The Darkest Hour by Maya Banks (KGI #1)
Romantic Suspense
September 7, 2010
Paperback, 290 Pages
Berkley Sensation

Julie from the fab blog Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks is guest reviewing today! Take it away Julie!

Favorite Quote: “’Trying to drown me, woman?’

‘You can’t drown a SEAL,’ she taunted. ‘How embarrassing would that be?’

‘God yes,’ he muttered. ‘Shoot me, hand me, let me die of infection from a hangnail, but don’t let me die in the water. They’d send me to hell on principle.’”

“The Darkest Hour” by Maya Banks starts on the one year anniversary of Ethan Kelly’s wife’s death. She died in a plane crash on her way back from a humanitarian mission in South America. He is not taking Rachel’s loss well, even one year later. When I first started reading this book, I thought ‘whoa, this dude needs a hug.’ Then, when Ethan receives an envelope containing photos of his supposed dead wife with a note stating that she is still alive, I thought ‘whoa, this dude needs a beer!’

Can you imagine?! What do you do in that situation? What Ethan did is approach his brothers, the leaders of KGI. The back of the book explains The Kelly Group International (KGI) is “a super elite, top secret, family-run business. Qualifications: High intelligence, rock hard body, military background.

Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the US government can’t…” What?… You kinda lost me there after ‘rock hard body’. *clears head* The brothers, along with some of their crew head to South America to save Rachel and to try to unlock the mystery as to why she was being kept alive, let alone being held captive.

Maya Banks writes family units and circles of friends very well. There is always a strong bond between the friends that you can’t help but fall into. The characters in this story are personable and honest and relatable, even if they are all ex military guys and I’m well, not. That’s one of the reasons why I love Maya’s ‘Sweet’ series. The camaraderie between the characters is infectious, and it’s no exception in this book. The Kellys are loud and competitive but they are dedicated to each other, they watch each other’s back and will do anything for their mama. Now who wouldn’t fall for a family like that? And it’s a big one. Marlene and Frank Kelly have six sons! Ethan, Sam, Garrett, Donovan, Nathan and Joe.

The action is this book starts from page one and barely subsides until ‘the end’. But it’s not overwhelming at all because the action vs. the tender moments is well balanced. You get your heart pumpin’, guns blazin’, people duckin’ and muscles quakin’ moments, but you also get your heart tuggin’ moments. Most of those moments are courtesy of Rachel.

During her captivity, Rachel loses most of her memory. She remembers Ethan and his brother Garrett, but not much else, and no specifics about the brothers. She doesn’t even remember why she was being held. After she is rescued, we witness her trying to transition back into her life of before. Slowly pieces start coming back to her, but she’s frustrated. And who can blame her? Rachel is a lovely character. She is strong, even though she has every excuse to curl up into a ball and cry. Now, if you are one who likes an angst ridden hero, then you are going to be a happy camper when it comes to Ethan. He is very happy to have Rachel back, but he is also very anxious. It seems their perfect marriage may not have been so perfect after all. It seems Ethan was a bit of an a-hole, and he’s a little nervous about Rachel remembering about that because he still loves her. He never didn’t love her. He was just a jerk. A big ol’ selfish, jealous jerk. While you’re reading, you know it’s just a matter of time until she remembers how he really was with her, so you are sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting and wondering how it will all go down.

Speaking of going down *wink*, Maya Banks is known for her erotica titles. So, it’s just understood that she knows how to writes yummy, steamy scenes. What I really enjoyed about the love scenes in “The Darkest Hour” was that they were just that, love scenes. Don’t get me wrong, they were hot. But you have a man who screwed up with his wife whom he thought he’d lost (in more ways than one). He is desperate to feel her again and to show her how much he loves her. You have a woman who has no memory of her husband, but who feels a chemistry and a connection to him. She’s dying to get what she feels they had back. The sex is tender while it’s hot. It’s sweet while it has you fanning yourself. It’s just right.

I’m really glad Mandi asked me to read and to review “The Darkest Hour”. Thanks to her, I’ve been introduced to a new series that is fun, exciting and moving by an author I truly enjoy. I’ve been introduced to a series that I plan to keep up with. Yup, yet another series to add to my long list of series I plan on following. Yeah. Thanks Mandi. Really…thanks. ;p

“No Place to Run”, Sam’s story and book two in Maya’s ‘KGI’ series hits stores December 7^th 2010 and “Hidden Away”, Garret’s book and the third installment in the series hits shelves in March 2011. Mark your calendar. You know I already have.

Rating: 5/5

Recent Reviews:
The Book Pushers – 5/5
Dear Author – B
Goodreads

This series includes:
The Darkest Hour
No Place to Run – 12/7/10
Hidden Away – 3/2011

Author’s website.