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aliciafaithreads's review against another edition
5.0
I really had a good time with this one. I went in with low expectations because I normally hate the “playboy” trope but I thought it fit the character here.
ashleyalwaysreads92's review against another edition
5.0
5 Nova’s Flower Child stars
I don’t know how Giana does it. How she can just suck me so fast into her books and have me laughing and crying within minutes. This book was so good! So worth the wait and I can’t wait for more to come with the fallen men.
I don’t know how Giana does it. How she can just suck me so fast into her books and have me laughing and crying within minutes. This book was so good! So worth the wait and I can’t wait for more to come with the fallen men.
ashleyalwaysreads92's review against another edition
5.0
I don’t know how Giana does it. How she can just suck me so fast into her books and have me laughing and crying within minutes. This book was so good! So worth the wait and I can’t wait for more to come with the fallen men.
hiiamkye's review against another edition
4.0
Nova & Flower Child
Wow. This book was so meaty and dense. The length got to me a few times, but the details are exquisite. This was my first Darling book due to Bookstagram’s insistence. I started in the middle because I wanted Nova and **** me did he deliver.
Tropes:
Best friends to lovers
Exchanged tattoos
3rd act break up
Nick names
Found family
Wow. This book was so meaty and dense. The length got to me a few times, but the details are exquisite. This was my first Darling book due to Bookstagram’s insistence. I started in the middle because I wanted Nova and **** me did he deliver.
Tropes:
Best friends to lovers
Exchanged tattoos
3rd act break up
Nick names
Found family
dani_spellboundstories's review against another edition
5.0
I was painted in different strokes and contrary colours...
Giana Darling absolutely never lets me down. She writes sexy, redemption stories that I find myself completely lost in every single time I pick them up. And with each story I read, the beauty of her writing stands out more and more to me as the example of truly exceptional writing. Her writing is poetic, rich with depth and layered with true complexity. Her characters will break your heart as they reach for their HEAs but when they finally reach them…well, there is truly nothing that beats the kind of love story she builds for them. I’ve come to appreciate the way she incorporates an elegance to her writing that is often missing in modern storytelling while still offering a scorching romance. Inked in Lies is the fifth book in The Fallen Men series and my favorite since Welcome to the Dark Side. I cried reading this story...and I don't cry easily. If you’ve never experienced a book written by Giana Darling, you are truly missing out.
For all he pretended to be the affable, casual pretty boy, Nova was sharp as broken glass and just as jagged.
The series holds a special appeal to me as I discovered Giana Darling through the promotion leading up to Lessons in Corruption, the first book in the series. With LIC, I thought Giana's incorporation of Paradise Lost into a modern day outlaw MC taboo romance where a student and his teacher fall helplessly in love with one another was brilliant and could never be beat...and yet, with each story in the series, Giana utterly wows me. Five books into the series, and the things that resonated with LIC still hold true for me with Inked in Lies. She captured my heart and mind completely from start to finish and despite the size of the story, I still read Inked in Lies in one sitting. I thought the story was laid out brilliantly with a pace and flow that is utter perfection and characters that capture my heart completely. And without a doubt, Inked in Lies--as well as every other book she's written—deserves more than the measly five-stars I've been limited to granting.
I wanted to lay her out and play her body like an instrument just to see what chords would make her sing, how many ways I could make music with her form.
Inked in Lies is Nova and Lila's story. A dual POV, brother's best friend/best friends little sister romance where the age gap is taboo and the chemistry out of this world. I've wanted Nova's story since the very beginning of this series. Casanova, the gorgeous biker with the heart to match has long been one of my favorite character and the one I was ultimately the most intrigued by—well, second to Zeus, of course, and anyone who tells you differently needs to have their head examined! And while the books I’ve been honored to read in the past should have prepared me for her to decimate my heart and touch my soul…I still wasn't prepared for the story that Giana penned for Nova and his flower girl. Their love story is unquestionably beautiful and while they’ve had an epic love, their path to get their was not. My heart legitimately broke reading this story and yet, I already want to reread the story and I've only just finished it! If you’re prepared to be helplessly drawn into an action packed, unique and smoking hot romance, that will leave your panties wet and your heart bursting, then you can not go wrong with Inked in Lies. This is one of my favorite reads of the year!!!
Quotes: (May Contain Spoilers—continue reading at your own risk.)
Spoiler
...grief had shifted the prism of the lens I used to view Nova Booth and turned it to something more than love of a brother or a friend.
He was my brother’s best friend. Then he was my foster brother. But now, my feelings for him were anything but familial.
JB + LM surrounded in a barbed wire heart. Barbed because it would protect us. Because I would protect us, our friendship until it could bloom like the lotus into something so much more. Until I was grown and beautiful as the women that lingered around Nova like bees to honey and he would notice how much he loved me too. It was the first lie I ever inked and the last one I would ever do myself. Nova, it turned out, would do the rest.
I knew the only remedy for unrequited love was to cut off the infected limb, amputate Nova from my life in a very real way for long enough to get over him.
I knew he would never love me just the same way I knew I would never stop wanting him. Some things were written in code, hardwired in the body.
My love for him was more hope than substance and it was barely enough to sustain my hungry heart.
He planted flowers all over my body, inside the cage of my ribs, in the fertile soil of my heart, and he never noticed how they bloomed just for him.
She was a sunflower soul with a heart of gold, a hankerin’ for adventure, and a thirst for knowledge. She was raw and earthy, mellow and cataclysmic, sexy and lovin’. She was the epitome’a everythin’ I loved in this world.
She was mine. And I was hers in the way a wolf is owned by his moon, elementally, fuckin’ irrevolcably.
cheyenneslibrary's review against another edition
5.0
5 ⭐️
nova booth everyone. this man has my whole entire heart. I love him so much and I love his absolute adoration for Lila. they go through a lot in their life and nova is there for her throughout it all. they are truly soulmates and I'm obsessed with their relationship and everything that they mean towards one another. once nova gets his head outta his ass, they take everything to a whole new level and it's utterly beautiful
nova booth everyone. this man has my whole entire heart. I love him so much and I love his absolute adoration for Lila. they go through a lot in their life and nova is there for her throughout it all. they are truly soulmates and I'm obsessed with their relationship and everything that they mean towards one another. once nova gets his head outta his ass, they take everything to a whole new level and it's utterly beautiful
ohthatellie's review against another edition
4.0
Originally I was going to skip this book and move right into Dead Man Walking but @equalopportunityromancereader over on instagram wrote me and said to absolutely not skip it and am so happy I listened to her and decided to continue the series in order. If I didn't I wouldn't have had gotten to experience the full emotional impact of the story.
The book centers around Lila and Nova. Lila has known Nova since she was five years old when his family moves next door to her. Lila didn't have the best upbringing and some unsavory things happened that resulted in her and her brother Dane to be fostered by the Booth family so it's no surprise that Nova and Lila have a very sibling like relationship even though Lila has been in love with Nova since their youth.
I was really surprised by how romantic this book is. It felt so different from the other books in this series but somehow fit perfectly. Lila's character was so wonderful. She is so strong and caring. She will fight for her family which includes the Booths and the Fallen MC. Her character is the very definition of don't judge a book by its cover. She's covered in tattoos and has that biker babe attitude on the outside but she is probably the warmest, empathetic and loving person you will ever meet. Despite her upbringing she remains optimistic and hopeful.
Nova was more than just good looks. I was surprised by the depth of his character. Like Lila, family is the most important thing to him and will protect them at all costs. He thinks that he unworthy of the type of love that Lila offers him and has quite a bit of self loathing which I didn't expect with his character considering in the glimpses we get from him in the other books series portrays him as someone that has it all. In hindsight, it makes complete sense and can explain his promiscuity and lack of a stable relationship. I also loved the fact that he comes from a well adjusted family and his parents are so supportive of him although they may at times not agree with his choices but they will always love him and respect him.
I really enjoyed reading Lila an Nova's romance. Once it went from unrequited status to full on it was so steamy and quite romantic. I didn't think Nova had it in him. Yes, there were times that I felt like Lila gave in to him too easily but the girl has been in love with him since she was five and he sixteen so I probably would have too if it meant I could take everything he was offering. I loved that all of Lila's tattoos were done by Nova and features flowers, Lila's favorites. She truly is his flower child with flowers in her hair and home and now her body. I mean, her name means Lilac in Spanish, which is a type of flower not dark beauty as said by Javier which will lead to my next point.
If I had to nitpick at all it would probably be the use of Spanish in the book. As a Spanish speaker, it always bothers me when authors who are not speakers clearly use some sort of translation tool that makes no sense or don't use the correct words. For example, there was a line in the book where Lila was speaking to her boss and she says to her, 'el jefa'. No! It should have been just 'jefa' and 'el' is the wrong pronoun anyway. This didn't take away from the story but just something that bothers me whenever there are Latino characters in books.
In all this was a very lovely and enjoyable installment in the Fallen Men series. It was angsty, romantic and steamy as all get out. I am actually surprised by how emotional the story was as I teared up in several points in the book. Nova and Lila have so much shared history and the type of friendship that truly built the type of relationship one hopes to be able to experience for themselves. Such a great read and I hope that we get more of these two in this series that just keeps getting better over time.
The book centers around Lila and Nova. Lila has known Nova since she was five years old when his family moves next door to her. Lila didn't have the best upbringing and some unsavory things happened that resulted in her and her brother Dane to be fostered by the Booth family so it's no surprise that Nova and Lila have a very sibling like relationship even though Lila has been in love with Nova since their youth.
I was really surprised by how romantic this book is. It felt so different from the other books in this series but somehow fit perfectly. Lila's character was so wonderful. She is so strong and caring. She will fight for her family which includes the Booths and the Fallen MC. Her character is the very definition of don't judge a book by its cover. She's covered in tattoos and has that biker babe attitude on the outside but she is probably the warmest, empathetic and loving person you will ever meet. Despite her upbringing she remains optimistic and hopeful.
Nova was more than just good looks. I was surprised by the depth of his character. Like Lila, family is the most important thing to him and will protect them at all costs. He thinks that he unworthy of the type of love that Lila offers him and has quite a bit of self loathing which I didn't expect with his character considering in the glimpses we get from him in the other books series portrays him as someone that has it all. In hindsight, it makes complete sense and can explain his promiscuity and lack of a stable relationship. I also loved the fact that he comes from a well adjusted family and his parents are so supportive of him although they may at times not agree with his choices but they will always love him and respect him.
I really enjoyed reading Lila an Nova's romance. Once it went from unrequited status to full on it was so steamy and quite romantic. I didn't think Nova had it in him. Yes, there were times that I felt like Lila gave in to him too easily but the girl has been in love with him since she was five and he sixteen so I probably would have too if it meant I could take everything he was offering. I loved that all of Lila's tattoos were done by Nova and features flowers, Lila's favorites. She truly is his flower child with flowers in her hair and home and now her body. I mean, her name means Lilac in Spanish, which is a type of flower not dark beauty as said by Javier which will lead to my next point.
If I had to nitpick at all it would probably be the use of Spanish in the book. As a Spanish speaker, it always bothers me when authors who are not speakers clearly use some sort of translation tool that makes no sense or don't use the correct words. For example, there was a line in the book where Lila was speaking to her boss and she says to her, 'el jefa'. No! It should have been just 'jefa' and 'el' is the wrong pronoun anyway. This didn't take away from the story but just something that bothers me whenever there are Latino characters in books.
In all this was a very lovely and enjoyable installment in the Fallen Men series. It was angsty, romantic and steamy as all get out. I am actually surprised by how emotional the story was as I teared up in several points in the book. Nova and Lila have so much shared history and the type of friendship that truly built the type of relationship one hopes to be able to experience for themselves. Such a great read and I hope that we get more of these two in this series that just keeps getting better over time.
julieschein's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0