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Review

WOW, WHAT A ROLLERCOASTER! ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL!! I LOVED IT!!

What a freaking mindfuck!! I’m really at a loss as to what to say about this book, it twists and turns all over the place, and it’s really hard not to be spoilery because it’s best to go in and experience the unexpected as it all unfolds, so this is gonna be vague.

Ellie Watt is a con artist. Her parents were grifters, and she’s been in the life as long as she can remember. She is trying her hardest to start over with a fresh, new life, but it just doesn’t seem to be working that way.

“I’m not bad. The world is bad and I’m just trying to survive in it.”

Her parents long gone, she finds her way back to the only family she knows, her Uncle Jim, in the town where she spent her teen years. There she runs into Camden McQueen – high school weirdo, and now tall, dark, “tattooed and pierced sex on a stick”. A big part of her past, running into Camden changes everything, and sets both of them up for a wild ride.

This book just blew me away. I love Karina’s writing, and was completely absorbed in the story from the very beginning. It was a rollercoaster, with the plot twisting all over the place, and I never knew where the story was going to go or what was going to happen next. Hell, at times I didn’t even know which characters I should be liking, and which I shouldn’t. Total. Mindfuck!

The story is told completely from Ellie’s POV, it jumps between ‘now’ and ‘then’, giving us just enough information about events in the past to tease and drive you crazy, with the full backstory explaining Ellie and how she got to where she is, being unfolded slowly throughout the book. She’s smart, brave and tough, and has endured some horrific times, and bares the physical and emotional scars to prove it. Her actions are sometimes questionable (the kind that make your stomach clench with dread at the stupid) but there’s a vulnerability about her that was slowly revealed. And I loved the complexity of her character.

And Camden. OMG, Camden. Not only is he gorgeous, but he is one flirty, bantery, dedicated, caring and hot-as-hell hero. And OMG, can he bring the swoon!

“I’m not giving up on a new life and I’m not giving up on you. I don’t care if I have to be Connor Malloy for the rest of my life, as long as you are in that life with me.”
…
“I love you,” he whispered. “From now until the end, under any name you choose.”

But he also has a darkness about him which I loved, and I loved the scenes where he let that darkness out. All that he has been through has changed him and left him nursing some serious anger, but I love that he’s a bit of a badass.

These characters go through so much, and both have their good and bad moments, and I absolutely adore them both! Both fucked up, both trying to escape from their pasts, they have an intensely conflicted relationship, but all they endured in their coming together was pretty epic and I thought the way it unfolded was absolutely perfect for them.

And hot damn there’s some serious chemistry between them!

“Hell, if a neighbor were to stick their head out their window and see a tattooed god ramming a chick in the neighbor’s backyard, all lit by romantic lights, they’d probably watch. I’d watch too.”

Told with Karina’s brilliant snark and humour, this is an action-packed and thrilling read full of scams, epic bad guys, car chases, run-ins with the Mafia, kidnapping, murder, and a kick-ass romance with some really hot moments, all with a bit of a seedy undertone, and an ending that has left me hanging and craving more. I was on the edge of my seat for most of it, my emotions all over the place and my heart pounding – and I loved every minute of it, what a freaking sensational ride!

“Our lips were wet, the salt of our tears hitting our tongue. It wasn’t a goodbye kiss, it was the opposite. It was the start of something that would last forever.”

Karina Halle, I’m starting to suspect you can do no wrong!

5 sensational stars!

 

The Artists Trilogy series

 

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