Finding Beauty in the Darkness

A Dark Romance

By: Nikki Ash

Narrated by: Cecily Foster, Christian Leatherman

Author's note: Finding Beauty in the Darkness was previously published as Bordello by Nikki Ash. This story contains dark themes and situations that may be sensitive to some listeners.

Aria

Giovanni is my savior... But he wants me for himself.

I’ve grown used to men wanting me and taking what’s not theirs to take.

But he’s different.

He wants to keep me, make me part of his dark world, and I would gladly follow him into the darkness.

But his life is trapped in a cage, and his family holds the keys. If forced to choose, we could lose it all.

The danger doesn’t scare me half as much as the thought of living without him.

Giovanni

I didn’t choose this life. It chose me.

Born into a powerful mob family, darkness and danger are all I’ve ever known.

But when I stumble upon Aria being held captive in the basement of a senator's house, everything I've embraced and accepted about my life gets thrown out the window.

I’m drawn to her strength, to her lightness, to her beauty in my dark world.

But she deserves better than trading one cage for another.

Now I’m torn between protecting Aria... And keeping her for myself.

©2021 Nikki Ash (P)2025 Pink Flamingo Productions

4.5 stars

Finding Beauty in the Darkness is a dark romance.

I devoured this beautifully written story. Aria was a strong heroine that faced her troubles head on, and I liked how much Giovanni yearned to protect her, even from himself. The growing chemistry between Aria and Giovanni was intense. What an emotionally packed, twisted world.

Christian Leatherman and Cecily Foster portrayed these characters phenomenally! The narration depicted the pain and emotion so well.

Outstanding Performance

Wow!! These new to me narrators nailed it! I absolutely adored listening to Aria and Giovanni’s story. Their journey was rough but the way the author penned their love story… chef’s kiss. I read the ebook a while back and really enjoyed it but these performers were outstanding and elevated it from a 4 star read to 5 stars… it was so good!

Dark, Intense, Heartbreaking, Beautiful HEA

Nikki Ash has become a favorite author of mine. This audiobook was dark, intense, and heartbreaking. I had to pause a few times just to take a break. The rape/assault scenes broke me. I cried. But there were times I smiled, big. I was completely invested. This was realistic in ways that she doesn't gloss over the trauma at the end, but we still get a beautiful HEA.

The narrators were excellent. We get an emotional performance that had this audiobook rolling like a movie in my head. It was perfection.

#TheFlockonTour

Gio and Aria...

4.5 stars
Finding Beauty in the Darkness is a dark, mafia romance. It is action packed, twisted and has betrayals. Gio and Aria's story is heartbreaking and beautiful. you get all the feels, steam and their love shines through it all. I very much enjoyed this story.

Cecily Foster and Christian Leatherman did a great job with this story and these characters.

Another addictive read from Ash...

A high-ranking mob boss with … a heart? He runs a brothel but doesn’t allow any non-con, abûs3, tr4ffick|ng, etc. Interesting take—between that and the c4pativity situation, I found myself hooked very early in.

It’s one of those, ‘you know every single little detail about everything that’ll unfold’ from the first chapter reads, yet still manages to be gripping due to intriguing characters and juicy drama.

Both leads are faced with having to make life-altering decisions and one is forced to grow up, FAST … a couple times. Good stuff.

SA.
Captivity.
D0mestic vi0lence.
Scandal, scheming.
Brothel.
Fresh starts.
Second chances.


Overall:
Couldn’t put it down, read in one sitting and loved some connections to other books by this author. Gripping.

4 stars.


🎧 Audio:
Absolutely flawless production with stellare voice-acting. 5 stars.