Reviewer: Tracy
The Deepest Night by Kara Braden
Series: Longest Night #2
Also in this series: The Longest Night
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: December 2nd 2014
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Series Rating:

When everything you love is on the line...The Isles of Scilly off the coast of England are remote, windswept and wild. They're the perfect place for Ray Powell to recuperate after the toughest Afghanistan mission the military contractor has ever run. Except instead of the peace and quiet he so desperately needs, he's faced with a beautiful American woman who instantly challenges his iron control.

It's best to proceed with caution...Seeking her own safe haven, Michelle Cole is intrigued and flustered by the intensely compelling and irresistible man.

As their cautious friendship slowly builds into simmering attraction, their hearts and souls are about to be broken open...if they'll allow it.
Praise for The Longest Night: "Touching and stupendously fresh...

Tracy’s review of The Deepest Night (Longest Night #2) by Kara Braden

The Deepest Night might be the second in a series but it truly was a standalone novel.

Ray and Michelle meet in strange circumstances. Michelle is staying on the Isle of Scilly at her friends B & B which was temporarily closed after the owner died. Ray, decompressing from a recent mission for his security firm, shows up at the B & B, which is where he always stays. He finds that his long-time friend is dead and the future of the B & B is uncertain. Despite that Ray and Michelle hit it off and go on a few dates.

The story of the romance between Ray and Michelle was a quiet one. It was sweet and tender at times – there wasn’t a lot of angst in the book. I liked this to an extent but I kept waiting for something exciting to happen and it just never did.

Michelle had some self-esteem problems after being fooled by her previous business partner. She’s not sure about Ray because she’s not sure her judgment is believable any longer. Her long-time partner was stealing from her and she didn’t realize it so she has a problem trusting herself and others.

Ray was certainly a persistent guy. He decided that he wanted Michelle and there was really no stopping him – even though he didn’t steamroll himself through. I was touched by the time he took to create nice dates for Michelle.

Overall the story was sweet but definitely slower at times. There was nothing too earth-shattering about the story – just two people falling quietly in love.

Rating: 3 out of 5

This title is available from Sourcebooks Casablanca. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reviewer: Tracy
The Longest Night by Kara Braden
Series: Longest Night #1
Also in this series: The Deepest Night
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: July 1st 2014
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:

This could work, whispered the little voice in the back of her mind, the voice that had been silent for seven years...

SHE SOUGHT SOLACE IN SOLITUDE
Years ago, former Marine Captain Cecily Knight fled her dark past and the nightmares forever haunting her nights. Alone in the remote Canadian wilderness, she survives day to day...until Ian Fairchild comes storming into her life and shatters her protective seclusion.

UNTIL ONE TOUCH BARED HER SOUL
Aloof but intriguing, defensive but undeniable, Ian is everything Cecily shouldn't want but can't ignore. He watches her with shrewd blue eyes, as if determined to decipher her secrets...and for the first time in years, she finds herself coming alive beneath the hands of a man with too many scars to count.

As the hushed and harsh winter closes in around them, two lost souls find themselves on the precipice of a love that could save their lives...or destroy them forever.

 

Tracy’s review of The Longest Night by Kara Braden

Ian is a lawyer who was in a horrible car accident. After back surgery he went straight back to work and the hours, stress and pain from his back got him hooked on painkillers. He has been in and out of different rehabs and now his firm is adamant that he finally deal with it once and for all. That includes leaving Manhattan, a place he loves, so that there will be no chance he’ll be able to score more painkillers. His brother, Preston, makes arrangements for him to stay with a friend of his, Cecily, who lives in Canada. Preston doesn’t really know Cecily’s living arrangement but as she’s agreed to let Ian stay Preston’s all for it.

Ian arrives in a small town in Canada and is shocked when Cecily then loads him on her small plane and takes him to her remote cabin. It’s a tiny one bedroom but they manage. From the get go the two are attracted to each other but start to become friends before anything happens. When the pair do become intimate it’s a hard road for both of them. Cecily was a Marine and is still dealing with something from her past 7 years before that was horrific, and of course Ian is dealing with his addiction. The friendship and growing love help each of them deal with their inner demons and strength in each other.

This was a very slow and mellow romance. It was a sweet love story at times and others not so much. The couple could be simpatico one minute and then arguing the next. The story itself was more the story of the MC’s healing each other with their presence, patience and understanding. They had a good sex life but it was never incredibly explosive, imho. They dealt with each other well and there were some funny moments in it as they both seemed to have a good sense of humor despite what they’d been through. While this was ok I have to say I longed for something more to happen as I think it was just too mellow for me.

I had some issues with Ian’s background with the addiction and back surgery. He was supposedly in a ton of pain but yet would ride on a quad in the mountains…in snow. It couldn’t have been fun. While they mentioned it, it never seemed that big of a deal. He popped ibuprofen and that was that. His addiction wasn’t hardly mentioned either and that was the whole point of him being there.

In the end it was a decent book but as I said, mellow. Probably to mellow of a romance for me but could work really well for those who just like slow and steady.

Rating: 3 out of 5

This title is available from Sourcebooks Casablanca. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.