Blogger Wife Chat Review ~ Sins & Needles ~ Karina Halle #SIAM

Posted 3 October, 2022 by Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 1 Comment

Blogger Wife Chat Review ~ Sins & Needles ~ Karina Halle #SIAMSins & Needles by Karina Halle
Published by Metal Blonde Books on January 1, 2013
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense
Pages: 438
Format: Kindle
Source: Kindle Purchase
3.5 Stars

Ellie Watt is used to starting over. The daughter of a grifting team, Ellie spent her childhood being used as a pawn in her parents' latest scam. Now she’s much older, wiser and ready to give her con artist life a rest. But returning to the dry desert town of Palm Valley, California means one more temptation than she bargained for – Camden McQueen.

Once known as the high school weirdo, Camden is bigger and badder than the boy he used to be and a talented tattoo artist with his own thriving business. Ellie’s counting on Camden still being in love with her but what she’s not counting on is how easily unrequited love can turn into obsession over time. When Camden discovers Ellie’s plan to con him, he makes her a deal she doesn’t dare refuse, but her freedom comes with a price and it’s one that takes both Ellie and Camden down a dangerous road.

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Linda and I read Sins & NeedlesThe Artists Trilogy – for the Can You Read a Series in a Month? Challenge.

Six years have passed now and in Sins & Needles we find Ellie wanting to go legit. She’s gone home to see if her uncle will help her. When he refuses, she decides to either get a job or plan one final con so she can get a fresh start. You know, watching Ellie try to choose between doing the moral thing or not kinda explains why it seems some people are willing to put effort into the scam rather than legit work. It’s maddening to me but… I still feel like Ellie isn’t a completely bad person. Yet she decides to con someone from her past… someone she hurt. It made me growly.

Oh my. I totally get what you mean. And while I understand why her uncle decided not to help her, she had never done anything bad to him. I didn’t really get why he wouldn’t at least let her stay with him. Her searching for a job and giving up so quickly was the first thing that made me a bit growly. Because it did seem like she didn’t want to put in the work – and at the same time she also appeared to want a ‘normal’ life.

 

I appreciated the flashbacks and how they were used to convey the past relationship between Ellie and Camden. It began so sweetly and ended so badly. I’d like to say I can forgive Ellie’s behavior because teens do awful things while trying to find themselves and fit into the social order but I don’t want to. She did have a shit life though – it’s just sad she didn’t take the high road.

I kind of understand Ellie in a way, especially the way she first started removing herself from Camden. However, I don’t get why she continued, as she didn’t really get any new friends instead. And while she did have a shit life, it didn’t have to be that way. Most of that was because she made a choice to live that way.

 

Camden kinda broke my heart. I couldn’t believe he wanted anything to do with Ellie – that he could let bygones be bygones. Of course, he went into things with his eyes more wide open than I thought. And he wanted something from Ellie, especially if he couldn’t have what he really desired from her.

Camden was mysterious to me in a way. At first, I thought he got her number from the beginning. Then, I thought I was wrong… Of course, now, I feel like that part was well done.

 

And then Javier was back. It made for quite a bit of tension and suspense. Here Ellie and Camden thought they’d be on the run from a certain set of baddies and end up running from Ellie’s past. I’m intrigued with what exactly Javier is after. I don’t think it’s just his car and/or money. But is it more or less sinister than revenge?

I still don’t understand how / why Javier suddenly showed up again. Why wait six years? Even if he wanted revenge, why didn’t he get it earlier? I guess it’s a plate best served cold and all, but that one has to be frozen by now! 

 

I have to say that Ellie makes it very difficult to like her. The decisions she makes leave me growly and irritated but then she’ll give me a glimpse of the girl within. I know she’s had an unconventional life without good role models. I know she’s led a less than upstanding existence thus far. But when I see the girl she wants to be peeking out, I want to root for her. I want her to find the thing that’ll allow that girl out into the wild. I only hope she finds it before it’s too late.

We are in agreement again. I think she had never seen how people work to lead a life outside of crime. Her uncle didn’t really show her much, and the way high school went for her was really hard. However, I have a bit of trouble with her as well. There were so many possibilities for her after high school, yet, she stuck with what she thought she knew.

 

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.

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One response to “Blogger Wife Chat Review ~ Sins & Needles ~ Karina Halle #SIAM

  1. WendyW

    It’s hard to feel sympathetic towards criminals, however it’s hard to say how their upbringing can affect their morals.

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