Shooting Scars (Artists Trilogy, #2)

by Karina Halle

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

After really enjoying the first book (and the prequel), I jumped straight into Shooting Scars. While I did enjoy it, it wasn't quite as good as the others. It started off really good, but by the end the plot had become a bit convoluted and far-fetched. It definitely left me wanting to dive right in Bold Tricks though, which is why I rounded my actual 3.5 stars up to a full 4 instead of down. Ellie has risked her life to give Camden his back, but he can't seem to let her go, and puts everything at risk for her...again. Meanwhile, Ellie is being sucked back into the life she left behind, but the stakes are much higher than they were six years ago.

One thing that I did like more about Shooting Scars are that it's told in dual POV. It's kind of necessary since Ellie and Camden are separated for most of the book, but I still loved getting into Camden's head. Ellie may wear her scars all over her legs, but his are down, deep inside. Camden has some regrets, but he's still taking responsibility for his actions and trying to move forward. I was a bit annoyed with Camden at the beginning, because I desperately wanted him to go after Ellie straight away. Instead, he does the responsible thing first, which was admirable, but boring. Not to mention his ex-wife is a raging bitch and I wanted to climb inside my Kindle and punch her in the face. At least that set him on a more interesting, yet dangerous path.

I'll be honest and say that my favorite part of Sins & Needles was the sex, and based on the ending I was worried that there wasn't going to be any in Shooting Scars. Well, there is some, and yep, it's still hot. Not as hot, but satisfying enough. But there wasn't enough, which I was both happy and sad about. Sad because, well, sex scenes are great. Happy because I didn't want them to be between who they were between! I knew this situation was going to end badly, so I was on edge the whole time! However, it doesn't take as bad of a turn as I anticipated, which was kind of a relief, even if the drama level did drop a bit.

The end of Shooting Scars was a bit of a mess for me. Obviously something serious was going to go down, but the actual events left me underwhelmed and a little confused. Ellie is not a very good con artist, Javier is batshit crazy, and Camden is...well he's hot and probably a bit nuts, too. Now they're all in trouble, but need each other to get out of this alive, and hopefully with all of their body parts in tact.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.