Dangerous Temptation (Dark Dream #1) by Giana Darling

ABOUT THE BOOK

He arrives all dressed in black. Diamond cufflinks. A watch on his tanned wrist that cost more than we would ever see in a lifetime of work. He carries a single red rose for my mother.

Months later, Tiernan Morelli lays red roses on my mother’s grave. That same day, he tells me that he is my new guardian.

I should have known from the very start that he had more in common with the thorns than the rose. Now I know the truth: I’m a pawn in his dangerous game of revenge. I was too young and naive. Now it’s too late to save myself from his clutches.

I belong to him.

MY REVIEW

Holy cow! There is so much emotion in this book. I am adding another new author to my favorites list.

Bianca Taylor is seventeen years old and very mature for her age. She’s had to be because she works to pay the bills and she takes care of her little brother, Brandon, who has epilepsy, while her mother goes through men like a race car goes through tires. Bianca can’t wait to go to college and start her art conservationist dream job, but tragedy strikes and she has only one way to turn. She has to ask for help from her mother’s gorgeous and dangerous boyfriend, Tiernan. He’s arrogant, cruel, and up to something as he makes her a deal. If he helps them, she owes him. What does that even mean?

I simply wasn’t worldly enough to deal with a presence like his. He turned me inside out with rage and upside down with deviant curiosity. It was a dangerous cocktail of temptation and revulsion.

Tiernan Morelli is a broken man out to avenge his family who his loathsome father turned against him. Tiernan’s revenge involves using Bianca and her brother as tools to ruin the Constantine family (don’t want to give away why), but having them in his life is reviving old feelings he once had for the family he lost. Is his revenge stronger than his bond with Bianca and Brandon?

What a trip. Bianca and Tiernan are on fire for each other and the whole age gap thing doesn’t matter. Normally, that would bother me, but Bianca is a smart and strong young woman who grew up way too fast and holds her own with the rude and crude Tiernan. In fact, I loved that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind with him. My heart bled for her with Tiernan’s unkind words when all she wanted was to protect her little brother. The torment in Tiernan is palpable. He’s a man you hate one minute and empathize with the next. His childhood was terrifying and fucked up with a father who scarred him and now uses him as his own personal weapon. Tiernan’s anguish at wanting the love of his family is heartbreaking, but he covers it with such nastiness and cruelty towards Bianca who is completely innocent. Watching him come undone while Bianca comforts Brandon after an epileptic seizure had me sobbing. There is so much emotion going through Tiernan that you never knew what side of him will come out. That is what kept me glued to this book and wanting to see him do the right thing.

Supporting characters are rich in this story. Bianca’s little brother Brandon is a sweetheart and brings light into such a dark dynamic with his love of superheroes and pancakes. The Gentlemen of Lion’s Court include Ezra, Henrik, and Walcott who are a misfit group of friends and employees of Tiernan’s household. Their acceptance and defense of Bianca and Brandon are immediate and heartfelt knowing that Tiernan is fighting his feelings for his new wards. Antagonists are many as well with Tiernan’s shitty father and the sly and devious Caroline Constantine who seems to have nefarious intentions toward Bianca.

I absolutely love this story that had me captivated and cheering for two lonely people who deserved happiness. The characters are cruel, charming, and complicated. The plot is twisted and filled me with hope and dread at the same time. And, yes, there is an extremely frustrating cliffhanger. I definitely plan to continue this adventure into the unknown.

Thank you to Ms. Darling for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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.