Tessa was glad to stay away from home, where she had her heart broken, where her mother had a stroke that landed her in a nursing home, and where murders happened. But her childhood best friend, Britney, has passed, and she has to go home to attend the funeral. She has to stay at her brother’s house with Garrett, the one who broke her heart.
This is a romantic suspense, heavy on the romance. We go back and forth between the past (leading to what really happened) and the present. I have to admit I have read and been disappointed by a lot of KMod books, by my own fault - don't ask me why, but I thought she wrote psychological thrillers, and thrilling her books were not, so I was always disappointed by the end and a bit bored. I went into this one listening to it with a new frame of mind, and I really liked it!
I received an advance review copy of this book for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Tessa must go home and face what happened years ago. I enjoyed the past and present time lines to get you to see whole picture of what happened in this town. Tessa and her brother Will had always been close but now secrets are coming to light. The truth about what happened and who is responsible was a shock that I couldn’t have predicted. There is evil lurking in this small town and someone has been getting away with murder for years.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did such a great job with the different characters and really bringing them to life.

I always worry about reading romantic suspense stories because it usually is not enough of one of the genres. This story was the perfect romantic suspense. I love the back story between Garrett and Tessa and the forced proximity made it so good.

I appreciate that Garrett is Tessa's brother - Will's best friend and their relationship was great between the 3 characters.

The mystery of the story with the death of a friend, brings back some older murder cases to mind. The twist in the story was something I didn't see coming.

Ellie Gossage and Jay Myers did a fantastic job with the narration.

Thank you @dreamscape_media for a copy of the audiobook

“the darkness goes where light refuses to be”

Every KMod book is always a hit! This one is no different, however it’s less of a thriller than her normal books. I’d say 85% romantic suspense, 15% mystery. With a small cameo from Hemlock. This one is definitely for fans of her books Hemlock and the Hollow. With some unexpected SPICE 🥵.

Tessa returns to her hometown after her friend passes away, which drags up old memories of cold cases from when she was a teenager, all while rooming with her past love: her best friend’s brother.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for my ALC! The narrators were great!

Audiobook review -

First of all I really love the audio narrator - Ellie Gossage, her voice is so nice to listen to and makes me immediately like the character she is portraying.

“Where darkness goes” follows the life of two siblings, switching been their present day and teen years.

One aspect of the plot is an on and off again romance between the younger sister and her brothers best friend, I enjoyed this part of the book and liked the love interest, the only comment I’ll make is that their bedroom dialogue for their teen years just is not a realistic reflection of an awkward inexperienced and insecure everyday teenager, however that aspect aside it was enjoyable 😂.

The other side to the plot is a multiple murder mystery in a small town that spans over decades and involves multiple teenage girls from their school with an apparent continuation in adulthood.

Overall I enjoyed the book it was a quick listen so I was able to do it in one sitting.

Thank you to Kiersten Modglin and Dreamscape media for the ALC!

Publish date: December 31st 2024