Dark Celebration

344 Pages·2008·2.007 MB·English

a carpathian reunion

CHRISTINE FEEHAN
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
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This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business estab -
lishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The recipes contained in this book are to be followed
exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require
medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in
this book. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for
author or third- party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2006 by Christine Feehan.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without
permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the
author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
ISBN: 1- 4295-0576-1
An application to register this book for cata loging has been submitted to the Library of Congress.
For my beloved daughter, Cecilia, who has always
given us reason for celebration!
For My Readers
Be sure to write to Christine at [email protected] to get
a FREE exclusive screen saver and join the PRIVATE e-mail list to
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Ac know ledg ments
Many thanks to Diane Trudeau for her help with the recipes. Cheryl
Wilson, you know you are invaluable. Denise, Manda and Brian, thank
you for your unfailing support and all of the work you do to help me put
these books together.

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 eve ning, I was sitting around a fi replace
talking with some author friends about the mess we’d made of the dinner that
night. We’d rented a h ouse together to work, and unfortunately, some of us were a
little lax on the cooking skills. (I’m not mentioning names h ere 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 write. I was thrilled
with the idea of adding in the Dark Desserts, and so many wonderful people from all
over the world sent in the most scrumptious recipes. The concept was completely diff er-
ent than anything I’d ever conceived of writing, so it was going to be great fun! And
then I sat down and started to write it . . .
First of all, it hadn’t occurred to me that there was no hero and heroine, and
that I would have to find a way to transition each chapter smoothly. And second,
and more important, I don’t write fun and lighth earted. My characters tend to take
over the book and run away with it, and this book was no exception. No matter
how hard I tried, the book turned—yes, you guessed it—dark!
Once I called my editor and warned her that the book had taken on its own life
and I wasn’t going to be delivering that lighth earted book, I simply accepted it and
allowed the characters free rein. They took over, and Dark Celebration became a
huge part of the rich tapestry that makes up the Carpathian world. I had fun revis-
iting the characters and fi nding out how they were doing together and what their
lives were like as couples as well as what the Carpathian society was like as a
whole.
The book turned into something very unexpected, but in all honesty, I thor-
oughly enjoyed myself writing it, and I certainly hope you have just as much fun
reading it. When I write, the characters definitely dictate the story, so several were
very forthcoming while others hung back a little more than I would have liked. All
in all, in the end I think we caught a glimpse of old friends and what their lives are
together. I found myself smiling a lot while writing it and hope you have the same
reaction reading it!
Warmest regards,
Christine