Title: Darkest Night

Author: Tara Thomas

Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Publication Date: February 27, 2018

Page Count: 342

My rating:  3 1/2 stars

About the book:

In the sultry streets of Charleston, one family, ruled by its powerful, take-no-prisoners sons, has risen to the top. But a merciless enemy is out to destroy them…and everyone they hold close…

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SHE THOUGHT SHE’D LOST HIM FOREVER
Tilly Brock has learned—the hard way—how to take care of herself. Once a pillar of Charleston society, her family lost everything in the wake of a shocking scandal. And then Tilly lost the only boy she ever loved.

BUT NOW THAT HE’S BACK IN HER LIFE
Keaton Benedict is Charleston’s most notorious bachelor. But in spite of all his advantages—the money, the women, the family name—he longs for more: the heart of the young woman he still can’t forget.

THE DANGER HAS JUST BEGUN…
When Keaton re-enters Tilly’s life, after all these years, she is torn between feelings of doubt and desire. Can they put the past behind them and learn to love again? Tilly is willing to try. But Keaton is afraid that a vengeful enemy is watching—and waiting to destroy them. Can the rekindled flame of their love defeat the deadliest rival and light their way forward in the darkest night?

Darkest Night by Tara Thomas is the first full length novel in the Sons of Broad romantic suspense series. There were three novellas that opened the series that featured a different main couple than the full length books do so it’s not totally necessary to have read them but they did give a glimpse into the story.

In this first full length book the story has been turned over to Tilly Brock and Keaton Benedict. Tilly had been working in the bar with the main character from the novellas where she admitted to still harboring a crush on Keaton but didn’t think their paths would ever cross again as they ran in completely different circles now.

One night Keaton happens into the bar where Tilly is working and when he sees her he is taken back to his teen years and their first kiss before they were abruptly separated. As the two begin a relationship though they find themselves quickly falling into danger as it becomes apparent Tilly is the target of a killer.

Darkest Night is one of those books that while I enjoyed it I do think there is room for improvements to be made in the next book. The series does seem to have a decent fast pace which I enjoy quite a bit and mixes the suspense and the steamy chemistry rather well as the story moves along.

However, in this opener I think it had a bit too much going on to be honest. Not only do you have Tilly, Keaton and the shadowy figures putting them in danger but the author tried doing a lot with the side characters in this one which could tend to lose focus. Tilly and Keaton hadn’t seen one another in years but you blink and they are in love, a little build up for them would have been nice instead of so much with the future characters in the series.

In the end I’m giving this installment of the series 3.5 stars and will still of course look forward to the next book but hopefully it focuses on it’s main couple and the danger instead of bringing in the extra that this one had.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Tara Thomas’s love of books and writing started as a child and though she wanted to be an author, she decided a degree in science was more practical. After fifteen years in the pharmaceutical industry, she returned to her first love and hasn’t looked back since.

She writes erotic romance as Tara Sue Me. Her Submissive Series novels have been on both the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists. Her novel THE MASTER earned a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, was awarded Best Romance of 2016 from Best Book Awards, and is a 2017 RITA Finalist for Best Erotic Romance.