Review: Nightfall by Ellen Connor

Growing up with an unstable, often absent father who preached about the end of the world, Jenna never thought in her wildest nightmares that his predictions would come true. Or that he would have a plan in place to save her-one that includes the strong, stoic man who kidnaps and takes her to a remote cabin in the Pacific Northwest.

The mysterious ex-Marine named Mason owes a life-debt to Jenna's father. Skilled and steadfast, he's ready for the prophesied Change, but Jenna proves tough to convince. Until the power grid collapses and mutant dogs attack-vicious things that reek of nature gone wrong.

When five strangers appear, desperate to escape the bloodthirsty packs, Jenna defies her protector and rescues them. As technology fails and the old world falls away, Jenna changes too, forever altered by supernatural forces. To fight for their future, she and Mason must learn to trust their instinctive passion-a flame that will see them through the bitter winter, the endless nights, and the violence of a new Dark Age. 

Ann Aguirre and Carrie Lofty writing as one?  Okay, I'm sold.  Add in the post-apocalypse and romance, and this is a series I definitely want to read.

I'm not a fan of Doomsday romances.  True, I've never read one but finding romance during (or after) the end of the world is not my cup of tea.

Nightfall is so much more than that. 

We the reader are introduced to the new Dark Age as the heroine, Jenna, is introduced to it.  Yes, she's heard about such things from her father, but he's long dead.  When a man who claims he was sent by her father to protect her tosses her in the trunk of her car and takes her to a cabin in the woods, one could assume this is the makings of a horror.

Nightfall is so much more than that.

Jenna tells us of the prophecy her father clung to and as we meet the six other people she and Mason invite into their sanctuary, we learn she's believing her father's teachings.  As they struggle to survive, the implications of what has happened to the other side of the country hits them full-force, and I believe all of them are changed forever.

The ending, specifically the epilogue, felt a little sudden, but I'm hopeful the next two books in the series will fill in any blanks.  I'm also anxious to learn more about these characters as we move forward into the new Dark Age.