In the fifteen book of the Dark/Carpathian series, abuse counselor MaryAnn Delaney attended the Carpathian Christmas celebration in the last book and agrees to accompany the De La Cruz brothers to South America in order to help Jasmine, a brutalized young Jaguar woman. MaryAnn is very depressed but doesn’t know why. Sure, she witnessed one of the brothers nearly dying, but she doesn’t know the man. Yet, she feels as though her heart and soul has been torn in two.
Manolito De La Cruz’s spirit left his body, but his brothers and the famed Carpathian healer Gregori saved his life. After Rafael, Riordan, and Nicolas take him back to Brazil and place him in the ground to heal, the unthinkable happens. Manolito awakens too soon and his spirit is still trapped between the living and the dead. Plus, he claims he has a lifemate.
Unfortunately, I found the spirit/shadow world very confusing, and much of the book takes place there. I just don’t understand how it works. I did enjoy, however, the scene when Manolito meets Vlad and Sarantha Dubrinsky again. They’ve been dead for several centuries, but Manolito still respects his former prince and finally has the chance to apologize for a grave transgression.
Manolito is controlling and demanding as all the Carpathian males are, but he’s not as bad as some of his brothers.
I definitely liked MaryAnn when she was first introduced in Dark Destiny. She’s also the first person of color to be featured as a main character in this series. MaryAnn is obsessed with designer clothes and dislikes bugs and nature, and that grew tiresome after a while. Her inner Lycan was struggling to break free, but she doesn’t know about her secret heritage. There wasn’t a lot of information about the Lycans or werewolves, which I found disappointing.
I love Luiz! He’s a Jaguar, but unlike most of the Jaguar males featured in the series, he’s kind and respectful of women. He’s also my favorite character in the book.
Carpathians are the most powerful species in Ms. Feehan’s Dark series, so it’s the heroines who always convert to Carpathian to be with their men. This book finally switches that up! Since Lycans are just as strong, both Manolito and MaryAnn partially convert into each other’s species. I really loved that! Overall, the story is good, but I would’ve liked it more if I better understood the spirit/shadow world.
3 Stars ( )

My least favorite. Again, the whole Carpathians in South America for 700 years thing doesn't make sense. And shape shifters all the sudden? MaryAnn just didn't work for me somehow. The whole story felt muddy and uneven. ( )

I have adored Christine Feehan’s Carpathian people for years and devoured every book as they were released. I had some problems with the character of Mary Ann in this one. We had met Mary Ann in the previous book and she was a sensible, well educated, strong woman. In the beginning of this book she dressed like she was going to a Broadway show to stomp through a rainforest… and then she complained the whole way! Come on; is this the same Mary Ann? Other than Mary Ann’s stupidly, the love story works and we get to meet new people (Jaguar People) and we introduced to the werewolf. The story has many twists and turns and at times you don't know what is real because it takes place on two realms… but this makes it interesting for you to try and figure out. It was a page turner for me and I really like this book, just not Mary Ann. ( )

I couldnt stand Maryann, what a shame, loved everything else. ( )

No plot. If you are looking for sex, sex, sex then this is the book for you. ( )