Sins & Needles (The Artists Trilogy, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

May 22, 2013 Regina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned-kindle, bingo-7th-round, favorite-authors, gritty-dark, flawed-characters

Sins & Needles is not for everyone. It is a very dark story about two damaged people with bad intentions, who continue to make bad choices. Camden and Ellie. Camden. Ellie. Alone and Together. This story does not center on romantic ideals or sweet acts. How is that a start for a book review? While I say this is not a book for everyone, what I mean is that if you are looking for a super sweet tale of love and character growth, then this book might not be for you. Yet it was a book for me, I loved Sins & Needles is not for everyone. It is a very dark story about two damaged people with bad intentions, who continue to make bad choices. Camden and Ellie. Camden. Ellie. Alone and Together. This story does not center on romantic ideals or sweet acts. How is that a start for a book review? While I say this is not a book for everyone, what I mean is that if you are looking for a super sweet tale of love and character growth, then this book might not be for you. Yet it was a book for me, I loved it. From the beginning, Sins & Needles had me …. had me wanting more from the characters, and for the characters. To take a quote from the book, “It’s rough and sweet at the same time.”

Can you go home? Who will remember you? The story starts with the main character Ellie returning home. She meets a close friend from her past, when she is trying to be invisible. There the story begins with two otherwise unlikable characters. Characters that have done wrong and had wrong done to them. Characters that are perhaps not reformed but they do want out and they do want to be happy. How is that a premise for a book? Karina Halle is somehow able to take two unlikable characters and tell their story in a very deep way. I didn’t walk away thinking – hey, I’d love to be friends with Ellie (the main character). I actually hope to never meet anyone like Ellie. But I do understand her and feel her pain. Ms. Halle took me down the road of Ellie’s past, her parents, and her recent failed love affair and while I don’t really sympathize with Ellie, I understand her and want more of her story. I love books and authors who take me places I had no clue I even wanted to go. And that is where Sins & Needles took me.

“Never commit a crime when you’re the only person to blame.”

Sins & Needles is really a story about two characters circling around each other, who need each other and want each other. It is sexy and has a lot of passion behind it.

“He laid me on the ground, the hard grass tickling the sides of my ears, and that was the last time he was gentle.”

The tension and storyline are kicked up a notch around halfway through the book and that is where it really takes off. A story like Sins & Needle wouldn’t be worth reading or as half as rewarding without consequences. Sins & Needles has just the right balance of presenting characters who seriously need to grow up, change, evolve and just letting their story unfold – no matter what happens to them.

Karina Halle has a pre-quel to Sins & Needles: On Every Street. On Every Street is essential to understanding why Ellie does what she does when she flees Javier, but I recommend reading Sins & Needles first and then On Every Street. Readers who enjoy stories that center around characters and has some romance will like Sins & Needles but you gotta be open to reading about significantly flawed characters who don’t really want to improve. The ending of Sins & Needles killed me. I cannot wait for the sequel Shooting Stars, scheduled to be release August 20, 2013. If you worry this book glorifies grifting or criminal life — do not worry. Grifters are not painted in an appealing way in Sins & Needles ….. rather, Sins & Needles just tells the story of one grifter. If you enjoy character focused stories about seriously flawed people and you can handle continued bad choices from the characters in exchange for letting a great story unfold …. then you will enjoy this book. You will not be able to put it down

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Feb 24, 2013 AH rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, sos-bookshelf-bingo, zzread-oct-2015, contemporary, blue, canadian-writer

I've been a fan of author Karina Halle since I devoured the Experiment in Terror series. I had heard so many wonderful things about The Artists Trilogy that I just had to finally read Sins & Needles. I was a little surprised at how much I disliked the main character Ellie. In fact, when I hate a main character, I usually can't stand the book. However, Ms. Halle really builds up Ellie's character, dropping in hints about her horrible past in little pieces. Once you get Ellie's background, you und ...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Sarah (Head Stuck In A Book) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-copy

Sins & Needles is a book that I've wanted to read for a very long time, drawn not only to the very intriguing synopsis but to the cover as well, I was extremely excited to have a chance to read and review this amazing book with that ending that has me desperate to get onto the next book straight away.

This is a contemporary romance that you won't soon forget, featuring a con artist heroine Ellie and a sexy badass tattooist Camden, both damaged and angry, each with issues, former high school frien ...more

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Nov 20, 2014 Rachel-RN rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2017

This might turn into more of a rant. Curse words are involved. You are warned.
Camden, a formerly awkward high school student who was bullied, had a huge crush on Ellie. They used to be friends. After her latest con, Ellie returns to her Uncle's to "start over." She runs into Camden. He decided to get revenge.
This had promise as a friends to enemies to friends/lovers story. Ellie is also very Flawed. A "bad girl." There are tons of stories about "bad boys," so I was interested in reading one abou ...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Lili rated it liked it

I didn't like Ellie/Eden in the first novella and I have to say I'm still not quite fond of her.
And my problem is still the same, she's supposed to be the con expert and she's always so insecure, always doubting what to do and soooo immature in her actions and thoughts, she has panic attacts when in distress (when she should be cool) and at the end here she started asking advice from a "normal" guy...who, surprise surprise, ended up being sort of a human superman who was not only hot, but hung l ...more

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