Devil Side by Lacey Dailey

Blurb: Unable to continue living on the path her father created for her, Gigi Moretti does something she’s never done before. She takes a risk. When musician Maxwell Mitchell waltzes into an old diner in the early morning up to his elbows in secrets, he offers Gigi the perfect escape from the future she’s never wanted. It takes an over the top demand from her father and a shocking revelation from her fake fiancé to get her to pack her bags and ride shotgun on Max’s spontaneous tour across the country.

As she and Max grow closer, Gigi learns what it’s like to throw out her overbearing workload and be an actual 21-year-old. She quits her job, eats too many Cheetos, tosses out her pink wardrobe, and takes a job as Max’s manager. Despite the unknown, she’s happy. She has a job she enjoys, she’s making plans for a future she’s actually excited about, and she’s living with a boyfriend who adores her.

Everything is perfect. And then she meets Aiden. And it all changes.

Review: Normally I read the blurb of a book before I read the book.  Sometimes this backfires on me because the blurb gets me so anxious or worked up that I can’t bring myself to actually read the darn book.  In this case, I didn’t bother looking up the blurb (mostly out of laziness) which meant that I went into Devil Side by Lacey Dailey completely blind.  Probably for the best because now that I’ve read the blurb above (which I shortened slightly because I felt it gave away a little too much) I might have been too nervous to actually start.

Devil Side has a little bit of everything good in it.  There’s a hot musician.  A quirky girl.  Overly controlling parents.  Crazy friends.  And, to even it all out, a butt load of personal problems.  Something for everyone!

I found Author Lacey Dailey’s writing style to be rather unique, though it’s hard to explain why.  It was fast-paced without feeling rushed, realistic without being boring, and funny in just the right ways.  Each character truly got their own unique voice and personality, something that I feel can fall short in novels sometimes.

Gigi was a dynamic character.  At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like her all that much (a little too brooding for my current tastes) but once she started opening up and becoming her true self—and I started to understand her better—I enjoyed her much more.  I will admit that her unwillingness to stand up to her parents drove me a tiny bit insane, but I’ve never had to suffer through that, so I probably won’t relate as much as some readers will.  As the book went on she really stepped out of her shell, put aside the Gigi her parents wanted her to be, and became her own wonderful person.

It was really easy to see why Gigi was so drawn to Max. He’s an incredibly personable character with such a carefree attitude towards life that I actually felt calmer while I read his chapters (for the most part hint hint).  Reading about a hero who is so upbeat is kind of rare in romance these days (at least the ones I read) which made Max all the more irresistible.

Their relationship progresses the way you would expect it to for two young people who have never truly been in a relationship before.  There’s a lot of head over heels moments, passionate internal monologues, and too-cute-for-life scene between them, but honestly it’s not so over the top that you’re going to roll your eyes every two seconds.

This book is… different.  It’s probably going to be unlike anything else you read.  Those who follow my blogging know that I do spoiler-free reviews (at least of main plot points) and there’s really no way to accurately describe the huge plot twist in this book without spoiling it… so I’ll just say that there is a big plot twist and leave you wondering what it could be.  If you need a shake up from the typical romance novel then you should give DevilSide a try.