• Dark Heart

  • A Forbidden Romance (Dark Heart Duet, Book 1)
  • By: Ella James
  • Narrated by: Jason Clarke, Carly Robins
  • Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (124 ratings)

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Dark Heart  By  cover art

Dark Heart

By: Ella James
Narrated by: Jason Clarke, Carly Robins
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Publisher's summary

An emotional thrill ride narrated by Jason Clarke and Carly Robins!

He's the broken prince who takes the train to my elite Uptown school. I'm the pretend princess with her life mapped out. We meet at a masquerade ball on the Upper West Side, and we both feel it. His bruises match my cracks. Our love cures everything that ails us. Or it should. But this isn't a fairy tale. It's a tragedy.

We're tangled in a web of lies from the first moment, star-crossed long before we ever know what turns our story dark. What should have been the perfect first love ends in bloodshed and so many broken things.

Luca Galante's not a prince at all. And this is a cautionary tale.

©2020 Ella James (P)2020 Piece of Cake Audiobooks

What listeners say about Dark Heart

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I couldn’t stop listening!

Dark Heart is book one in the Dark Heart duet by Ella James. This book! Oh my goodness. Luca and Elise’s love story was so pure and innocent, until it wasn’t. Get ready to fall so hard for Luca and prepare yourself because it will not be easy. You know when you’re dealing with the mob, someone is going to get hurt. The ending shattered me! Thank goodness I had book two Twisted Fate ready and waiting.

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reading. James is one of my favorites

I love Ella James. her characters are so beautifully written, damaged and desperate for something good in their lives. this story did not disappoint. I don’t stop thinking about the characters when I finally put it down and I can't wait to get back to readinh.

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Young Star-crossed lovers

Elise and Luca fall in love in high school. They are kept apart through circumstances out of their control. I loved how Luca wanted to take care of Elise, but knows he's not the right person for her. I couldn't stop listening. This is a two part book so it does end in a cliffhanger. Jason Clarke and Carly Robins are wonderful narrators and I really liked when they spoke Italian.

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Amazing Read

I have to say that I love reading books but I love listening to them more. I had the pleasure of listening to this book on audible and I absolutely fell in love with the narrators Jason and Carly. They read this book with so much passion I got lost in the mafia world.

We get to meet Luca and Elise and who what a story they have. Luca comes from the wrong side of town where as Elise comes from privilege. This is a story about love, revenge and making decisions that will come at a cost. It is dark and full of romance. I was having so many feels while listening to this one that I was laughing one minute and crying the next. I wanted these two to be together but they will have to fight hard to be together. Will they be able to or will they walk away from each other and let love go.

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Great book!

From the moment I first pressed play on this audiobook, to the second it ended, I was transfixed. I didn't just listen to this story, I lived it. Every truth, lie, love, and hate was felt to my very bones. This is one hell of a dark romance. Had me guessing and wondering where this story was going. So many twists and turns, that had my head in a total spin. Even now can’t stop thinking about this book. Jason Clarke & Carly Robins did a phenomenal job narrating the characters and bringing them to life. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book.

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Dark & Suspenseful!

Ella James is a fairly new to me author. I have only recently discovered her books and I have loved her writing in contemporary romance but wasn’t at all sure what to expect in the dark romance/mafia genre. However, she completely blew me away! I was hooked from the very beginning. The story features two teenagers, Luca Galante and Elise O’Hara. These two are complete opposites but are drawn to one another, and cannot resist the connection and intensity that they feel for one another. I loved every emotion, every thought, every feeling these two shared. I couldn’t get enough of them. Luca’s upbringing tore at my heartstrings. Luca is a sweetheart with a huge heart. He makes sacrifices for those he loves and is swimming in betrayal, deceit and lies and has to make heartbreaking decisions that will have long lasting effects. Elise has grown up the complete opposite to Luca. She comes from a family of privilege but has some secrets underneath as well. She seems to come alive with Luca and the connection they share is one she does not want to let go of. By the end of the book my hearts was in shambles! This story is full of suspense, heartache, forbidden love, family and it left me needing the second book immediately.

I was blown away by the fantastic narration done by Carly Robins and Jason Clarke. These two are incredible story tellers. Together they delivered such a stellar performance. I loved how in sync they are with each other and the way that they tap into every emotion was beautiful.

**I received an advanced listener copy from Piece of Cake Audiobooks in exchange of an honest review.

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I need more!

This one left me needing more. As the first book in a duet, be warned that this one ends with a cliff. There isn't an HEA or even HFN at the end of this specific story. My heart was crushed, bleeding and I needed to know how these young souls would move forward.

This is a story of first love between teens Elise & Luca. Even though they attend the same school, they were from 2 different worlds. Wealth, social standing, the mob/mafia, everything was against these kids who just wanted to be able to love each other. Luca saw himself as a bad guy, a monster unworthy of Elise, but she always saw the good man within the tortured boy. It was tender and bittersweet and heartbreaking at times.

I listened to this in Audio and narrators Carly Robins and Jason Clarke did a great job bringing these characters to life. Carly's soft tones really brought out the emotions in Elise's desire to cherish Luca, dealing with her family and dreaming of a future. Jason's deep voice rolled through me as Luca struggled with the darker aspects of his life and situation.

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Another Book that I could not put down! Elizabeth @ Carolina Chic’s Read

Ella James had left me hooked on her words and needing this finale now! Luca and Elise are completely drawn to each other and have no desire to ever be apart. Elise has to come to terms with her life and is eager to have Luca in every part of it. Luca is handsome, smart and has no control over the things in his life. He lives every moment to get to the next one. Their story is one of two dark hearts that will leave you needing more.

Dark Heart Part 1 is a cliffhanger!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Bleeding Hearts Stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Added Review for Audio: Carly Robins & Jason Clarke have narrated this to perfections, you could feel every emotion and action in your bones, they were clear and not rushed!!

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Emotional thrill ride!

Dark Heart is an emotional thrill ride that is undeniably tragic, twisted, & beautiful with brilliant performances by Jason Clarke and Carly Robins! Luca was born into a world of dark secrets and caught up in things out of his control. In spite of living in this world he has a beautiful spirit and personality that shines through, especially when he is inspired by his love for Elise, who comes from a completely different background. This story does a brilliant job of highlighting what is beautiful in an imperfect world where people are caught up in things out of their control and being pulled in very different directions. In spite of the sinister darkness lurking in Luca’s world, the two of them are adorable together and make you believe that love might conquer all. Lines like "I love you more than lemon cake" made me swoon completely as I was swept away. The other characters in this book really bring depth to the story. Elise's father is very interesting. Even though there are difficulties in the story Elise's father is a very interesting character. I loved his honesty. You can tell he is also caught up in dark things and still recognizes the good in people.

Jason Clarke and Carly Robbins deliver haunting performances, so you can really lose yourself in these young characters as they experience falling in love, growing up, and eventually how cruel life can be.

I received an advanced listener copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

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Loved it

Great start for Luca and Elise story. I found it to be endearing, riveting and heartbreaking. I am compelled to continue this roller coaster and hope for a happy ending. Jason Clarke and Carly Robins phenomenal narrators.

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