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Vampire #2
Dark Enchantment
Author Karen Harbaugh returns to the dark, sensual world of her acclaimed novel Night Fires...a world of danger and desire, sorcery and seduction...the glorious world of the beautiful, doomed de la Fer family. For here, the ravishing fugitive Catherine de la Fer battles the deadliest sorcery of all: the seductive power of one man's endlessly erotic touch.
A shattering act of violence drives Catherine de la Fer to flee into the dark and deadly night. Now a hunted criminal, the wily French noblewoman enlists the services of English mercenary Jack Marstone to teach her the art of self-defense. But she has cast her lot with a man whose terrible secret plunges them into a world of depravity and deadly seduction. Their taboo desire takes them from the moon-shadowed highways of Paris to the treacherous palace of the Sun King—the prey of a highborn enemy with the mind-bending powers of a sorcerer's dark arts. As day becomes endless night, as they enter a place of unimaginable pleasure, France's most notorious swordswoman and her forbidden lover will attempt a daring act of rescue—one that could promise them eternity in each other's arms...or damn them both forever.
A shattering act of violence drives Catherine de la Fer to flee into the dark and deadly night. Now a hunted criminal, the wily French noblewoman enlists the services of English mercenary Jack Marstone to teach her the art of self-defense. But she has cast her lot with a man whose terrible secret plunges them into a world of depravity and deadly seduction. Their taboo desire takes them from the moon-shadowed highways of Paris to the treacherous palace of the Sun King—the prey of a highborn enemy with the mind-bending powers of a sorcerer's dark arts. As day becomes endless night, as they enter a place of unimaginable pleasure, France's most notorious swordswoman and her forbidden lover will attempt a daring act of rescue—one that could promise them eternity in each other's arms...or damn them both forever.
326 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
2 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Karen Harbaugh
19 books26 followersKaren Harbaugh is a half-Japanese U.S. Northwesterner Navy brat with a BA in English, is happily married to a sweet and supportive engineer, and has one alarmingly intelligent son. She has found being a full-time romance writer, mom and wife to be a heck of a lot more challenging than being a Quality Assurance Analyst for a major HMO or being a technical writer. The job has longer hours, for one thing, and she is on call a good 24 hours a day, and there is no such thing as vacation time. She has written for HarperCollins under the pseudonym, Kathleen Elliott.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 25, 2025
Frozen, frightened and suffering from terrible pains in the hands and back, the heroine doesn't remember where she came from or how she's ended up on the streets. All she knows is that she's tired and near starving. These pains she endures, the spontaneous bleeding from her palms and back, some call it a blessing but she is convinced it’s a curse. Nether the less, they present themselves before evil arrives and she cannot ignore them. So, when she sees two men attacking a young and vulnerable girl, she steps in. She manages to injure one before her weakness causes her to stumble. She is saved by a well-dressed stranger with a kind face. Before she succumbs to the darkness, the tells him her name.
The hero is not the type to usually risk his life for some street urchin but lucky for him this dirty little creature should present to him a healthy reward once he sees her returned to her family. Money is all he really cares about and he earns it in whatever fashion he can. He needs every penny to regain his lands and title. He brings the dirty and hurt little girl back to his hotel room and after a bath and some tending too, he realizes this child is in fact a young woman. She is far too thin and not at all his taste but he is capture by her stunning eyes and fierce battle for survival. He doesn't know why he agrees to train her in fencing but something about this girl brings out very strange behavior in him. He begins to fall for her, though he fights it desperately. Perhaps it was the fact that he never imagines he could ever develop feelings for such a creature that allowed him to bring down his walls and let her in. Know, he's torn between wanting her for his own and returning her to her family and waiting fiancé.
The heroine is also plagued by a dark and evil force that hunts her and endangers all who care for her. She doesn't want this man whom she feels to indebted to harmed in any way. He may not love her, as thin and dull as she is, but he is her friend and if not for him, she would have died on the streets. As they travel to her family home she is torn between the desire to be with this handsome, kind man and her desire to be reunited with her family- even if she doesn't remember them. Once she is delivered, the hero flees as quickly as he can, hoping to out run his emotions. The heroine is left to rekindle her life with her beloved brother and sister. But almost instantly, she begins to recall the sexual attack done to her by her betrothed and the dark and evil magic he performs as a sorcerer. Now, the hero must race back and defy death itself to reach the woman he loves before it's too late.
Another book falls prey to the long weekend curse. I didn't entirely enjoy this book, but neither did I hate it. What it failed to do was capture my attention enough to pick it up and spend time reading while the sun is shining outside. This book was predictable in its villain and over all mystery. It was also rather disjointed and confusing at times. This series is title Vampire yet it was not at all about vampires. It was about evil magic and stigmata and extremely religious characters. The heroine is blessed by the markings and she wants to be rid of it. She even sleeps with the hero in hopes that the sin will lesser her apparent 'goodness'. She did however possess a strong spirit and the willingness and ability to learn to defend herself and those she cares about. The hero was a sort of two-faced kind of guy. On one hand he is devoted to his honor and his loyalty to his king but on the other hand he's willing to basically sell the heroine back to her family, even though he believes- at the time- that her injures are because she's been beaten by them. They had a very odd sort of relationship that allowed them to sleep with each other and develop feelings but when it comes time to part, neither really puts up that much of a fight. The last 50 some off pages are spent apart and having the hero rush urgently back to the heroine, injured badly from the fight with an evil demon. The book was not horrible. I will say that. But something about it just didn't jive with me. Too many randomness and hodge podged storytelling.
The hero is not the type to usually risk his life for some street urchin but lucky for him this dirty little creature should present to him a healthy reward once he sees her returned to her family. Money is all he really cares about and he earns it in whatever fashion he can. He needs every penny to regain his lands and title. He brings the dirty and hurt little girl back to his hotel room and after a bath and some tending too, he realizes this child is in fact a young woman. She is far too thin and not at all his taste but he is capture by her stunning eyes and fierce battle for survival. He doesn't know why he agrees to train her in fencing but something about this girl brings out very strange behavior in him. He begins to fall for her, though he fights it desperately. Perhaps it was the fact that he never imagines he could ever develop feelings for such a creature that allowed him to bring down his walls and let her in. Know, he's torn between wanting her for his own and returning her to her family and waiting fiancé.
The heroine is also plagued by a dark and evil force that hunts her and endangers all who care for her. She doesn't want this man whom she feels to indebted to harmed in any way. He may not love her, as thin and dull as she is, but he is her friend and if not for him, she would have died on the streets. As they travel to her family home she is torn between the desire to be with this handsome, kind man and her desire to be reunited with her family- even if she doesn't remember them. Once she is delivered, the hero flees as quickly as he can, hoping to out run his emotions. The heroine is left to rekindle her life with her beloved brother and sister. But almost instantly, she begins to recall the sexual attack done to her by her betrothed and the dark and evil magic he performs as a sorcerer. Now, the hero must race back and defy death itself to reach the woman he loves before it's too late.
Another book falls prey to the long weekend curse. I didn't entirely enjoy this book, but neither did I hate it. What it failed to do was capture my attention enough to pick it up and spend time reading while the sun is shining outside. This book was predictable in its villain and over all mystery. It was also rather disjointed and confusing at times. This series is title Vampire yet it was not at all about vampires. It was about evil magic and stigmata and extremely religious characters. The heroine is blessed by the markings and she wants to be rid of it. She even sleeps with the hero in hopes that the sin will lesser her apparent 'goodness'. She did however possess a strong spirit and the willingness and ability to learn to defend herself and those she cares about. The hero was a sort of two-faced kind of guy. On one hand he is devoted to his honor and his loyalty to his king but on the other hand he's willing to basically sell the heroine back to her family, even though he believes- at the time- that her injures are because she's been beaten by them. They had a very odd sort of relationship that allowed them to sleep with each other and develop feelings but when it comes time to part, neither really puts up that much of a fight. The last 50 some off pages are spent apart and having the hero rush urgently back to the heroine, injured badly from the fight with an evil demon. The book was not horrible. I will say that. But something about it just didn't jive with me. Too many randomness and hodge podged storytelling.
August 28, 2010
'Night Fires', the first book in the 'de la Fer' series is one of the first romance novels I ever read, so Karen Harbaugh holds a special place in my memory. That being said, I enjoyed 'Night Fires' more than this book. This book was excellent, but it was missing some of the rawness of the first book, could be the fact that these characters are human and the last 'de la Fer' was not. I also would have liked to see some sort of segway from the first book into the second, like how they are connected besides the family name. I don't know about anyone else but I am not all up and up on my French history. Beyond those minor flaws though, this book was great. The characters are real, the history definitely seems well researched and the plot moved at a generally good pace. I liked Catherine's character a lot, she is a strong women and I always love to see strong women in historical type romances. I also have a soft spot for Jack, because he acknowledged his love for Catherine as soon as he felt it, didn't have to do any of that running around crap. I enjoyed this book and hope to see many more 'de la Fer' books in the future.
October 27, 2022
A lot confused with it being in “Vampire” series but I didn’t read book one and there is no mention of vampires in this book. Only sorcery
Set in France 1659, it’s hard to fathom Catherine not being a lot of trouble with her outspoken ways but it fit her and the story - in my thoughts.
I liked Jack and his views but I so wished they would go into his background and say WHY he fled and about his estates in England
—— okay talked to husband, vampire is a life sucker therefore since her family is getting their life forced sucked from them, it works. Just no fangs involve—
Update: just started to read this book and wanted to mark it as such on goodreads and it was only then after nearly a chapter in that I figured out I’ve read it. Can’t recall anything. Enjoyed it at the time it seemed but not worth remembering in all the books since.
Set in France 1659, it’s hard to fathom Catherine not being a lot of trouble with her outspoken ways but it fit her and the story - in my thoughts.
I liked Jack and his views but I so wished they would go into his background and say WHY he fled and about his estates in England
—— okay talked to husband, vampire is a life sucker therefore since her family is getting their life forced sucked from them, it works. Just no fangs involve—
Update: just started to read this book and wanted to mark it as such on goodreads and it was only then after nearly a chapter in that I figured out I’ve read it. Can’t recall anything. Enjoyed it at the time it seemed but not worth remembering in all the books since.
July 13, 2009
Amnesiac heroine meets foreign hottie who rescues her from the streets of Paris, but is intent on returning her to her family because that's where she, as a woman, belongs. Now, granted it's set during the time period when Cromwell had control of England, but still, grr. The whole bit of demonic sorcery seemed thrown into the story too haphazardly for my liking too. I'm wondering;however, if the fact that this is the second book in the series has anything to do with my reaction to the sorcery bit. In spite of my negative reactions, which truth to tell, really weren't all that many, this well written book is still a delight to read and is over seemingly way to soon.
July 21, 2016
The second volume of the Vampire series felt short in my expectations. The first book was good enough, so I though this one would be a sequel. But that was not the case. I think the only relation between the two is both of the main female characters belong to the La Fer family.
The first half of the story was intriguing and the romance was nicely inserted. But then, and I really can’t put my finger when, I lost interest. The second half wasn’t nearly as compelling as the first. Bit by bit my reading got slower, the connection I felt with the characters lowered, the story became predictable, the ending was rushed off … Overall, the interest just dropped.
The first half of the story was intriguing and the romance was nicely inserted. But then, and I really can’t put my finger when, I lost interest. The second half wasn’t nearly as compelling as the first. Bit by bit my reading got slower, the connection I felt with the characters lowered, the story became predictable, the ending was rushed off … Overall, the interest just dropped.
February 22, 2010
Good book, well written. Brings you into the lives of the characters. Love the French thrown in here and there, helps put you in the era/setting. Great read. Recommended.
June 30, 2014
Forgettable.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews