Welcome to the Dark Side: A Forbidden Romance (The Fallen Men, Book 2)

Maybe spoilers...?Good God, this book. It was unbelievable, rocked me to the core. Boy, did I get all the feels from it. Seriously, I am just blown away by the sheer talent of this author. To tackle an MC book and effing deliver in every aspect and then some! Damned if I'm not impressed and a bit in awe. I mean, it had it all for me. The forbidden romance, the gritty MC action, and such a profound, captivating love story. The kinds that brings tears to your eyes and leave you somewhat breathless. Which was really what I was dying and always looking for in every genre of romance books. For the love story to be the focal point of the book. And not take a backseat and get lost in other petty drama and b.s. The author really nailed it with this book. From that dynamite, action-packed opening prologue. And to the very end of that touching and bittersweet epilogue. It was one HELL of a emotionally charged, deeply intense, and thrilling ride. Just wild. My only gripe is WHY?...WHY did that ONE THING had to happened. It both shocked and gutted me. Just devastating.Zeus, c'mon, this guy is like every woman's fantasy of bad biker boy (man in this case) come to life. And he embodies all things I love in my male heroes. He's charismatic, ruthless, untamed, dangerous, loyal, and so VERY possessive. And he LOVES his "Little Warrior" to the depth of his soul. It was just so refreshing to have a male MC lead who's so devoted and not afraid to show it. How he treasures and cherish his Lou to such an insane level, makes you yearn for such a love. And Lou, oh little Lou Lou. What a brave, saucy little spitfire. She was Zeus's perfect match. So amazing the faith and complete trust she placed in her beloved savior. Her "Guardian Monster". And she's such a delightful naughty little temptress too. Zeus's alluring angel, full of sass and seduction. But at the same time radiating such purity and innocence. I love the way she teased Zeus, constantly driving him to brink of madness. With desire and frustration. Yet the most beautiful thing I find about her is her heart. And her incredible strength and determination. She endured so much at such a young age but persevered with such dignity and fortitude. She's a fighter and kicked cancer in it's ass.What an phenomenal read this was. I love how dark and edgy it got, but still so passionate and heartfelt. Zeus's and Lou's journey wasn't all hearts and flowers but nonetheless beautiful and inspiring. How it came to be and how it ended. Although some might find it a bit creepy regarding the age difference and how their bond developed when Lou was so young. But I loved it. To me, it cemented that these two were kindred spirits, two halves of a whole. They had a special connection and that is unique and completely their own. It was just magical to watch. I also loved seeing King and Cress again. And H.R. Though she came off a bit bratty and witchy at times. But in the end they all came together as a family. And had each other's back. Now, I should say here to prepare yourself because something does happened that will effing BREAK your heart. It did mine, as I quickly grew attached to this particular character. Such a beautiful, special soul. I honestly was thinking I would love to read their story next. But then the unimaginable happened. I wish It did NOT. I was angry, heartbroken, wailing for a bit. But after my fit (quiet sobs) I came to the conclusion, that this person's sacrifice was not in vain. I hate that it happened but it just solidified how courageous and selfless they were. I felt honored to have been introduced to such an extraordinary character.Despite that, I hope this doesn't deter anyone from reading this book. Because I truly think it is one of the BEST thing I've read in years. The author has such a knack for storytelling, I tell you. Her words and how she weaves her tale, it's just so poetic and masterful. And to me, it's of the same vein of some of my favorite MC writers. Tillie Cole, Anne Malcom, and Susan Fanetti to name a few. It has that same raw, deep, and powerful quality to it. The kind that grips you so strongly...you still you feel the impact of it days later. Sometimes months. Hello Signal Bend. I still haven't fully recovered from what happened to Havoc. *sniff, sniff*This book and author gets my highest recommendation. I so cannot wait for H.R & Danner's story now.

DNF at 22%I did not like reading in Zeus's POV. You could definitely tell it was written by a woman who, it seemed like, it was her first time writing in a male POV.The fact that Lou may have started having romantic feelings for Zeus at the age of seven is just creepy.Sometimes KU is a hit or miss. This was a miss.

I did not finish this book, I just didn’t feel comfortable with reading a book that was about a almost 40 year old man having a sexual relationship with a 17 year old girl...

It was a DNF from me. The concept was good and I was pumped to read this. The beginning I found myself just rolling my eyes at the banter between little Lou and Zeus. It seemed like the conversations were forced. Fast forward she grows up and all the sudden went from good girl to bad girl virtually overnight. Working in strip club he owns. I got bored after that. I did look at the end to see what happened. Glad there was at least a HEA. This book was just not for me.

I don't even know where to start with this review! I don't even normally read MC books, like real raw, gritty MC books, but something about the cover and blurb just made me want to read it and I'm I ever so happy I did. This book is just amazing!!! It is backed with so many emotions, I didn't know how I was going to feel from one moment to the next. Giana Darling is a truly gifted writer. She gives the reader these characters, Zeus and Louise, that you get invested in, you laugh with them and you cry with them. They are anti-heros and they are taboo with an almost 2 decade age difference. Zeus is the president of the The Fallen MC and he was Louise's savior when she was 7 years old, taking a bullet for her and thru letters helped her battle cancer. For years they were pen pals, for years the love Louise felt for him grew. Don't worry, she was of legal age when they give into their mutual attraction and nothing pervy happens before she is of legal age. So if you like raw, gritty, emotional and hot AF books, I highly, highly recommend this book!

I liked this book better than its predecessor in The Fallen Men series. That said, I'm a little disappointed given how many romance booktubers absolutely adore Welcome to the Dark Side. I wasn't impressed with the first half at all and if it weren't for the last 100 pages, this book would be a dud for me.There are some intense, emotional, and suspenseful points in this book that do make it worth the read, however, it still falls flat at its most basic objective: making me fall in love with one or both, main characters.I don't mind the age gap between our love interests or the fact that one of them is younger than is typical in adult romance. What I do mind is that the relationship between these two characters never seems wholly genuine. I don't buy their feelings for one another. I also don't see the emotional torture our hero tells us he feels over trying to resist the temptations of a teenage girl in love with him. He goes on and on about resisting her, but all of his steely resolve crumbles after barely any interaction and one exotic dance routine. Wow, what a tough guy.I like angst. Almost in a shameless sort of way and the author missed so many opportunities to up the angst in this story and really make me invest.I think those who love the book are in love with the last 100 pages, which I get. I was thankful for them. Those pages will cost a sensitive reader many tears. But is that really the measure of a great book? Whether or not it can make us cry?I have one more book from this author that I'm going to give a shot. Unfortunately, The Fallen Men series has turned out to not be my cup of tea, which is really too bad because some of the future books have such alluring premises.

The good - Well written with well scripted characters. As individual characters I was interested in Zeus, Louise, HR and Mute. Not so interested in Cress or King though. Also, if you forget the age gap, the bed scenes are hotThe bad - Some of the plot lines don’t make much sense/ ring true. For eg, her father hates the MC and Zeus and her mother seems to go with her father but then the mother of the heroine and the grandfather of the heroine (without much drama or reason) flip over to support the 17 yr old marrying as 36 yr old. Also, it’s a bit longThe ugly - the age gap is too much (19 yrs) and it’s constantly mentioned that he raised her from when she was a 7 yr old child. The ick factor that comes with that is really bad. As a result I just wasn’t invested in their story and didn’t really care much for their romance

This is seriously becoming one of my top favourite series EVER.We met the son in Lessons in Corruptions and now it was time for the dad to find his HEA.Little bit about the book:Fate, Luck, Carma-whatever you might call it, brought Loulou and Zeus together when the latter (26 at the time) saved a 7 year old Loulou from dying by putting himself in frond of a bullet.Now 10 years later, Loulou can't forget her guardian monster, and Zeus starts noticing that the little girl he saved once is not, in fact, a girl anymore.Still the problem remains that Loulou is the mayor's daughter, the arch enemy of Zeus's MC Club that tries to destroy them. Plus there is war coming towards the club when bad stuff start happening.Can these two make it happen? Can they have a future in the real world?I loved this book. I'm in love with Zeus (wich it was expected) but I also loved Loulou. Her strong character, the darkness in her soul that attracted Zeus, her strenght to go through two chemos and come out stronger and her undying love for Zeus Garro and his club made her more mature for her 17 years and I loved that about her.Now Zeus was..... Zeus- the God of Thunder. Broody, Unapologetic, and Killer. He was everything a prez of an mc club should be (if I ever knew or saw one).Giana Darling has an incredible gift of writting very yummy men. Seriously yummy. Like, chocolate cake with a vanilla ice cream scoop on top yummy.I TOTALLY recommend not only this book but the whole series. Me personally, I stoped reading it on KU and bought it so it can go on my Fav shelf on my kindle and read it whenever I want.

Wow this book has taken my heart and wrung it out dry. What an amazing ride this book has taken me on. I thought the first book; Lessons In Corruption was good, I gave it 5 stars but this story was phenomenal and deserved 10 stars and more.This story spans the years of when the president of The Fallen MC club Zeus Garro takes a bullet for a seven year old Louise when she gets caught up in a fight between rival gangs. When he gets sent to prison for the murder he committed we read the letters exchanged between Zeus and the young Louise over the years and how the connection and friendship between the two grow, I fell in love with this bear of a man the minute I started reading about him, he was so alpha, so sexy yet so biker bad ass too. Perfectly imperfect in all ways !!! The character Louise was another amazing person to explore. That girl knew exactly what she wanted and set her heart on getting it. There was nothing seedy about how this panned out but just absolute perfection to read how these two characters come together - they were made to be together even though there was a nineteen year age gap. The chemistry, the gravitation, that magnetic pull between these two people was just so erotic, beautiful and perfect to read that it made me cry in parts, and yet feel totally frustrated in other ways. His dirty sexy mouth made me squirm he was so utterly sexy I wanted to climb him like a monkey, the sex scene's were scorching hot - it was just amazing writing.Secondary characters like dear Mute, HR, Nova and Reece just added to the enjoyment of this wonderful story.All in all this book was perfection and a bad ass MC book just how they should be done, full of violence, passion, love, hate, anger, betrayal but most of all it shows us how even the most hardened of men put loyalty and family first. Zeus Garro is one of the best characters I have read. Tattooed and built like a mountain, tough and afraid of no one and would kill a man with his bare hands if he felt the need and yet would go to the ends of the earth to protect his family, his woman and his biker brothers. Yep Zeus Garro is THE man and this story is one I will NEVER forget. !!!!

This in parts was a taboo subject, I love an age gap romance but when the male is 19 and the female is 7 and he loves her then keeps in touch by writing to her until she is 17 and he is 36, it feels a little uncomfortable. However that aside, this was an amazing read, it had everything I love, a great storyline, exciting plot , lots of hot bikers and a lot of ugly crying (by me) this did have everything! This is the second book in this series and is based around the prez of a bike club and a young girl,Louise who had cancer at a young age, had treatment and the cancer went into remission only to return when she was 17, there are lots of ups &downs and friendships made which leads to utter devastation & heartbreak. This is a great series and well worth a read, beautifully written with all the feels

What can I say about this book to give it the credit it is due. Its a rollercoaster ride of emotions from the start to the end. This love story starts young and grows in the heart of a neglected child for a man society says is wrong for her. This book will have you in tears of enjoy, sadness and complete and utter despair. I had so much hope for the lost character in this story and it gutted me to the core when the time came. This was a puzzle piece fitting together to see who was behind the scenes causing chaos for the fallen and some you would be surprised at. Amazing read, so worth the tears. On to book 3.