This book was amazing! First time reading a book by this author and I look forward to reading more by them. I highly recommend this book!

This book is extremely realistic and lifelike, and you wouldn't be surprised to find a good blend of romance, suspense and thrill in it. The narration is splendid, the author knows what they are doing and they do it quite convincingly. The book doesn't try to hard to make the romance part too cosy, but it channelises it through a good blend of realism and relatibility. Would recommend!

Life got in the way but if I had the time this is the kind of book that made me want to read the whole thing in one sitting. I especially like how well developed Iris. Finn, Sawyer, Natalie and the other characters felt. Had a nice balance between s love story and the suspense get your heart pumping thriller vibes. I liked the whole book. If I were asked what could be improved upon it would be that everything got wrapped up a little to quick/easily for my tastes. I appreciate a happy ending but like in real life we should have to work a bit for that good feeling at the end. This is the first time I read anything by Elissa Grossell Dickey but I would gladly read another because I enjoyed her writing style.

I thoroughly enjoyed this suspense and the author's writing style. I felt like I was at that lodge in South Dakota. This was fast paced, and it kept me turning pages. I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters, especially Finn. As a mother, I am always humbled reading stories like these. It had a hopeful ending for somebody that was at first in a very hopeless situation. I would definitely recommend this!

Elissa Grossell Dickey is back with a suspenseful visit to America’s heartland. The windswept prairie makes the perfect backdrop for hurt people to be healed by love. The mama bear who fights the hardest is the one with scars. Iris in the Dark takes readers on a suspenseful journey that taps into primal fear.

An enjoyable story that shows that no matter how fast you run away from your past it will always catch up to you in the end and that one has to face it head on at times …

My latest read, Iris in the Dark by Elissa Grossell Dickey is a beautifully written story that pretty much blew me away.

It was not what I was expecting (which was more of a thriller) when I read the blurb….but I didn’t mind because this book took me on a journey with Iris Jenkins, a single mother, haunted by her dark past. She was offered a second chance at life after escaping an abusive relationship and built a safe haven for herself and her son, Finn.
Or so she thinks.
Until her past sneaks up on her just when she falls in love and begins to relax a little about her “safe” life.

I loved so much about this book, the cover (which I think I will get a physical copy because it is so beautiful) the writing was so engaging that the plot and characters just seemed to fall perfectly in place.
Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC.

Let me start off by saying that this is the most beautiful cover I’ve seen in a while.
This novel features Iris, a single mother who has escaped her past life with the help of her generous boss, who has now trusted her with house-sitting his lodge in the prairie. There she not only finds a peaceful home for her son and herself, but she also meets her charming neighbour Sawyer and his daughter. However, her past seems to have caught up with her after all these years.

To be honest, I was afraid this would be just another cheesy romance, but this turned out DARK. There are several heavy topics in this, so I’d recommend checking out the trigger warnings if you’re sensitive to certain subjects.

It took me some time to warm up to the main character. She reads a bit robotic at first, so I felt pretty disconnected from her in the beginning. The romance also happened a bit too quickly for my taste, but I was surprised by how invested I was in Iris‘ backstory.
The atmosphere up until the end is incredibly unsettling, and the author did a really good job of sprinkling in chapters from Iris‘ past to explain why she acts a certain way in the present.
Iris in the Dark is definitely a surprising read, I’ll look forward to reading future works by the author.

Thanks a lot to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with the ARC.

** spoiler alert ** As an eARC, I thought this book started very strong. I was invested in the characters, especially Iris, and the mystery was intriguing. I finished the book in just 2 days; the writing style was engaging and easy to follow. There is definitely a lot of potential here. However, the second half of this book took a serious nosedive, in my opinion. The story becomes way more focused on Iris' romance with Sawyer, and much less on the mystery. Toward the very end, when all the loose ends were being tied up, I felt like it had devolved into a Hallmark movie. The villians had very cookie-cutter, PG motives and/or turned out not to be "real" villians at all. There were lots of genuinely great parts to this book, such as the flashbacks and a lot of the development going on in the first half. But I finished this book feeling cheated, like I'd been promised a creepy-house story and ended up with a Hallmark romance. I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This took me a bit longer to read than most but enjoyed it. iris has a dark past that she wants to keep secret. Her life and her son Finn depend on it. She has been given another chance by two lovely wealthy men who know her past and have kept them safe for the past few years.
When other people come into their lives this sets into motion events that can't be stopped. Someone knows and is threatening her.

Thank you to netgalley for an advance copy of this novel! I really enjoyed The Speed of Light, so I was thrilled to try her new novel. Iris was a great main character and I loved her relationship with her son Finn. But- the insta love with Sawyer… I wish I could eliminate it from the story. They were literally in love by the end of the week. For me, that’s always a huge buzz kill in books. I find it so unrealistic and instead of enjoying the story, I continuously roll my eyes. Overall, I did enjoy Iris and her hidden past that comes to light. I loved the message of women overcoming major obstacles and starting over. Trigger warning: there is some domestic abuse mentioned in flashbacks.

3/5 stars, didn’t love it but I would recommend it for a light thriller.

IRIS IN THE DARK begins with an epigraph by the great Emily Dickinson, called “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark.” At that point in the book, before the narrative began, I knew I’d enjoy this novel. And I did. Very much so. The book is the story of Iris, who has is trying to live a new and different life after escaping from abuse in the past. A single mother, Iris must deal with all the struggles of single parenthood alone, and she bears the financial burden of raising her son, Finn, by herself. We get a good idea of Iris’s anxieties and concerns in the present while also being given snippets of the past abuse. I liked this book for multiple reasons: it showcases a strong character who isn’t afraid to accept help at times, it gives hope to those who might be in similar circumstances, and it encourages us to be aware of others who might be struggling. Fast-paced and well-written, IRIS IN THE DARK is a great follow-up to THE SPEED OF LIGHT.

BOOK REVIEW

Iris in the Dark by @elissaadickey this book is due to be released on 7th June 2022. Free copy provided via netgalley.

WARNINGS - this book contains human trafficking, nearly all of the main types of abuse, and prostitution.

SYNOPSIS: Iris Jenkins knows bad things happen. She has tried to run away from bad events for years. She is asked by her friend and boss Lowell to look after his lodge in South Dakota. She becomes close to Sawyer Jones. However, when Iris and her son (Finn) are asleep, she hears a voice via a walkie talkie, and it knows parts of her past.

At first I struggled with the book. I didn't dislike it though. I probably read it in about 3 ish days. However, once an event happened in the book (not saying as that is a big spolier), I could not put it down. Some of the events that happened I did predict, but there was one event that I did not predict. I preferred reading what happened 8 years ago, compared to the present time.

I think it is a good book, but as I said, I did find some of the events predictable, which I think took some of the enjoyment out of it.

STAR RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Iris in the Dark
A Novel
by Elissa Grossell Dickey
Description
A single mother faces her worst fear—the past—in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of The Speed of Light.

Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen. She’s tried to escape these things for years. So when Iris is entrusted to house-sit at a lodge on the South Dakota prairie, she thinks she’s prepared for anything.

But one surprise is Sawyer Jones, the property’s neighbor, and caretaker. He’s a caring, reassuring presence who’s making her feel safe and alive again. Then late one night, Iris hears a chilling cry for help coming from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As the calls get more desperate, personal, and menacing, Iris realizes the person on the other end isn’t reaching out for help. They’re reaching out to terrorize her.

Now the only way for Iris to move forward in life
is to confront the past she’s been running from…a threat that has now followed her into the dark.


Thanks for the advance copy to give my honest opinion. I wanted to love the book. The blurb I loved. The book just seemed lacking in making it a book to make me turn pages and get lost in the telling. So, it just did not hit the mark for me. It took a few days to finished and left knowing it was just ok.

. The only thing that kept me going was the mystery of Iris past but other than that it was a very disappointing read

*5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley for an honest review.

This was a really good story line and was a very interesting read for me. I also found the characters to be interesting. The ending was really good too - would recommend.

"Don't keep running back to the one person that you need to walk away from." (Unknown)

Not gonna lie.......Iris in the Dark sat across from me with a 3 Star rating. It started out strong and then wandered into too many alley ways. I think that Elissa Grossell Dickey wasn't too sure how to get her main character onto higher ground. The over-the-shoulder look into the past spoke volumns of the extreme baggage that Iris Jenkins was dragging about. What won me over was the Author's Note at the end. Ms. Dickey, this should have been your beacon of light throughout and not the "mystery" that didn't have enough "thriller" attached.

Iris Jenkins is a survivor. Plain, simple, and the truth. She literally ran for her life and that of her unborn son Finn. Iris was ridiculed, abused, and tormented by her ex-boyfriend. She landed in a truck stop without a prayer or a plan. Lowell Gordon and his partner eyed this young, traumatized woman and found a place for her in their home until she gave birth. Their sincere kindness was a life line for Iris and Finn.

Iris is now the assistant to Lowell who is the editor of the Prairie Daily News. Finn has just turned seven and is the joy that makes her rise each day. But the newspaper may be bought out soon and Lowell offers Iris the position of event planner in his Windy Acres lodge. She and Finn move in and adjust to the new surroundings.

But it appears that Iris' past from Minneapolis is catching up with her here in South Dakota. Someone is aware that Iris was involved in some shady business with her ex back there. Iris fears for her life and that of her son, Finn. She's so tired of running........but she's out of options.

Iris in the Dark is built on a solid foundation. Dickey can sure write. If you follow the original intention of this novel, it will be a satisfying read. Perhaps Dickey can fine-tune those false starts and stops that weaken this storyline. But it's surely worth a looky look by the readers. Take it for a spin and see what you think.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to Elissa Grossell Dickey for the opportunity.

I really wanted to like this book, but must admit I struggled to become fully engaged in the story. In order for a romantic suspense to work, the romance needs to be developed; but there seemed to no tension or obstacles between Sawyer and Iris until near the end. Some of the characters like Sawyer, were so thinly drawn that I just couldn’t relate. to them. The story line and coincidences stretched credulity just too far.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had a little of everything and was easy to follow the story. To me, the characters were well developed. Some mystery, part love story made for a great read.

I am struggling with this review.

I looked at other reviews, and people LOVED this book. I honestly, thought it was just ok. The writing, was good, the story was really interesting, but I just could not get invested in this book.

Did you ever see a movie that seems to always take place in the dark, so you are always struggling to see the picture and it takes away from the enjoyment? This was like the literary version of that. It just had a heavy, dark feel and not in a good way. I struggled to connect with the characters. I kept putting it down and picking it back up. I was interested enough to keep going, but not interested enough to read it in one or two sittings (or even four or five).

Before you take my review as gospel, keep in mind that I usually prefer books with more action that mood, books that some consider to be more superficial (I loved the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and hated a Man Called Ove).

I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.