The Darkest Corner by Liliana Hart: Review

Posted May 23, 2017 in review Tags: 4 stars, Giveaway, secret identity

The Darkest Corner by Liliana Hart
Pages: 368

Series: Gravediggers #1
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Source: ARC, NetGalley
Also in this series: Gone to Dust
Also by this author: 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle 8, Gone to Dust, Second Chances: A Romance Writers of America Collection

Goodreads

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Liliana Hart’s first book in her suspenseful Gravediggers series, featuring an elite group of mysterious men who might be dead to the world, but are also tasked with saving it—and no one can ever know.
The Gravediggers aren’t exactly what they seem. They’re the most elite of the world’s fighting forces—and all they have in common is that they’ve been betrayed by the countries they’ve died for. Because they are dead. To their country, their military, and their families.
Sometimes the dead do rise...
Deacon Tucker is a dead man walking. A former black ops agent, he was disavowed and stripped of all honor before being recruited as a Gravedigger. But his honor and good name no longer matter, because no one knows he’s alive, and he’ll never get the recognition he deserves. His mission is simple: save the world or die trying. And for God’s sake, don’t ever fall in love. That’s a rule punishable by death. The kind of death a man can’t be brought back from.
Tess Sherman is the only mortician in Last Stop, Texas. She has no idea how Deacon Tucker ended up in her funeral home, but she’ll eat her hat if he’s only a funeral home assistant. Solomon is dangerous, deadly, and gorgeous. And she knows her attraction to him can only end in heartache.
Deacon is on a mission to stop the most fatal terror attack the world has ever known—what’s known as The Day of Destiny—a terrorist’s dream. But when he discovers Tess has skills he can use to stop them, he has to decide if he can trust her with secrets worth dying for. And, most important, he has to decide if he can trust her with his heart.

The Darkest Corner is such a novel story, I am not even sure how to categorize it! First, you meet these 5 ex military hunks. They now work for a secret agency called The Gravediggers. For awhile, I wasn’t even sure what it was they did, if they were the dead brought back to life, or if there was something else going on. Frankly, I felt a lot like Tess-suspicious! What are these 5 hotties doing in a tiny town pretending to be mortician assistants? They have absolutely no mortician skills, so Tess knows there is something else going on. And even though the funeral home should be in the red, it isn’t. Then one morning, an unaccounted for body is in the embalming room. And to Tess’s horror, its not a dead body. She is determined to get some answers from Deacon, one of her ‘assistants’. Deacon, who is also the star of some of her fantasies…

I liked Tess. She is odd in a lot of ways: first, she is a mortician which is a strange profession. Second, she has a thief of a mother and a Russian grandmother who has mob connections. Third, she lives in the funeral home (this might not be that odd, but to me, its super creepy!). All of these things made her more endearing to me as the reader.

Deacon was one of the first Gravediggers, so he often feels the need to ‘parent’ some of the newer recruits. He is drawn to Tess right away, but knows he can’t actually be with her. I mean, he is technically dead…according to the US government anyway. Deacon has that alpha male bossiness that I enjoy in my heroes. Also, the Gravediggers are trying to stop a terrorist cell, so there is a lot of suspense and danger that really pulled me in. He struggles with his love for Tess because he can’t be in a relationship. Its against the rules, and breaking one of the Gravediggers rules is a big deal. However, he knows he loves Tess and is ready to take the risk! Seriously, that is so swoony!

The Darkest Corner gave me some sense of the Stephanie Plum books from years ago (before they got repetitive). Tess’s family is so funny and her best friend is awesome. The book isn’t all danger and suspense; there is some humor in the zany Russian family!

I’m so glad I picked up The Darkest Corner! With secret government agencies, a quirky heroine, and all the danger of modern terrorism, it gave me my romantic suspense fix in an uncommon way that I really appreciated!