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Review

I love this book! It’s an intriguing, thrilling, beautifully romantic read that had me hooked from the very first page.

Blake’s parents were brutally murdered when she was a child. She doesn’t know who killed them or why, and as an adult, she still has horrific nightmares and lives her life in fear, haunted by the mystery of her past.

“I am scared of the unknown. I am scared to be alone. I am scared to not be alone. I am scared to have people love me, and I am scared to have nobody loves me. I live my life constant state of fear and need for control. I try not to be obvious about any of my feelings. I put a smile on my face every morning and pretend that I’m as normal as everybody else – even though I know I’m not.”

Following the tragic death of her childhood guardian, she is taken to a foster home where she makes her first real friends – and OMG, I love this group of characters! Blake, Aubry, Becky, Greg and Cole grow up together, and as adults are still the best of friends. They clearly care deeply for each other, are there for each other, and have become a family, and I love each of them.

But it’s with Cole that Blake has the strongest connection. And who can blame her, this man is INCREDIBLE!!! Seriously, he is book boyfriend perfection! He is smart, funny, sexy, incredibly supportive and protective of Blake, and he loves her passionately! And as their relationship finally progresses from friends to lovers, and their past is revealed, I just fell more and more in love with him.

“I’m in love with you, Blake. I’ve been in love with you from the moment I saw you. I’ve been in love with you from the day I was born and possibly even before then. I belong to you. My body belongs to you. My heart belongs to you.”

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOON!

From the very beginning of the book, you can see the bond between Blake and Cole, they love each other deeply, and I loved every single moment of the two of them together! Not only is there swoon (and some steamy time), but they are also best friends, with some great teasing and playful banter. And even though they are both battling some pretty serious demons, they are refreshingly open and honest. And Cole is definitely not afraid to put himself out there for his girl.

“You’re the only one that fucking matters…only you…always.”

When more secrets from Blake’s past are revealed, Cole is there to support her. But as she starts to piece things together, she suddenly finds herself, and those she loves, in serious danger.

I’m not going to say too much more about the story, because I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that I devoured this book in one sitting, unable to put it down.

Contreras has a unique storytelling style. The story isn’t told to you, instead, you get given pieces that then fit together as the story progresses. Sort of like a puzzle. I found it a little confusing at the beginning as you are dumped right into the story, and you need to figure out who everybody is, how they all relate to each other, and why things are the way they are, without being given much background. But with the blending of the present day with the past, everything eventually unfolds. And in the meantime there is the theorising… from pretty much the beginning of the book I was madly developing theories about what was going on, and how everything fit together. Some I picked, others took me by surprise. And the whole way through I was constantly questioning why, how, who, and what was going on.

While some questions are answered, there are others that aren’t, plus there’s a whole heap of new questions as well! And then the book ends in a hideous cliffhanger, which makes me very glad that I waited to read this book until the sequel is available. I’ll be jumping right in.

I loved it – 4 stars.

 

The Darkness series