Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Book Review: Desire After Dark by Marie Force

Desire After Dark (The McCarthys of Gansett Island #15)
Author: Marie Force
Published by: HTJB, Inc.
Publication Date: May 21, 2016
Page Count: 304 (paper back)
Buy it at: Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Source: Kindly Provided by Author
Audience: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Adult

Desire After Dark is the 15th book in Marie Force's Gansett Island series. I am new to this series, and I will admit I was a little apprehensive at first about jumping in to a book that is part of such a long series. However, Desire After Dark is a beautiful love story that reads well as a stand-alone. That being said, I think it is definitely enjoyed best by those who have read the entire series and already know all of the characters. I am a lover of series. I hate letting characters go at the end of a book. Just from reading this one book alone, I can tell that Marie Force does a fabulous job of continuing a series by allowing new characters to tell their stories without letting go of the characters that readers have grown to love throughout the series.


Erin and Slim are the main focus of Desire After Dark. Erin has suffered tremendous loss in her life and has started new on Gansett Island as the lighthouse keeper. Here she is making new friends and learning to live again. Slim is the familiar to Gansett Island. He is a pilot by trade, working off of Gansett Island in the summers and out of Florida in the winters. Their story began in the previous book, where they met and began somewhat of an online relationship while Slim was working out of Florida. Now he is home for Christmas and the two are able to explore the relationship that they've built through text and skype/face time.

There are quite a few kinks in their story that threaten their love; from Slim's fear of commitment to Erin's fear of losing someone she loves again and pretty severe case of OCD that stems from her past. These kinks serve to make their story more real, more full, and far more satisfying. I loved that the Desire After Dark was not predictable and that the entire story was just so utterly real and believable. There wasn't a rush to a Happily Ever After with a standard plot layout. Instead of being a run of the mill romance book, it read far more like a real-life love story.

Coming from someone who has not read the previous books in the series, I did get frustrated at times when the focus shifted to other characters. I wanted more of Erin and Slim and found myself anxious to get back to them. However, for readers who have read the rest of the series, I know that these moments were very much appreciated as they continue the stories that the readers fell in love with. Not only that, but it ties the whole series together with a beautifully woven ribbon of family and friendship. While I definitely enjoyed Desire After Dark as a stand alone, I highly recommend new readers start from the beginning and enjoy the series slowly before jumping in with the newest book. For myself... I enjoyed Desire After Dark well enough that I will be going back to the first book to enjoy the series as a whole.



Blurb from Goodreads:
Tobias “Slim” Jackson has the perfect life as a pilot on Gansett Island in the summer and in Florida in the winter. He’s happiest when he’s in the air, or at least that was the case before last summer when he met Erin Barton, Gansett Island’s newest lighthouse keeper. Now he can’t seem to find his usual enthusiasm for flying, winter in the sunny South or anything that doesn’t include her.

Erin has been stuck on pause since she lost her twin brother. She’ll tell you herself that her life has been a hot mess since Toby died. After dropping out of law school, she’s flitted from one pointless job to another, existing rather than truly living. Then she comes to Gansett Island to take over as the new lighthouse keeper and meets Slim, who happens to share her beloved brother’s first name. That small coincidence is enough to convince Erin that she needs to spend more time with the dashing pilot—except for the fact that he’s spending the winter more than a thousand miles from her.

Now Slim’s come home to Gansett for the holidays and to hopefully pick up where he left off with Erin. He’s got twelve days before he’s due back in Florida to finish out the remainder of his winter obligations. A lot can happen in twelve days, but will it be enough to convince Erin that it’s time to start truly living again? Read Slim and Erin’s story and catch up with the rest of the Gansett Island cast in Desire After Dark!

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