Oh how I grow conflicted whenever it comes to book series’ finales. We’re approaching the end of a long journey, and while I’m sad to see it go, it’s nice to place a cap and move on to new adventures. Let’s see if Sarah Bailey sends off this hot romance voyage in style. Buckle up, it’s the TehBen Book Club y’all!
Our Darkest Dare by Sarah Bailey is the fifth and final novel in the Our Darkest series that dives into the second generation of the Syndicate Boys family with the twists and turns of their various love lives. Duke is the son of my personal syndicate boy favorite, and is coming of age alongside a lifelong friend from another noteworthy family. Kira (his bestie), is the daughter of a member of British nobility. I’m an uncultured American so I’d probably get it all wrong if I attempt to explain, but her legacy would lead her to eventually become a Baroness. This is relevant to the story’s universe as her father is tragically battling a medical condition, but it’s hardly relevant to who Kira is as a person. Both Duke and Kira are fairly down to earth and are both very relatable in their relationship. A running game between them are a series of dares (like truth or dare) that seem to constantly up the ante and get the kids into risky situations. While both of them are young, hot as hell, and practically joined at the hip, they never really considered being together romantically…well they haven’t openly discussed it anyway. Besides, Kira once dared Duke to kiss a girl which led to their eventual dating, so she’d be shit out of luck besides. Still, once a dark happening engulfs their friendship and their family, it’s going to be a challenge to even keep this friendship afloat.
For a series involving Dark Romance, most of the Our Darkest series was a notch or two down the darkness scale than the source material that produced the series. This novel however takes things back to the more renowned “Sarah Bailey” level of dark as the fragility of life and perverse appetites are discussed. I’ll keep things as spoiler free as a I can, but a very tragic moment comes early in the novel that’s far too much for any two 16 year olds to reasonably handle. It’s a gut punchingly realistic tragedy, despite the lifestyles and resources available to its featured players. It’s a story that keeps the reader guessing more than usual, as the variables to produce the inevitable HEA aren’t nearly as predictable.
Verdict: Our Darkest Dare by Sarah Bailey is a dark and challenging conclusion to a very complex and diverse novel universe. For what’s preceded as a tightly wound character collage finishes off as a surprisingly easily to follow narrative. Two kids, adorably in love long before they could ever bring themselves to admit it, have a long yet easy to follow journey to the promised land of a HEA. Dark elements of forbidden love, suicide, murder, and extreme reactions to trauma give loyal Sarah Bailey readers a refresher course in her brand of writing style as we are surely to confront new and darker issues in future book series’. To Our Darkest we say farewell, but to the fellow “Bailey Sinners” we can only say one thing:
Let’s get back to work.
Special thanks to Sarah Bailey for providing an advance review copy of Our Darkest Dare to TehBen.com for review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
Author’s Twitter: @sbaileyauthor
Purchase Link: Amazon
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