Release Blitz & Giveaway: Bold Tricks by Karina Halle

I'm excited to be part of the Release Blitz for Bold Tricks because this series was awesome! The last book in the series has a beautiful new cover and is now being released in print! As part of my stop I have my review, an excerpt as well as TWO giveaways!

Bold Tricks (The Artist Trilogy #3) by Karina Halle

Print Publication Date: December 16th 2014 by Grand Central Publishing

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | IndieBound

About the book:

The Faster They Live, the Harder They Fall . . .Raised by con artists, Ellie Watt has a lot of crazy childhood memories-but none crazier than being scarred with acid by the demented crime boss Travis Raines. Now Ellie is a full-grown woman who lives for revenge, and Travis is a full-blown drug lord who kills for pleasure. The sadistic bastard has kidnapped her good friend Gus as well as her mother, whom he's been holding as prized possessions in his heavily guarded lair. And Ellie has only one chance in hell of getting them out alive-using two dangerous men who love her to death . . .

One is Camden McQueen, a talented tattoo artist who's made a permanent mark on Ellie's heart. The other is Javier Bernal, her fiery ex-lover who's busted more than a few heads in his time. From the crime-ridden streets of Mexico City to the predatory jungles of Honduras, this unlikely trio forms an uneasy alliance in the deadliest game of all-a gun-blazing battle to the finish that will pit enemy against enemy and lover against lover. And Ellie must choose the right man to trust . . . or die.

My Thoughts:

Buckle up kiddies!! You are in for one hell of a ride! AMAZING!! Love this series, love this ending! It was an action packed adrenaline rush!

Bold Tricks picks up where we left off in Shooting Scars with Ellie, Camden, and Javier working together to get Gus, and maybe Ellie’s mother, back from the evil drug lord Travis. Can we trust Javier to come through, especially now that Camden is in the picture? Also, Ellie feels awful for giving in to self-doubt and Javier in the previous book. Ellie knows that she might have ruined any chance at future happiness with Camden and the uneasiness continues between them, but she’s unwilling to let go so easily.

How could I explain that my body got what it needed at the time but my heart was fooled?

I’m always nervous to read the final book in a series that I love for fear of disappointment. It wasn’t necessary with Bold Tricks and I have to say I’m thrilled with how things played out. Not only does the non-stop action and adventure keep you eagerly clicking through the pages, but all the relationship drama has you riveted as well.

Let’s be honest, the romance was the sticking point for me and I was not disappointed! Realistic feelings of hurt and betrayal, but also longing and lust between all three characters brought this story to life. There were steamy, passionate scenes, and some surprising declarations from all three characters!

“You own my heart. Please let me have yours.”

“I love you,” he said, his voice gruff. “And I’ll have you. Keep you. Own you. You belong to me, only to me, from now on.”

We get to know the main characters a little better: their motivations, weaknesses, and strengths, and I have to say, I was drawn in, and fascinated by every one of them. Ellie was frustrating to me in the first installment, but as I’ve got to know her, I understand where she’s coming from and have come to love her, mistakes and all. Camden is just such a mix of contradictions: nerdy and sometimes unsure of himself one minute and then HOT-tattooed-up-sex-god in the next!! Oh my stars! Javier, well that man just oozes dangerous charm, and the promise of a very naughty time! Poor, poor, Ellie, I wish I had such decisions.

Karina Halle wrote a brilliant ending to an addictive and memorable series, and I’m a little sad to say goodbye!

5 Suns

Excerpt:

The motel room was a lot nicer than the one we stayed at before. Sort of a Best Western, middle-ground quality of place. No roaches on the floors, no geckos on the wall. Shit mattresses, I discovered as I pounded my fist on the bed, but I didn’t care.

Camden had just put the final box on my bed, Violetta sprawled out on hers in a state of drug-induced euphoria, when I noticed Javier lingering at the doorway.

“I’m going to be meeting Dom in about twenty minutes,” Javier said to me. “Is that enough time for you to get ready?”

I frowned and he quickly added, “You know he’ll want you there, if this is going to get anywhere. I figured you might want to shower and look nice.”

He rapped his fingers along the doorframe, his mouth opening as if to say something else, then he turned and walked off.

Camden eyed me. “I’m going with you.”

“You might be kind of drunk, Camden,” I told him, though the determination in his voice warmed me like the finest cognac.

“I’ve never felt better,” he said, enunciating each word. His eyes, my god they were still such a clear fucking blue, even in the pallid light of the hotel room. They bore into me with such startling clarity, sending shivers down my back like trailing fingertips. He would be coming with me.

I wished he’d be coming in me. A vision of us in this hotel room, alone, him nailing me to the bed, the headboard banging, slammed into my head.

“Are you okay with that?” he asked.

I suppressed the thought, the flare of heat between my legs, and smiled quickly. “Yes, of course.”

Meanwhile Violetta’s head flopped to the side, her arm still bound to her stiffly in the sling, and started snoring lightly. I motioned to her. “Do you think it’s safe to leave her here?”

He watched her for a few moments, blinking a few times, before saying, “I think she needs to sleep it off.” He went and sat down on my bed. “I’ll be here when you get out.”

I grabbed my bag of clothes I had brought out of the car and brought it into the bathroom. I had a quick shower, trying to rub off all the grim – both real and imagined – with the flimsy hotel soap, then picked through my clothes. Everything that had been in my trunk was musty and wrinkled, some even dirty. I had a packet of unopened (and decidedly unsexy) Hanes underwear, a bra, another pair of jeans, a pair of gladiator sandals that I thought were dressy enough, a pair of Timberland hiking boots, a plain white tee shirt, a couple of wife-beaters, a coral-colored blouse, a plaid shirt, and a light blue tank dress that went to the ground. I wasn’t exactly known for my fashion sense and even with the cherry blossoms covering the scars on my leg, bringing me beauty that I didn’t have before, I didn’t see myself branching out anytime soon. Dressing up in my old clothes for Javier hadn’t exactly helped either.

I slipped on the tank dress, opting to go commando for the evening, and put on the sandals. I looked at myself in the mirror. Once again, I felt like a different person was staring back at me. This me, this Ellie, was tired and hardened. I rubbed the residue mascara away from under my eyes and applied a new coat. My skin was brown from the sun now and I didn’t need much else.

When I came out of the bathroom, Camden straightened up on the bed. I felt strangely shy in front of him, especially as his eyes trailed up and down the length of me.

“Do I look okay?” I asked him, feeling the need to say something. “I mean, if you can see me, that is.”

He bit his lip and stared, a multitude of emotions flashing through his eyes, too fast for me to pick up on each individual one. I thought I saw lust in there – maybe that’s what I wanted to see.

When he still didn’t say anything, I walked over to the dresser where I had my clutch purse left over from the other night at Travis’s and rifled through it for my lip stuff. His silence at my back was a heavy weight, laden with too many uncertainties between us. It was eating at me, burning through me, rendering me with a lead heart. There were so many things I had to focus on, to worry about, fucking impossible things, and yet I needed him to tell me I looked beautiful. I needed him to tell me I was something to him.

I heard him get off the bed and walk toward me, that heaviness, that warmth that he brought with his bones, teased at my back. He stopped, close enough to touch me, and I was about to turn around, perhaps to do something foolish, when he crouched down.

“How is my art?”

His hands found my leg, one of them lifting the hem of my dress, the other slowly moving over the cherry blossom tattoo. I sucked in my breath, holding completely still, trying to contain my nerves that were firing wildly as his fingers ran along the ridges of the ink. He touched me gently over every vine, leaf and petal, until I had to supress a shaky moan that that tried to escape from my lips.

“It feels fine,” I said softly when I found my voice.

“It looks beautiful,” he said.

“I had a beautiful artist,” I told him. I turned at the waist and look down at him, my blue dress glowing in his tanned hand, his other one placed firmly around my calf, his strong fingers imparting heat that sunk deep. He was looking up at me, lips parted slightly.

I couldn’t take a second more of this.

I turned and dropped to the ground, my knees rubbing against his.

I grabbed his face, his rough stubble pressing into my palms, and kissed him.

Hard.

There was surprise for a second, a hesitation, a pulse that refused to beat on. Then Camden kissed me back, his soft lips enveloping mine, his mouth opening to give me life. He put his hand behind my head, holding it there with power and control.

My heart was an elevator car, the cable suddenly snapped, and I was freefalling and falling and falling as his lips and tongue and hot, wet mouth took away every inch of my resolve. The more he kissed me, the deeper and longer we found each other, the thirstier I got for him. I felt like if we stopped, I would die, empty on the inside and forever longing.

About Karina Halle:
Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and the USA Today Bestselling author of Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, and other wild and romantic reads. She lives in a 1920s farmhouse on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Connect with Karina Halle:

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The first rafflecopter is shared with all the blogs participating in the blitz.  The publisher has generously provided the entire Artist Trilogy to 10 lucky winners! The first giveaway is over. The second rafflecopter is exclusive to Waves of Fiction and is for one  Print Copy of Bold Tricks.  Both are open to US and Canadian residents only. Simply fill out the rafflecopters for a chance to win!

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