Tag Archives: Dark Intentions

Review: Dark Inheritance (Dark Temptations #5) by Charlotte Byrd

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Dark Inheritance
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 12/26/21
Length:  190 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #5

Overview

Now that all of our secrets are out in the open, we must live with the choices we made and the truth of who we really are.

Jacqueline has found out the truth about her brother, the secret that I vowed to never reveal. She wants to see him again and doesn’t care that it will endanger not only her life but all of ours.

The thing that I have feared has happened. The worst of the worst men are after us and they only have one goal: to take our lives.

It’s time to RUN.
Darkness descends. Yet hope remains.

The danger that I tried to keep at bay this whole time has come for us with a vengeance.
Will we ever have a happily ever after or will our life together (what’s possibly left of it) continue to teeter on the edge?

My Thoughts

We left book four in the parking garage of the hospital, Lincoln and Marguarite were waiting the impending birth of their baby, Jacqueline and Marguarite were threatened by assassins who were were trying to kill off the entire family since they were in one place, but the girls were able to pay them off a million dollars for them to go away. What happens next though to end the book is crazy. There’s a shooting in the parking garage and it’s Dante’s father who’s in dire straights.

Book five takes us a bit into the future, everyone has scattered around so that there’s no way to get the entire family together anymore. Lincoln and Marguarite are in North Carolina trying to make their life work there. Dante is still always on the road for work – he’s gone around the world and finds his way to various family members to check on them from time to time. Jacqueline, her mother and Michael (who’s now really alive) are in Boston – although Jacqueline lives on her own there – away from her mom and brother. Dante learns that his mother is in Mexico, with his father and that is unsettling in itself.

Jacquline continues to be our focus, watching how she’s reinventing herself as a writer – going back to school and trying to make her life into something worthwhile. She of course misses Dante but doesn’t know if their future is ever meant to be together. When she learns that Michael is in touch with him and that they have plans to meet, that’s something that she’s got to hold on to and we watch how that has the potential to implode – with Jacquline going against what’s smart and tagging along on that trip.

The reason for the trip -a need to take out all the people who have a hit on the family so that they can live their lives more freely. It’s something that they all want since they miss aspects of what they had, friends, comfort, jobs etc. But the outcome here is nothing at all what we expect and yet we should have expected it all along.

There’s another story line happening at the same time – Allison and her fiance are still in their bubble until a plane crash changes the trajectory of things. There’s a small plane crash that happens off of Cape Cod and there are 2 people on that plane that make us take pause. One is her Fiance’s best friend – a man that he’s known for ever, had as a manager, and now who’s passed. The impact that the death has on their relationship is one that has miserable intentions. while initially they cling to each other for support, they find that they are slowly losing the spark and the need to have something with each other. Instead, Richard finds solace with his deceased friends wife, a woman that he had feelings for all those years ago, and it results in an affair. When the affair is uncovered, there are threats made to Jacqueline for her own safety and that leaves an uncertain future all around.

Then there’s the dark underbelly of this story. We know that the family wants to kill all those that have a hit on them, but it’s easier said than done. Dante has a plan that no one wants to listen to, and then there’s a plan that they can’t walk away from once they realize that their safety bubble spread out around the world isn’t so safe. What happens when they corner the assassins, well that’s an entirely different twist of fate, and not everyone that we’ve grown close to in this series makes it out alive.

So, what we end up with in this series finale is closure for sure, a glimpse into the future in some cases, and a curiosity of whether anyone is ever safe and what the motivations are for that. So, on that note, if you haven’t read this story yet, you should (esp since I didn’t realize that book 5 literally just came out days ago), and now i’m off to another cast of characters to enjoy.

Review: Dark Temptations (Dark Intentions #4) by Charlotte Byrd

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Dark Temptations
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 9/20/21
Length:  180 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #4

Overview

I pushed her away to keep my secrets to myself. What I don’t yet know is that her life is already in danger.
I have so many regrets. If we had never met, she’d be safe now.
Some love stories are a slow burn. Ours was quick to ignite, scorching and branding our souls before we’ve even taken that first breath.

From bestselling author Charlotte Byrd comes an intense romance about debts, lies and secrets and the extent to which people go for love.

Everything around me blurred and all that existed were his lips, his touch… 
The chase and the heat between us became addictive.
Our nights together were a distraction; one we craved to the point of letting the world crumble around us.
We should have paid attention; we should have known that it would come to this.
We both knew it couldn’t last, but that didn’t change what we desired most. 
All we wanted was each other…

My Thoughts

What a roller coaster we’ve been on in this series and I actually thought that it was the final installment, NOPE! thank goodness because get so much more complicated in this 4th installment. there’s so much uncertainty around just about everything in this story. We watch as Jacqueline tries to dig into the truth around her brother’s death, and comes to the realization that her brother isn’t dead – so that means that there’s more to the story than anyone knows, and when she learns that Dante not only knows her brother, but knows more about what was going on, well…..the story gets deep!

There’s the side story around Dante, Lincoln and their father – how he’s roped them back into the profession and life that they tried so hard to get away from, and what happens isn’t the outcome that they needed. Instead, they are all put more at risk and that means that the flow of this story is going to be one filled with risk and angst.

There are many things that happen in this story that make you wonder who’s on the up and up. There are things that the police detective does and says that gives me pause because I feel like he shouldn’t have access to things that he does, and Jacqueline’s friend Allison makes the same point, but nothing comes of it. On the other hand, we keep learning more and more things about the past, about what Jacqueline’s mother knew about Michael’s life before he ‘died’ and how they all kept her Jacqueline in the dark.

So we spend the entirety of this story back on the east coast, away from Vasko and that initial goal, and on a roller coaster of emotions. It seems like there’s no bridge that can be built to bring Dante and Jacqueline together, yet through a series of unfortunate events, they are pushed together for an uncertain amount of time.

There’s heat and passion, hatred and emotion. An attempt on a life, the impending entry of a new life and a gun battle. We don’t know what that all means for the future, and we know that plans have to be devised but whatever we thought could happen for their safety is blown out the window in the last scene of this book. So on that note, while I was going to take a break from this series, i’m now going to read book 5 and see what happens. Enjoy!

Review: Dark Sins (Dark Intentions #3) by Charlotte Byrd

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Dark Sins
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 8/13/21
Length:  190 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #3

Overview

When I saved her mother’s life, I didn’t do it with my own money. I took out a debt. Now I have to go back to my old life. 

I have certain skills that people are willing to pay a lot of money for. 
Everything has a price, and Jacqueline was worth it.
But what happens when I make mistakes? What happens when the debt I have to pay becomes too great and the darkness that envelops me becomes too much?

A letter arrives. 
It was not an accident. It was murder. 
But who did it? Why? 
The cops think it’s a false lead. There’s no other evidence, but I have to do everything to find out the truth. 
My brother’s death is no longer a tragedy to get over, but a wrong to put right. It becomes my obsession. 
What happens when I start to uncover the lies?

My Thoughts

These characters are digging themselves into far more holes than anyone could even imagine and there are parts to this story that we are still in the dark about. We ended the last book with the idea that Michael’s death wasn’t an accident and we somehow know that Dante was involved, so….this book we hope to get resolution. Well, we do not, but I guess that’s how an author keeps us engaged for the next book!

This third book is a ROLLER COASTER of emotions. We watch how Dante and Jacqueline get closer and how they find their rhythm. And at the same time we know the other shoe will drop. We watch how Jacqueline finds her footing as a woman with a motivation. She’s trying to get a job, she’s back at school, and she’s trying to move on with her life. She and her re-roommate Allison get closer together and have found their own way to make like into something new and great. They end up on a weekend trip to the Hamptons that changes their lives yet again.

Allison find a man that redirects her trajectory and everyone’s skeptical of what this means. We don’t know this man and we don’t know what it’s going to mean for her in the future. Then we see Jacqueline and Dante reunite after going their separate ways, and we see what that means as well. Do they find themselves back in a place where they are happy or are there too many lies between them to get back on track?

Well, we all know that they have a connection that doesn’t make sense, so, we know that they will find their flow. At the detriment to many other things, but oh well.

In this story, we see what Dante has to do to survive. We watch how his mom realizes that he’s taken money from his trust fund and how she wants it back in a month since she’s not one to fool around with money. We learn that he and his brother and father have done less than savory things to make money in the past and Dante is forced back into that life in order to get the money that he needs to return it to his mom. Problem is that once he’s back in that world, he’s going to get pulled in even more and that’s what we see at the end of this book. We don’t know the long term implications, but i’m sure we’ll see it play out in book 4.

While this is all happening, we know that Dante is still uncertain about an investment that he made via his company with Vasko and has this plan to set Jacqueline up as a spy in the company. She gets the job, moves out to Seattle to work there and many many alarm bells go off for us. Vasko digs into her background and realizes that she’s not what she seems so that puts him on alert. Jacqueline reconnects with someone from her past at potentially the worst time that blows things up for her again in her personal life and we’re left upside down again.

What does all this mean for Jacqueline in her life? will she be safe in her new job or does she need to watch her back? are things over for her and Dante forever, and is he even safe with his father and brother? What about Allison and her new man? how does this all factor into the grand scheme of things?

So many questions and so few answers right now. I can’t wait to see what happens next so off I go into the next book. Enjoy!

Review: Dark Redemption (Dark Intentions #2) by Charlotte Byrd

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Dark Redemption
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 7/5/21
Length:  186 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #2

Overview

He saved my mother’s life. Now, I owe him a debt. But I don’t even know who he is. 

Dante Langston is man of extreme wealth and privilege and just as much darkness. 
Our time together was supposed to be a one night stand. 
No names. No phone numbers. No other way to get in touch. 
But I keep going back to look for him. 
What I don’t yet know is that he already knows me. 
He has been watching and waiting. He needs to stay away to protect his secrets but he can’t. 
Neither can I.
I’m addicted to his lips and his touch. He’s addicted to our shared pain. 
What happens when I find out the debt I owe is to him? 
What happens when I find out the other secrets that he is much more desperate to keep? 

My Thoughts

Again, the summary doesn’t quite tie to the book but you get the gist. This is a couple that can’t be together, but they can’t stay away from each other either. Jacqueline sees something in Dante that’s perfect for her – she truly is addicted but what he did, well that’s not something that she’s ready for yet she doesn’t realize that the lie she learned about who paid for her mother’s treatment isn’t the worst lie.

Dante on the other hand has a mess to get out of and we don’t quite know the full extent just yet. We know that he’s struggling in his business – he’s being forced to agree to something that he doesn’t want, and there’s clearly a tie to Jacqueline’s brother that he’s forced to deal with that we don’t yet know. Then on top of that, he’s bound to Jacqueline – and as much as he tries to walk away, he can’t.

So we watch the roller coaster (train wreck?) unfold. They go their separate ways for the best. We see how life starts to take a new form. Now that Jacquelines mom is on the mend, she’s about jump into the life that she put on hold. She goes back to school and finishes her degree. She gets back on her feet and starts to become more independent. She and Allison. find a rhythm to their friendship and enjoy what it’s like to be in life.

She wants to forget Dante – but she can’t. She wants to get a job and be on her own but she can’t. And when she literally runs into Dante in the park, her life is flipped again.

We start this installment in a dark place, and watch how there’s promise of something more. We hope there’s something good that will come out of everything, but what we see instead are relationships broken as a result of ones that were repaired, and there is still uncertainty looming.

Dante had to borrow money to help out Jacqueline and now the piper wants to be paid. We also see that he’s probably in over his head in a deal with work, a hunch that leads him to believe that he’s been forced to invest in a company that is laundering money in some way and he tries to get Jacqueline to spy / investigate what’s going on. What we all can expect though is that it’s going to come to haunt Dante some how in the future – he’s going to be taken down with the ship instead of looking like the hero . (that’s my guess at least).

The last scene is when we know the story will take a sharp turn. Jacqueline’s mom gets a letter there Michael didn’t die in an accident but instead was murdered. Who did it and why? And of course as the reader, we want to know how Dante is connected. soooooo i’m off to read book 3. Enjoy!

Review: Dark Intentions (Dark Intentions #1) by Charlotte Byrd

Posted on by
Reply

Title: Dark Intentions
Author: Charlotte Byrd
Publisher/Year:  Byrd Books 5/27/21
Length:  200 Pages
Series: Dark Intentions #1

Overview

One debt. One secret. One night.
I have a secret and I’ll do everything in my power to keep it that way.
I’ve been watching her for a long time.
I’ve been following her.
She’s lost a brother. I lost a best friend, but no one could ever know. 
She’s in pain, and so am I.
She deserves so much better than me. I am rotten to the core and if I take this any further, I will pull her into my darkness.
But I can’t stay away. I can’t stop.
What happens when she starts to uncover my lies? What happens if love isn’t enough?

From USA Today Bestselling author Charlotte Byrd comes an intense forbidden mafia romance about debts, lies and secrets and the extent to which people go for love.

I’m not supposed to know his name and he’s not supposed to know mine. But we break that rule. That’s not the only one.

He gives me chills and makes my body ache. He makes my pain go away. He’s just a distraction, but I can’t get enough of him.

What I don’t know yet is that he will help save my mother’s life.
What I don’t know yet is that I’ll owe him a debt.
What I don’t know yet is that he is a man of many secrets. Secrets dark enough to break us both.

My Thoughts

I’m a big fan these days of our author Charlotte Byrd so I was pleased to find this series when I was looking for something new to read. I’m in a bit of a stop gap right now waiting for a few ‘next books’ in series to come out.

This is one of those stories that you already know how it’s going to go, and you’re just along for the ride. Jacqueline is at an interesting point in her life and i’m not entirely sure how she got there. She’s graduated from a really good college, but I don’t think that she’s ever truly worked a job. Her twin brother has recently died and that set her life into a tailspin. Her mother has also been really sick with Cancer and has the opportunity to get into an experimental treatment, but that comes with it’s own risks.

Through all this turmoil, Jacqueline is working to find herself. She uses men to feel something but doesn’t necessarily get what she needs from them. Its’ through her friend Allison (roommate from college) that she learns about Redemption. A series of private clubs that caters to people with unique tastes, unconventional tastes sexually – and it seems like it could be right for her. While she’s not necessarily comfortable there, she meets a man who makes it all worthwhile.

Enter Dante – a man who comes from a distinctly different background, with more means than imaginable, but he is searching for much of the same that Jacqueline is. They meet one night at Redemption and have a night to remember. Then they go their separate ways, and we watch the story unforld.

What we don’t know (or rather what Jacqueline doesn’t know) is that Dante has some sort of connection to her, or at least perhaps her brother – and we don’t know what that line of connection is. What we do know is that he’s been watching her, watching out for her, and while he didn’t know that she would be at Redeption, it’s not a bad thing.

The story from here is a whirlwind. Jacqueline’s mother’s treatment costs a lot more money than she can ever come up with and Dante has that money. Secretly he pays for that treatment and there’s a new lease on life. At the same time, both of these two characters can’t get one another out of their head but since they shared no real information, Jacqueline doesn’t know how to find Dante, until they cross paths again.

When they do, it’s just as intense and deep, and we watch something interesting unfold. He’s there for her while her mother gets her treatment and when things take a turn for the worse. He’s not just a shoulder to cry on, but he’s something more – they both feel it. the challenge of course is that there’s a secret that she doesn’t know – that Dante is linked to her and we all know what will happen when she finds out. And that’s where we are left at the end of the book.

Thankfully I have a few train rides this week that I can try to read on, and see what happens in book 2. I anticipate anger, frustration, lies, and then the hot steamy spark that they shared in the first book. There has to be more to the story than what we’ve seen so i’m off to find out. Enjoy!