On Every Street

by Karina Halle

• ASIN: B00CWKL13G
• Publish Date: 2013
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 263
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I was very pleasantly surprised by On Every Street! I had absolutely no idea what this series was about; I was just following the hype, and it paid off. For some reason I assumed this series was just a romance involving tattoo artists. Well, it absolutely is not! It's about tattoo artists and con artists! Much more intense than I was expecting, but I liked it! I had never read about either of these before, so it was an exciting introduction. This is listed as the prequel to the Artists Trilogy, but can be read any time really. I just like to read things in order, so I picked it up first. I'm certainly glad that I did.

Ellie Watt is out for revenge. It's not the "I'm gonna kill everyone you love and then kill you" type of revenge. She wants "you will suffer at my hand and I will make sure you live a long life with your suffering" kind of revenge. Scary. But to accomplish that she must become Eden White, move to Mississippi, and seduce the man closest to the man who hurt her and her family. Of course, nothing goes according to plan, especially since this is Eden's first major con job. She falls in love with her mark and throws vengeance to the wind, only to get burned again. On Every Street shows that year in Eden's life when everything changed, and I was hooked! I wasn't sure about it at first, but soon enough I was drawn in. I think that was thanks to Javier though.

I simultaneously loved and was annoyed by Javier. I'll start with the annoyance: his dialogue. He just really does not sound like a believable twenty-three old Mexican guy. He sounded like a forty year old, rich foreign guy. I don't know. It was just weird reading his words, and I felt like rolling my eyes at times. On the other hand, he is sexy as hell. His description is sexy, some of things he says are sexy, the way he treats Eden is sexy. Sexy. He's also a murderer and head of a drug cartel, but that just made him all the more intriguing! Oh, and the sex is fabulous.

On Every Street never read like a novella or a prequel to me. It very much felt like it's own complete book that just happens to take place before the rest of the series. There's an identifiable beginning, middle, and end. The plot was engaging and interesting. It didn't seem to be written just for the sake of giving us extra information about the characters. It's a very real part of Ellie's story, and while not necessary for the series, is definitely worth the read. However, there is an abbreviated version of the events included throughout Sins & Needles, but I found the full version much more interesting.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[littleread1]

I survived! It was a close call though. I expected a lot of heartache and tension while reading On Every Street. And while I certainly wasn't disappointed, I think had I read this before Sins & Needles (my review here) the gut-check factor would have been higher. But I knew how this would end, and yet I love Javier more now. I would certainly suggest reading this first, then Sins & Needles, though either way works.

Damn you Karina Halle for forcing me into a love triangle I didn't see coming. Now I don't know who to pick, Camden or Javier? Camden (from Sins & Needles, not in this book at all) is crazy and yummy and all those things Halle puts into her heroes. BUT SO IS JAVIER. I mean, all my favorite quotes from this are from him.

Javier smiled quickly. "What, you don't know what misogynistic means? It meas I'm about to break your nose."

"Please angel, make me your home"

"You know ... if you were to ever leave me, I'd come looking for you, on every street."

"You're my angel. You could change your hair color, your eye color, everything about you. But the tattoo will always remain. I will always remain. I am the ink in your blood."

Sweet, with just enough creepy possessiveness that you know things have the potential for going horribly horribly wrong. Damn. And I was intrigued from the small hints in Sins & Needles - now that I know him ...

Halle a master at weaving these broken people together, then tearing them apart. I also wonder if she wasn't a man in a past life. She has some of the best dirty male characters I've read outside of erotica. If you don't like kink, this story isn't for you. But if you are OK with some dirty bedroom, and beach ;-), action, then read this book. Javier, as you would expect, is not vanilla in the sack.

Ellie/Eden is such a complex character that I had a hard time deciding what I wanted her to do. Stick to her plans? Throw them out the window? Run like the wind from it all? And she is so hurt from a past she cannot escape she can't see what's potentially right in front of her.

If you are looking for a roller coaster of a book, an unconventional love story, or even something that makes your eyes bug out of your head, I would suggest this book.