Sins & Needles by Karina Halle

Sins & Needles by Karina Halle
Series: The Artists Trilogy #1
Date Published: January 24, 2013
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads Summary

Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents’ latest scam. Now she’s much older, wiser and ready to give her con artist life a rest. But returning to the dry desert town of Palm Valley, California means one more temptation than she bargained for – Camden McQueen. Once known as the high school weirdo, Camden is bigger and badder than the boy he used to be and a talented tattoo artist with his own thriving business. Ellie’s counting on Camden still being in love with her but what she’s not counting on is how easily unrequited love can turn into obsession over time. When Camden discovers Ellie’s plan to con him, he makes her a deal she doesn’t dare refuse, but her freedom comes with a price and it’s one that takes both Ellie and Camden down a dangerous road.

“You’re a con artist. A liar. A thief. An unredeemable soul. You can’t be reformed. You can’t be saved. You’ll die trying to make the world pay for what it did to you. And you’ll die alone.”

I read this book because of the author. I’ve read what has been published so far of the “Experiment in Terror” series and I loved every single bit of it. I saw this book (and the pretty cover) and I had to read it. Then I read the summary. It was right up my alley. I love books with mysteries and with ummm.. Con Artists (I don’t know what that says about me, I blame The Curse Workers for my obsession). So how could I not want to read this. I was glad I had found this book only a few days before it released or I would have died waiting for this master piece.

I read it and I wasn’t disappointed one bit. I read it in one reading. I didn’t get up to do anything else. How could I, I didn’t exist in this world, but in another that Karina had created.

“You’re a bad person, Ellie,” he said without a trace of irony.“I’m not bad. The world is bad and I’m just trying to survive in it.”

I. Love. Ellie. She is absolutely awesome. Although I wish we saw a bit more of her in her con artist brilliance. Anyways, I love her single minded determination. Nothing can stop her from achieving her goal. The whole time she was planning to con Camden, even though she liked him, she wouldn’t change her mind. No matter how many times her conscience screamed at her to stop. She wasn’t hung over him but they did have a history, she felt bad for what she had done but she couldn’t change it so she didn’t bother trying to make up for it or apologize. Apologies don’t fix things.

Camden. Where can I find this guy? Like seriously. He isn’t even a con artist and he managed to trick her. Halle may have hinted that he may be conning but it was still a surprise when he turned her own mission against her. I started laughing when that happened. The irony was so epic. The sweet guy (who by the way isn’t that sweet) conning the con artist.

Ellie of course was surprised this happened, not because she was conned-con artists get conned as well, but because it was Camden. She didn’t see it coming. Of course when they do strike their little deal, this doesn’t mean Ellie trusts him, she is always on the look out, making sure he won’t pull of something again, no matter how nice he is or genuine he acts. Better safe than sorry.

The plot to this book was great. I was so surprised when the book ended. I read the last page and tried to scroll down, and I saw that it was the last page. So yes it was a cliff hanger but not one that annoyed me, it was one that made me want more. But since Karina is awesome, I won’t have to wait forever for the sequel. Back to the plot, it was great. The whole thriller part was great, it wasn’t a mystery and shouldn’t be mistaken as one. But there were people on the run so I was very happy. I loved how the whole book had a past and present timeline going on, although I DID prefer the present one, more Camden  .

I look forward to reading the sequel and I plan on visiting the author’s blog and the goodreads page everyday until I get an exact release date for it. (It's coming out this August)