A Thin, Dark Line - Emma Elliot

A Thin, Dark Line is the debut novel written by Emma Elliot… and let me tell you, this completely passed all expectations I had. My interests peaked when I read the summary and I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading this. I am so incredibly glad I picked up this book!

When I read, I generally read because I want to swoon. And I did swoon. Cormac is very reserved, quiet, mysterious, the type of person to mostly only smile faintly. He is an extremely closed off person, I felt like we didn’t really get to know him. But I think that’s the point, since it was mentioned more than once by Eloise that she really didn’t know him all that well either yet she loved him nonetheless. Exactly like I loved him. A lot of this is because he has been in prison for the last fifteen years for homicide.

Aside from all this, he cares so much, especially about Eloise. Though this is told in Eloise’s perspective, you can feel as you read his growing attachment to her by the way he responds to her. It was such a heartwarming thing to read. He’s actually very shy which I found adorable. He’s a man of few words, but when he speaks, I could melt in a pile of goo on the basis of alone of some of the stuff he says to Eloise.

I enjoyed Eloise as a heroine. She’s the town’s librarian. She’s sweet, funny, and compassionate, she doesn’t hesitate to stick up for what she believes in and she likes to give some people a hard time which I found hilarious. You can see all of this through the way she didn’t hesitate to give Cormac, an ex criminal, a chance and doesn’t hold his past against him like the rest of the town does.

It was sweet how much she defended him to many of the townspeople. This book isn’t steamy but the scenes between Cormac and Eloise, whether they were fighting or kissing or even merely talking, are so electric and addictive. I didn’t want to stop reading about these two.

Now normally I read novels because I want romance and I want to swoon. Not only did this book have those elements… but the plot was amazing! I was hooked from the beginning all the way to the end. That doesn’t happen very often to me because usually I read mainly for the interactions between the hero and heroine. And just to prove to you how much I loved this book, there were hot kisses in this but there wasn’t any sex yet I could not put this book down. 

This novel had it all. I laughed, I swooned, I cried, I was shocked. I was stunned actually because usually I can guess quite early who is the killer but it wasn’t until it was revealed in the novel that I found out. It wasn’t predictable which is another reason why I loved it. 

I’m not going to lie, there were a few parts that were very difficult for me to read and I felt extremely nauseated. Those who have read the book and those who will eventually read this book will know exactly what parts I’m talking about. Yet, I see it this way… if this author can bring out that many emotions within me with just her words, then I declare Emma Elliot a winner.

MY RATING - 5+ SWOONS