Review: Darkest Night by Tara Thomas

Posted March 12, 2018 by Sophia Rose in Reviews / 23 Comments

Review: Darkest Night by Tara Thomas
Darkest Night
One StarOne StarOne Star
three-flames
Series: Sons of Broad
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Published by St. Martin's Press
Released on February 27, 2018
Pages: 342
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Get it at: add to goodreads

The Delight

reunion that should have been sweet, but instead, revenge and murder stalk them both. After reading the prequel novella series, I was ready to meet the Benedict brothers and get more of the villainous The Gentleman.

Review

The story opens with Keaton Benedict returning to Charleston after graduating from college and discovering his childhood friend and crush, Tillie Brock, working her way through school and just keeping her head down was there all along after her family lost face when her dad was wrongfully accused of embezzlement. At the same time, the mysterious and powerful man only known as The Gentleman has set in motion his plan to destroy the Benedict family for an unknown need for revenge. Meanwhile, a woman has returned to town and she is dead set on having Keaton for a husband even if it means doing ruthless things to have her way.

I went into this one with a healthy dose of wariness after my experiences with the earlier prequel novellas. It was good that I had lowered my expectations. This one had the same problems I encountered in the earlier novellas. It has great bones to the plot and so much potential, but it ended up being under-developed all around- characters, romance, and the suspense line. I almost stopped reading twice and did end up skipping pages, but chose to keep going because of those underlying bare bones of a good story.

I love the mysterious revenge plot against the family and I loved meeting the three Benedict brothers. I enjoyed the bantering between the oldest brother, Kipling, and the cop who is investigating the murders (Alyssa who we met in the prequels). The mysterious assassin, Jade, was probably my favorite part and I have my suspicions about who she really is in regard to the Benedicts and why she is conflicted between helping to destroy them or not.

I ended up enjoying all the peripheral things rather than the main pair and their romance. They were nice and likable, but I wasn’t really give much to make me feel more strongly about them. Keaton and Tillie slid right into love and there was no conflict or hesitation and yet, they occupy much of the book. Neither are strong willed or strong characters- she does claim independence, but also has a lot of need in her. Nice, but boring thus I skipped.

I am intrigued enough to want to continue, but I think I’m going to have to adjust to how these books tend to skim across the surface with hints of potential depth. Darkest Night was moderately engaging and an easy, quick read. I will cautiously recommend this book/series to light romantic suspense fans.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Challenges

Romance Roundabout #75 NA
Literary Pickers #67 Friends to Lovers
New Release #25
COYER #60
Books N Tunes #11 Zara Larsson’s Never Forget Tune:

Recommendations

Give it All by Cara McKenna  Review Identity Crisis by Eliza Daly

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Sophia Rose

I was born and raised near Sacramento, CA. I have read since I was four years old and developed tastes that run the gamut of literature. I went away to college and have a degree in education, a certificate in family history research, and a certificate in social work. I worked for a non-profit agency with low income families for 20 years which included being responsible for the children’s library and promoting/teaching adult literacy. I have lived in Southeast Michigan for the last 18 years and I am currently a book addicted homemaker with a cat and husband who keep me grounded. Recently, I made it a challenge to review each book that I have read as a favor to author friends who said reviews are important. I have done reviews for Good Reads, Amazon, eBay, and Smashwords, but mostly at Goodreads and Amazon.

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  • I love Charleston ! This book sounds like something I definitely would enjoy, the revenge aspect sounds intense. Great review!

    • Oh cool! Maybe there are some setting locations you’ll recognize. Hope you enjoy it if you get the chance, Cindy!

  • I’ve been on the fence about reading this one. I wasn’t too thrilled with the first two novellas, so I haven’t decided if I want to continue the series.

    • Whelp, it’s pretty much feels the same as those. I’m going to try the next book b/c I want those character’s story after meeting them in the novella and more in this book, but my expectations are low at this point for the development.

  • A bit tricky with the caracters… I didn’t know about this one but well maybe

    • Yes, there is definitely a large cast and lots of narrators. It definitely is one I hesitate to suggest.

  • Ah that’s too bad. I love her erotic romances under her other name but was hesitant on accepting these and I think I’m glad I didn’t snag them so far. I’ll keep an eye out for the next one to see what you think first. lol

    • Good call! These are so under-developed that it irritates me b/c I can see so much potential for a great story, here.
      I’ve got the next one up to read this week and it’s a pair I want to get their story since they’ve been around since the prequel novellas. This will decide if the series can turn things around for me. Otherwise…

  • I haven’t read her but not sure this would be the right book for me.

    • Yeah, wish I could recommend them, but I don’t think they’re very developed so it can be frustrating for a reader trying to get into the story.

  • Debbie Haupt

    Oh this is in my pile Sophia Rose and I didn’t know about the prequel. I also interviewed her last week. Thanks for the super review

    • Yes, there are three prequel novellas that are a serial story and introduce the Villain and a few of the secondary characters in this one that get their own story in books two and three. You could get by without the novellas, but they do give you a taste for the world of the novel trilogy.

  • Bummer. I love the idea of brothers. Kudos for continuing, I think I might have DNF’d.

    • Yes, I can be snagged in with brothers on the hook. I did have a few moments when I was tempted to quit. Skipping to see how it ended with the villain and the series plot will give me one more chance with another set of characters that have me curious to see if I like it better.

  • Ouch! This sounds like it was a bit painful to go through based on your views of the characters.

    • The main pair would just so blah and there like place cards and the mystery plot and the romance were like an outline almost. I need more to keep me interested. Glad I gave it a chance, though.

  • that is unfortunate I hate when books have potential but they never reach it ;/

    • For sure, Lily! I’m going to see if one of my favorite pairs’ story jazzes it up for me in the next book, but I’m not gambling on it.

  • I am kind of glad that I decided to pass on these books. I really did like the sound of the story but it sounds like it was a bit of a let down.

    • Yes, its frustrating because it did sound good and even once I read it, I thought the bones of the plot were great. But, it just didn’t bother with development. Like reading a summary or report of the book at times.

  • Sorry to hear this one was just… okay. It’s hard when there’s no real development or depth because then there’s no real connection. Nothing to really get into and feel invested in. At least if you choose to continue the series you know what to expect.

    • Yes, you sum it up well, Tanya. I kept wanting to dig in and like it, but it just hopped along the surface. I’m going to give it another try b/c I liked the characters who are going to be the leads and I want to see if I’m right about Jade.

  • Sorry to hear this one was just… okay. It’s hard when there’s no real development or depth because then there’s no real connection. Nothing to really get into and feel invested in. At least if you choose to continue the series you know what to expect.