Review: A Different Dark Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 15, 2013
The hype for this book and my penchant for dark reads made me buy this the minute it was available, and I wasn't disappointed.Madeleine is a shy, yet beautiful cellist who hides behind her instrument instead of facing life head on.  She lost her parents at a young age and it seemed as if she never really recovered from that tragedy.  Her life consisted of nothing but practicing her cello and much to her dismay, performing in front of an audience when necessary.  On her last performance is where she meets Aaron for the first time, after lets her know how much he appreciated her musical talent.Aaron's father Joseph is a monster and so is Aaron in his own way.  Once Joseph got wind of Aaron admiring Maddy, he abducted her and gifted her to his son for his birthday.  Joseph runs something called The Estate where among other illegal things, they deal in female slavery.  Aaron wants to distance himself from that side of the business, however with his gift of Madeleine, he has to tread lightly.While Aaron and his best friend Xander perform illegal acts, Aaron is know at The Estate as the executioner, they don't want The Estate dealing in women.  With the gift of Maddy, Aaron now has to trick his father into thinking that Maddy is being used as a slave when she actually is not.Trying to pull this off is where Aaron gets messed up in the head.  He doesn't want Maddy to be his slave, yet needs her to play the part when necessary.  Xander and Aaron try and train Maddy to perform as so in front of Joseph and his followers when they are summoned.It is hard to imagine this type of opulence, with huge wings on houses and a ballroom used for orgies.  It was also hard to wrap my head around Aaron the executioner and Aaron who loved Maddy.  There was quite a bit Maddy just accepted and she went from quiet mouse to an avenger in 0-60 it seemed.I did like the plan hatched between Aaron, Xander and Maddy towards the end, however it was hard to tell who Aaron could trust.  It was a hurry and finish read for me because I had to see how it would all play out.This book will naturally be compared to The Dark Duet due to its content, but I saw them to be a bit different.  This is a well written dark read.  Some parts were shockingly dark and gruesome, but the story needed it to show how the relationship between Aaron and Joseph had deteriorated. Xander's story will be next and hopefully we get an Aaron and Maddy update in it.