Mystery/thriller books that also have romance are some of my favorite books so whenever I see them, I have to read them. This book does mix the mystery with the romance pretty well but I will say I was a little let down by the ending of this book. I didn't really care for the "mystery" in this one and it felt underwhelming to me. The romance however, was delightful. I really liked Garret and Tessa and I think Will was also a strong character.

The audio narration done by Ellie Gossage and Jay Myers was great.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was a little bit romantic, suspenseful and mystery. When Tessa returns home, she has to face old memories and cold cases, not to mention her best friends’ brother whom she had a crush on.
I enjoyed the dual timelines and the relationship had some spice, to keep things interesting. Modglin is an auto-buy for me and I look forward to every book she writes.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)/🌶️🌶️🫚(2.5/5)

“Better watch that smart mouth before I eat something else.”

“We know what matters now, truth, love, happiness.”

If you know anything about my reading habits, you’d know that I will read anything Kiersten Modglin puts out.

I did the audio of this one but of course I had to get the paperback for my collection too. The audio was really well done, they always are, so no surprise there.

This one was a little different than her typical edge of your seat thrillers / domestic suspense books. It had a slower pacing until things pop off at the end but the slow burn pacing worked well for this storyline. I think the extra spice she added in this book compared to others helped to keep the slow burn pacing interesting because the romance element was a strong theme throughout even with the mystery to be solved. The romance elements gave me vibes like her book The Cleaner (if you have not read it, go check it out, I gave it an infinity rating).

Kiersten has a gift for writing fluid transitions between past & present timelines and between the different character POVs. With some authors I struggle to keep the time periods and characters straight and it can be extra difficult with an audio HOWEVER THAT IS NOT THE CASE WITH KIERSTEN’S BOOKS. The characters are well defined and the time jumps are as well.

Can’t wait for the next one which I. Sure is dropping soon because she clearly never sleeps the way she pumped these books out.

This is exactly how I like my childhood romances….aka with a creepy thriller/mystery. This book pulls you right in with a funeral, where you then learn it is far from the first in this town, then keeps you hooked with a cute past/present love story. Really enjoyed this one.

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