Review ~ The Darkest Part by Trisha Wolfe

Title: The Darkest Part
Author: Trisha Wolfe

Series: Living Heartwood

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Published: August 6^th 2013

Pressing the boundaries of both the psyche and the heart, Sam and Holden embark on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of love.

Sam Wintry’s life used to be almost perfect. She was engaged to her childhood best friend and high school sweetheart, Tyler Marks, planning an amazing cross-country honeymoon during her college break. But after a hit-and-run leaves her in ruin, she begins seeing Tyler’s fractured, ghostly presence, and her family believes she’s losing her mind. Not until she completes their journey, stopping along the way to scatter Tyler's remains, will Tyler be able cross over. Only...is Sam ready for him to leave her?

When the black sheep of the Marks' family, Holden Marks, returns to check on Tyler's case, Sam convinces him to give her his brother's ashes. Despite their shaky history, she needs him...plus, he owes it to Sam and his brother. What she doesn’t count on is Holden’s relentlessness to go on the trip.

On the road, Holden realizes just how unhinged Sam has become. Dealing with her psychosis forces him to confront his dark past, making it harder to keep secrets hidden that should remain buried. Especially from Sam, the only woman he’s ever loved. And as Sam starts to unravel the truth, she begins to question if the brother she's unwillingly falling for again is in an even darker place than her.

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I found The Darkest Part to be quite a heartbreaking story, as it begins four months after the death of Tyler, Sam’s fiancé.  Sam is kind of in a numb place right now and it doesn’t help that Tyler’s ghost keeps appearing to her, so she is finding it difficult to move on. She has pushed away everyone in her life and the only people she speaks to are her mother and her psychiatrist, she avoids everyone else.

To me Sam does seem a little depressed, but only because she doesn’t know what to do with herself now that her boyfriend/best-friend and the one constant person is gone from her life. She is very withdrawn from everything, her family, all her friends and even the world by dropping out of school as well. They had so many plans on what they wanted to do and they had their lives mapped out. Tyler was the good son, following in his father’s footsteps to be a Lawyer and wanted to travel after he married Sam before settling down for good. So when he was no longer there, her whole world shattered. She soon decides she needs to help Tyler move on and comes up with a plan to do so.

Holden, Tyler’s brother, wants to look out for Sam, but she avoids him at all costs. When she leaves the house for a stroll he is able to approach her but she is quick to try and dismiss him. So when she asks for help with her plan, he jumps at the offer to help, as long as he can tag along. Soon the duo are on a trip for closure, which soon turns into self discovery for the both of them.

Holden appeared to be the dark sheep of the family; was always the one that got into trouble, had the darker appearance and was quick to get away from home, and his father. But he always put his mother and Tyler first. He had a lot in common with Sam, but things were not meant to be. I really like Holden, he has a big heart and he really doesn’t put himself first and is willing to sacrifice his happiness for others. In this journey, he wants to help Sam get out of the slump that she is in and will do anything to see her smile again.

The story, although it touches on some incredibly sad moments that occurred in their lives, was woven together beautifully. It isn’t full of dialogue, as a lot of the time the characters spend time dealing with their own secrets and emotions. But once they are able to work through them and open up to one another you can see how deep their connection is. Being told from dual POV’s was amazing too, so you could see the depth of pain and emotion in both of the characters. Trisha has an incredible writing style and really channels her inner man when writing Holden’s POV. It is a difficult journey for everyone involved and it definitely isn’t easy for people to find their HEA. I am really excited to see what Trisha can pull out of her writing hat next!!

I received a copy of this book from the Author in exchange for an honest review.