From the blurb, this book seemed perfect for me: bookish historian Sarah against ex Green Beret Nate! But, from nearly the 1st paragraph, I found this book weird. I don't know how else to describe it honestly. It was just weird. It was part special ops, part ghost story. I love both those things, but this didn't mesh well for me at all. There is a LOT happening and none of it felt connected. A reader friend told me it started to make more sense by the 60% mark, but I could tell there was no way I was going to make it that far being so confused and disconnected.

Wray picks up One Dark Wish where Every Deep Desire ended; this series is best read in order. Fast paced and fun, I loved seeing an historian as a main character.

When I started reading romance, rom-suspense was my preferred subgenre. This title was a nostalgia-request, hoping to recapture that enjoyment. One of the keys to writing good romantic suspense is to ensure the reader "suspends" her disbelief sufficiently to be swept away by the story. Unfortunately and to my disappointment, I found, having read to 10% or so on my Kindle, that One Dark Wish made me all too conscious of the cranking of a check off on the old checklist. Alternating between ludicrous lust-at-first-sight and wooden faux-Medieval dialogue, I rolled my eyes rather than become immersed in the narrative. I can see why this title would appeal to PNR romance readers and it was certainly lauded by Twitter reviewers whose opinion I respect, but this title did not work for me.

I really enjoyed this book. The story and characters are well thought out and easy to connect with. The suspense portions were engaging.

Let me just say to start that this a very different book from other books I have read. It is a hybrid novel, part suspense/mystery, part romance/ erotica. I was a little thrown at first because this is a second book in a series. Since I didn’t read the first novel in the series, I was a little thrown off. The storyline of a mysterious group of former Green Berets, who find themselves mixed into a centuries old mystery about an unsolvable cipher that may point out the location of hidden rooms buried under the cemetery, is a complicated one. At the middle of it is the hapless, fearless historian Sarah, and Nate, a disgraced Green Beret on a temporary hiatus from a twenty year sentence in a secret military hospital. Nate already served 3 years and it left him with memory loss and crippling seizures. Sarah wants to solve the cipher, and correct the wrongs of the past, when Nate steps into her path and throws all her plans into chaos. There are a lot of players involved in the story, and I’m not completely sure if I understand the role of everyone involved. If there is any downside to this story it is the fact that there are numerous storylines and they aren’t all fully explained. I will say that if we were all having the kind of sex described in this book, nothing would be getting done. Kinda jealous actually. The storyline does have promise and I would continue the series. It may be too complicated for some people to really get into.

In Sharon Wray's One Dark Wish, the 2nd installment in the Deadly Force romantic suspense series, this novel is gripping and powerful from the first page. It all started for historian Sarah Munroe when she's looking for clues and ancient artifacts in a Puritan love story that's more than three centuries old. When she's been shot at, she ran across Nate Walker, a former veteran who's dealing with seizures and had been dishonorably discharged for a massacre in Afghanistan. When Nate spotted Sarah at the Isle of Grace cemetery in Savannah, she became intrigued on his presence there. And there was a chemistry between them. Two weeks later, they meet at the same place and at the wrong time, when he warmed her not to search for clues in the cemetery. There's a war between the Fianna warriors and the Prince's men that's darn-right deadly. But Sarah was more than hell-bent to look for clues and work on that grant proposal to fund the money for her research... it's something she held close to her heart since her late mother had been fascinated with that Puritan love story and its secret cipher code. While dealing with threats for her father's health and the war outside, Sarah and Nate work together to discover the mystery while they deal with threats and other obstacles including from Nate's own XO who had them followed. The closer they get to the truth, the more they unearth the mystery that might be linked to Sarah's birth father. But the sparks would be flying between them to set the night on fire, though there was a ticking timeline before Nate's sent back to a prison hospital in Maine. Even with time's not on their side, they would put their lives on the line to set thing right and happy a sweet ending that would last a lifetime.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher in exchange for an fair and honest review.

Riveting plot and awesome characters . . . but this book is one hot mess and not in a good way. I feel like Alice when she dropped down the rabbit hole. It took a good 60% of the book before I even began to grasp where this story was heading. There were so many characters and they each had their own agenda. There were good guys and bad guys and you really needed a program to know who was which and then I'm still not so sure about several of them. I loved the 17th century plot devise and how it formed the basis for the modern plot. What can I say, I'm a history buff and I love to wander around old cemeteries.

Sarah Munro is a disgraced historian who is on a mission to prove the academic world is wrong about her thesis. She is searching for the key to the 17th century Prideaux pirate cipher that will revel the locations of pirate hides where they stored their booty. This cipher is also bound up with the story of two star crossed lovers whose story ended tragically. Her research has drawn the notice of two very different and powerful foes who will stop at nothing to control both Sarah and her research.

Nate Walker is a dishonorably discharged Green Beret who has been through hell for something he and his men didn't do. Like Sarah, they are also facing foes who want to control them and if they can't control them, then destroy them. These shadowy enemies each want something from Nate and his failure to comply will mean death for someone he loves.

The Fianna, a ancient group of deadly warriors, wants Sarah stopped before she can decrypt the cipher and will kill one of Nate's men if he fails to stop her. The Marigny family leader, Remiel, wants Sarah to solve the cipher. If she doesn't her father will die.

One Dark Wish
(Deadly Force #2)
by Sharon Wray

Paperback, 448 pages
Published September 24th 2019 by Sourcebooks Casablanca



Goodreads synopsis:
Her life must be forfeit for his to be redeemed

Historian Sarah Munro is not used to being shot at, but that's just what happens while she's poking around cemeteries on Georgia's Isle of Grace, searching for the key to a centuries-old cipher. Her quest has unwittingly drawn the attention of two deadly enemies intent on destroying each other--and anyone who gets in their way.

Ex-Green Beret Major Nate Walker is on a mission of his own: to restore the honor of his men. To do that, he is required to stop Sarah--or one of his own men will die. Caught in the middle of a deadly rivalry, Nate can't afford to trust the woman standing in his way. But his heart says he can't afford not to...

Deadly Force Series:
Every Deep Desire (Book 1)
One Dark Wish (Book 2) (less)


***

4.5 Stars

This is the second book in the Deadly Force series by Sharon Wray.

This is my first book by this author and I have to say that if you have a choice, start with book one, EVERY DEEP DESIRE. There is a lot of complexity and interesting dynamics in this book. A lot of it has a historical significance and knowing the backstory more thoroughly will make this an easier read. I had no trouble following the action but I did have a lot of questions about these Knights, for lack of a better term, who bow in three different intensities depending on if they respect you or wanted to annihilate you and spoke in Shakespearian verse. I wasn’t sure why this whole Shakespearian Knight dynamic was in this book but I assume it was added to lend credit to our heroine, Sarah Munro who was a historian.

I felt sorry for Sarah. She went through a lot even before the whole Shakespearian Knight thing showed up on her doorstep and threw her for a loop. The entrance of Nate Walker, ex-Green Beret and uncertain candidate for Knighthood, I felt this was a little rushed. He was there and then he was gone. Then two weeks later the story starts up again after Sarah’s little world has exploded. I thought seeing this stuff first hand might have made a better story. I know the book was already pretty long but still, why jump over so much intrigue that would come to bear later?

If you are looking for a tame romantic suspense, then this isn’t the book for you. The sexy scenes are a little over the top. I rolled my eyes a couple of times but they aren’t long and they don’t take over the main thrust of the story, which I appreciate. I am reading more for the action and suspense than the sexy love scenes.

Over all, this is a pretty good read. It keeps you interested from page one and you wonder if you will ever figure out what is truly going on behind it all. I look forward to picking up book one and digging more into the backstory. Definitely check this one out if romantic suspense is your thing.

Highly recommended.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Series where each member of a team of military special forces types find love in their turn, with an overarching mystery arc which gets solved piece by piece throughout the series, are pretty staple fare in romantic suspense (see Suzanne Brockmann for someone who does it amazingly well). Generally, the romance in each book stands alone but you might struggle a little bit to pick up the overall mystery if you don’t start at the first book in the series.

One Dark Wish doesn’t even manage to have the romance stand alone. I actually turned back to the beginning at the end of Chapter One, wondering if there was a prologue or something I’d somehow managed to miss, because for some reason I never figured out, Sarah and Nate’s story started after they’d met multiple times, already kissed, and managed to get themselves caught in the middle of an untenable situation where neither of them could win without the other losing someone dear to them.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on at any stage in the book. With a group of mysterious assassins, a local gangster, Russian mafia, possibly other members of Nate’s own team, Sarah’s boss and, frankly, Uncle Tom Cobley and all arrayed as antagonists, there’s just far too much going on, and that’s even before we go into the entire reason for Sarah’s involvement in the mystery, which involves the solving of a cipher used by sixteenth-century Georgia pirates in order to locate smuggling hidey-holes for modern-day arms dealers.

Absolutely none of it made any sense. There were too many points of view, too many competing goals, and it was never explained why exactly one of the antagonists was prepared to kill in order to have the cipher not be solved.

Considering the hot mess which desperately needed cleaning up by a ruthless content editor with a red pen, is anyone surprised the book has a massive diversity failure too? None of an entire unit of Green Berets are described as anything other than white and straight, and apparently, nor is anyone else in Savannah. Oh, and the hero’s raging PTSD is magically solved by the heroine’s presence (a trope I absolutely hate).

A hot mess which started in the wrong place and never recovered from that fatal mis-step, I can’t bring myself to give this any more than one star.

I was attracted by the blurb as it contained a lot of elements I usually liked in a novel.
Unfortunately I found the book confusing, too many subplots and characters, and it didn't keep my attention.
It's well written but its' not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I wanted to give this book five stars based on the description alone, because it was such an interesting setup. I love any kind of political maneuvering and elaborate setups, and I love compelling characters who face insurmountable goals. But in the end I think there was just too much going on to do it all well. I will definitely return to more Sharon Wray books, because I think she's a great writer with great ideas ... this one just fell a little flat for me. I wish you could give half-stars, because this would be a 3.5 for me.

So what drew me in was the cover of this book, absolutely stunning. I didn't realize that this was a book in a series and therefore took some time for me to get into this book. I loved that Sarah was a Historian, something I would love to do!! Mystery, action, and romance all in one book!

Deadly Force #2, Because of backstory, it's when the main characters met, and why you need to beware of men who bow I would recommend reading the first book before this one. In the events before both books two teams of Green Berets were royally screwed over the ones that aren't in prison were dishonorably discharged and put to the task of finding out who betrayed them so they can free their teammates from prison and clean their record. There is a large cast of characters but their are only a few you need to worry about in this book, the third person perspective focus on Sarah Munro and Nate Walker the main characters but it also adds Zack a fellow ex-Green Beret and one of the bad guys Etienne. For the most part it's easy to tell when it switches, mid chapter there are chapter breaks and who you are now following is usually named right away. The story is complex there are quite a few different elements to it all lots of different threads that all come together in the end but still leave the overall story arc open for the next book.

I loved Nate and Sarah, they are both complex character with baggage, especially Nate who has health issues. Ever since the ambush and his time as a prisoner and tortured he's suffered from seizures and memory loss, while all his men were in prison he was in a hospital. His CO, Kells, has just informed him he has to go back to the hospital. With only days before he has to go back he has to finish setting up their cover as employees of the Iron Rack Gym and bouncers at the club Rage of Angels but when Sarah gets tied up in this mess he's determined to keep her safe until he's forced to go back.

Sarah wasn't meant to get mixed up in Nate's problems but it seems she was already hip deep in it anyways. Her research into the history of Isle of Grace has landed her in hot water already she's being threatened by both sides; one side wants her to solve the old pirate cipher and the other doesn't even to the extent of going after her father to get her to cooperate. Nate is the only one who wants to protect her even if they were pitted against each other. This book is packed with so much the action it's exciting and there are twists and red herrings, and smoking hot romance. Overall, a great story.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Netgalley but all opinions provided are my own.

I really admire when an author really goes for it—when she’s not afraid to take plot or character risks—and that’s what Sharon Wray does in One Dark Wish. There are parts of the book that really work for me, like the intriguing plot and complex characters, and also parts, like the actual execution of those risks, that don't.

Wray’s book opens with heroine-historian Dr. Sarah Munro witnessing the murder of her assistant after Sarah saw a man bow. Then the hero Nate Walker kisses her before leaving the police department in a hurry. Two weeks afterward, Sarah’s wandering a historic cemetery without the owner’s permission, looking for the grave of Rebecca, a teenager who was hanged for being a witch in the 17th century and whose diary she’s currently asking to study. She’s met by a man who bows, and she immediately recognizes him as a Fianna warrior (it’s not explained how she recognizes him as such now, and not earlier, at the police department after witnessing her assistant’s murder).

The warrior threatens her if she persists with the diary, but Nate interrupts their meeting, protecting Sarah and ushering her off before demanding that she meet with him later…where he can also demand that she walk away.

It turns out that there’s a pirate cipher related to the diary-writer Rebecca, one that the Fianna warriors do not want decoded and one that another dangerous party, does.

Sarah really can’t win, and that’s where the book’s drama and high stakes come in.

All of this action happens shortly after the book opens, and it was pretty confusing for me at times to follow. This is the second book in the series, so perhaps Wray sets up most of this in the first book. Either way, some additional explanation here and there would have been helpful.

There are also plot-points that feel like they aren’t tied up. Like the assistant who died. She’s mentioned at the beginning of the book and then she’s not addressed to my satisfaction later, although I suspect she could have been related to this book’s plot in some kind of way. Also the matter of who sent Nate to a military mental hospital in the first place feels abbreviated, particularly in terms of the emotional response.

I eventually felt like I had a handle on the main conflict, the primary foes, and how Sarah and Nate fit into everything, but I would have appreciated a gentler introduction to it all.

But despite my moments of confusion and frustration, I kept reading because I saw potential in One Dark Wish and the kind of story Wray tells. The premise is interesting, with cool world-building and compelling villains, heroes, and heroines. Sarah and Nate are smart, determined, and brave, and their dynamic together is enjoyable to watch unfold. Their passion is searing. And finally, the plot’s sometimes too complicated, but I love how well thought-out and ambitious it is, even if it could have been tighter and smoother in execution.

In the end, my response to this book feels as complicated as the plot itself. There are what feel like big problems with this book for me, but there’s also quite a lot to commend it. I’m going to read Wray at least once again because I want to see where she goes—and how she goes—next.

I found this book to be a bit confusing although I did enjoy it. I do like series books however understand I should have read the first book in order to understand this one better.

This is hard one to review - I really liked the sound of the book - historical documents, pirates, secrets all sounded just up my street but I really didn't end up enjoying the book.
There were so many characters with very complicated backstories and the different elements - disgraced police, heroin deals, smuggled missiles, Russian gangsters, green berets and historical pirates was just a bit too much and too implausible for me. And there were some very long sex scenes.
I can see that this book would be appealing to people, but sadly it wasn't for me.
Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review

This one was just ok for me . I like my mysteries with a little less romance.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

If you read the blurb for this book, it doesn’t sound overly complicated, right? A historian wants to solve a secret pirate cipher to both redeem her career and save her father. An ex-soldier is tasked with stopping her in order to save his men. Along the way, they fall in love. In practice, though, this book was...a lot. Way too much, in fact.

The characters in this book are reasonably smart and interesting. Sarah is good at her job and cares about preserving history. Nate is a protective alpha who has long carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. They were a nice match, with both appreciating the other for their strengths and loving each other despite their weaknesses. I thought their relationship was the best part of the book, although it does move WAY too fast. The bulk of the book takes place in a matter of days--I had to set that fact aside to really believe their romance.

The problem, however, is that the book has an excess of both characters and plot! Nate is part of a group of ex-Green Berets who are trying to get on with their lives after scandal forced them out of the military. Quite frankly, I couldn’t tell most of them apart as they were kind of forgettable. They mostly spent the book whining and moaning about their situation, about their orders, about life in general. They were supposedly a tight-knit unit, yet many of them didn’t seem to particularly trust each other. One of the big conflicts of the book is how Nate is going to be taken away permanently for reasons I won’t spoil. While one or two of the guys is pretty broken up about it and tries to save him, the rest seem pretty ambivalent. Nate is treated VERY unfairly, and Sarah seems to be the only one who truly tries to do anything about it. Way to pull together, team! The commanding officer is a secretive, cold-hearted bastard, too. I’m guessing he may get his own story in the future, but I certainly don’t care to read about him.

Most importantly, the plot of the book is overly complicated and illogical. There is SO much going on. There is a secret warrior organization whose motivations are very poorly outlined. There is some sort of gun runner who seems to have an absurd amount of power and influence.  There's a very rich lawyer and Senator who help the team for flimsy and convenient reasons. There are several double crossers with their own agendas and stories. There is a historical mystery and the pirate cipher they are trying to investigate. Then there are back stories galore: what happened to the Green Beret team on the mission that got them in trouble as well as what happened in the following years, what happened during Nate’s time in a POW camp, a mystery about why both Nate and Sarah’s dad are having seizures, and the question mark that is Sarah’s father, all of which barely get grazed in this book. Not to mention what I assume are set ups for future books in the series, where we start to hear back stories for the other team members. I recognize that this is the second book in a series, which I didn’t realize when I started reading, and I acknowledge that some of this is likely addressed in past and future books. I’d still argue that cramming so much into one book is a bad idea. This book is looooong at a whopping 448 pages (!), meaning halfway through I was straight up bored, not to mention rolling my eyes at the nonsensical things that kept happening. I kept going, only to find out how Sarah and Nate could get their HEA, not because I gave a crap about the rest of it.

In short, I think the author is trying to tell a very ambitious story, which I appreciate. However, some ruthless editing and way less story threads would have improved this book tremendously. 

Grade: 2 out of 5

This was quite the story! Lots of action, steamy romance, intrigue and multiple plot lines. I will admit I got a little confused with all the characters – good guys, bad guys, good guys who may be bad guys … This is the second book in the Deadly Force series so pretty well all the characters knew each other from the first book, except for me, as this is my first book by this author. Although this is a standalone, it would certainly help with placing all the characters and past events by reading the first of this series. This author also likes to use italics … a lot! Sometimes I thought it was appropriate, sometimes not, and sometimes she didn’t use them when she could have. I felt this book could have benefited from some tighter editing, but the story line was worth the read.

This is the second book in this series and I am enjoying this series very much. Readers would have to read the first book in this series to really understand the story lines as it does have a lot of characters

Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this book for an honest review