Dark Illusion (A Carpathian Novel) book 33 by Christine Feehan.
Description…..
At any other time, Julija Brennan would find solace in the quiet of the Sierra Mountains, but now the mage is in the race of her life. Having broken free from her controlling family, Julija’s attempts to warn the Carpathians of the coming threat has failed and put a target on her back—and those who hunt her are close behind…
After centuries locked away in a monastery in the Carpathian Mountains, Isai Florea can’t believe he’s finally found his lifemate—the missing half of his soul. The second he sees Julija his world blazes with color. But despite their explosive connection Julija rebels against what she sees as Isai’s intent to control her and rejects the bond that would prevent him from becoming a monster.
As their unfulfilled bond continues to call to them both, Julija and Isai aim to complete the task that brought them together. They are used to facing danger alone, but now the mage and the ancient warrior must learn how to rely on each other in order to stop a plot that threatens all Carpathians…
My Review…..
As you may or may not know, this is an ongoing series (book 33) I’ve written reviews for all the previous books.
The Carpathians now know they are being hunted into extinction, they know who their main adversary is, but another threat is coming towards them, will they overcome this one? Or will it see the end of the Carpathian race?
Isai is centuries old, he has lived in the monastery for many, many years. After fighting the vampire and serving his prince and people, he’s a danger to the humans and Carpathian’s, so he retreats to the Monastery, living there till the end of his days.
Julija put her own life at risk. She knew if she said she would be caught, but she couldn’t leave that woman on her own, couldn’t leave her to suffer …..
After escaping the evil hands of a master vampire, (with the help of a band of Carpathian warriors) Julija has a promise to keep, she is needed elsewhere (and the fact she’s scared of the warriors doesn’t help) but she promises Elisabetha (the Carpathian female captured by the vampire) that she will be back, she will help her friend to find her way in this new world…..
But when Isai and Julija meet, it’s not the best start for either of them. And it’s like that through most of the book, the distrust and miscommunication between the couple is a major stumbling block. I did wonder if this would be the first couple to actually not make it!! Isai thinks Julija can’t be trusted, she knew she was a “lifemate” to a Carpathian, and yet she still ran. Julija only wants to find the Dark Mage’s spell book, it needs destroying, she knows her duty, but Isai is making her question her beliefs, when she’s not wanting to kill or maim him!!
They begin their mated life searching for a book, it’s a powerful spell book (in fact it’s been in play since Vikirnoff and Natalya’s book “Dark Demon”
The book if opened by a vampire could mean the end of the carpathian race, and humans would be at the mercy of the vampires and their terrible thirst!!!
Julija and Isai have to work through their distrust of one another, yes they know they belong together, but boy it’s hard work!! She’s a powerful mage, he’s an ancient warrior, together they should be unstoppable (if they can work together)
I liked this one, yes it’s edgier and darker. But this series is all about the evil that lurks beneath us, it’s a dark and scary series. And it’s lost it’s way with a few of the previous books, but I feel we are back on the path, we know the enemy, the Carpathian people are pulling together, the hunters can’t hunt alone anymore, they are being targeted. Even their homes aren’t safe. I did wonder when we lost Xavier (very evil mage) if we would lose our way (and we did for a while) we could have waited for a few stories, we could have had a few of the books as short stories. But we are where we are. I love this series, and unless anything major happens that i really don’t like, I think I will be reading until the end.
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