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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

***Lesley's Review of Shooting Scars by Karina Halle***



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.

Lesley's Review

Ellie Watt and Camden McQueen were made to part ways in Sins & Needles. Some may say it was Ellie’s choice but really who has a choice around Javier Bernal, the drug running sociopath. Who, just so happens to be Ellie’s ex-boyfriend that left her heart shattered. So, in Shooting Scars we pick right up where we left off. This story flips back and forth between Ellie and Camden.
Ellie is now at the hands of Javier. It’s a cruel twist of fate. It’s been 6 years or so, since she ran away and stole his beloved car, Jose. Her heart, however, still feels the hurt that Javier inflicted. Her brain tells her to fear him. However, does she fear Javier because he could kill her or does she fear she will fall for this man, again? Recognizing that it’s both, Ellie braces herself for the unknown.  She believes she did the right thing by giving Camden the chance to fix his family but she wonders what price she is going to pay.
“He looked like a citron-eyed lion in a white linen suit, a creature larger than the sum of his parts.”
Javier has changed. He has become harder and colder. Doing things to Ellie she wouldn’t have expected from the Javier she was in love with. He’s a mercurial creature. One minute giving her glimpses of the man she used to love. The next, He is threatening to kill Cameron if she doesn’t help him on his journey to exact revenge on the one person they have in-common, Travis. It seems that while Ellie was gone, Javier was alittle busy planning a coup and building his empire. He has a plan that involves Ellie doing exactly what she did to him to Travis.
Meanwhile, Camden is struggling on his end. He feels he should do the best for his son and try to make things right with his ex-wife. But he is torn between that and finding Ellie. Sometimes, doing what’s right isn’t always rewarded. Camden soon realizes that it’s all been a show. He’s been suckered, again. He vows to not let Ellie down.  He is going to find Ellie and rescue her from Javier.Camden seeks out the only person he knows that could help him. The Mysterious Gus.
“All for a girl. But she wasn’t just any girl. She was mine. And I was hers. Until the bitter end.”
Eventually, the stories merge. They find Ellie and crew in Mexico.Upon finding Ellie, Camden realizes that maybe Ellie didn’t need to be rescued after all. He still vows to help Ellie. She is being put into a messed up situation that could unravel and end with Ellie dead. People double crossing people. That seems to be the gist of the story here. Who do you trust? No one. Trust no one but yourself. At the close of the book it comes down to the key players, Javier, Camden and Ellie. They decide what will happen next. Will enemies become partners? At this point it’s more than who loves who.
“It was wrong. So wrong. And I didn’t care. As I had been so many times before, I was willing to be bad.”
 I absolutely love this series. With everyone picking sides I feel like the odd man out. I can’t choose a side.  I know Javier is a crazy, drug running killer and the obvious choice is Camden. Just the phrase “Javier, is one messed up dude” does not cover it, but deep down I feel that he cares about Ellie. He’s turned himself into a machine.  He has to front the crazy to be who he is. In the end, will he do the right thing?Camden is in love with Ellie but is that love enough to save her from the mess that entangles her? I believe his love for Ellie gives him the strength to become the bad-a$$ that he needs to be to win. For once I would love to see Camden become the man he wants to be.  The one who was emerging in this book. Let’s not forget about Gus, I feel there is more to his story with Ellie then we know. I have a feeling a bomb is going to rock Ellie’s world. In the end I pray that Ellie gets the HEA she deserves. Things are going to get crazy in Bold Tricks and I can’t wait.  I give this book 4 bad-a$$ stars.

 Buy the Book

About the Author
Karina is represented by Scott Waxman of the Waxman Leavell Literary Agency


The daughter of a Norwegian Viking and a Finnish Moomin, Karina Halle grew up in Vancouver, Canada with trolls and eternal darkness on the brain. This soon turned into a love of all things that go bump in the night and a rather sadistic appreciation for freaking people out. Like many of the flawed characters she writes, Karina never knew where to find herself and has dabbled in acting, make-up artistry, film production, screenwriting, photography, travel writing and music journalism. She eventually found herself in the pages of the very novels she wrote (if only she had looked there to begin with).

Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she's preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiance and rescue pup. 

Website
http://www.experimentinterror.com

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