Series: The Artists Trilogy (Page 2 of 2)

*spoilers for those who haven’t read Sins and Needles-book #1

She left me in a cloud of dust, a swirl of crushed cherry blossoms that choked my heart.

What is there to say about this deliciously complicated story? On one hand, we get to see into my beloved Camden’s head every other chapter-I could read about him all day long. On the other hand we have Ellie stuck up Javier’s ass for 90% of the story. This is where the plot lost some of it’s appeal for me. Karina makes us (or most of us) fall in love with the beautiful, flawed Camden in book one, then leaves all his biggest fans high and dry, feeling nothing but remorse for the poor, tortured soul.

“Will you burn with me?” she asked. “Or will you go free?”
I grabbed her face as the heat pressed in. “I’ll burn with you.”

Shooting Scars immediately picks up where Sins and Needles left off-with Ellie being pulled away in Javier’s car and leaving Camden at his shop, struggling to break free and get his precious Ellie back. I thought it was a good sign that this was the case. Many times a cliffhanger will be thrust upon us readers, then when the next installment comes out it’s three months later and we’re left to wonder what happened in those three months. What happened when she drove away? How was Camden feeling as he stood in the dust, struggling to break free? What were the actions they took after being thrown into a situation neither of them wanted? There are always things left unanswered. Karina Halle did us a solid, though, and made the transition painless-or so I thought.

“Sometimes…” A tear rolled down her cheek, the dam breaking, the release. She sniffed. “Sometimes I’d do anything to be good.”
Damn it, God damn it. My heart was breaking all over again, just when I thought I didn’t have anything inside me to break.

The beginning began well enough. Ellie was unhappy that she was stuck with an evil monster, and Camden was trapped in his hometown with his ex-wife and son while having to pine after the girl who got pulled away from him. Things were as they should be-angsty and somewhat hopeless. See, without this hopelessness, there wouldn’t be any conflicted, anxious feelings from us readers. As confusing as it sounds, the hopelessness makes the readers hope…making for an intense story whether the author makes it action-packed or not. So yes, I had so much hope for this story.

All for a girl. But she wasn’t just any girl.
She was mine.
And I was hers.
Until the bitter end.

But my heart was quickly crushed at around 60%. My soul was ripped to pieces. Why this had to happen, I have no idea. What ensued on GR after was also a tiny, piercing stab to my heart-people started to support the bad guy-the other guy. All while Camden is risking his damn life to save Ellie, despite the dire consequences he faces. Seems pretty fucked up to me. It killed me-no it destroyed me to see what was unfolding in this story. How easily Ellie believed in Javier’s shit. It was sickening, maddening, annooooyyinnngg. And it totally drained me. It really, really did.

“Well, I still think there has to be a reason why she’s there, why she’s doing this. It can’t be black and white.”
“For as long as I’ve known Ellie, she’s always been gray. No black, no white.” Well said Gus.

Ellie is still, and only because of the very end, a gray area for me; albeit a very, very dark shade of gray. For a minute it was all black and white to me-very clear. I hated her for about 20% of the story. For a while, I found her actions unforgiveable. What was worse? Karina Halle View Spoiler »made the scenes extremely steamy. That’s right, as one of my friends on here said, it was hot. She made us enjooooy the sex. « Hide Spoiler I can’t say it didn’t pique my interest, because that would be a damn dirty lie, but it still didn’t sway my feelings in the least.

What I couldn’t understand was his power over her. Or maybe I didn’t want to. She was better than that. I believed it. I knew it.

So, while the story didn’t completely wow me, I’d be fibbing if I said I hated it. Sure, I was disappointed and even considered rating it less than four (very painful), but I can’t do that. I liked being in Cam’s head way too much. The struggles he went through, seeing how desperately he was in love with Ellie…it was enough to make me love him even more, and for that, I can’t give it any less than four. But I am speaking the truth when I say it’s ONLY because of Camden McQueen. I will always and forever be on Cam’s side-END OF STORY.

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
Sins & Needles #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Shooting Scars #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Bold Tricks #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea

*5 Final Stars*

I was a woman born of lies, but here I was being honest even when it hurt me the most.

From the moment I picked up Sins and Needles, this series has wormed it’s way into my heart. It has been an emotional ride and there have been things I hated, things I have loved, things I just never thought I could get over. But…I’m here today telling you that I absolutely loved this final installment.

I feared Javier and what he might do to Camden. I feared Camden and the way he’d changed toward me. I feared myself and the things I might do to try and make sense of it all.

There comes a time where you have to choose if you are willing to deal with the drama that comes with a passionate love triangle-if you’re willing to accept whomever the main character chooses, good or bad, right for her or wrong for her, whether you agree or disagree, and I made my decision probably three days prior to BT’s release. I wasn’t sure if I could deal with the thought that one of the men in Ellie’s triangle might die, if I could deal with the repercussions that stemmed from book 2-which made me angrier than any book has in a long time. I didn’t know what I’d think. That’s the honest to God truth of it all. I didn’t know if I’d be strong enough to not rate this based purely on who Ellie ended up with. And maybe that’s what is wrong with the rating system today: too many passionate reviews based only on the willingness of the reviewers to accept their personal preferences in the scenario.

I watched their silent exchange for a moment, the complexity in their eyes as they matched against each other in a visual war. The snake and the bear, the man of stealth and lies, the man of soul and strength.
Both men who had a stake in my heart at some point in the game.
This ever changing game.

The final book starts off with Ellie, Javier, and Camden forced to work together after a botched attempt to kill Travis. Tension is high and the will to survive is stronger than ever. But what happens when you have three people who would much rather be on opposites sides of the earth working together to save a son, a sister, and a father figure who has been around since before you can even remember?

Lies, scandal, betrayal, love, and lust. Who has more to gain, and what are they willing to do to achieve it? Each person wants someone saved desperately, but will time run out? There was so much going on in this last book, but I never once felt the plot was rushed or too forced. I enjoyed all the action scenes and the passion that drove each character forward. There was so much at stake, but never once did any one particular character stray from their goal-always a steady hand in the face of danger, and I truly couldn’t put the book down.

All my air left me. I was nothing inside but bones and blood. I was hollow, scooped out, unloveable. Undeserving. I was dying in the jungle, holding on to the one with the knife.

I know this wasn’t everyone’s favorite in the series, and I have to say S & N is by far my favorite of them all, but BT offered what none of the other installments could-Ellie’s redemption. Some might say she didn’t need redeemed for her past misdoings in the prior two Artist Trilogies, but I do/did. I was
NOT
happy with Ellie and I thought she betrayed more than one man in both S & N and SS. Ellie has always been a grey area character for me, but I am ecstatic to say that Ellie shined in my eyes. She picked a side. She
chose
. Good or bad. Javier or Cam. Stay back or fight. Live or die. She finally used that strong will to pick what she was going to do for herself. She stayed with what she wanted, what she needed, she resisted temptation even in the deepest pits of the devil’s lair. Overall? She gained my respect. Would I have been hurt had she not chosen the man who was always, always there for her? Yes, but it would have been HER decision-and as long as she stuck with it, I could at least
respect
that.

…but when you’re told over and over again about how immoral you are, how bad, how wicked, how unlikeable, how terrible you are, it’s hard to hear anyone say any different. I felt like a fraud being good just as I felt like a fraud being bad.

I’m both happy and sad to say it’s over. After all the turmoil, angst, and tears shed, Ellie finally has her happy ending. It’s both bittersweet and beautiful, happy and sad-the ending to a story where a girl who grew up in a world filled with lies and deception came out of the ashes and finally chose to reinvent herself. Not everyone will be happy with the result of Ellie’s redemption, but that’s the most important part we all need to reevaluate. This is Ellie’s story, not Camden’s or Javier’s, not even Gus’s. But even more importantly? This is Karina Halle’s baby, and she is free to do with her stories whatever she wishes. I will always love the story of Camden, Ellie, and Javier, and I will always miss them. I am sad to say goodbye, but they have chosen their lives and their paths, and now it’s time to move on with mine. I hope everybody will give this series a chance-they won’t regret it. 🙂

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers), iBooks (click on titles) & Book Depository (click on book #)
Sins & Needles #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Shooting Scars #2 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	Bold Tricks #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea