Dark Desires

Silver does a good job bringing forward all the typical Gothic elements - gloomy or decaying setting, a sinister, malevolent being on the loose, a damsel in distress, and a deep set mystery that imbues feelings of fear and high emotion. With the Whitechapel setting (and playing on the Jack the Ripper theme), Silver ratchets up the suspense as the growing evidence has Darcie questioning the mysterious comings and goings of her employer, a doctor with a laboratory that is off limits to his household staff and a fascination with anatomy.

I love a good Gothic read - especially on a cold, rainy night! - so you are probably wondering why the 3 star rating? Well, when I picked up a copy of this book, I was too busy paying attention to the show more fabulous Gothic cover and story premise to notice that this is a Gothic romance story... with the romance bit being of the steamy, heart palpitation type. I should mention I am not a big fan of romance novels. I don't mind romantic elements but this story seems to swing back and forth between a suspense Gothic read and a romance novel of the bodice-ripping type one would expect to see on offer from a romance publisher like Harlequin. That, and I tend to groan when a Gothic female lead is of the naive, "act first, think later" variety.

Overall, I can see why this one has such a spread of ratings. Love the Gothic suspense read, but ended up skim reading the steamy romance scenes. show less

A thick gray wall of fog hovered over the damp stones of Hanbury Street, carrying the stink of old blood and rotting entrails.

I read this for my Gothic square in Halloween Bingo.
I got this free from Amazon, as a free book, super pleased. The beginning felt a little jerky but once the flow started, I was really enjoying it. As far as it being part of a Gothic series, it had a nice spooky feel with mystery and many questions regarding people and their maybe/maybe not murderous leanings. There's a little bit of Jack the Ripper but the actual murders aren't discussed enough to gross anyone out. The second half let me down a bit. All the answers I was waiting on turned out to be so innocuous, I found myself somewhat let down. Not that I want show more everyone to be psychotic murderers but reading this for Halloween Bingo and the gothic theme, someone should have at least had a pet spider that they fed mice to, or something.

Romance wise, I really enjoyed the hero and heroine's relationship, even though I missed Damien's point of views. There was an incredible scene where historical feminist views were done so well. A little snippet:

"Precisely," he said. She heard no surprise in his tone, and she realized in that instant that he had expected her to understand. "Do you know, Darcie, that it takes a good deal of thought for some medical students to reach that conclusion?"
"There are no women in medical school." The observation slipped out before she had time to question the wisdom of opening such a Pandora's box.
"No, there are not."
Their gazes met and held. Darcie sensed something in his expression. As he continued to watch her, she felt a warm wave ripple through her, a feeling of pleasure and confidence that blossomed and grew.
"There are no women in medical school," Damien repeated. "Yet."

I swooned so hard with Damien's calm belief in Darcie's intelligence and agency. This scene turned into a sexy, smart, and emotional moment between the two. This is what I mean by relationship building blocks, we see a reason why/how Damien is attracted to Darcie and vice versa. It also felt natural and fit into the time period. A to the author.

I think I have the third in the series, free off Amazon also, and will definitely look for other books in the series. I was disappointed that the second half didn't make good on the creepy loaded questions from the beginning and the villain wasn't given enough life for me but it's the Halloween season and I was probably looking extra hard for the spookiness.

All was not right in this house on Curzon Street. There was an evil, an aberration snaking through the shadows. show less

I really struggled with this book. I love a good gothic novel, and the idea of a naive girl becoming assistant to a doctor who may or may not be a murderer really called to me. I wanted to like it, but the further I got the more distracting the historical inaccuracies became.

Though never explicitly stated, it appears to be set in the late Victorian era, but the context of the novel - the co-existence of both police and resurrection men - means it can't be Victorian at all. It has to be some time between 1828 (creation of the London police) and 1832 (anatomy act that ended the need for resurrection men). If you assume this is the time period of the novel, some of the other inaccuracies (such as Darcie being shocked the doctor washes his show more hands and decries the four humours, or the idea women couldn't study medicine) become less glaring, but introduces other problems, like men commonly wearing trousers and the existence of the Daily Express (not printed until 1900).

On the other hand, as far as my limited knowledge extends, the biological terms seem very well researched.

Now, gothic has a long tradition of ignoring historical accuracies, and the book very carefully dodges anything that would explicitly date it like Prime Minsters or wars. If the style had worked better for me I might not have found the historical issues so distracting, but I just couldn't fully immerse myself in the novel. There were a lot of historical fiction cliches within the characterisation, and I never found Darcie as sympathetic as the plot needed me to.

I think readers who do gel with the writing style won't have nearly as many problems with this book that I had. If you like innocent heroines with tragic back stories, heroes whose pain makes them mercurial, a good dose of melodrama and care more about your biological accuracy than your historical, this book may suit you. For me, it didn't. show less

Murder, mystery, love, and history!

"Dark Desires," by Eve Silver is a lovely read that will keep you wanting more! The main character, Darcie Finch is left with nothing. On a cold, rainy night, with nothing left to lose, she walks through the fence of Dr. Damien Cole. She begins work as a servant, only later to be asked to help Dr. Cole with his medical research.

Soon she finds herself attracted to Dr. Damien Cole. The only reason why Darcie will not act upon her attraction to him because of his dark secret. Darcie finds out that he is dissecting bodies from the University in order to learn more about the human body. Even though being a doctor and learning about human body through death, the issue is that young "ladies of the night" are show more being killed by the work of someone with medical training.

Is Dr. Cole killing "the ladies of the night" and dissecting their bodies as a way to hide his deep dark secret??

I received a free copy of "Dark Desires" via iBooks and am voluntarily leaving a review. show less

‘Dark Desires’ by Eve Silver was my first experience with a gothic romance novel, and like a true neophyte, I was a bit worried that the story would be a too dark and gruesome for me. However, although many of the scenes were cast at night in disreputable parts of the city, with blood seeming to exude out of heavy trunks dragged in the darkness, the allusions that might evoke fear, are played out more in the imagination than in the storyline. Darcie Finch is a poor, destitute woman, whose sister has already fallen to the dark side of becoming the madam at a house of prostitution. The only way that she can help her sister is by sending her to Dr. Damien Cole where she secures employment as his assistant in drawing up sketches of show more cadavers for medical study. Although Damien conducts himself with the utmost courtesy, Darcie fears that he might be a murderer when allegations begin to be pointed in his direction. The story is fast-paced and engaging, although it is slightly predictable. Nevertheless, I was entranced with this gothic romance drama, and it was an enjoyable first novel of 2018. show less

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. But I wasn't at all disappointed in it. There was suspense, romance, and just enough creepiness to get the heart pounding. I really enjoyed watching Damien and Darcie fall in love. They both had such tragic pasts and secrets that weighed them down. Only, Damien's secrets made him seem like a serial killer. But Darcie was drawn to him nonetheless. Despite all the warnings ... and dead bodies. All in all, a compelling read.

This was a perfect gothic story for the October season. It weaves together elements of Jack the Ripper, Mary Reilly (movie), Jane Eyre, and Frankenstein. It was such a good story; I flew through the whole book in one day. I wished it was longer.