Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan

Skyler Daratrazanoff always recognized the miracle that was Dimitri Tirunul, a man beyond any dream that had ever engaged her nights. But she was human. Vulnerable. He was Carpathian. Nearly immortal. She was nineteen. He was an ancient. Yet she held half his soul, the light to his darkness. Without her, he would not survive. Caught between the two warring species, Dimitri has spent centuries hunting the undead to keep his people free, and humans safe. He had survived honorably when others had chosen to give up their souls. But now, marked for extermination by the Lycans, Dimitri found himself alone, and fearing for his life. But salvation was coming…

No Lycan would ever suspect someone like Skyler to dare mount a secret rescue operation. A teenage girl. A human of untested abilities. But she had something no one else had. She was predestined for Dimitri -- as he was for her. And there was nothing stronger for Skyler than her desire to see her life-dream come true. Whatever the risk.
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Before I forget I wanted to let you guys know that I checked out Dark Wolf from the library and you know what? It didn't suck nearly as much as I was afraid it would. Lowered expectations for the win! 

I was half hopeful half dread-filled going into this novel because honestly, things could have gone either way for Skyler and Dimitri. Feehan has been one of my favorite PNR loves for what feels like forever, but these last few books have just not been good. With Dark Lycan the series started to be redirected to an enemy other than the vampires/mages and I'm not sure if religious zealotry is totally the best way to go, but we'll see. What really matters here is that the relationship between Skyler and Dimitri, which initially took place off screen, develops in a great way. The two of them have feelings for each other, but no matter how big a physical attraction, the things that happened to her when was a child aren't just going to go away. I loved the way Dimitri was accepting and respectful of Skyer's PTSD episodes and how he even helped her learn to recognize them as a part of her self that couldn't be rejected. 

[Side note - I totally skipped all the healing chants stuff and most of the sex organ flower scenes. I'm glad that I finally checked back in in time to read Dimitri say that their sexual attraction wasn't going to be a magic cure-all, but the rest of it I didn't care about.]

I think I like the way the plot is shaping up and I have my fingers crossed that a particular couple are up next, so I guess I would say I'm tentatively hopeful about things?

Overall Feeling - B-

Series - .... 24) Dark Lycan 25) Dark Wolf