On Every Street

by Karina Halle

[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.