Helpful Score: 4
Let's get the reasons for my giving it a 4 instead of 5 out of the way. I expected [and wanted at that particular moment] an action plot [I mean, look at the cover!] but it's not really an action book - it's a relationship book. It has some great action SCENES but the book is mainly about Ethan and Rachel trying to recover their lives and move forward. The other reason? Ethan has some real character flaws...
But it is a good book and a good set up for the series. I enjoyed it. I'll read the next one. But a warning for those who have come in from Banks' erotica - this isn't. The h/h first sexual encounter [after her return from captivity] doesn't start until page 160...
The Kelly Group International
1. The Darkest Hour (2010)
2. No Place to Run (2010)
3. Hidden Away (2011)
But it is a good book and a good set up for the series. I enjoyed it. I'll read the next one. But a warning for those who have come in from Banks' erotica - this isn't. The h/h first sexual encounter [after her return from captivity] doesn't start until page 160...
The Kelly Group International
1. The Darkest Hour (2010)
2. No Place to Run (2010)
3. Hidden Away (2011)
Helpful Score: 3
Ethan is still devastated a year after his wife, Rachel's, death it is on this day that he gets a package that he immediately dismisses, when he opens it his world changes. I found the Kelly's to be a great family, strong, hardheaded and with fierce loyalty to each other. Ms. Banks did a great job with Ethan as the man tortured at the loss of his wife when their marriage was far from perfect and then with Rachel having little memory of before her kidnapping following her journey of self discovery.
Not all the memories are good ones and finally Rachel and Ethan hash it out, or start too but the men that took Rachel now know she is alive and home, they can't have that so they are after her once again.
It was an entertaining read, highly recommend and I look forward to the next installment of the KGI which I believe will be older brother Sam's story...
Not all the memories are good ones and finally Rachel and Ethan hash it out, or start too but the men that took Rachel now know she is alive and home, they can't have that so they are after her once again.
It was an entertaining read, highly recommend and I look forward to the next installment of the KGI which I believe will be older brother Sam's story...
Helpful Score: 1
This book was amazing!!! I read it in one day because I just couldn't put it down. It's filled with romance, action.. I felt like I was watching a movie. At times I caught myself holding my breath as I turned to the next page. This the first book I read by Maya Banks. She reminded me of Lora Leigh and Cindy Gerard Books. SO if you loved them you will LOVE this book! Can't wait to read the next one in the series.
What a great new series! I think if fell instantly in love with the whole Kelly Family.
Somewhat a departure of Maya's usual books but she has done a wonderful job here. I can just imagine that the rest of the books will just get better and better.
Somewhat a departure of Maya's usual books but she has done a wonderful job here. I can just imagine that the rest of the books will just get better and better.
Good read. Great storyline. The next book in the series will be on my auto buy list.
Maya Banks surprises me with this predictable and less than steamy "suspense romance". She's a good writer, this one was not for me. No connection to the characters.
This book had me hooked from the moment I picked up it. I truly enjoyed it and will definitely read the others in the series (in fact I already have the second so will be reading it soon:). I think Maya Banks does a great job of blending romance and suspense in The Darkest Hour, and the main characters and supporting cast were well done. Although I really liked this book, there were a couple of annoyances that I had with it. Firstly, everyone had pet names for the heroine and they used them a lot which I found annoying at times (i.e. hero always referred to her as baby, one brother calls her sweet pea, she is referred to as honey a lot, etc.). And maybe I have just read too many romantic suspense novel s with this theme lately, but I have had enough of the finding-your-long-lost-love storyline to last me for a while without picking up another one. That being said though, still a great book and I suspect I will like the others in the KGI series even more.
very good books can't wait to read the rest...
This book is good, but not the best of the series. If you don't love this book...don't give up, the next one is great!
really, really good
For a romantic suspense, the "action/suspense" isn't until the end of the book. It takes time for all the pieces to fall into place. I liked that Rachel was able to show her strength in the end. That was pretty awesome! The cast of characters are very likeable in this book. Will definitely read the next!
Great story line. The author has you hooked from the beginning, & it only gets better. Just when you think you know everything, BAM! Another twist. I loved it & plan on purchasing the rest of the series!!
Read this book after fifty shades of grey. It was recommended as a book that was similar to the fifty shades series. I didn't really think it was anything like that series. I really liked this book and can't wait to read the next one! Quick read, couldn't put it down!
Great start to this series.
After believing his wife dead for a year, Ethan receives information that Rachel is alive. She's being held captive in Colombia by a drug cartel. The informant sends satellite images that show the village and placement and shifts of the guards.
Eathan's older brothers own Kelly Group International. It's a top secret group specializing in handeling jobs the U.S. government can't. They plan and mount a rescue and bring Rachel home.
It's a story of of lost possibilities and second chances.
Very enjoyable.
After believing his wife dead for a year, Ethan receives information that Rachel is alive. She's being held captive in Colombia by a drug cartel. The informant sends satellite images that show the village and placement and shifts of the guards.
Eathan's older brothers own Kelly Group International. It's a top secret group specializing in handeling jobs the U.S. government can't. They plan and mount a rescue and bring Rachel home.
It's a story of of lost possibilities and second chances.
Very enjoyable.
The Darkest Hour is the first book in the KGI Series about the Kelly Brothers. This is Ethan's story. When Ethan discovers his wife Rachel, who died a year earlier, is actually alive and being held captive by members of a drug cartel, he enlists the help of KGI. KGI is an elite team of operatives made up of Ethan and his five brothers, along with a few other special ops members. Once Ethan rescues Rachel the real hard work starts. Rachel has only sketchy memories of their marriage and Ethan has a guilty conscience about having asked Rachel for a divorce. This book is a GREAT start to a series. The Kelly brothers are all amazing!
LOVED this book! Exactly what I was looking for! Great story, great characters! I can't wait for the next one.
Really enjoyed the book. Can't wait to read rest of the brothers' books!
This had me from the beginning. Looking forward to reading the rest.
I've only read one short story by Banks prior to this book. I'm glad I decided to give her a try. I was hooked from the very beginning and couldn't put it down.
Banks has a way of expressing emotions through her characters without being overly wordy or fancy. I cried a lot reading this book mostly out for the anguish the characters felt or had gone through. I loved that Banks included so many small details when it came to Rachel readjusting to her life again. So many books act oversimplifies the recovery process, but this one was really touching.
I actually didn't like Ethan too much as a character. Prior to Rachel's "death" he was such an immense jerk to her. I have a hard time believing that he won't resort back to that self-destructive behavior.
Ironically (Banks being famous for her erotica), the love scenes here are rather standard. They weren't hot, just kind of sweet.
My favorites are of course the family scenes. They are so much fun.
Looking forward to reading other books in the series. There are so many characters introduced here that I really don't think Banks would run out of characters to write about.
Banks has a way of expressing emotions through her characters without being overly wordy or fancy. I cried a lot reading this book mostly out for the anguish the characters felt or had gone through. I loved that Banks included so many small details when it came to Rachel readjusting to her life again. So many books act oversimplifies the recovery process, but this one was really touching.
I actually didn't like Ethan too much as a character. Prior to Rachel's "death" he was such an immense jerk to her. I have a hard time believing that he won't resort back to that self-destructive behavior.
Ironically (Banks being famous for her erotica), the love scenes here are rather standard. They weren't hot, just kind of sweet.
My favorites are of course the family scenes. They are so much fun.
Looking forward to reading other books in the series. There are so many characters introduced here that I really don't think Banks would run out of characters to write about.
Loved the KGI series!
I rarely give 5 star reviews...I think a book really needs to earn it- there's nothing higher to rate a better book- but this book had it all! I came across a recommendation for this book in a "Heroine gets injured/hurt" discussion/message board. I was feeling like that was the next type of romance novel I wanted to read again... I had just finished an Historical Romance where the heroine almost died & the love reflected by the Hero when he thought he lost her was moving.
Let me just say that this book took that to the 10th degree! **Slight plotline spoilers, but nothing that hasn't been mentioned on Amazon already**. Ethan is a grieving man in the beginning of the book, devastated that his wife, and the love of his life, is gone...& that the last words she heard from him were accusations of infidelity (untrue) and the demand for a divorce. When he finds out Rachel might still be alive he moves heaven & earth to find her. When he does, she has been tortured and has lost parts of her memory...and only remembers Ethan as her loving husband.
While Ethan worries about whether she will remember their unhappy past, he works to heal her physical and emotional wounds and to build back the trust he knows she'll need when she finds out. Rachel is still in danger and has so many "mishaps" (really too soft of a word for what she goes through) that Ethan has many chances to rescue her. I thought that it would be a bit much really, all the things that happen, but it really blends well into the plot line and makes for a heart wrenching love story. We see Ethan's internal and external battle and all that he does to try to atone for his past mistakes.
The secondary characters in this book were also fantastically developed and I fell in love with each one of them as well. I loved the relationship Garrett (Ethan's brother) had with Rachel almost as much as I loved Ethan and Rachel together. The sex scenes also blend rather well in the book...racy enough without being pornographic or overly prevalent. This could also be considered a romantic thriller- and I loathe these types of books when the "intrigue" part of the plot is just thrown in as an afterthought and comes to a swift culmination at the end. This plot line is continuously moving throughout the book, and while I wouldn't call it a complete "never saw that coming" moment, does add to the story and is rounded out nicely. This book had everything I was looking for and was also just the right length! Not too long not to short.
Overall this book is a keeper and I will definitely be ordering the next in the series and hope that they hold up next to "The Darkest Hour". I would love to see if anyone else thinks my review accurate or felt the same way about this book.
Let me just say that this book took that to the 10th degree! **Slight plotline spoilers, but nothing that hasn't been mentioned on Amazon already**. Ethan is a grieving man in the beginning of the book, devastated that his wife, and the love of his life, is gone...& that the last words she heard from him were accusations of infidelity (untrue) and the demand for a divorce. When he finds out Rachel might still be alive he moves heaven & earth to find her. When he does, she has been tortured and has lost parts of her memory...and only remembers Ethan as her loving husband.
While Ethan worries about whether she will remember their unhappy past, he works to heal her physical and emotional wounds and to build back the trust he knows she'll need when she finds out. Rachel is still in danger and has so many "mishaps" (really too soft of a word for what she goes through) that Ethan has many chances to rescue her. I thought that it would be a bit much really, all the things that happen, but it really blends well into the plot line and makes for a heart wrenching love story. We see Ethan's internal and external battle and all that he does to try to atone for his past mistakes.
The secondary characters in this book were also fantastically developed and I fell in love with each one of them as well. I loved the relationship Garrett (Ethan's brother) had with Rachel almost as much as I loved Ethan and Rachel together. The sex scenes also blend rather well in the book...racy enough without being pornographic or overly prevalent. This could also be considered a romantic thriller- and I loathe these types of books when the "intrigue" part of the plot is just thrown in as an afterthought and comes to a swift culmination at the end. This plot line is continuously moving throughout the book, and while I wouldn't call it a complete "never saw that coming" moment, does add to the story and is rounded out nicely. This book had everything I was looking for and was also just the right length! Not too long not to short.
Overall this book is a keeper and I will definitely be ordering the next in the series and hope that they hold up next to "The Darkest Hour". I would love to see if anyone else thinks my review accurate or felt the same way about this book.
I have really enjoyed this series. I couldn't put it down and recommend this author.
loved it! i could not read it any faster than by the turning of the pages! that did slow me down! can't wait for the next one either!! on to the next book. lol
I love the KGI books by Maya Banks. The Darketst Hour is the first in the series. Ethan and his brothers are HOT!! The book has a great story line and the family camaraderie and dynamics are wonderful. So if you like a book about dodging bullets, drug cartels and unrequited love, this is the book for you!
loved it. can't wait to read the next one.
Great story. I could really get into the characters. A must read. I just couldn't put it down.
Love Maya Banks.
awesome book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
loved it so much, im working to collect the whole series!
