laurenjodi's review against another edition
3.0
The Darkest Hour
3 Stars
On the first anniversary of his wife's death, Ethan Kelly receives proof of life and enlists his brothers' aid in mounting a rescue mission. Ethan and Rachel must deal with the trauma of her experiences and rediscover their relationship and marriage. However, just as their lives are getting back on track, an insidious threat emerges; one that will stop at nothing to remove Rachel from the equation.
Great premise, poor execution.
The plot involving former military men establishing their own private mercenary service has potential as does the specific story of drug cartels and hostage rescues. Unfortunately, the romance fails miserably. Ethan and Rachel have little to no chemistry, and at times it seems as if she is closer to his brother Garrett. This, together with the fact that she was basically raised in his parents' house as a sister, lends an almost incestuous quality to their relationship.
Moreover, Rachel is not my preferred type of heroine i.e., intelligent, strong willed and self-sufficient. She comes across instead as a whiny and wimpy damsel in distress and it is only toward the end that she develops a backbone, even though this too is short lived. In addition, the men in the story use too many childish and condescending endearments for her, such as "baby" or "sweet pea". As such, it is virtually impossible to take her seriously or identify with her as a heroine.
While I appreciate a hero who is in touch with his feelings, and doesn't fear shedding a tear or two, Ethan is excessively emotional and cries at the drop of a hat – come on man, you are a Navy SEAL, suck it up! He spends most of the book either coddling his wife or worrying that she will find out about their marital problems prior to her kidnapping – the fact that someone wants her dead is almost forgotten amongst the romantic concerns.
The secondary characters are the real highlight of the book. The Kelly family dynamic is hilarious and engaging, and each brother has a distinct personality. Rusty's side story is also entertaining and I found myself identifying with the smart-mouthed teen more than the heroine.
The writing is solid and well paced with excellent descriptions of Rachel's rescue and the after effects of her kidnapping, including her drug addiction and amnesia.
Overall, the series has promise and I will give the next one a chance.
3 Stars
On the first anniversary of his wife's death, Ethan Kelly receives proof of life and enlists his brothers' aid in mounting a rescue mission. Ethan and Rachel must deal with the trauma of her experiences and rediscover their relationship and marriage. However, just as their lives are getting back on track, an insidious threat emerges; one that will stop at nothing to remove Rachel from the equation.
Great premise, poor execution.
The plot involving former military men establishing their own private mercenary service has potential as does the specific story of drug cartels and hostage rescues. Unfortunately, the romance fails miserably. Ethan and Rachel have little to no chemistry, and at times it seems as if she is closer to his brother Garrett. This, together with the fact that she was basically raised in his parents' house as a sister, lends an almost incestuous quality to their relationship.
Moreover, Rachel is not my preferred type of heroine i.e., intelligent, strong willed and self-sufficient. She comes across instead as a whiny and wimpy damsel in distress and it is only toward the end that she develops a backbone, even though this too is short lived. In addition, the men in the story use too many childish and condescending endearments for her, such as "baby" or "sweet pea". As such, it is virtually impossible to take her seriously or identify with her as a heroine.
While I appreciate a hero who is in touch with his feelings, and doesn't fear shedding a tear or two, Ethan is excessively emotional and cries at the drop of a hat – come on man, you are a Navy SEAL, suck it up! He spends most of the book either coddling his wife or worrying that she will find out about their marital problems prior to her kidnapping – the fact that someone wants her dead is almost forgotten amongst the romantic concerns.
The secondary characters are the real highlight of the book. The Kelly family dynamic is hilarious and engaging, and each brother has a distinct personality. Rusty's side story is also entertaining and I found myself identifying with the smart-mouthed teen more than the heroine.
The writing is solid and well paced with excellent descriptions of Rachel's rescue and the after effects of her kidnapping, including her drug addiction and amnesia.
Overall, the series has promise and I will give the next one a chance.
geo_ix's review against another edition
2.0
This was just an OK read for me. I was bored out my mind half the time, felt the reactions to situations to be unrealistic and I also thought it should have focused more on Rachel's drug addiction and mental health but because it's a romantic suspense it focused more on the millions of times some bad guy came to kill Rachel.
I found it unrealistic that they'd be leaving her alone all those times also. The rest of the book they coddle her and those two or three times they're like, bye bitch do whatever. For a company who deals in this kind of shit I find it highly unlikely they would be more suspicious of her being alive. Like hello, why people saying she's dead when she's not, it's all cool to send a team to look into it, but keep some security on your girl at home too! I mean, I'm no hero, but that seems logical. Or a phone you can track perhaps?? Tail her?? SOMETHING.
I think there was a tad too much drama because so much went on but that's typical of these books, relationship dramas and near death experiences. Anyway, I didn't see much of a stand out difference from other romantic suspense books I've read and while the excerpt I saw from book two was interesting with baby/pregnancy drama by the looks of it, I won't be continuing on the fact I'm just not that into RS and I gave this a fair go due to the high rating hoping it would be different to ones I've read and I'd enjoy it, but it lacked that little something I myself enjoy and ended up just not being my thing. However, if you like RS, I can see you liking this.
I found it unrealistic that they'd be leaving her alone all those times also. The rest of the book they coddle her and those two or three times they're like, bye bitch do whatever. For a company who deals in this kind of shit I find it highly unlikely they would be more suspicious of her being alive. Like hello, why people saying she's dead when she's not, it's all cool to send a team to look into it, but keep some security on your girl at home too! I mean, I'm no hero, but that seems logical. Or a phone you can track perhaps?? Tail her?? SOMETHING.
I think there was a tad too much drama because so much went on but that's typical of these books, relationship dramas and near death experiences. Anyway, I didn't see much of a stand out difference from other romantic suspense books I've read and while the excerpt I saw from book two was interesting with baby/pregnancy drama by the looks of it, I won't be continuing on the fact I'm just not that into RS and I gave this a fair go due to the high rating hoping it would be different to ones I've read and I'd enjoy it, but it lacked that little something I myself enjoy and ended up just not being my thing. However, if you like RS, I can see you liking this.
js_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
thegeekyblogger's review against another edition
4.0
Bought on Amazon to read for Book Club
What I Loved: The Kelly's are such a wonderful close-knit family that was the first thing that struck me about this book. The brothers each had such unique personalities and yet they mashed together really well. This was one cohesive unit even when they were disagreeing, mad because others were making unilateral decisions, and at times growling at each other (mom and dad included) but it all seemed to reinforce how important family was to them. The strong story that introduced all these wonderful characters was engaging and thrilling. It was very military based though more in covert ops type of way and you were rooting for them all the way. Rachel and Ethan had a very moving storyline that had you pulling for them against all odds and I will admit I cried a few times.
What I Liked: Rio, Steele, PJ, and all other ops team members were on the tops of my list to learn more about. They weren't in the book overly much but they were refreshingly fun. Sean and Rusty were also good additions to this character palette enforcing the family principle whether by blood or heart. It was the well rounded cast of characters that really made the book shine.
Complaints: None
Why I gave it a 4: I had fun reading this book from beginning to end. I laughed, cried, got angry, and wanted to reach through the book a couple of times. All signs of a good read.
Who I would recommend this too: This is a romantic thriller that I think would appeal to military thriller readers and contemporary romance readers a like. I am thinking of suggesting it to my dad--I bought it on Kindle so he never has to see the cover LOL.
Author Website: http://www.mayabanks.com/
Other Books in the Series:
The Darkest Hour (Ethan's Story)
No Place to Run (Sam's Story)
Hidden Away (Garrett's Story) March 2011
What I Loved: The Kelly's are such a wonderful close-knit family that was the first thing that struck me about this book. The brothers each had such unique personalities and yet they mashed together really well. This was one cohesive unit even when they were disagreeing, mad because others were making unilateral decisions, and at times growling at each other (mom and dad included) but it all seemed to reinforce how important family was to them. The strong story that introduced all these wonderful characters was engaging and thrilling. It was very military based though more in covert ops type of way and you were rooting for them all the way. Rachel and Ethan had a very moving storyline that had you pulling for them against all odds and I will admit I cried a few times.
What I Liked: Rio, Steele, PJ, and all other ops team members were on the tops of my list to learn more about. They weren't in the book overly much but they were refreshingly fun. Sean and Rusty were also good additions to this character palette enforcing the family principle whether by blood or heart. It was the well rounded cast of characters that really made the book shine.
Complaints: None
Why I gave it a 4: I had fun reading this book from beginning to end. I laughed, cried, got angry, and wanted to reach through the book a couple of times. All signs of a good read.
Who I would recommend this too: This is a romantic thriller that I think would appeal to military thriller readers and contemporary romance readers a like. I am thinking of suggesting it to my dad--I bought it on Kindle so he never has to see the cover LOL.
Author Website: http://www.mayabanks.com/
Other Books in the Series:
The Darkest Hour (Ethan's Story)
No Place to Run (Sam's Story)
Hidden Away (Garrett's Story) March 2011
ibeforem's review
2.0
Turns out, military-adjacent romances where every male character in the book infantilizes the main female character are not for me.
alisonb's review against another edition
4.0
This was a captivating story. I certainly didn’t expect my heart strings to be pulled so effectively.
I look forward to diving head first into this exciting series!
I look forward to diving head first into this exciting series!
seffra's review against another edition
3.0
I did a re-read on this book because one of my friends had recently read this book and spoke great things about it. I remember this book not being one that I instantly liked and grew to love. I wanted to give it another try because of my friend so I did.
Well what can I say, re-reading it did not make me like it any more than I did the first time around. I honestly didn't like Ethan, he never grew as a person for me. With Rachel, I get that she's been through a lot and she's trying to find herself but...I felt like there was nothing to be found. She had no personality whatsoever. Same with Ethan.. he at least had his job and family to describe who he is but she didn't really have anything. Maya Banks did not touch upon her history besides her being a teacher and well loved by Ethan's family. I wanted more from her. I wanted her to create herself again. Does she like to read? What is her hobby? What was Ethan's hobby? I felt like they were just mechanical characters that I REALLY wanted them have the depth that they didn't have.
This book wasn't all negative. I loved meeting Rusty. She's very intriguing and I liked reading about Marlene & Frank's dynamic with Rusty. The writing was really good as well, I've always liked Maya Banks' books and I will continue to read her. I also want to read Garrett's book since he stood out for me.
Well what can I say, re-reading it did not make me like it any more than I did the first time around. I honestly didn't like Ethan, he never grew as a person for me. With Rachel, I get that she's been through a lot and she's trying to find herself but...I felt like there was nothing to be found. She had no personality whatsoever. Same with Ethan.. he at least had his job and family to describe who he is but she didn't really have anything. Maya Banks did not touch upon her history besides her being a teacher and well loved by Ethan's family. I wanted more from her. I wanted her to create herself again. Does she like to read? What is her hobby? What was Ethan's hobby? I felt like they were just mechanical characters that I REALLY wanted them have the depth that they didn't have.
This book wasn't all negative. I loved meeting Rusty. She's very intriguing and I liked reading about Marlene & Frank's dynamic with Rusty. The writing was really good as well, I've always liked Maya Banks' books and I will continue to read her. I also want to read Garrett's book since he stood out for me.
elliefufu's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first in Maya Banks KGI series and man oh man is it good. I loved everything about this book and I couldn't put it down. Rachael is an amazingly string woman and I loved the relationship between her and Ethan. Ethan Judy broke my heart. He made some mistakes and wants nothing more then to fix his marriage to Rachael. This is a series that I know I will not being putting down any time soon!