4.5 stars 
 Honor Cambridge is a strong, quick thinking woman with huge convictions and compassion. Working in a small village in an area without a lot of luxuries, with people who have little more than basic necessities, her time is spent caring for those the rest of the world has turned their backs on in an area the US has declared a lost cause. Prone to terrorist attacks, the area is full of tension and fear. The small comforts Honor can provide fill her with purpose and ingratiates her to the locals. 
 Hancock has long been a borderline adversary in the KGI series. He and his team have been cast aside by the military as being too off the grid to be protected. While they often work for questionable organizations, he has his own strong set of moral rules of engagement and his men trust him implicitly. But he has also been painted as a harda$, villain with no heart and no compassion. 
 His latest mission challenges every rule he usually places for engaging missions -- his target is a seemingly innocent woman and he is tasked with taking her to those who are chasing her. 
 This was a dark journey for both Honor and Hancock. As they would build trust, a betrayal would occur causing them to start over once again. Over and over again, they broke through walls only to have them drop right back into place at the worst moments. I was heartbroken multiple times watching as each handled the dangerous situation as best as they could. 
 I knew from previous books that there was more to Hancock than the hard exterior he projects -- he has shown his softer side with Maren and Eden over and over again, even as he bristled and butted heads with the Kelly men. And he did not disappoint here. His conflicted thought processes only fuel the misunderstandings between him and Honor and kept me turning the page to see how he would handle each new hurdle. 
 I loved Honor as a match for Hancock. It would take someone with huge reserves of compassion and altruism to crack through his hard exterior and see the man he refuses to acknowledge. Though she finds herself at one of her darkest periods of her life, she fights hard for what she believes and what she wants. 
 This felt separate from the other KGI novels in that KGI doesn't come into play as strongly as usual. Since Hancock is not KGI, this is understandable. Darkest Before Dawn would be a great place for new readers to jump in mid-series before going back to catch up on the Kelly family story, but it is also a great experience for those who have watched Hancock in the background of other Kelly novels. 
 ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.