The Faster They Live, the Harder They Fall . . .
Raised by con artists, Ellie Watt has a lot of crazy childhood memories-but none crazier than being scarred with acid by the demented crime boss Travis Raines. Now Ellie is a full-grown woman who lives for revenge, and Travis is a full-blown drug lord who kills for pleasure. The sadistic bastard has kidnapped her good friend Gus as well as her mother, whom he's been holding as prized possessions in his heavily guarded lair. And Ellie has only one chance in hell of getting them out alive-using two dangerous men who love her to death . . . One is Camden McQueen, a talented tattoo artist who's made a permanent mark on Ellie's heart. The other is Javier Bernal, her fiery ex-lover who's busted more than a few heads in his time. From the crime-ridden streets of Mexico City to the predatory jungles of Honduras, this unlikely trio forms an uneasy alliance in the deadliest game of all-a gun-blazing battle to the finish that will pit enemy against enemy and lover against lover. And Ellie must choose the right man to trust . . . or die.
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The motel room was a lot nicer than the one we stayed at before. Sort of a Best Western, middle-ground quality of place. No roaches on the floors, no geckos on the wall. Shit mattresses, I discovered as I pounded my fist on the bed, but I didn’t care.
Camden had just put the final box on my bed, Violetta sprawled out on hers in a state of drug-induced euphoria, when I noticed Javier lingering at the doorway.
“I’m going to be meeting Dom in about twenty minutes,” Javier said to me. “Is that enough time for you to get ready?”
I frowned and he quickly added, “You know he’ll want you there, if this is going to get anywhere. I figured you might want to shower and look nice.”
He rapped his fingers along the doorframe, his mouth opening as if to say something else, then he turned and walked off.
Camden eyed me. “I’m going with you.”
“You might be kind of drunk, Camden,” I told him, though the determination in his voice warmed me like the finest cognac.
“I’ve never felt better,” he said, enunciating each word. His eyes, my god they were still such a clear fucking blue, even in the pallid light of the hotel room. They bore into me with such startling clarity, sending shivers down my back like trailing fingertips. He would be coming with me.
I wished he’d be coming in me. A vision of us in this hotel room, alone, him nailing me to the bed, the headboard banging, slammed into my head.
“Are you okay with that?” he asked.
I suppressed the thought, the flare of heat between my legs, and smiled quickly. “Yes, of course.”
Meanwhile Violetta’s head flopped to the side, her arm still bound to her stiffly in the sling, and started snoring lightly. I motioned to her. “Do you think it’s safe to leave her here?”
He watched her for a few moments, blinking a few times, before saying, “I think she needs to sleep it off.” He went and sat down on my bed. “I’ll be here when you get out.”
I grabbed my bag of clothes I had brought out of the car and brought it into the bathroom. I had a quick shower, trying to rub off all the grim – both real and imagined – with the flimsy hotel soap, then picked through my clothes. Everything that had been in my trunk was musty and wrinkled, some even dirty. I had a packet of unopened (and decidedly unsexy) Hanes underwear, a bra, another pair of jeans, a pair of gladiator sandals that I thought were dressy enough, a pair of Timberland hiking boots, a plain white tee shirt, a couple of wife-beaters, a coral-colored blouse, a plaid shirt, and a light blue tank dress that went to the ground. I wasn’t exactly known for my fashion sense and even with the cherry blossoms covering the scars on my leg, bringing me beauty that I didn’t have before, I didn’t see myself branching out anytime soon. Dressing up in my old clothes for Javier hadn’t exactly helped either.
I slipped on the tank dress, opting to go commando for the evening, and put on the sandals. I looked at myself in the mirror. Once again, I felt like a different person was staring back at me. This me, this Ellie, was tired and hardened. I rubbed the residue mascara away from under my eyes and applied a new coat. My skin was brown from the sun now and I didn’t need much else.
When I came out of the bathroom, Camden straightened up on the bed. I felt strangely shy in front of him, especially as his eyes trailed up and down the length of me.
“Do I look okay?” I asked him, feeling the need to say something. “I mean, if you can see me, that is.”
He bit his lip and stared, a multitude of emotions flashing through his eyes, too fast for me to pick up on each individual one. I thought I saw lust in there – maybe that’s what I wanted to see.
When he still didn’t say anything, I walked over to the dresser where I had my clutch purse left over from the other night at Travis’s and rifled through it for my lip stuff. His silence at my back was a heavy weight, laden with too many uncertainties between us. It was eating at me, burning through me, rendering me with a lead heart. There were so many things I had to focus on, to worry about, fucking impossible things, and yet I needed him to tell me I looked beautiful. I needed him to tell me I was something to him.
I heard him get off the bed and walk toward me, that heaviness, that warmth that he brought with his bones, teased at my back. He stopped, close enough to touch me, and I was about to turn around, perhaps to do something foolish, when he crouched down.
“How is my art?”
His hands found my leg, one of them lifting the hem of my dress, the other slowly moving over the cherry blossom tattoo. I sucked in my breath, holding completely still, trying to contain my nerves that were firing wildly as his fingers ran along the ridges of the ink. He touched me gently over every vine, leaf and petal, until I had to supress a shaky moan that that tried to escape from my lips.
“It feels fine,” I said softly when I found my voice.
“It looks beautiful,” he said.
“I had a beautiful artist,” I told him. I turned at the waist and look down at him, my blue dress glowing in his tanned hand, his other one placed firmly around my calf, his strong fingers imparting heat that sunk deep. He was looking up at me, lips parted slightly.
I couldn’t take a second more of this.
I turned and dropped to the ground, my knees rubbing against his.
I grabbed his face, his rough stubble pressing into my palms, and kissed him.
Hard.
There was surprise for a second, a hesitation, a pulse that refused to beat on. Then Camden kissed me back, his soft lips enveloping mine, his mouth opening to give me life. He put his hand behind my head, holding it there with power and control.
My heart was an elevator car, the cable suddenly snapped, and I was freefalling and falling and falling as his lips and tongue and hot, wet mouth took away every inch of my resolve. The more he kissed me, the deeper and longer we found each other, the thirstier I got for him. I felt like if we stopped, I would die, empty on the inside and forever longing.
“I felt utterly primal, alive, loved. We were
animals fucking, humans making love, two wounded, tortured people bringing each
other to ecstasy beneath tropical skies.”
Karina never fails to give me a heart attack. Every time I read one of her books I just know that something epic will happen. I never cease to be amazed by the talent that can come from one writer. I mean really, she’s fantastic. I don’t think I could say enough nice things about Karina Halle. I had the opportunity to meet her, and I was floored with how amazing she was.
"This
wasn't romantic anymore; this was tragic, and it was all my fault."
Obviously, I was upset and thrilled at the same time with the
release of this, the third (forth really) installment of The Artists
Trilogy. It was definitely a bittersweet
way to say goodbye to a series that held me so captivated since I had laid eyes
on the first word, of the first page, of the first book. I tell everyone to read this series, because
it’s so unique, thrilling, and just exotic.
“I love
you… And I’ll have you. Keep you. Own you. You belong to me, only to me, from
now on.”
I loved the characters in this series, I was definitely iffy
about Camden and Javier throughout the entirety. I went back and forth between Team Camden and
Team Javier, but I was always Team Camden for Ellie. I loved the fact that
Ellie had him, and even though Javier was astonishing and passionate with
Ellie, I didn’t feel like he was the right one for her. However, this is my
personal opinion, and yours may differ. I also truly loved Gus, he was such a
great loyal character.
"On
one side of me was Camden McQueen, on the other was Javier Bernal. One more
light than dark. One more dark than light."
Honestly, I’m not one for spoilers, so I don’t particularly want to tell you anything that happens within the book. However… that Jungle scene!? LAWD HAVE MERCY! And oh god, the INTENSITY of emotions and afflictions between all the characters just behooves me. I wish my life could be that intense, y’know without the drama… haha. I just can’t. I’m actually really upset it took me so long to write a review for this book. I read it almost a year ago… and I just haven’t been in a review writing mood, and since I had read it so long ago, I kinda figured that I just wouldn’t write one. Then I got the opportunity from Grand Central publishing to be a part of the release blitz of the new covers for the series, and I was thrilled so I could FINALLY write a review for this EPIC book.
“Until the
waves crash at our feet” …. “Beyond that. Beyond the ocean and the world
and the stars. You’re mine beyond that, baby, and I’m yours.”
I
really believe that everything was wrapped up with very little questions left
unanswered by the end of this series. Bold Tricks was such an excellent
conclusion and I wish that everyone would pick up this series, because it will
seriously captivate you and leave you speechless. This is the only series that
I’ve read by Karina so far, and I’m hooked. I have all of the Experiment In
Terror series, so I can just go right through them, and I’m going to be
starting the dirty angels story relatively soon. I’ve put these books on hold
for too long!!! In either case, if you have / haven’t read anything by Karina,
this is an amazing story to get involved in.
"I
was wrapped up in layers and layers and he was at my core, at my middle. This
was me and I was in his hands and he had me exposed to the bone."
Website: http://authorkarinahalle.com/
Twitter: @MetalBlonde
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