[book-info]
US: https://amzn.to/2KyFrt2
UK: amazon.co.uk/dp/B07TSS2SM7
CA: amazon.ca/dp/B07TSS2SM7
AU: amazon.com.au/dp/B07TSS2SM7
Review
This box set were my second reads by Sarah Darlington and while I enjoyed a couple books more than the others, overall, it was still a pretty enjoyable read. I binged the entire thing in one sitting.
In the Kill Devil Hills series, there are 4 interconnected standalone stories. I’m a huge fan of interconnected stories within a series, I love seeing characters in previous stories and what they’re up to. With this series, all the books are surrounded one incident and that’s the death of Ben Turner.
There’s a lot of emotion in each of the stories and all cover a sensitive topic. They’re all quick reads and they’re actually pretty light even with the themes that Sarah talks about in each story.
I definitely enjoyed this series and would definitely love a novella catching up with everyone!
major thank you to the author for the complimentary copy in consideration for a review. this does not affect my opinion of the book or review.
Boxset rating | [rating stars=”three-half-stars”]
continue to read the reviews for each book
kill devil hills #1
First up in the series is the story of Georgiana (the youngest of the Turner’s and the closest to her brother Ben, who passed away) and Noah (best friend of Ellie, Georgiana’s older sister). Their story is definitely my favorite out of this series, I loved everything that was happening between the both of them. And my goodness, this was a rather emotional read.
It’s no mystery that Georgiana took her brother’s death pretty hard. And Noah was at the right place, at the right time, essentially saving Georgiana’s life. Even though these two have been in each other’s life for years, it wasn’t until that life-altering moment, that they truly started to see each other in a different way.
When it comes to how she’s dealing with everything in the after, Noah is the only person where she feels perfectly safe. That day connected them in more ways than one and they’re quickly learning how to navigate everything, together.
It’s a new beginning for the both of them, a fresh start of sorts and they couldn’t be more perfect for one another. Noah is soooo protective of her, but he never hides any kind of truth from her. I love how honest they are with each other, it’s definitely something they both need.
[rating stars=”four-stars”]
[divider]
changing tides #2
Ellie’s story was one that I was definitely looking forward to, but was super surprised that it wasn’t going to be a F/F romance. Instead it was a F/M romance, at first, it kind of turned me off from the story and a bit disappointed, but in the end, I still found it a good story and it’s my second favorite in the series.
If you’re thinking that I spoiled the story, I didn’t because Sarah mentions that this story is a F/M romance. With all that we learn about Ellie in the first book, I was left utterly confused and I think it would have been cleared up if she mentioned that she was bi-sexual from the very beginning. I personally think the author would have had a different response overall.
With that being said, this story is very much Ellie figuring out her feelings when it comes to who she’s attracted to. The confusion is there and well she’s experimenting with her sexuality and is just learning new things about herself.
I adored her relationship with Nathaniel, he was so sweet and patient with her. I liked to describe Ellie as someone who just flies off the handle and has zero filter. I absolutely loved that about her. The dynamics between these two is so different, but they work so well together.
With Changing Tides being the 2nd book in this series, it covers the relationship between Ellie and Nathaniel, there’s also the bigger story arc of the death of her brother, Ben. And my goodness, that arc is just one that left me with so many questions and certain moments that I was anticipating.
I loved that the Noah and Georgiana are in this book quite frequently, along with a couple more characters. And they’ll remain throughout the rest of this series.
Finishing this will leave you hungry for the next one!
[rating stars=”three-half-stars”]
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pulled under #3
Pulled Under was probably my least favorite out of the series and a story that I was not looking forward to. We get pretty acquainted with Rhett and Sydney from the previous books. With Sydney having this huge crush on Ben and was essentially in love with him, that set the tone for me. I wasn’t sure how this was going to get sorted because despite Rhett’s man-whore ways, everything was setting up to have his heartbroken.
Rhett isn’t someone that you’d take home for the parents to meet. He’s got a different girl every week, but when a kiss and flash forward to a one night stand finally has him hoping for something more. She ghosts him. And she is Sydney, the girl that was in love with another man, Ben, a dead man.
I truly loved Rhett completely, he has this other side that’s just unbelievably sweet and endearing. And he’s not an idiot, once every learns about the truth of Ben, whatever he had with Sydney is something that could quickly disappear. There’s a lot of insecurities there and I liked seeing the sensitive side of Rhett. And he was willing to throw his happiness out the window to make sure that Sydney would get her chance to have that. How can you not love a man like that?!
I can’t say that I came around to Sydney, completely, but by the end, she changed my mind.
There were a few things here and there that were thrown in that weren’t necessary. I actually think a novella would have been perfect for this one.
By the end, I was just elated that they got their happily ever after.
[rating stars=”three-stars”]
[divider]
adrift #4
Ah yes, the story we’ve been waiting for. I’ve been rather eager for for Ben’s story. I just needed to know what was going through his mind because he left his family in a complete mess. And the one person that always comes to the forefront is Georgie. And I will say that was probably my biggest disappointment in this story because I was dying for them to really talk about about everything that happened between them. I thought it was a pretty big deal and was something that we all needed.
If you’ve been here from the very beginning, you have all the questions and are probably demanding all the answers. My big one was why? And once we learn it, I can’t say that I was completely satisfied with it all. Come onnnnn, Ben!
When it comes to Ben’s story, I was glad the heroine was something completely new. I appreciated the outsider that was just thrown into the world of the Turners. You know, just to shake things up a bit. I really enjoyed everything that goes on between them.
Out of all the stories, I felt like ben and Juniper’s was the one that was rushed the most. There were a lot of spots that were missing a thing here and there. However, I’m sure Sarah wanted to keep the tone the same as the previous stories.
Adrift was an ok read for me, I was craving THE talk between Ben and Georgie. And just a bit more of everything, but it’s decent conclusion to the Kill Devil Hills series.