Christine Feehan's Blog - Posts Tagged "carpathian"

Yes, there’s sex in my books. Some of the books have more than others. Some have sex that’s more erotic than others. I write romance. And, frankly, I think there’s nothing wrong with sex. It’s a part of nature. It’s human. It’s a way to express how you feel for someone. Or a way to show them that you want to take care of them.

I know some people skip sex scenes and some of them love intimate scenes. Both of those reactions are absolutely fine and correct because they are personal choices.

My leopard books are particularly wild and erotic. They have to be. I do extensive research on leopards and the characters, who shift into leopards, would need to possess some of those traits. They are passionate. And they are animalistic in the way they behave. It makes sense for the sex scenes in these to be more erotic and intense.


My Sea Haven books, the Drake Sisters and the Sisters of the Heart also have sex in them. And yes it is also passionate. But, it’s not raw, wild sex in the same sense as the leopard books are.


Sex has to make sense according to the character. Who they are, what they believe, what they feel, their life-filters, their situation. I don’t put in sex just for the sake of having sex in my books. It is meaningful. It adds to the overall story of the characters. It’s there for a reason; to be part of a beautiful story of love.

In a monastery high in the Carpathian Mountains is a brotherhood of warriors. All they have left is their honor and each other. Unlike many others of their kind who were sent out in the world by their Prince in order to find their lifemates and protect the human race from vampires, they came here to learn how to protect the human race, from themselves. Time would take from them their ability to see in color, and once the pull of the darkness ended, leaving them without emotion, they’d become too dangerous to be among even their own kind, so they sought the monastery.



These ancient warriors had once sworn fealty to Prince Vlad and felt that Prince had betrayed them. So when a new Prince came they were not quick to swear an allegiance to him. It was the same family. Same blood. The same line that had betrayed the Carpathian people and lead them into the darkest time in their history. There was no reason for them to come out of their self-imprisonment and join the new Prince.
Vlad had known something horrible was coming. He had known his people were about to enter a war. Instead of looking to the protection of his people, Vlad hid a terrible secret and looked only to his own self needs. Vlad’s lifemate, Sarantha had hoped to find a cure for their son’s madness. Draven Dubrinsky was slowly going mad. Draven was dangerous and had he been the son of any other Carpathian, Vladimir would have had him killed to ensure the safety of others. But, Sarantha had held out hope her son could be saved and Vlad hadn’t the heart, or the strength to do what should have been done. Their daughter Noelle also suffered from madness. The Dubrinsky family, for as powerful as they were, seemed cursed. Madness and weakness had, in the eyes of the Ancients, infected the Dubrinsky line and the Prince couldn’t be trusted to do what was best for his people. The Prince’s son and the feelings and desires of the Prince’s lifemate was more important than the Prince’s people. And in that Prince Vlad failed his entire race.
Now the Ancients are the New Guard and they’ve left the monastery in search of the promise of lifemates in various parts of the world. They have lived together for so long it was natural for them to band together and remain close. When they find themselves needed by Tariq in San Diego, California they arrive to find an enemy too dangerous to ignore and their honor demands they remain to protect both humans and Carpathians alike.



Will this New Guard ever swear allegiance to Mikhail Dubrinsky? It’s hard to say, but they do stay and fight with Tariq who has pledged his fealty to Mikhail. They’ve not shown any outward disobedience to the Prince, but what happens if Mikhail demands something of them? There are a lot of questions about this New Guard, but in the end there’s no doubt that these warriors are a shield of protection against this new threat and each one an integral part of the future of the Carpathian race.
Dark Legacy

Some of this blog has spoilers in it and I’ve tried to identify for you which books the blog may have spoilers for. So you’ve been forewarned! Read at your own risk!


SPOILERS FOR DARK BLOOD/DARK PROMISES



Gary Jansen, the American scientist who we meet in Dark Magic, eventually becomes Gary Daratrazanoff when he is converted in Dark Blood. So, Gary has been with the series for a long time. And he’s been through a lot, earning the loyalty of the Carpathians, so he’s become a much-loved character with readers. We find out he is Human/Jaguar and we think his lifemate will be Gabrielle, but when the ritual binding words don’t work between them they know their feelings as humans has changed and as Carpathians they can only be friends.



Gary’s story has progressed so much and a lot of what’s happened to him has endeared him to readers and often surprised readers. The fact he was converted, that he’s now a Daratrazanoff, his human love interest was NOT his lifemate, he kept the memories of the Daratrazanoff line and is a great healer, he lost his ability to see in color all at once and with Dark Legacy we find out another surprise about Gary that may have readers discussing this character for a while.


SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR DARK LEGACY


So much has changed for the Carpathians. We find out in Dark Legacy that there’s more to lifemates than people may have realized, those some readers did catch it, and this new information may cause an epiphany for some readers/Gary supporters.

We also find that Tariq is Mikhail’s chosen leader in the United States, and as Tariq builds his own team and fights his own battles, he is in need of a Second in Command. And a great healer. Someone preferably from the Daratrazanoff line. Yes, you guessed it, Gary is going to be Tariq’s second just like Gregori is Mikhail’s.

Gary’s life has been turned upside down in just about every book in which he appears. But, if you think Dark Promises was surprising, just wait until Dark Legacy.

I thought I'd do a round-up of news to make sure you didn't miss anything fun!



RT Book Reviews – “Unbosoming” interview


Unbound Worlds – featured in “Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Books of September 2017”


Reading in Pajamas – excerpt


Night Owl Romance – excerpt


Book Binge – Sunday Spotlight exclusive excerpt


PopSugar – included in “Must Read September” column


USA Today/HEA – quoted in feature on authors’ favorite fall treats


Buried Under Romance – review, excerpt & giveaway


I Smell Sheep – exclusive excerpt & review


The Reading Café – review & excerpt


Ever After Book Reviews – review


Tome Tender – review


Grave Tells – guest post on world building and expanding the mythology of an established series


The Lifemate Mythology Blog -
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The New Guard Blog-
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There’s Something About Gary-
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What Has Happened to Aiden Savage?
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Sympathy for the Devil- Carpathian Villains-
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USA Today HEA Sharing Childhood Games-


BookBub Best Books of Summer 2017-


I'd love to know which of the articles you enjoyed most!

Thinking about all of the different series that I write, and all the different heroes, which would you say is the best of all the heroes? Would it be one of the Carpathians? A GhostWalker? Maybe someone from the Drake Sisters or the new Torpedo Ink series?



Over on Facebook we're doing a weekly vote where we ask you to look at a batch of heroes from different books and tell us which of those you'd choose as the top hero of that batch.

The character that gets the most votes (you vote by leaving an emoji with that character's name in a comment on Facebook) goes to the next round. Until, finally, we have only one! That's right! There can be only one! lol

You can still get in on the voting if you'd like to play. It's just for fun and I hope you'll stop by. You can find it here on my Facebook.

is meant to be a beautiful love story that reminds us that we are all vulnerable at some point and need to trust someone. I’ve always felt that trust and love are tightly intertwined, and I wanted to show that with Elisabeta and Ferro’s story.




Elisabeta was a prisoner for years hidden away from, not only the Carpathians, but the world. The only constant in her life was her tormentor. But she was strong enough to survive and not let her horrible experience make her bitter or cruel. Her heart, her light, her goodness would not only save her, it would save the lifemate who’d fought for centuries to remove evil from the world. Even though she was in a weakened state when they rescued her she was still strong in mind, heart and spirit. But she needed help. She knew nothing of the modern world. She was very young when she was taken. Now she would have to put her life and her heart into the hands of a very dangerous man.




Lifemates are two parts to one soul and they are created specifically for one another. Ferro had killed vampires for centuries. The darkness called to him and nearly consumed him until he found her. Instead of just claiming her and taking what was his he knew instinctively that he needed to earn her trust…and her love. He wanted to be everything she needed just as she was everything to him. That would require patience and awareness and all the discipline he had.

Together Elisabeta and Ferro work to find their way to each other and in the world as a couple. It’s a sweet, sensual romance that shows just how much someone is willing to sacrifice or overcome in order to have the greatest gift of all.


See the book trailer








(Exclusives, Sneak Peeks, Discussions and more) -

Some books are a work of art because of the words inside them. They make you feel and reflect and learn. is a love story. It’s a story of family, of loss, of discovery. It’s a story of friendship. We visit old friends in a way we’ve not done since and I love that feeling of nostalgia as we travel all around the world to see them.











cover is absolutely stunning. When I held the book in my hands and looked at that cover it was a feeling hard to describe. I’m so proud of this book on so many levels. The cover was designed by Kristin del Rosario and I think it’s one of the most beautiful covers I’ve ever seen. She did an amazing job with the cover which adds to the artistic flair of the overall presentation of the book.



It doesn’t stop there. Inside the book is more original art. Mercedes and Melissa, created these amazing tarot cards exclusively for me and for Dark Tarot. They did the entire Major Arcana of the tarot. There are 23 cards, which means there are 23 chapters, starting with zero – The Fool. It ends with a very special card that you may recognize from the , the tote or some other promo pictures we’ve put out – The Goddess card. I’ll do a separate blog about her later. She is not part of the original tarot deck as most people know it.

(See this video )

I can’t wait for people to hold this book in their hands or see it on their eReader so they can see just how unique these beautiful, artistic cards truly are.

Let me know if you're intrigued by the cards!

is the 35th story in my and I am excited to say it is a game-changer in many ways. This book introduces us to an entirely new concept that I hope readers will be excited about as well.







With villains and beings we’ve not heard of before but that dovetail into the Carpathian mythos so naturally that it feels like it has always been meant-to-be. The fact that this brings in some of the strongest women and some of the most dangerous villains is just the beginning of why I think readers will love this story.
If you love the monastery ancients, you’ll be happy to hear that several make the quest with Adalasia and Sandu around the world. Will we learn about their fate through the cards? Maybe. LOL Will we learn more about them? Yes. Will there be some funny moments? What do you think? LOL







And if you love the older characters and want to revisit them you’re going to enjoy how many we actually get to catch up with. I have wanted to tie up loose ends with some characters and storylines for quite some time and this book made it easy for me to naturally address those issues in a way that made me both satisfied and very happy.



You don’t have to understand tarot cards at all to enjoy this book. My heroines have always had some kind of psychic talent and Adalasia’s is tied to tarot cards. For those of you who love tarot cards or the idea of them, they are fun and the artwork is amazing.

Sandu and his brethren are about to find themselves surprised in so many ways by something new and dark.

Who are some of the older characters you'd love to catch up with?

I doubt it will be a surprise that takes us into the dark forests of a secluded Russian village. I’ve done a great deal of research of Russia; its landscape, history, architecture and people. The Lycan royalty live in this part of the world and have for centuries. We know from stories about Demitry that there are wolves in this region that he protects and that he has had experiences, both good and horrible, with the lycans.
When Siv travels to this region to speak to Skyler and Demitry he finds more than he bargained for. A royal lifemate, intrigue and Hell itself.



The time of year he arrives has brought the snow and I wanted to have both ice and fire juxtaposed against the trials the couple would come up against. Love and hate. Acceptance and rejection. Pleasure and pain. Lies and truth. It’s a long, layered, list in this story of a forbidden love.

Siv and Vasilisa are from different worlds. Worlds that don’t always trust each other. Worlds that have historically believed in staying away from each other. Even though the Lycans and Carpathians have fought together in the recent past, a long-standing belief system and fanatics who can’t step away from those beliefs make their relationship not only difficult, but dangerous.

Siv finds himself surrounded by rejection regardless of his sacrifice to save those who would reject him. Vasilisa has known her whole life that she held the other half of his soul. She has known that her man would be someone her family may not accept. Now he has arrived. And choices must be made. Live a cold life alone or embrace the heat of hatred from her people. The question is – is this love worth it?

is out! Petru and Safia must fight evil while learning what it's like to be a lifemate.

You can read the first chapter

In celebration I've had a fun word search puzzle put together for you.
You can play online

You can download and print it from




Or play from here! Let me know if you are enjoying the word search puzzles!