Monday, January 16, 2017

Review & Giveaway: LIGHT UP THE DARK by Suki Fleet

Light Up The Dark - Suki Fleet


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Cover Design: Natasha Snow



Blurb

For two years Nicky has wandered the dark empty corridors of the overgrown Thorn Hall, unseen and untouched, feeling like a ghost. His only company, the cold man who promised to keep him safe from harm, Lance.

But when Lance dies, Nicky's assurance of safety disintegrates and his world suddenly becomes a lot more real and a lot more dangerous. Scared to leave the house, Nicky longs for daylight. He employs a gardener to clear the over-grown bushes and vines that have nearly swallowed Thorn Hall whole.

The last thing Nicky expects a little light to do is show him something to fight for.

Eighteen months in a young offenders' institute has taught Cai two things: he occupies the playful puppy end of the How Dangerous Are You? spectrum, and he has an unfortunate knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Desperate for a job, he takes the first offer he gets. Even though Thorn Hall creeps the hell out of him and he barely knows one end of a pair of garden shears from the other.

Things start to fall apart when Cai is drawn into Nicky's strange world of sticky notes and secrets. Cai finds he is now a target, blamed for a crime he didn't commit. Desperate not to go back to prison, he digs deep and risks all the good things in life to help Nicky run.

But now Nicky has someone he wants to protect, he knows he can't run any more.


Carra's Review
You know, when I first started this story I was just expecting a shut-in being coaxed out of his shell with a bit of drama when things from the past creep in.  What I got was a heck of a lot more complicated, dark and twisted…along with drama, tension, and suspense.

Cai was wonderful with such a calm, even manner and exceedingly understanding and compassionate.  You can’t help but feel sorry for his situation, particularly late in the story after the major climactic scenes have taken place.  Nicky is quite the opposite of Cai—he’s high-strung, short-tempered and probably should have “handle with care” tattooed across his forehead.  He is utterly broken thanks to events from his past, things he still can’t shake even after the threat is supposedly gone.  Cai is the perfect one to balance Nicky out, and the two of them together define the word “complementary”.  Getting to the point of them actually being together?  That’s one crazy, bump-filled road.

This story did move a bit slowly at times for me, making it feel a bit drawn out which did try my patience some.  The exceptionally deranged villains of this story were almost too much, but they definitely ratcheted up the turmoil and took the crazy train to unprecedented levels of depravity.  Certain aspects of what they have done were definitely stomach-turners, and the fact that they were constantly on the edges of Nicky and Cai’s world were enough to keep the tension at a constantly high level—meaning even with the slower pace of the story, I was still riveted to the pages.

The highly emotional nature of Nicky and Cai’s relationship does lead to quite a few intense scenes, physical and otherwise.  And once I read the final chapter, I was quite willing to forgive that slower pace of the story…because the two of them coming together at first in that final scene was packed with that intensity and made everything worth it.


4 stars for Light Up the Dark, and I’d recommend this story to M/M romantic suspense fans who can handle some details that are more than a bit disturbing regarding the bad guys.  Be prepared for some unsettling things, but also be prepared for some powerful hurt/comfort between the main characters.  This story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language, M/M sexual content, and some scenes of a disconcerting nature.
Author Bio


Award Winning Author. Prolific Reader (though less prolific than she'd like). Lover of angst, romance and unexpected love stories.

Suki Fleet writes lyrical stories about memorable characters, and believes everyone should have a chance at a happy ending.

Her first novel This is Not a Love Story won Best Gay Debut in the 2014 Rainbow Awards, and was a finalist in the 2015 Lambda Awards. 




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