Title: Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy, Book Two)
Author: Karina Halle
Expected Release Date: August 20, 2013
ARC provided by NetGalley
Sometimes the right choice can be the deadliest.
When Ellie Watt made the ultimate sacrifice for Camden McQueen, she never thought it would be easy. But walking away with her ex-lover, Javier Bernal, in order to ensure Camden’s safety has brought a whole new set of dangers. With Javier’s plans for Ellie growing more secretive by the moment, Ellie must find a way to stay ahead of the game before her past swallows her whole.
Meanwhile, Camden’s new life is short-lived. Fueled by revenge and pursued by authorities, he teams up with an unlikely partner in order to save Ellie. But as Camden toes the line between love and retribution, he realizes that in order to get back the woman he loves, he may have to lose himself in the process. He might just turn into the very man he’s hunting.
Told in dual POV from Camden and Ellie.
Book Review
Karina Halle has become a go-to author for me. Her stories have this raw, edgy quality that seeps under your skin and has you coming back for more.
Shooting Scars is book two of the Artists Trilogy and I am utterly, irrevocably, hooked.
Ellie Watt is not your typical heroine. And that is what makes this series so different from the same old, same old floating around out there in the fictional world today. She's not made the best of choices in her life. She is far from perfect and yet, you can't help but root for this girl to find a little peace and happiness in her screwed up little corner of the universe.
Ellie was raised by con artist parents who cared more about their next mark than the little girl who desperately needed their love and devotion. And as a result, she is left severely scarred along her legs when a con goes bad.
The only goal she had after that life-altering event, was pure and simple--revenge. Revenge against the man responsible for causing the almost crippling scars on her body.
The path to revenge is not as simple as it seems, however, and Ellie runs into the one man who offered her a sort of oasis from the storm when she was a teenager.
Camden.
And now Ellie is hoping to protect Camden at all costs; a decision that puts her directly in the path of another man who could destroy her very soul.
It's hard to give a review of such an epic read without giving away too much. And the twists and turns that Halle pens will give the reader a ride of a lifetime.
Camden's POV provides a perfect balance in accord with Ellie's. Although, I would have loved to have had one or two from Javier. Javier's character is multi-layered and so disturbingly dark. But he has the unknown quality that I can't put my finger on...that little something that cajoles the reader, sinking his lethal charm into your heart. You want to hate him, but you just can't quite make it there. Just when you think, "Aha! That's it, he's toast!" Karina shows another facet to his character and you think, "Double damn, she did it again."
Now for me, THAT takes talent. And Karina Halle has it in spades.
"You're so fucking beautiful," he groaned, and I knew he was stroking himself. I tried to turn around and only got a quick look at his hard, tatted body, all firm lines and rigid angles, his magnificent cock in his hands, the rain streaming all over him. He was a wet god, and I was about to get pounded.He pushed me back around. "Grab the tree. This could get messy."I did as he asked while I heard him moan again. He pressed the tip of his dick to the small of my back then slid it down my ass crack, my skin extra slick from the rain. I couldn't hid the shivers that rolled through me and I arched myself more, pressing my ass into him.
