Bold Tricks (Artists Trilogy, #3)

by Karina Halle

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.

• ISBN10: 1322069417
• ISBN13: 9781322069418
• Publish Date: 1 January 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 19 May 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Forever
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Well, that was a disappointment. If there's anything I hate worse than middle book syndrome--which this series had a mild case of--its when the finale fizzles rather than going out with a bang. Actually, there's plenty of banging (of the gun variety, you perverts!), but Bold Tricks felt like two different books mashed into one. It also didn't carry over all of the fun and sexiness of the previous books. There's a lot of eye-rolling moments and by a third in things were already feeling dragged out. I also had a hysterical moment, which forced me to stop reading for a good twenty minutes. I just could not get myself under control, because it was too funny and felt so out of character, but I'll get to that in a moment.

In Bold Tricks, we're back to getting only Ellie's POV, which is fine, but I did miss Camden. He's around, but I liked getting into his head. Ellie can be a bit exhausting at times with all of her pity parties. But at least she knows it. And I do think getting Camden's POV would have made the last third of the book better. The beginning is all about Ellie, Camden and Javier hunting down Travis and rescuing people. Then all that gets resolved and the plot switches to Camden getting his son. I honestly couldn't care less about his son, especially since we're getting all of this from Ellie. There would have been an added emotional connection if we could see how this was all effecting him, but nope. I just didn't care...at all

However, Camden let me down in Bold Tricks anyway. The hot sex has returned, although not quite as hot, but the author gets bonus points for unique locations. It was actually the sex that had me laughing so hard that my face was burning red. Camden says the most unsexy thing I could imagine hearing in the throes of passion: "I want to put a baby in you (75%)." Gross and hilarious.

Ellie is really not a very good con artist at all. We've seen her screw up time and time again throughout the series, so it's hard to believe she's ever pulled off a successful con job. She's too emotional, which isn't a bad thing, but she lets her emotions get in the way of doing what she's set out to do. Also, she just makes really stupid decisions even when everyone around her points out that it's just plain dumb. For instance, the opening scene of Bold Tricks involves Ellie insisting that they go back to the car to get her duffel bag, even though there are helicopters gunning them down! Does she see Javier and Camden worrying about having clean clothes and IDs? No! They want their lives! Of course, without her bizarre (and quite unbelievable) decision making process the story would have lost the exciting, yet eye roll inducing, high speed chase.

Speaking of bad character choices, I never believed Javier at all. Clearly, he's a bad guy, and we've known he's not exactly trustworthy since the prequel, but that's not what I mean. I mean that I could not think of any reason for him to be helping Ellie and Camden. I felt this at the end of Shooting Scars, but I overlooked it because I figured he had some kind of selfish plan or ulterior motive that would be revealed later. I really doubted his helpfulness was out of obsessive love for Ellie. I found myself questioning his every move and every word, trying to figure him out. That didn't work, because it just doesn't make sense. It turns out that he did have some double crossing plan, but it wasn't well thought out. It had too many holes, and was very unJavier-like. It seemed like plot for the sake of plot without any consideration for the character.

Sooo...Bold Tricks simply didn't work for me, especially not as a conclusion to an exciting series like this one. It's like the characters all forgot who they were and started behaving in crazy ways just to make the plot more dramatic. I didn't like that. The sudden shift in focus was also jarring and the latter part wasn't even that interesting. I appreciate the author tying up all the loose ends, but it was all so dragged out that I had already checked out.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[littleread1]

What an ending! Bold Tricks had me on the edge of my seat, gripping the blankets, hyperventilating, crying, throwing my kindle, picking it back up (glad it was not injured!), and cuddling with it at the end. Yes, all those emotions. And more. So let's try and dissect that a little shall we?

It is no secret that I love me some Javier. No, it really doesn't make sense. Yes I know he is a drug lord and kills people for fun. No I haven't had my head checked recently, why do you ask? That being said, I was never sure he was the right one for Ellie. I always described my love for Javier as - vacation boyfriend. You know, the guy you meet on vacation, that you have a steamy week or so with, you do things together, you get to be someone else for a time, and then you go home to your life. He is a bit unstable for a long term relationship.

Poor Ellie is certainly put through the ringer in this last installment of The Artist Trilogy. She learns some things, looses some things, and is not sure where things stand between her and the two men in her life. Even though she sometimes sees herself as weak and not worthy of love, we really see her pull up her bootstraps and face down some things I hope none of us ever have to deal with. She turns out in the end to be the strongest character in the series.

And Camden, sweet sexy tattoo covered Camden ... well, after some of the things that went down in Shooting Scars he isn't so sweet and innocent anymore. But I still hurt for him. After everything he went through to get back to Ellie, and then the things he saw ... well let's just say he starts off a bit confused and shaken. He doesn't know where things stand, where he wants things to stand, with him and Ellie.


And then everything goes to hell in the ways you and I have come to expect from reading Halle's books. Does it end in an HEA? Who does Ellie end up with? Does everyone even survive? You will have to read it to find out. Perfect ending to a fabulous trilogy. Well done!