Book Review: Inked in Lies

I have a few great book reviews for you this week, plus some cute pictures from Lucy's birthday this weekend, but today? Today we talk about this book and how mad I am that I am JUST NOW finding this author. 

Inked in Lies - Giana Darling

He moved in next door.

Handsome as sin, older in a way that meant forbidden.

He had tattoos on his hands and wickedness tucked in his grin.

I was a goner as girl to a man they called Casanova for a reason. He would never love me, at least not the way I needed him to.

I tried to move on. But I couldn’t turn my back on him or The Fallen MC.

So when they needed me most, I offered the only thing of value I could use to help them.

My body.

And when helping them meant putting my life on the line, Nova had to decide just how much he was willing to do to get me out alive.

I have to start with the obligatory "this is number five in a series but it is totally a stand alone". Then I really need to tell you that if you haven't read Giana Darling yet and are like me, be ashamed of yourself. If you are a fan of the romance genre in genre, I cannot believe that I am just now finding her. Finally though, she had the BEST promo for this book. I had subscribed to her newsletter, which then gave me a link to her Facebook and somehow I signed up for Facebook messages that updated me on the release. The messages though? Were written in the POV of Nova, the leading man here, and he's writing them to you like he's going to jump through Facebook and rip your clothes off. 

You guys, I wasn't hating it. Hands down the best lead up promo for a book I've ever participated in. 

Let's talk about the book now because the book was SO good. So good that I was legitimately bummed for it to end. I really liked these characters even though for a hot second I was worried Lila was going to be annoying and drive me a bit nuts, not going to lie. I really liked Nova and though I really didn't understand what the point of the bad boy persona was, I mean, he kind of explained it but not really enough for me to say "oh well that makes sense", instead I was like, "well that's depression and anxiety, not 'something dark' worthy of being a man whore". (That is me being overly critical) The only other thing that seemed odd to me was Diogo and Molly Booth, what a bizarre set of parents there. I mean, name one set of parents you know that is 100% cool and supportive of a child who joins a motorcycle club skirting the law? I'll wait. Secondly, once Lila starts getting herself into trouble in the name of vengeance and they find out, totally not freaking out. Meanwhile, I'm just a mom of four over here getting mad at an irresponsible twenty something girl who isn't even real. If this was Dr. Phil he'd be telling them to plug in.  

I'm just saying. 

Outside of that?I loved this. I have to read the previous four because we get to meet them here, and I already know someone dies so I might have to skip that if its a book because UGH. I can't with book deaths right now. In here we have Nova, who was best friends with Dane (Lila's brother), and has always been a bit of a caretaker for Lila, being 12 years older than her and they met when she was six. Fast forward all of these years and as Lila grows up, Lila grows up, and she realizes that the feelings she has for Nova aren't brotherly at all. In fact, she is in love with him and lets him know. He, of course, is not alright with that because she's basically a sister to him. 

Yes well, things happen over the course of the book and Lila realizes that even as time goes by and she tries to move on, Nova is IT for her. Nova wants her and is wrestling with that but is also insistent that absolutely this cannot happen because he's not right for her, blah, blah, blah. 

Thrown in motorcycle gang versus a drug/porn/human trafficking kind of group, vengeance, and all of that and hot damn, we got ourselves a good dang book! If you were a fan of Sons of Anarchy, I feel like you'd really like this one. I haven't really gotten into a lot of motorcycle club romances because they are either corny as heck or overly violent for zero reason other than trying to look hardcore. 

Thankfully, Giana Darling skips around all of that and brings a great book you will have a hard time putting down. SO glad I asked to be part of this tour for Social Butterfly PR and that I was given an ARC to review, this is definitely not my last Giana Darling book, that's for sure. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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