Author: Laura Kaye
Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance / novella
Release Date: 17 May 2013
Author's links:
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My rating: 4 Stars
Synopsis
Two strangers…
Makenna James thinks her day can't get any worse, until she finds herself stranded in a pitch-black elevator with a complete stranger. Distracted by a phone call, the pin-striped accountant catches only a glimpse of a dragon tattoo on his hand before the lights go out.
Four hours…
Caden Grayson is amused when a harried redhead dashes into his elevator fumbling her bags and cell phone. His amusement turns to panic when the power fails. Despite his piercings, tats, and vicious scar, he's terrified of the dark and confined spaces. Now, he's trapped in his own worst nightmare.
One pitch-black elevator…
To fight fear, they must reach out and open up. With no preconceived notions based on looks to hold them back, they discover just how much they have in common. In the warming darkness, attraction grows and sparks fly, but will they feel the same when the lights come back on?
Titlle: Love in the Light (Heart of Darkness #1)Author: Laura Kaye
Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance / novella
Release Date: 9Jjan 2016
Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads
Add on Goodreads
My rating: 4 Stars
Synopsis
Two hearts in the darkness…
Makenna James and Caden Grayson have been inseparable since the day they were trapped in a pitch-black elevator and found acceptance and love in the arms of a stranger. Makenna hopes that night put them on the path to forever—which can’t happen until she introduces her tattooed, pierced, and scarred boyfriend to her father and three over-protective brothers.
Must fight for love in the light…
Haunted by a childhood tragedy and the loss of his family, Caden never thought he’d find the love he shares with Makenna. But the deeper he falls, the more he fears the devastation sure to come if he ever lost her, too. When meeting her family doesn’t go smoothly, Caden questions whether Makenna deserves someone better, stronger, and just more…normal. Maybe they’re too different—and he’s far too damaged—after all…
Review
I decided to review these books together since I read them almost one after the other. I've been meaning to read Heart of Darkness ever since release in 2013 but somehow I never got to it. When I heard there would be a sequel coming in the beginning of 2016, I finally put it top of my TBR list and read it. And then I read the sequel on release day!
In short, I very much enjoyed both books.
Now, in more details.
I really like the setting of book 1, two people getting stuck in an elevator for a couple of hours in the dark. It's not the most realistic meet-cute for a long-term relationship but I found it very well done. It's a novella- length story but the characters were well developed and I quickly got invested in their stories. I loved how they opened to one another under the guise of darkness.
Caden was really special, I loved how tough and rugged he appeared on the outside, yet he was fighting a brutal inner battle. His clinical depression and claustrophobia just made him real and easy to relate. It was not overdone or sappy, it felt real and honest to me and I loved it. His closed off appearance and distrust of people made sense and I loved how Makenna seemed to appreciate and accept all of him - his strengths and weaknesses.
Makenna was a great character as well, independent and smart, the good girl who falls for the damaged bad boy (it appeared so on the surface but in reality we saw two people with their scars and battles coming together). She didn't want to save or change him, just to be with him and what happened in that elevator, the secrets they shared, set them off on the road of an interesting journey of coming together as a couple.
The story ends with the promise of tehir HEA together and I'm glad the author chose to explore their journey into coupledom in more detail in a sequel.
Here things start where they left off in book 1 - Makenna and Caden are together and getting serious about it. Once again I felt taht Caden was the star of the story. They face a number of challenges - their relationship moves too quickly, meeting Makenna's family for the holiday, an ex trying to win her back, it all added to much stress for Caden to handle on his own. And he got lost. His journey away from Makenna on a road of self-destruction was heart-breaking, yet compelling to read. It felt real to me, though I don't have first had experience of such issues.
The conflict was not just a big misunderstand or confusion, it was deeper, something that they both needed to work on in order to be able to move forward.
The ending was a bit on the sweet side for me and took away some of edginess and realism of the story. Still, I quite enjoyed both books, they are little jems, highing serious issues behind some lighthearted and sexy romance. I can wholeheartedly recommend them both.
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