ARC Review: ‘Nightfall’ by Penelope Douglas
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Nightfall
by Penelope DouglasSeries: Devil's Night #4
Published by Berkley on July 23, 2020
SubGenres: Dark Romance, Romantic Suspense
Format: Paperback
Pages: 725
Source: the publisher
Audience: 18+/Adult
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From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Douglas comes the thrilling, final installment in the Devil’s Night series…
What happens when it's five against one and nowhere to run?
EMORY
They call it Blackchurch. A secluded mansion in a remote, undisclosed location where the wealthy and powerful send their misbehaving sons to cool off away from prying eyes.
Will Grayson has always been an animal, though. Reckless, wild, and someone who was never bound by a single rule other than to do exactly what he wanted. There was no way his grandfather was going risk him humiliating the family again.
Not that the last time was entirely his fault. He might’ve enjoyed backing me into corners in high school when no one was looking, so they wouldn’t catch on that Mr. Popular actually wanted a piece of that quiet, little nerd he loved to torture so much, but…
He could also be warm. And fierce in keeping me safe.
The truth is… He has a right to hate me.
It’s all my fault. Everything.
Devils Night. The videos. The arrests.
I’m to blame for all of it.
And I regret nothing.
WILL
I never minded being locked up. I learned a long time ago that being treated like an animal gives you permission to act like one. No one has ever looked at me any other way.
Their only mistake is believing anything I do is an accident. I can sit in this house with no Internet, television, liquor, or girls, but I’ll come out of here with something far more frightening to my enemies.
A plan.
And a new pack of wolves.
I just didn’t expect one of my enemies to come to me.
I don’t know who smuggled her in or if they meant to leave her here, but I can smell her hiding in the house. She’s here.
And as the security detail leaves the supplies, the gates close, and the door to my gilded cage opens, giving me free reign of the house and grounds for another unsupervised month, I remember with a smile…
Blackchurch houses five prisoners. I’m only one of her problems.
Nightfall is a full-length, romantic suspense suitable for readers 18+. It’s necessary to read the prior installments in the series before starting this story.
Nightfall is the final installment in the Devil’s Night series, and it’s a long one that had me captivated. It took me a bit to finish it because I had to keep putting it down to run some errands, feed my family, or sleep. You know, the usual stuff that prevents readers from reading their books.
I’ve been meaning to read this book for so long, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the Devil’s Night series. I wasn’t prepared to read Will Grayson’s book, but I’m glad I did now. I was curious to finally find out who Emory Scott was and why Will had issues with her in the first book in the series, Corrupt. Emory was the girl that Will had a crush on for years but she didn’t want anything to do with him. I knew she broke his heart, and I needed to understand why. I also needed to know how she would fit into the series with the others because I thought initially that Will was going to end up with Alex. I trusted Penelope and where they were going to take their readers with Will’s book.
If you read Kill Switch and Conclave, you would have learned that Will was missing and the Horsemen and their ladies wanted to find him. They suspected he was forced to go to Blackchurch, where the rich send their sons if they are caught acting up. It was up to Michael, Kai, Damon, and their ladies, including Alex, to find Blackchurch and hopefully get Will out of there. He had missed out on a lot since he went missing. The issue is that Will doesn’t want to leave Blackchurch because he has plans there, but he never expected his past to show up there. Emory Scott ends up at Blackchurch and she has no clue how she got there and who sent her. All she knows is that she’s about to face the one person she’s tried to avoid since she broke his heart, and she finds out he isn’t the same boy that she once loved. She’s also going to face the others at Blackchurch, and they are all there for a reason.
This was an emotional rollercoaster of a book from the first page to the last page when it came to Will and Emory. The back and forth from past to present helped explain what happened to these two characters and what made them have a falling out and also had them come back together. Their character growth from nine years ago to the present was deeply moving. Emory’s struggles and resilience in the face of a difficult life resonated with me, and I understood why she kept things from Will. She ended up leaving her past for a while but was forced back to fix things and make things right.
One of the standout moments for me was at the end of the book when everything was revealed, and the truth about Will’s situation at Blackchurch came to light. This was the moment when Will’s strength and resilience came forward and showed his character growth the most. The other Horsemen were even impressed with his strength and independence.
The only thing that bugged me was Alex and how things played out for her in this book. She deserved to have her own book, but I did appreciate the twist to the storyline of Will’s book that included some kind of happiness for Alex because I thought she was going get shafted.
I give the final full-length novel four stars. Although I’m sad it’s finished, I’m happy that every character who I’ve come to care deeply about has found happiness after so much heartache and trouble. I still see Damon as the scariest of the bunch. Michael will always be a favorite (even after he ticked me off in Conclave), and now Will is another favorite. Kai seems to be the most reasonable one who knows how to handle situations. I’m going to miss them, even the FMCs, who definitely knew how to handle the Horsemen.
I highly recommend this series if you enjoy Dark Romantic Suspense with several different storylines involving revenge, mayhem, and spice.
Trope(s)/Element(s):
✓Enemies to Lovers
✓Second Chance at Love
✓Forced Proximity
✓Revenge
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About Penelope Douglas
Penelope Douglas is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Their books have been translated into nineteen languages and include The Fall Away Series, The Devil’s Night Series, and the stand-alones, Misconduct, Punk 57, Birthday Girl, Credence, and Tryst Six Venom. Please look for The Hellbent Series, coming next.
They live in New England with their husband and daughter.
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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