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Book Review-Welcome To The Dark Side by Giana Darling

by | Sep 10, 2021 | Book Reviews | 2 comments

Book Review-Welcome To The Dark Side by Giana Darling

Book Review-Welcome To The Dark Side by Giana DarlingWelcome to the Dark Side by Giana Darling
Also in this series: Lessons in Corruption, Good Gone Bad , After the Fall, Inked in Lies , Dead Man Walking
Series: The Fallen Men #2
Published by Self Published By Author on April 20, 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Dark Romance, Motorcycle Clubs
Pages: 400
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
ISBN: 0995065098
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four-half-stars

I was a good girl. I ate my vegetables, volunteered at the local autism centre and sat in the front pew of church every Sunday.Then, I got cancer.What the hell kind of reward was that for a boring life well lived?I was a seventeen-year-old paradigm of virtue and I was tired of it. So, when I finally ran into the man I'd been writing to since he saved my life as a little girl and he offered to show me the dark side of life before I left it for good, I said yes. Only, I didn't know that Zeus Garro was the President of The Fallen MC and when you made a deal with a man who is worse than the devil, there was no going back...
This is Daddy Zeus Garro's story from Lessons In Corruption. A standalone in The Fallen Men Series.

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Welcome To The Dark Side is the second book in the Fallen Men series. Its a book I have been eagerly anticipating on because this is Zeus’s book. And I just adored his character in the first book. So I wasn’t going to complain upon picking his book up so quickly. Now I knew that going into this book it would be full of triggers and it would have an uncomfortable age gap so I feel like that this is something you all should know before hand. This author doesn’t shy away from the uncomfortable pairings or ones that are borderline ‘taboo’ in our society. And even though this author is so NEW to me I also knew that I could trust her to deliver a gold mine and she DID!! This book won my heart even though I was apprehensive before jumping into it. And I know it will easily win the heart of every one of it’s reader’s.

Welcome to the Dark Side is a book that packs a punch that features:

  • Zeus Garro-Fallen MC President, Single Father, Ex Convict, has a tough shell with a sweet heart, loyal to a fault and trusting
  • Louise Margaret Lafayette-Battled Cancer, Bright, Passionate, Adventurous, and has a open heart

Lou Lou was just seven years old when she met Zeus Garro for the first time. When there was an attack and her father acted like a coward that day, and with the rain of bullets that was raining around her, she caught the eye of the one man that would be her protector and she trusted him with her whole heart. But despite his brave actions that day in saving her life, it cost another man his life and so with his hate so high for the Fallen MC Club, Lou Lou’s father made sure that Zeus spent some years in jail but while he was incarcerated, he and Lou Lou exchanged letters to each other and formed an unforgettable bond. Zeus knew how it seemed, but he couldn’t seem to break ties with this strong girl who was battling cancer with little attention or love from her family and was determined to show her how beautiful her courage and warm heart is. But as she got older he knew he had to break ties fully with her, but he never counted on Lou Lou shrugging off the societal demands and forging her own future and fighting to have one with her Zeus. But their journey wouldn’t be easy and would come with its own battles but through it all, Zeus and Lou Lou would find a breathtaking love that not many could match

Betcha look pretty even without all that golden hair. You’re too young to get this, maybe, but sometimes a person’ got a soul so pretty it makes ’em glow prettier than anything else.

Wlecome To The Dark Side was such a wonderful story and I couldn’t put it down. The beginning just HOOKED me right in, and I have to say that I am starting to really love the writing style of Giana Darling. Her stories just come to life and wrap around your heart as easily as a blanket on a cold winter’s night. This is a story I will admit that I was supremely nervous upon reading. I mean there is a nineteen year age gap, and the heroine is seventeen when they forge a romantic relationship so there are taboo elements but somehow it worked for me and that is evidence of the magic of this author’s writing. Her style is also doesn’t showcase MC romance how it can be showed with lots of crudeness about the culture and language and all. It is still more in the background so I feel like if you have issues with reading MC romance because of those reasons, then this one and really this whole series could really work out for you.

All I could think about was racing to you, finding you already straddling your great metallic dragon, the rev of the engine like a warrior cry as we took off into the night. Not sunset. There are no sunsets for men like you and women like I am at the heart of me. Only inky night that clutches at you as you tear past, moving through the darkness like we own it, like we are only free inside the shadow vortex of it.

The beginning of course is sweet to see this type of friendship that builds between Zeus and Lou Lou despite their age difference and just their language to each other in their letters and interactions was so precious and beautiful. You see how they each think so differently, but also have a deep connection that just builds over time. It is hard seeing them find their way back to each other after Zeus tries to break ties with her. He is trying to be the honorable one at that point and force her to find her own path, but Lou Lou has a spine of steel and isn’t afraid to fight dirty to find her way to Zeus. Now this part of this story and what Lou Lou does at times, doesn’t quite fit with her character which is probably my only complaint in the story. I understood she was trying to find her own way, but it just felt off center to me. Now Zeus I really liked his reaction to her antics at times, he is such a BEAR about it and it was hilarious. Boy does he have a temper, but Lou Lou gets kinda wild at times and needs that, someone to show her she needs to have limits.

I’d made a deal with the devil, tasted his brand of sin in hell and as the fables always said, once you indulged in the food of the underworld, you were stuck in its depths forever.

The romance that builds between them is just beautiful. It starts out with lots of chemistry but there is so much heart between them. And once they get through the angst of the relationship that was bound to happen, you see such a solid couple that you will root for. They both suffer in different ways and have various challenges that they have to face but through it all they stand by each other no matter what comes their way and I truly admired seeing their struggles and seeing what they do to overcome the conflicts. There are plenty of fun antics but there are also heartaches. And I don’t want to spoil it but there is a loss in this book and it will break your heart but what I have learned from reading this author’s writing, is that pain is a part of life and its through the pain you find the heart and you really see that in this book. You see the brotherhood, the family, the deep bond that they all have for each other.

“This isn’t about that shit. We deserve each other cause we get each other. I know the heart of ya and you know the heart of me. Deservin’ or not deservin’ had nothin’ to do with it and it fuckin’ can’t ’cause if I get to thinking ’bout the question, I lose every time.”

Overall I found Welcome To The Dark Side to be a thrilling, edgy romance that will capture your heart in such a way that you won’t want to let go of it. Its not going to be an easy journey, seeing Zeus and LouLou find their path, but its one that is packed with its unique twists, barrels of laughter and fight, and leaps and bounds of intimacy and joy.

About Giana Darling

Giana Darling is a USA Today and Top 40 Amazon best selling Canadian romance writer who specializes in the taboo and angsty side of love and romance. She currently lives in beautiful British Columbia where she spends time riding on the back of her man’s bike, baking pies, and reading snuggled up with her cat, Persephone, and Golden Retriever puppy, Romeo. She’s a lifetime athlete, playing and coaching basketball, soccer, field hockey, and softball, so she comes by her competitive spirit naturally. A born reader and self-proclaimed geek, she is enamored with mythology, history and all kinds of literature. Before becoming a romance novelist, she was a food journalist, a food blogger, a coach, a French tutor and the owner of a pie company. For the last few years she has been living all over Europe, mostly in her second home France, but she’s finally settled with the Love of Her Life in her hometown on an island off of Vancouver.

She loves to hear from readers so please contact her at gianadarling@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.

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2 Comments

  1. Jamsu

    Great review! I already had this book in my TBR but I think now I want to read it even more.

    Reply
  2. Sophia Rose

    I haven’t read a dark, slightly taboo one like this in a bit. Glad you found a superb writer to enjoy. They both sound like well-rounded characters and the plot more complex than the average MC.

    Reply

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