Tara Thomas (1)

Darkest Night is the start of a romantic suspense series by Tara Thomas that takes place in Charleston. The series features one of three brothers romance in each of the books. While I am writing this, there are only three books in the series, and I haven’t researched to see if there are plans to go beyond that. Their family is being targeted by someone trying to destroy the Benedicts.

The first book is the introduction. So you usually try to give it a little to help build up the story, but they rushed the first 25% of this book. It is all murder chaos, rushed character introductions, and few descriptions of what's going on. Most of it feels like just conversations.

It starts with Tilly Brock and Keaton Benedict. They were best friends throughout childhood and first loves until they charged her father with embezzling funds from the Benedict‘s family company. At that point, it gets weird with the writing style. Keaton’s mother told him Tilly and her family moved to Texas, and he never contacted Tilly again. She was even hinting for him to date another family’s daughter, Elise, right after. There is only a handful of mentions about the embezzlement scandal and it leads you to believe it was a mistake. It doesn’t touch that plotline at all after those few sentences. Then Elise moving in and practically promised to Keaton because her father worked with his father. Apparently, marriage is all business then. That character felt odd, because she was angry and vindictive, but turns out to be a throwaway character in a bizarre turn of events. It felt clunky and thrown in for some hopeful intrigue. Not to mention there is a murderer who is targeting Tilly specifically. Why because she knew the Benedicts almost 10 years ago…. what… like she is from the deep past childhood, why is she a lynchpin to taking the boys down? It is written like the killer intended for Tilly and Keaton to meet, but they wrote the scene like a random meeting. There are so many random plot things in the book. The murders, a family affair with a half-sister, there is a mastermind with minions who murder. I think there is a human trafficking element.

I want to touch beyond the story and hit the characters a little here too. Keaton is supposed to be this “notorious bachelor” but he feels like just some random college kid in a rich family. The family doesn’t feel like they are as famous as that label suggests. Maybe one of the other brothers would fit that description better, but beyond their own household, they don‘t feel like they are that renown to the community. They really could just be any slightly rich people. It just added to the rough feeling of the story.

There is a lot of unanswered questions left in this book. The writing got better as the story progressed. It ends well to lead you into the next book(s) I feel. I just don‘t know if it is a strong enough start to pull people in for the whole series. I almost quit myself at the start. There are issues with the story I have, but again, that will hopefully be resolved in the future books. I’m just not sure if I am interested enough to try and finish it. I try to push through tough points in books. I am glad I did it with this book. I appreciate this story, but I wasn’t completely sold on it.… (más)

Alyssa Adams made a promise long ago to find the killer or killers of her sister. So she became a police officer. Kipling Benedict recently finds out he has a half-sister and she has been kidnapped. Alyssa seems the similarity in her sister’s case and Kipling’s to begin investigating it. She quits the force and together follow the trail.

Slow moving tale with little suspense and a lot of romance. Deal with a long standing plan of revenge. It took a while to come to a conclusion but since I could not get into liking the main characters, I was really pushing myself to finish the book. Not my type of book.… (más)

Broken Promise by Tara Thomas is the third and final book in the romantic suspense Sons of Broad Trilogy set in Charleston, South Carolina. This book highlights Kipling, the oldest brother, and police detective Alyssa Adams. They have history, not really that pleasant history, but there is an undeniable attraction as well. Alyssa is the only one he can turn to when his half-sister is kidnapped. What follows is another gritty, suspenseful, fast-paced story in a gritty, suspenseful, fast-paced series. "The Gentleman," who has been targeting and terrorizing the Benedict family for so long, is back, as evil as ever. Charleston is back, too. You feel as if you are there, enveloped in the atmosphere.

As the eldest of the Benedict brothers, Kipling will stop at nothing to protect his family from a threat that aims to destroy them once and for all. Broken Promise is a well-written, fast-paced book with lots of twists and turns. Even if you haven’t read the first two books in the series, the flashbacks Tara Thomas provides are enough to help you understand, and feel, the danger. I recommend you read the entire series to fully enjoy and appreciate all the backstory and the tales of the other brothers, but Broken Promise ably stands on its own, with good character development and well-thought out plot and scenes. And while this story focuses on Kipling and Alyssa and the current danger, it answers all your questions about “The Gentleman” and very nicely wraps up all the storylines.

I enjoyed Broken Promise. The atmosphere is lush, the danger seems real, and the attraction between Kipling and Alyssa is steamy. But the best thing, the thread that runs throughout the entire series, is family – just how important family, and those brought into the family circle – is and what lengths they will go to to protect and care for each other.

Note I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.… (más)