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A review by ohthatellie
Inked in Lies by Giana Darling
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.