This was my very first Liliana Hart book. I see her all over Goodreads, and her books are rated well, but for some reason I just hadn’t taken the time to read one of her books. But then one of my favorite authors wrote a MacKenzie Family novella, and then another reviewer at Straight Shootin’ Book Reviews reviewed The Darkest Corner, so my interest was piqued. When I was able to get my hands on a review copy from NetGalley, that sealed the deal!
At first, The Darkest Corner started out confusing and slow – there were vague descriptions of who each of the Gravediggers are (which had me wondering if this was a sequel because I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on), and then there were lots of descriptions about the funeral home, of which I really didn’t care about. Get to the story already! (I may be a tad impatient that way…)
But then Tess started talking to herself – out loud – and I found her endearing and charming. And once Tess and the Gravediggers team started to interact? Game on!
The hero, Deacon, is also majorly swoony. I love a man who loves a woman from afar and then jumps at the chance to be with her when the timing is right. No hesitation, no baulking, just jumps right in and goes for it. I also really liked that when things had the potential to be bumpy (because of “another woman” – but not really, so if that is a “no go” for you in a book, don’t let it scare you away), Tess doesn’t fly off the handle and walk away. She experiences a quick bout of insecurity (which, to me, added authenticity to her character – because really, aren’t we all intimidated by a woman we perceive as being more beautiful than we are?), but doesn’t let that be the driving force of her actions. I love a nice, mature relationship. One that has conflict, but not angst. It’s refreshing to read nowadays.
One thing that did confuse me though was the family from the prologue. I kept waiting for the story to come back around to them, or at least to the daughter, Carrie. But it never did. It made me feel like there’s a loose end out there somewhere, and I don’t like loose ends! Please, tie everything up nice and tight for me, thankyouverymuch.
I ended up really liking this book. Once things got going (in the third chapter, so really I didn’t have to read long), this was a non-stop, action-packed, entertaining story. Had life not been seriously infringing on my reading time, this would have been a book that I read straight through. I loved the characters, and the dialogue was witty and made me laugh. Furthermore, I am looking forward to reading more from this series. This book has the perfect blend of humor, heat and action that I love from a romantic suspense, and I hope the rest of them follow suit!
*Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review
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