Dark Gold (Dark, #3) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Apr 12, 2009 Netanella rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, romance, author-christine-feehan, 2015-dangerous-heroes, 2015-april-reading-challenge

First paragraph: "Joshua, this is a very important business meeting," Alexandria Houton cautioned her younger brother as she parked her beat-up Volkswagen in the large lot behind the restaurant. For a moment she rested her hand on his curly hair, looking down into his bright eyes. A rush of love instantly warmed her, pushing aside her fears and frustrations and her mouth curved into a smile. "You're so grown up, Josh, I don't know why I'm repeating myself. But this is my only chance at a dream p ...more

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Feb 28, 2010 Nairabell rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, 4-star, read-in-2011

Since their parents died Alexandria Houton's life has revolved around her six-year-old brother Joshua. When they are kidnapped by an evil Alex could never have imagined, and then rescued Alex's life changes forever. Aidan Savage is the Carpathian who rescued Alex and her brother. He left the Carpathian mountains to hunt vampires in San Francisco, but when he realises that Alex is his lifemate he also realises that by entering her life he has turned her into a target for all the vampires in the a Since their parents died Alexandria Houton's life has revolved around her six-year-old brother Joshua. When they are kidnapped by an evil Alex could never have imagined, and then rescued Alex's life changes forever. Aidan Savage is the Carpathian who rescued Alex and her brother. He left the Carpathian mountains to hunt vampires in San Francisco, but when he realises that Alex is his lifemate he also realises that by entering her life he has turned her into a target for all the vampires in the area.

This is the third in Christine Feehan's Carpathian series (which started with Dark Prince and continued with Dark Desire). I'm gradually working my way through the series and have mixed opinions so far so I wasn't sure what to expect. I did like the change of setting from the Carpathian mountains to San Francisco as it made the book feel a little more normal.

The story picks up quickly at the start of the novel and the first two chapters are action packed. After that the book becomes more about Alex and Aidan's relationship, which is what I expected the main plotline to be about as this is a paranormal romance after all. The idea of a collection of bad guys means that there is a fair amount of variety to the storyline, and I have to admit I loved how Thomas Ivan was tied in as potential competition for Aidan. I've heard the Carpathian men referred to as overbearing, which I agree with, but Aidan manages to give Alex some independence which is refreshing. There are few things worse in romance novels than having a dislikable overbearing jerk as the "hero".

I really liked the character of Aidan, and I loved how his struggle with his inner demon was portrayed. I did find Alex to be a whiny at times, although she did eventually get over herself, and I liked how her struggle for independence was portrayed. I loved the supporting characters as well, in particular Alex's brother Joshua and Aidan's staff Marie and Stefan.

Gregori shows up in this book, and it isn't surprising to realise that book four (Dark Magic) is his book. There was a fair amount of effort to setting up his book in this one, and also Alex realises and reveals a couple of things about Gregori that hadn't been mentioned before. This did leave me more interested in reading his book, but also made the abruptness of the ending of this book more obvious. The last few chapters are action packed with a lot going on and this meant the ending felt abrupt, although I can't think of a better way to have ended the book.

All in all, this was a good read and I'm looking forward to Dark Magic.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 8/10
Ending: 9/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Cover: 7/10

Overall: 41/50 ...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Qylie rated it liked it

I kinda got bored. I got sick of hearing Alex complain about wanting her humanity back. I don't like how in all of Feehan's books the women spends the entire book pushing against her position and complaining about it while being secretly head over heals for the guy.
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