Review: There is No Light in Darkness (Darkness #1) by Claire Contreras

There is No Light in Darkness (Darkness #1)
by Claire Contreras
Published on: 1/10/13
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance/Mystery

A past hidden in darkness. Her present cloaked in secrets. The future holds the only truth that cannot be escaped.

After the mysterious and violent death of her parents, Blake Brennan finds comfort with an unconventional family. As the dramatic loss of her parents continues to haunt her—and hinders her from reciprocating love that others give freely—Blake embarks on a harrowing journey in search for the truth.

Living in a constant state of fear and need for control, vivid nightmares reveal details that lead to perilous situations. The past begins to collide with the present, and Blake must decide if the truth is worth losing the ones she loves.

Can love conquer all as her past comes to light? Or will Blake realize that there is no light in darkness?

My Rating 4 1/2 Coffee Cups!!

This book hooked me in the opening paragraph of the prologue it was that good. It had the perfect amount of romance, suspense and familial love. 

The book opens with the murder of a 4 year old Blake Brennan's parents and her subsequent kidnapping and continues to grip you from there. It goes seamlessly from Blake's present: a law student in Chicago, living with her best friend Aubry; to her past: what happened to her after the events of the night before her 4th birthday. She only has a handful of people she cares about because she learns at a young age that loved ones can be taken from you. Amid the nightmares of the horrific night that took everything from her are the answers she is so desperately seeking to find. Why did they take her? Why did they kill her parents? And most of all, who exactly is "they"? As the story progresses and memories resurface things begin to unravel themselves and Blake and everyone she cares about are put into even more danger than she could imagine.

Everything Blake has been thru has shaped her. Everything from having to lock her bedroom door when she is asleep, to carrying a baseball bat around with her in her car. She's lost too many people and doesn't want to take chances. She can't even verbalize the words "I Love You" for fear that it will make them too essential in her life and they will be taken away from her like everyone else has been. And you see how sad a life it is she's living because of this.

Also, among her stories of the past is the foster home she was put into when she was 13. This is where Blake finds her true family and the only people she cares about (present day included). A mom named Maggie, her adopted son Aubry, niece Becky, Becky's boyfriend Greg and Maggie's foster son Cole Murphy. Oh Cole. Blake and Cole's relationship starts off as friends and then protector and protectee and then swoon (yeah I said it- swoon!) romance. They are one of those couples that you want to go thru the book and hug and scream YES! That's not to say they're not without their issues. If they didn't have their fair share this book wouldn't be quite so good.  You see their progression and development as this story flip flops back and forth in it's timeline and I especially like how the author does this to mirror the events of their past to the reason something is happening in their present.

"I love you. I love you more than anything else in this world. It'll always be you. I love you to the moon and back." 

Be forewarned this has a pretty epic cliffhanger- but fear not! Because the next book Darkness Before Dawn comes out on May 31st! As in this Friday! As in the day after tomorrow!! Can you tell I'm excited?