Wow. This book was amazing. It slowly started out as okay but the more and more I got into the story, the better it got. It was a very well thought out and well written novel. There were a few grammatical and spelling errors but it didn't bother me so much since the story drew me in so well.At the beginning I was a little disappointed when Lily ended with Patrick, even though I knew that she wasn't going to end up with him, but I have to say that I liked him. I had to warm up to Lawrence but the author did a good job of making me like him gradually. I really loved Lawrence's character and the fact that he never once pushed Lilly, even though she kept claiming that she could never love him and that she can't give herself over completely to him. He really did seem to understand and was very patient with her. I really felt like he cared about her and loved her, without smothering her or making her feel like she was being controlled. I think that was also what I liked the best about their relationship, because don't get me wrong, the story line is very similar to that of Fifty Shades or the Cross series, but in those stories, the man just wants to control the woman, and the woman has no problem with that. Lawrence was just patient and gave her boundaries but basically also let her be free and she warmed up to him in time. This book was very well written and I would definitely recommend it. I just finished reading this book and there were some things I definitely liked about it and some things that I didn't.What I liked: Overall, the characters were well developed. I liked that the story didn't have any fake instant love. I liked the strength that all of the characters had. I liked the authors writing style. I could feel Lilly's immense pain and internal struggle while reading the book. The plot moved forward pretty well but I do feel that it had a lot of slow parts as well. What I didn't like: I expected more angst and conflict in the story. Lilly never protested anything about Lawrence. They both accepted everything and never fought. It made some of their relationship come off as unrealistic, especially considering how high profile and busy Lawrence's life is. Their life would be very stressful a lot of the time. I didn't like how little we knew about the the main characters background. It was necessary for the story that we didn't know Lilly's background but how come we never knew any of Lawrence's? Shortly in the story we find out that he had a sister and nieces but it didn't even reveal what school he went to until the very end of the story. It never revealed his exact age, how he started his company, or how he grew up, etc. Same with Nicholas. It left me feeling too disconnected from the characters. Since we couldn't know about Lilly's past the story should have told more about what Lilly did in the present. Other than managing Lawrence's appointments and organizing a few events it never revealed any details of her job. It just showed them going to event after event. It wouldn't be that important except for the fact that everyone respected her and thought she was more brilliant than other PAs. Its hard to feel that same amount of immeasurable respect for her when the reader doesn't have any details about her work. I don't know if what I'm saying makes sense? Anyway, I don't regret reading it because I did like the characters and I was glad that Lilly did eventually get her HEA but this isn't a book that I'll ever reread. I did like it enough that I'll probably read other works by this author.
What do You think about The Darkest Of Shadows (2012)?
Loved and hated the story! But in a good way. I loved the way Laurence handles her.
—terribear
a dark, haunting read but affects you on a deep emotional level.
—berendsen
This book was emotional, well written, and totally beautiful.
—JT666666
It takes a special person to see past the damage!!!!
—printerpaper
