Review: Desire After Dark by Marie Force!

Tobias “Slim” Jackson has the perfect life as a pilot on Gansett Island in the summer and in Florida in the winter. He’s happiest when he’s in the air, or at least that was the case before last summer when he met Erin Barton, Gansett Island’s newest lighthouse keeper. Now he can’t seem to find his usual enthusiasm for flying, winter in the sunny South or anything that doesn’t include her. 

Erin has been stuck on pause since she lost her twin brother. She’ll tell you herself that her life has been a hot mess since Toby died. After dropping out of law school, she’s flitted from one pointless job to another, existing rather than truly living. Then she comes to Gansett Island to take over as the new lighthouse keeper and meets Slim, who happens to share her beloved brother’s first name. That small coincidence is enough to convince Erin that she needs to spend more time with the dashing pilot—except for the fact that he’s spending the winter more than a thousand miles from her.

Now Slim’s come home to Gansett for the holidays and to hopefully pick up where he left off with Erin. He’s got twelve days before he’s due back in Florida to finish out the remainder of his winter obligations. A lot can happen in twelve days, but will it be enough to convince Erin that it’s time to start truly living again? Read Slim and Erin’s story and catch up with the rest of the Gansett Island cast in Desire After Dark!

I was a little nervous when starting this book because it is so late in a series and sometimes it makes you feel bit overwhelmed by all the characters and hints of previous story lines you aren't familiar with unless you've ready the previous books. But I really enjoyed reading Desire After Dark. It was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way. (Note: I do think readers would be able to enjoy the story to the fullest if they had read all of the previous books just because of how all the stories intertwine.)

One of my favorite things about the story, and the thing that overwhelmed me, is the family and how their stories seem to overlap one another. At first I wasn't too sure I would like that writing style because I was brand new to the series, but they won me over in the end. It allowed me to get to know and fall in love with all of the different couples, families, etc. I found this to be special because it's usually hard with such a large cast of characters, something I'm not usually a fan of, but it worked in this case. It is something I had to warm up to though as normally I prefer it if a book sticks to the main characters.

Another thing I enjoyed about the story was the age and maturity of the characters. It's refreshing to read about people outside of the standard romance novel age of mid-twenties. Not only that, but I like the fact that the characters are very flawed- very real- in their quirks. I enjoy stories even more when the characters are more than cookie cutter characters. And I love that we got to watch them not only fall in love but conquer their fears as well.

I enjoyed Marie's writing and enjoyed my time with the Gansett Island crew. I would love to go back and read some of the other stories in the beginning of the series to see how some of the couples got their start. Definitely pick this one up if you like a slightly more mature romance with some heat, a large cast of characters and a bit of comedy thrown in.