{"id":2685,"date":"2013-10-21T21:06:45","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T04:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2685"},"modified":"2016-12-21T20:56:07","modified_gmt":"2016-12-22T01:56:07","slug":"review-bold-tricks-the-artists-trilogy-3-by-karina-halle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2685","title":{"rendered":"Review: Bold Tricks (The Artists Trilogy, #3) by Karina Halle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\r\n <\/div><\/div>\n
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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cThe snake and the bear, the man of stealth and lies, the man of soul and strength.
\nBoth men who had a stake in my heart at some point in the game.
\nThis ever-changing game.\u201d<\/i><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

HOLY FREAKING HELL! What a rollercoaster! Karina Halle has given us an amazing ending to her dark and gritty Artist\u2019s Trilogy<\/i>. Bravo!<\/b><\/p>\n

This book is a wild ride from start to finish! It\u2019s suspenseful and action packed, with plenty of \u2018holy shit\u2019 moments spread throughout the story. I was excited, I was shocked, I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book and was highly impressed with the amount of badassery on display \u2013 everybody gets a chance to go all badass, and it makes for one crazy ride!<\/p>\n

So much happens in this book! It picks up immediately after the ending of Shooting Scars<\/a>, and follows the mad trio of Ellie, Camden and Javier in Mexico as they reluctantly join forces to save their loved ones and bring down the bad guy.<\/p>\n

First off, the dynamic between the three of these characters is phenomenal! With so much murky history between them, and so much passion and animosity, there is some fantastic banter that flies back and forth, and when added to the intensity of their situation, it\u2019s all creates a fantastic mood for the story. The moments of humour lighten the madness that is going on, and I loved it.<\/p>\n

Of course this series has been Ellie\u2019s story and this book goes back to solely her POV. As with the first two books, she goes through so much in this one, and it\u2019s not all action, there is a lot of emotion in there too. Mostly to do with Ellie finally coming to realize who she wants to be, and then deciding exactly what (and who) it is that she wants, and claiming it. And this gives us some AMAZING romance, nd it is sensational! Firstly with the sexual tension, and then there is the swoon! Oh. My. God. Regardless of which team you are on, you\u2019ve gotta admit this is pretty freaking swoony\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you,\u201d he whispered. \u201cI was never meant to love anyone else. No matter what. Ellie Watt, you own me. And I\u2019ll keep you safe.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And hot\u2026<\/p>\n

He grabbed my hair hard with both hands, tugging sharply, and looked me dead in the eyes. He was all fire and hard angles.
\n\u201cI love you,\u201d he said, his voice gruff. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll have you. Keep you. Own you. You belong to me, only to me, from now on.\u201d <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yeah, that’s hot! And there’s a whole heap of actual hotness to go along with this. Can you say… steamy jungle sex? In the rain, no less! Yes. Really. *fans self*<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s this\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/span>Spoiler <\/div>
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\u201cI don\u2019t want to love you, Ellie, but I do love you. I can\u2019t stop myself. I\u2019ve been trying to since the moment I saw you with him. You broke me, you broke my fucking heart.\u201d He closed his eyes again and rested his forehead against mine, our noses pressed against each other. \u201cYou broke me into so many pieces that I didn\u2019t think I could find myself again. And I\u2019m so damn scared, I\u2019m scared just like you. You\u2019ve always been my love Ellie Watt, since the very beginning. Since the moment I saw your face, your beautiful young face on that hot dry day. You were water for my soul. You made me feel like I had another half, someone else who understood what it was like to be unwanted.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s CAMDEN!!! Woohoo! Of course it\u2019s Camden! And his awesomeness just continues to grow! No matter what Ellie has done to him, and how hurt he is, he still loves her, and is there for her \u2013 brave, protective, and 100% supportive of her. Plus he\u2019s gentle and tender with her when she needs it, he goes all badass when she needs it, and he is still sexy as all hell.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlasses, covered in tattoos \u2026 a real fucking work of art, a tortured soul with a heart of gold, who fucks like an animal and will love me till my dying day.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Goddamn, I love that man!<\/div><\/div>\n

\u201cThat man would kill for me. He would die for me. And he would fuck me to death if I asked him.
\nI was tempted. What a way to go.\u201d <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mmmhmmmmm.<\/p>\n

The romance did get a bit cheesy towards the end, but I was so happy to have some resolution and to actually see Ellie happy, that I was able to overlook it. I did have a couple of other issues\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/span>Spoiler <\/div>
\n

Ellie\u2019s turnaround on Javier was really sudden. She went from accepting him as a part of her life, and willingly and repeatedly sleeping with him, to absolute disdain and disgust the moment that Camden came back into her life. Of course, I get that she thought that Camden was gone forever, and that Javier was all she was ever going to have, but she was so quick to turn her back on him!<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, give it a rest, angel,\u201d he said, exasperated. \u201cOne minute I\u2019m hurting you, the next minute you like it.\u201d
\n\u201cI haven\u2019t liked it for a long time,\u201d I seethed through my teeth.
\n\u201cIs that so?\u201d He cocked his head at me. \u201cI could have sworn it was just a few days ago that I last made you scream.\u201d
\n\u201cFuck you.\u201d He grinned.
\n\u201cThat you did, my angel. That you did.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fair point, Javier, fair point!<\/p>\n

And then there was the baby thing. Seriously? I understand Ellie and Camden\u2019s desire to create a family together, and I thought their reasoning behind it and their need to build a future for themselves was beautiful. But it was the timing that I thought was a little weird. The fact that they had just been to hell and back, were still recovering from all that they\u2019ve been through, and about to embark on even more crazy, and the first chance they get to be alone together they decide to have a baby. And start trying right away. Really? Hmmmmmmm.<\/div><\/div>\n

\u2026 But overall, they were minor, and didn\u2019t detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.<\/p>\n

Bottom line \u2013 it completely blew me away! I was hooked from the very first page, and was frantically flicking pages through all of the action – which is pretty much non stop – and one very satisfying epilogue. The plot was intricate and detailed, and really clever, and the shocks along the way had me bouncing up and down in my chair. And even though it isn\u2019t always happy, I loved the directions that the story took and how it all ended up.<\/p>\n

A superb finish to a fantastically gritty and original series.<\/p>\n

5 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Artists Trilogy series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Sins<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"On<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Shooting<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\"Bold<\/a><\/p>\n

Sins & Needles (#1)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

On Every Street (#0.5)<\/strong>
\n(technically a prequel, but should be read after Sins & Needles)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Shooting Scars (#2)<\/strong>
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Bold Tricks (#3)<\/strong>
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0\u00a0Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

For similar reads, check out our Dark & Edgy Recommendations<\/a> page<\/strong><\/h4>\n

And for more amazing books by this author, see our Karina Halle Author Spotlight<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback Review \u201cThe snake and the bear, the man of stealth and lies, the man of soul and strength. Both men who had a stake in my heart at some point in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,47,9,29],"tags":[38,48,144],"class_list":["post-2685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action","category-dark-gritty","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-karina-halle","tag-review","tag-the-artists-trilogy"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Bold-Tricks.jpg?fit=150%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-Hj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}