, his mind is all but shattered. Shea is the only person with whom he can communicate, and by doing so, refuses to be parted from her. Shea has her own mental powers, and is drawn to Jacques, against her wishes to isolate herself from everyone.

Shea and Jacques’ story was compelling and painful at the same time. Jacques is hanging onto his sanity by a thread, and Shea is waiting to die from her disease. She does not want to accept the reality of her identity and start living. The other Carpathians, which make an appearance in this story, basically force her to live for Jacques’ sake.

These two do achieve their happy ending, although for some reason, this author has given both the heroines of Dark Prince and Dark Desire a fear of the most basic of Carpathian needs, (other than the need for blood). This left me wondering if these couples could truly have happy endings, when the women are denying their own natures.

Nevertheless, once I entered Shea and Jacques’ relationship, I was compelled to finish their story. I am looking forward to another late night when the next book is released.