title: Dark Celebration (A Carpathian Reunion)
author:  Christine Feehan 
description: The blood-drinking, mind-reading, shape-shifting Carpathian clan and their human friends gather for Christmas&mdash;and to stave off encroaching enemies&mdash;in bestseller Feehan's latest entry in her Dark series (after <I>Dark Demon</I>) and her first in hardcover. The guests hunt vampires, confront a dark mage and, most importantly, face the extinction of their species due to a mysteriously low birth rate and high infant mortality. Shea&mdash;once a human surgeon, now a Carpathian healer&mdash;studies the Carpathian's procreative problem even as she carries the child of her "lifemate" Jacques, whose brother, Prince Mikhail, also hopes for more children with his mate, Raven. The action suffers from the author's efforts to feature each of these couples and others, but the stage is set for future, more plot-driven books. A section of recipes by Feehan fans, "Dark Desserts," rounds out this sex- and magic-filled treat, which makes a good entry point for newcomers. <I>(Sept.)</I> <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: **Dark Celebration**
  
   **Christine Feehan**
  
  Dear Readers,
  
  Over the past few years, I have received thousands of letters asking for a
  reunion of the Carpathian characters. I resisted the idea for a long time,
  uncertain how one could bring so many vivid and larger-than-life characters
  together in the same book. It seemed a daunting task. Then one evening, I was
  sitting around a fireplace talking with some author friends about the mess
  we’d made of the dinner that night. We’d rented a house together to work, and
  unfortunately, some of us were a little lax on the cooking skills. (I’m not
  mentioning names here or raising my hand, but a few of the disasters depicted
  in this book actually did happen, sadly enough to say.) We were laughing so
  hard, and the idea of a Christmas party where the Carpathians cooked for their
  friends was born.
  
  I pitched the idea to my editor as a special thank-you gift book at Christmas
  time for my readers. I was very excited to have a fun, lighthearted book to
  w