Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Into the Dark by Karen Rose Series: Romantic Suspense #23
Published by Berkley on November 26, 2019
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 608
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Former army ranger Diesel Kennedy considers himself a dead man walking. To help cope with his PTSD, he coaches youth-league soccer, during which he notices two brothers, Joshua and Caleb, who seem to have a troubled home life. When he finds out the boys' stepfather was murdered, Diesel takes them under his wing and enlists the aid of Dani Novak, a beautiful doctor he's loved for years.
Though Diesel's feelings for her are crystal clear, Dani Novak has tried her hardest to keep him at arm's length because she fears her HIV-positive status makes any kind of relationship out of reach. Despite her efforts, together they are caught in a whirlwind of danger when they discover the boys' stepfather's killer has committed a series of murders--and all signs point to Caleb as the next victim. The more time Diesel and Dani spend together and learn to trust each other, the more he wonders if there's hope for them after all. But the real question is if they can get out of this alive...
I really enjoy the Romantic Suspense series. I’ve read them all. I started the series with the first Cincinnati book, with Faith and Deacon. It was actually #16 overall. Then I went back and read the previous 15 books. Into the Dark takes us back to Cincinnati, where we see many old friends from the other Cincinnati books.
There is always a mystery, and in each book there is a new couple. Someone is usually in law enforcement. Besides the layers of the mystery and romance, is the character development which is part of the new relationship. All of this makes for an engrossing, suspenseful read with plenty of action.
Dani is a doctor, sister to Deacon, who had a bad experience in a previous relationship which left her HIV positive. She doesn’t believe she can have a good relationship. Diesel was abused as a child and has an injury from his military service. Both of them lost their parents during their teen years. Diesel works in IT investigations at the Ledger (newspaper). While neither of them are in law enforcement, many of their friends and family are.
The mystery centers on several murders starting with a stepfather who is abusing his sons. The theme of child abuse and human trafficking is a difficult and heart-breaking aspect here. I do love how hard Dani and Diesel and their amazing peer group works to protect and support those who have been abused and / or are in danger.
The suspense and action kept me on edge. The children broke my heart. The compassion of this character group I know and love was incredible. I shed tears more than once.
Every book is great; I highly recommend them. I would start in order or at least within a city. These are long books; each one is about double a regular book in length. There are connections between all the books because of the law enforcement aspects or family connections. I love the circle of friends who support each other, and seeing them briefly in future books to get updates on their lives.
About Karen Rose
Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”
Her debut suspense novel, DON’T TELL, was released in July, 2003. Her novels, I’M WATCHING YOU and SILENT SCREAM, received the Romance Writers of America’s RITA award for Best Romantic Suspense for 2005 and 2011. Five of her other books have been RITA finalists. To date, her books have been translated into twenty-four languages.
A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Florida with her husband of more than twenty years, her two daughters, two dogs, and a cat.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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This sounds like such a fun series. I can’t believe I haven’t heard about it before. I’m definitely going to check it out.
I’m glad you enjoyed this one so much. And tears are almost always good.. in reading that is. LOL!
Every one of these is great. I would start at the beginning and read them all. I like all the realistic details and character development also
Great review, Anne! Anything that can make you cry has to be a powerful read:)). Glad you are enjoying this series so much.
Thank you! It is a standout series in this genre.
great cover and i love romantic suspense. great reivew
It’s one of the very best series in the genre and there are plenty to binge.
I don’t think that I have read Karen Rose before and had no idea that she had such a long-standing series. I really like that one of the main characters in this story is HIV positive since you don’t often see that.
She is one of my absolute favorite authors and particularly in the romantic suspense genre. I would start at the beginning but they are all great. I mostly read them but I have done a couple of the audios and they are excellent also.