Dark Temptations/Dark Inheritance (Dark Intentions 4 & 5) by Charlotte Byrd-reviews

DARK TEMPTATIONS
( Dark Intentions 4)
by Charlotte Byrd
Genre: adult,contemporary,romantic,suspense

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 20, 2021

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.
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…
Dark Temptation is the fourth novel in the Dark Intentions series. It is a dark romance/romantic suspense about debt, lies, wealth, crime and family bonds.

••••••••

REVIEW: DARK TEMPTATIONS is the fourth instalment in Charlotte Byrd’s contemporary, adult DARK INTENTIONS romantic, suspense serial focusing on businessman Dante, and journalist/receptionist Jacqueline Archer. DARK TEMPTATIONS should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up after the events and cliff hanger of book three DARK SINS.

NOTE: If you have not read the previous instalments, there may be spoilers in my review.

SOME BACKGROUND: Jacqueline Archer’s mother needed a life saving procedure, and our heroine needed a quick influx of cash. On the recommendation of her best friend Allison, Jacqueline applies for an exclusive membership to the $ex club Redemption, where she will meet businessman Dante Langston. This is their story.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Dante and Jacqueline) DARK TEMPTATIONS picks up immediately after the fall-out of perceived betrayal, secrets and lies. Jacqueline and her mother have been mourning the death of her brother Michael but recent information has come to light regarding Michael’s supposed demise. Searching for answers, and struggling with the potential betrayal of the man with whom she was falling in love, Jacqueline reconnected with someone from her past, a reconnection that was about to give fodder to Dante’s need to push our heroine aside but Dante’s life was quickly spiralling out of control, as Jacqueline is caught between head and heart not knowing whom to trust including our story line hero. As Dante begins to reveal the truth about his past, Jacqueline will discover that her relationship with Dante has placed a target on her back, a target she may not be able to outrun.

DARK TEMPTATIONS is a revealing and intriguing story line wherein Dante reveals the struggles and abuse of a young boy growing up in boarding school, and his need to exact revenge against those who did him harm. Learning at the feet of father, both Dante and his brother Lincoln, now find themselves paying for sins of the father, sins that now threaten the people they love. Charlotte Byrd continues to pull the reader into a twisted story of power and control, secrets and lies, family, fraud and catastrophic choices.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Dark Intentions
Dark Redemption
Dark Sins

Copy supplied for review

__________

DARK INHERITANCE
Dark Intentions 5
by Charlotte Byrd
Genre: adult,contemporary,romantic,suspense

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 26, 2021.

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?

•••••••

REVIEW:  DARK INHERITANCE is the fifth and final instalment in Charlotte Byrd’s contemporary, adult DARK INTENTIONS romantic, suspense serial focusing on businessman/assassin Dante Langston, and journalist/receptionist Jacqueline Archer. DARK INHERITANCE should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up after the events and cliff hanger of book four DARK TEMPTATIONS

NOTE: If you have not read the previous instalments, there may be spoilers in my review.

SOME BACKGROUND: Jacqueline Archer’s mother needed a life saving procedure, and our heroine needed a quick influx of cash. On the recommendation of her best friend Allison, Jacqueline applies for an exclusive membership to the $ex club Redemption, where she will meet businessman Dante Langston. This is their story.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Dante and Jacqueline) and several third person perspectives DARK INHERITANCE picks up immediately after the events and cliff hanger of book four DARK TEMPTATIONS.Dante Langston’s father has resurfaced following a life of crime, and with it everyone he loves is now in danger. Not wanting to place Jacqueline in the direct line of fire, Dante and Jacqueline go their separates ways, never forgetting about the love they left behind but Dante’s father has plans to retaliate against the people he believes have done him wrong, and in this Jacqueline will find herself reunited with the man that calls to her heart. Years will pass, Dante and Jacqueline will move on with their lives together , start a family, and look forward to their own happily ever after but the past, once again, resurfaces, and with it betrayal from a familiar but not surprising source.

Meanwhile, Jacqueline’s brother Michael has ‘returned from the dead’, and continues to ask forgiveness from the sister whose heart he broke months before but Dante is in desperate need of help, and a debt owed must be paid by Jacqueline’s brother.

DARK INHERITANCE is an intriguing story that closes several open ended plot points involving a number of secondary and supporting characters. We learn about the depth of betrayal, and the truth behind Dante’s father’s ongoing troubles and ‘desire’ to run, as well as Dante’s brother’s Lincoln marital woes, and growing family. Jacqueline and Dante spend a large portion of the story line apart, each moving forward without one another but once reunited, the story line skips several years wherein our couple look to the future, all the while, continuing to look behind. The slow building premise is captivating but felt rushed to the finish; the characters are impassioned; the romance is intense-the $ex scenes are limited .

Copy supplied for review

Reviews by Sandy