Review: Shooting Scars

Sometimes the right choice can be the deadliest.

When Ellie Watt made the ultimate sacrifice for Camden McQueen, she never thought it would be easy. But walking away with her ex-lover, Javier Bernal, in order to ensure Camden’s safety has brought a whole new set of dangers. With Javier’s plans for Ellie growing more secretive by the moment, Ellie must find a way to stay ahead of the game before her past swallows her whole.

Meanwhile, Camden’s new life is short-lived. Fueled by revenge and pursued by authorities, he teams up with an unlikely partner in order to save Ellie. But as Camden toes the line between love and retribution, he realizes that in order to get back the woman he loves, he may have to lose himself in the process. He might just turn into the very man he’s hunting.

Title: Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy ~ Book 2)
Author: Karina Halle | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: August 20 2013
Publisher: Grand Cen­tral Publishing
Length: 265 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Source: ARC Provided by Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Cover Love: It matches the series, however I liked the original cover a lot more.
Point of View: Alternating 1st person between both Ellie and Camden

My Rating: 4 Stars

What a ride.  The end of Sins & Needles ensured that you were left gasping for more.  In fact, I am sure there wasn't a person who finished reading it that didn't end with their mouth hanging open, followed by a scream of "NooooOOOOoooo....."  So finally, here we have it.  The second book in The Artists Trilogy, Shooting Scars.  And this time we get to be not only in Ellie's head but also in Camden's...

“I had to watch her leave again, but this wasn’t high school and this wasn’t a hallway.  She left me in a cloud of dust, a swirl of crushed cherry blossoms that choked my heart.”

I want to start off by saying that I did not love Shooting Scars as much as I loved Sins & Needles.  This isn't to say I didn't enjoy it, because I very much did.  But I just felt that the dynamic was off.  I found it difficult with Ellie and Camden being apart for most of the book.  I loved them together in book one, they kept me page turning as fast as I could the first time around.  Now with them apart, it just didn't feel the same.  That chemistry and spark was missing, and I found myself just wanting to get forward as fast as possible, hoping that they would be reunited sooner rather than later.

“You’re trembling,” he said, voice low and smooth and far too familiar to my liking.  “Are you afraid, Ellie?”

I could pretend I wasn’t But Javier liked to make people feel the emotions he thought they should be feeling.   In layman’s terms, if I lied, he’d make me afraid.”

Javier fans however, will love this book.  I am not a part of the Javier fan club.  In fact, I despise him.  In On Every Street, I thought at one point that I could at least start to like him, but I was always a Camden fan girl.  This has not changed.  I will be honest, I also lost a lot of respect for Ellie.  There were a couple of times when I had to physically lay my Kindle down and take a break.  I just do not get the attraction to Javier, at all.  And going forward, Ellie has a lot of grovelling to do in order for me to really like her again.  She best redeem herself.

“After I first felt Ellie’s lips on mine, the warmth, sweetness, I was never the same.  She took a piece of me that I was unable to get back until I was inside her, feeling her heart and her sins in my hands.”

Camden McQueen.  *sigh*  I love him.  He is such an amazing character.  He is so unique and multiple layered.  Being in his head really surprised me.  Seeing what lengths he is able to go to in order to try to find Ellie... there are some pretty shocking moments with him.  And those moments only helped to add to his many layers.  Even though some of what he does seems out of character, being in his head you can see the emotions he is struggling with while doing them.  It all comes down to his love for Ellie, he will stop at nothing to find her.

I am also happy to report that there are still some pretty hot and steamy moments between Camden and Ellie.  As if distance would keep them from dreaming about each other.  And I must say, there is one scene... Camden's dream... holy wow.  Hot. As. Hell.

“Even at her very worst, she made me want to be a better man.  To be good enough for the both of us.”

So, since we know that book one ended on such a huge cliffhanger, I am sure you are wondering if this book does the same?  Your heart is definitely in your throat, and you are on a pretty high adrenaline rush at the end... but I wouldn't say it is as big a drop from the cliff this time around.  That is not to say you are not left wanting more, but what good series book ends with you not wanting more?  I am really excited about Bold Tricks, and thankfully if the date holds we will not have that long a wait.  At the time of this review, it is scheduled to be released October 15 2013.  Hopefully there will be no delays, I am dying to find out how this story ends.