I had been looking forward to this particular story for a while as readers' had been teased about Elisabeta throughout the previous few novels. We knew her story was coming, but there were a lot of others to get to first since you can't have a confrontation to defeat a villain without exhausting the villains fear factor first! But finally, we get Elisabeta and Ferro's story!

A prisoner forced to submit since she was seventeen, Elisabeta is fearful of large space, being noticed, making decisions, and so much more. Ferro, the oldest of the ancient Carpathians, has stayed true for his unknown mate and always thought he wanted a submissive woman who went along with all his demands. But confronted with the reality of what that actually means in Elisabeta after hundreds of years a tortured prisoner, Ferro begins to realize that he wants more than that for his lifemate.

Struggling to interact with the world around them while dealing with their own demons, wants and needs is a tricky path for any Carpathians to travel. But with confusion, family demands, and a new illness on the horizon, Elisabeta and Ferro are forced to rush their decisions and set aside their own needs for the greater good of their people as a whole. With constant attacks from their enemies and rising distrust amongst their friends and supposed allies, there are troubles ahead.

Wow, book 30 in the series! I've re-read the whole series in preparation of this book. It has been really fun and worth it to remind me of characters and themes.
I really enjoyed Elisabeta and Ferro's story.
Ferro was a delight. Having seen him in earlier books and his thoughts he was a total throwback, close to being a bit of a jerk. Seeing him and his growth with Elisabeta was wonderful. I loved how he started in one corner but grew, adjusted, and held back in order to help Elisabeta.
Elisabeta is a unique heroine. She has spent centuries in captivity, has never had to make any decisions, or learned what the modern world looks like. I'm not a psychologist, so I can't speak to the representation, but to me it felt like Christine Feehan did a great job portraying what Elisabeta would go through being out of her cage for the first time in centuries.
I wanted to give this 5 stars, but at times it dragged just a little bit for me. There were some scenes that worked for the relationship, but pulled me out of the overall story. Still, a wonderful read I know I will come back to again and again.

I have a love/hate relationship with Christine Feehan's heroes. Thankfully, this alpha hero falls into my love category. Picking up from the previous story, Feehan writes a soulmate romance between an self admitted caveman like hero and a fragile heroine who had been emotionally and physically abused most of her her life. A sturdy plotted storytelling blends perfectly with the exploratory romance. Well timed comedic dialogue and very slow burning sexual awareness from the heroine keeps the reader engrossed as the story unfolds. Plenty of action and suspense, along with subtle tie ins to previous characters, helps to keep the reader up to date on the series.

I genuinely enjoyed Ferro and the ways he chose to help Elisabeta regain her independence.Everything he does is with the explicit knowledge that her actions/reactions are by her choice and no one elses. Even his "orders" are given with the caveat that she can refuse with no fear of punishment. This world is huge and scary for her and Ferro walks beside her every step of the way. Im looking forward to the next in the series.