I just love the characters and the world that has been created. The character development and relationship buildings have been great throughout. This is a 'must read' for sure!!!

This book was hard to read. I felt like I was missing something about the background of the characters. It felt like there were about 8 books ahead of this one that I was missing.

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.

DARKEST NIGHT
Tara Thomas.


“He had been her ultimate dream and now he was her present reality.”


Whenever Tara has a new book or genre she has written I’m on board to go on a new journey. You never know where she will take you, but you know you will enjoy the ride.

“You’ll never do great things until you believe you can do them.”


This book has so many elements that I loved. There was friendship, betrayal, mystery, jealousy, chemistry, second chances, suspense, family loyalty and romance. This book had me at the edge of my seat and made it difficult not to read in one sitting. I can’t wait to see where this Sons of Broad Series goes next.

“The voice in the back of his head kept whispering that she was in danger. As much as he’d like to ignore it, he couldn’t, because it was usually right.”

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley. This book had me from the very beginning. I love that it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I would highly recommend this book to my fellow readers. Thank you for the chance to review this book!!!!

I had a very hard time getting into this book, the characters were more annoying that appealing but I fought my way through. Not high on my list to ever read again or recommend to others.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of Darkest Night. I regret I DNF the book as the writing was not for me.

Thank you

I'm not a big fan of insta-love because it's all lust driven... and the relationship seemed pretty instant. It was a good read, just not that great.

Good book, I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. Thanks to Netgalley, this ARC . My opinion was my own.

Loose ends, cardboard characters.
I'm never sure what went off the rails when a lauded 'best selling' Author has a book like this.
Since this was my first read by the Author, I would say this will not be a series I'll buy into.
I tried leaving a review on GoodReads and I was only able to rate in.

This author was new-to-me and I'm pleasantly surprised with the result. I haven't really gotten into romantic suspense until now. I actually received an ARC from Netgalley for the third book in the series. I began reading it, and then since I liked the story, I had to hunt down the first two. I have not read any of the author's other work under her pen name or through her novellas.
The Benedict boys each have their own angle and personality and each one will have their own book. The first begins with the youngest, Keaton and his childhood neighbor Tilly. This was a sweet and quick romance that skips the instalove feeling since they were childhood friends and crushes until a tragedy ripped them apart for years. They are later reunited and all the old feelings rush back.
As soon as they are reacquainted, the bodies and danger start showing up at Tilly's door. Keaton's desire to protect her was sweet. The suspense moved quickly and kept me thoroughly engaged. Sometimes the pacing and change of POV threw me, I'm not sure if that was because of the ARC format though.
The gentleman was a character I loved to hate, and I know there is something much deeper for him in all this. The characters weren't super deep, but I could get a good glimpse of them. This book really focuses on a few, I'm imagining the other books each focus on different characters. The only character I wasn't a fan of were the twins, and one of their quick 180 in personality. It just felt forced.
There were some sex scenes, some language, and mature content, it wasn't over the top but definitely an adult read. There were a few references that had me wondering and perhaps there is something in a previous novella that accounts for those details. A few loose ends when this was over, however, it's a series. It wasn't a cliff-hanger, but enough to make me wonder how they will connect in the next book. I will definitely continue in the series and I'm eager to find more from this author.

I started the book but could not finish before the archive date. I have since purchased it and will return to it when I can.
I found the story a bit confusing and it didn’t hold my attention well, but I am hoping it gets better.

I think I'm in the minority because I didn't like this story at all and I'm not interested in continuing it. I really thought it would have been different but it really wasn't.

The Darkest Night was such a wild ride and I couldn't stop reading till I finished in one sitting! This was such a phenomenal storyline along with such greatly developed characters that added so much value to the storyline!

Based on the blurb, I thought this series had potential. Unfortunately, I just could not finish this book. I think it's me though because it has quite a few positive reviews, but it just didn't work for me. I have no plans on continuing this series but I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to try out a new-to-me author.

I read the series in order, although I am rating/reviewing them out of order. I can definitely say the series improves over time. This book was a little all over the map. It wasn't so much confusing as it was over the top. It was still enjoyable, with fast-paced action and romance.

Keaton and Tilly are my new favorite pair. They are so interesting and the story is a must read.. Tilly thought she lost everything when her family had a scandal but she found out that Keaton still wants her and thrilling things happen along the way.

I love this series. Its so exciting. With twist and turns along the way as the pair that couldnt keep away from each other no matter their past face danger from an unseen enemy, threatens to destroy them they have to figure this out together.

Darkest Night by Tara Thomas is the first in the Sons of Broad series. I had high hopes this mystery would carry me away. Set in the middle of Charleston, South Carolina, with all its southern charm and mystery, lies a story of lost love and buried secrets. I thought Keaton and Tilly were well matched, but the story felt a bit choppy. This small town mystery left us with a few loose ends and questions. I would like to continue reading the series. There's a yearning to learn the identity of "The Gentleman". He seems hell bent on revenge and has more victims on his or her list.



3.5 Stars