Dark Heart: A Forbidden Romance (Dark Heart Duet Book 1)

I read the prequel to this book... I needn’t have bothered because the first 20% of this book was the prequel anyway, which made me feel cheated! I still can’t work out why it was called Dark Heart because it wasn’t dark at all. It was such a slow burn and nothing much happened until about 70% in! There were too many characters involved and there was nothing inspirational about it at all. I don’t think I’ll bother reading the next book in this series because this one definitely fell flat for me!

I volunteered to listen and review an ALC of this. All opinions are my own. I didn't really know what to expect from this. I've not adored everything I've read from this author but this...I really did enjoy it. It was tense, it was angsty, it was gritty, hella dramatic, and you'll wanna make sure you have book 2 lined up right away. Luca Galante knows who he is. He's the poor boy from Red Hook, but he meets his angel Elise O'Hara at a party and then at school and they have a star-crossed lovers style connection. While they might be young, what they go through is adult and it's heavy. My usual mafia tastes swing a lot darker than this, I have a feeling book 2 will bring it hard and I'm really excited for book 2.Trigger/CW <spoiler> Drug Addict/Alcoholic parents, abusive parents, loss of a family member (one from each MC), cancer, blood, injury </spoiler>

Dark Heart is an epic love story which had every kind of emotion going on.I was lucky enough to receive an ALCDark Heart is an epic love story which had every kind of emotion going on.We had tragedy with beautiful times. angst with sweet moments. My heart has been on an actual rollercoaster ride of an emotion.They meet for the first time in the hallways of a grand mansion during a party. However Luca Galante and Elise O' Hara later find out they are students of the same school but there's one problem they come from very different worlds. Elise belongs to the royal part of Manhattan's society and Luca's life is not so privilege controlled by the mafia he has experienced elements of dark moment in his life which has left lasting damage.This dark mafia romance will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you with plenty of heart stopping moments that you won't be able to stop listening. Their love was created so innocently. they have a strong love for each other but reality ruins their love which turns into a forbidden love.Luca is living a life where he feels he has to protect those he loves fiercely that he would sacrifice everything to protect them even if pushing them away is the only option.Elise lives a privilege although at times not an easy life. She's strong and fights for those she loves always seeing the good in people no matter what they throw her way. they both bring to each other what they feel is missing but family issues cause them problems, Luca constantly refuses to let Elise love him for the fear that she would try to save him and he didn't deserve that. Finally Together they plan for the future, a fresh start. finish college and leave the past behind. But it's not gonna be that easy? An absolutely beautiful start to a story of forbidden love.

First book I've read from this author. It took me a few chapters to get into her writing style and I felt the plot was slightly slow until 1\2 way through . When it picked up I couldn't put it down. It was amazing I loved the dilemma Luca is constantly battling and Elise is so normal, you barely get a 'normal' relatable female lead in this genre. Can't wait for the next instalment.

Luca and Elise are wonderful characters, true star crossed lovers who meet one night purely by chance, or so it would seem. Despite the fact that they come from very different backgrounds, Luca is drawn to Elise and she to him. From that first moment, his protective nature sees him looking out for her, defending and taking care of her in whatever way he can. He is such a sweetheart but his home life is rather challenging and he carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. His need to protect his family too sees him getting involved in some shady dealings and although he doesn’t seem to think it’s a big deal, I couldn’t help but wonder what the future held for this sweet young man.Elise has everything money can buy, except happiness. She’s a good person but family trauma sees her usual upbeat demeanour swapped for sadness and a heavy heart. Luca’s strength, his attention and kindness, give her that affection, the love, she so desperately needs. He lifts her up. I absolutely loved this couple, especially when it was just the two of them, laughing and enjoying their blossoming romance, talking about their hopes and dreams. I did worry about them too. There was something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Nothing was certain and there was a definite sense of foreboding, a bad feeling like there was a black cloud hanging over their heads.The mafia element in Dark Heart, and Luca’s involvement in it, mostly plays out in the background at first, gradually unveiling itself little by little. As the story progresses there’s a definite sense of “something wicked this way comes” which adds to the building tension. Luca’s role is very cleverly written. He’s a good person who almost by default finds himself sinking further and further into the dark, caught up in something which is beyond his control.I feel like we’re building up to something explosive in book two. We’re given a snippet of the future in the blurb for Dark Heart, which to me actually seems to mostly relate to book two. I’m hugely intrigued to find out what has happened to Luca to take him from the caring young man of the present we see here to the seemingly hardened mafia man of the future as alluded to in that blurb. My heart truly broke for this pair and I can’t wait to see where the next part of their journey takes them and if their young love has stood the test of time.