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    Sins and Needles
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    Sins and Needles
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    Sins and Needles
    Audiobook8 hours

    Sins and Needles

    Written by Karina Halle

    Narrated by Veronica Den

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    There's a Fine Line Between Sin and Salvation . . .

    Ellie Watt is a woman on the run. Raised by a pair of thieves who taught her the art of the grift-and pursued by a mobster who fell for her con-she hopes to find refuge at her uncle's farm in quiet Palm Valley, California. Ellie swears she's through with her life of crime. But before she knows it, she's right back in the game when she meets an easy mark who's too good-and too hot-to be true.

    His name is Camden McQueen. A master tattoo artist and a total inked stud, Camden is nothing like the awkward kid who crushed on Ellie back in high school. Now, as owner of the wildly successful Sins & Needles, he's got tats to kill for, muscles to die for, and money to burn. Ellie can't believe the transformation-and can't resist pulling off one last con. But when Camden catches Ellie red-handed, the tables are turned. The mark becomes the master. And when the ultimate player gets played, you never know who's going to end up on top . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateJan 14, 2014
    ISBN9781478900603
    Unavailable
    Sins and Needles
    Author

    Karina Halle

    Karina Halle is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of Disarm and Discretion in The Dumonts series as well as The Pact, The Offer, The Play, and more than fifty other wild and romantic reads. A former travel writer and music journalist, she currently lives in a rain forest on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and their adopted pit bull. There they operate a bed-and-breakfast that’s perfect for writers’ retreats. In the winter, you can often find them in California or on their beloved island of Kauai, soaking up as much sun—and inspiration—as possible. Visit Karina online at www.authorkarinahalle.com.

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    Reviews for Sins and Needles

    3.5/5

    138 ratings13 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Ugh...I really dont know what else to say. I can't stand serials or unsatisfactory endings.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Although the book is generally well written, it has a terribly unsatisfying ending.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I really, really hated how this book ended. Damn cliffhangers! I'm dying to know what happened!!

      Warning: if you are looking for a sweet romance, this sure isn't it! Compelling story, twisted main characters... and a sexy man covered in tattoos. Yum. I love Karina! I can't wait for Scars to come out!!!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      WHAT? I don't know how I feel yet. Too many things to sort through right now. I'll update my review later but right now it's a 4 or maybe a 4.5 after I calm down!
    • 5/5
      By far one of the best books I have read this year! I know it's only February but I read a lot. Karina Halle is now on my top authors list!

      I could not get enough of Ellie Watt, she's a broken bad ass chic. And oh my Camden with his sexy tattoos, I would let him Ink me any day. Ellie is that bad girl no one likes but she still wants to fit in anyway, and she's willing to lose her only friend to gain more. Camden is in Love with is best friend and only friend but she turns her back on him and will have to live with that guilt. After years of not seeing each other, and a whole bunch of mistakes in between Ellie and Camden find themselves pulled towards each other again. But is this new friendship meant to last or is one of them hiding a secret?

      I can't wait for book two in this Trilogy and the cover is sexy!

      I had a love hate relationship with Ms.watts here, I knew she was hurting but just wanted to see the good in her. When she did something stupid instead of changing, it just made me want to slap her. She may think the world owes her and maybe it does a little but that doesn't mean the people around her do. I was relieved when she finally came around to her seances and started trusting Camden. Now, how could he love her after everything she has done to him, I can't say but he must be able to look under all the bad and the toughness to see the good and hurt that is there.

      Not all books are for everyone, I recommend this book for the mature audience due to the sexual nature and profanity. I loved the book and think it was a fun adventurous read with a love story for those who aren't YAs.
    • 4/5
      From my blogI think this cover is stunning, that is what drew me to this book first, then it also was on many Top Ten favourite lists of 2013. Overall, it wasn't my cup of tea and I have been thinking about it for a couple of week on how to review.I did enjoy the characters in the book, they were strong. Angelina Jolie type - Ellie (Tomb Raider mixed with Mr. and Mrs. Smith) meets Johnny Depp type - Camden (Edward Scissorhands). Ellie is a con artist and Camden a tattoo artist. They knew each other in high school and meet again when Ellie is running, she goes back to her hometown and meets up with the now gorgeous Camden. Both have similar lifestyles they want to run from, she is running from drug lords and he wants to run from a mob that is blackmailing him.The tension in the story was done well and captured your attention, it just didn't have me sitting on the edge of my seat, almost can see the outcomes of issues even when they were ridiculous. Ellie is a train wreck but I had to remind myself her life of being a con artists was like a drug addict, she was addicted and scared of what life would mean being 'clean', she was afraid of the unknown.The action and emotional tension makes for a great story but it felt like a whole lot of nothing at the end. The issue for me is that this is a series and I am a stand alone fan, so the fact that you don't get anywhere, you have to wait for sequels etc just doesn't do it for me.The steamy scenes were hot, raw emotional sex, not romantic in the vanilla/normal sense if that is an issue for you. Again, I actually liked Ellie and Camden together, dysfunctional but loving couple if you can call them that. Maybe it was a little ghetto/trashy for me, like watching a reality show were you were embarrassed for the cast as they were making absolute fools of themselves, but it is not funny.I am on the fence about reading the next in the series. I want to know what is next but do I want to have to read 2-3 more books, very doubtful. I did enjoy the writing of Karina Halle and think I will love a stand alone story by her.Memorable QuoteWe all make our own paths in life. Everyone we meet, everything we do, it changes us. It makes us who we are. And, if we're lucky, we're given the change to make things right again." Kindle at 85%
    • 4/5
      Ellie & Camden. I kinda love these two. Both were complex in their way. Ellie & her plan to con Camden was like watching some some inevitable fail magnet. I knew it was coming & was hoping so hard that it was coming that if it hadn't come I would have tossed my Kindle a yard. The waiting was torturous, especially since I didn't have one solid block of time to just read this through. I had to keep stealing time during the week to read (being an adult can really be bothersome at times!). Anyway, when it finally happened not only did I cheer for Ellie's failure (because that meant Camden was as smart as I'd thought) it also added more patina to the already fab, Ellie. Then Camden's background is sifted into the story & it's just a thrill to the very end. I quite liked the flashbacks of highschool. It explained so much about each of them & tied the past to the present. Was it just me who harkened back to Camden drawing on Ellie's arm in highschool when he was tattooing her leg? Awesome & so much squee. I was always pulling for them to work everything out & get together because I was so invested in all the lead up to Ellie's con. I wanted it to be real! Even when Camden treaded the line, like Ellie, I wanted to like him. I know Ellie felt he had some control issues but he didn't seem beyond the pale to me. Either Ellie's seriously super sensitive or I've known some real control freaks. Or both are true.

      I didn't know that I enjoyed romantic suspense stories so much. When Ellie's past & Camden's current situation intersect, it's all go. I do think that possibly Ellie & Camden's general chemistry & wit added to their sexiness. They had great banter. Ellie's narration gave very good insight to her thinking & her voice was clear even when she was indecisive & ego-tripping. She pretty well acknowledged it as she did it, except when she was going on with some serious self-serving myopia. You have to wonder about someone who's indignant that the person they were going to con said some scathing things to them. Really. Still, Ellie never lost my interest nor my hope that she'd be okay. And I was on Camden's side when he showed up in all his tattooed glory wearing a Battlestar Galactica tee. The Caithness comment just reinforced my adoration. Sheriff McQueen... complete asshat. That is all. Javier. Same classification as the sheriff.

      Overall, I very much enjoyed this story. One quibble, there was just a bit too much peering going on. Ellie peers a lot & she says Camden does too. It was noticeably odd. I only saw one typo (a misplaced "I") so that was excellent. Anyway, this was the first I'd read of this author (the cover & blurb caught my attention) but I will definitely be keeping up with this series. The ending will have me on tenter hooks until April.
    • 3/5
      This book goes from Present tense to past tense - Past tense telling the story of her and Camden then of her and Javier. I can say I kind of hated Ellie she seemed to be upset with people when they did her wrong even know that she wronged them in the first place. Some Hot Steamy Sex. Lots of running & even murder. Some scary stuff that I can't see how Camden & Ellie can get out of. The ending well it wasn't a happy one by any means. I look forward to the Prequel "On Every Street" coming in April as well as book #2 "Shooting Scars" coming summer 2013.

      Quotes:

      "Palm Valley may look prettier, but it's still a stubborn old lady who won't think twice about running you out of town. And me too."

      "I needed to keep my vagina out of the question and focus on what was really important: money."
    • 4/5
      3.5 - 4 Stars

      This was surprisingly less porny and more engaging and enjoyable than I would have anticipated, especially since I'm not that big of an enthusiast concerning tattoos and the related subculture to begin with (well, sue me! I guess the pictures of "Camden" you can see in some of the reviews here on GR helped to endear him to me :P).
      Starting out a little flat and predictable, this soon definitely proved to be a quick, fast-paced read with some interesting premises, a twisted (albeit not too convoluted) mafia plot with some road-trippy action scenes and some dark and flawed, but quite well-rounded characters with a backstory. Oh yeah, and there's some sexing going on but even if it hadn't been there, I wouldn't have minded either way. The scenes in questions might be a little defty for some people, but even though I tend to be more on the sensitive side, I didn't take offense.
      I would have loved to get to see more concretely some of the con jobs and scams Ellie managed to pull off in the past, but then again, I guess that definitely wasn't supposed to be the focuse of the plot. The flashbacks were nicely done and managed to explain the characters and their motivations as well as as the present situation sufficiently, and the writing overall was smooth and easy.
      I'm definitely curious to see where the plot is going and I guess I'll be soon picking up the prequel, as well as the sequel when it comes out.
    • 5/5
      I gotta give it a 5. Because while this book wasn't perfect, it was a whole new level of "unputdownable." It was 2:00am last night and I HAD to get to sleep. I close the book, lie in bed for a few minutes, toss, turn, sigh in defeat, and pick it up again for just "one more chapter." Rinse. Repeat.

      It's dark, it's suspenseful, it's raw, and it's sexy as all hell. I'm afraid to throw out the name "50 Shades" because it was everything that book was NOT. This was actually good - not the guilty pleasure kind of good, but really downright good. This was a romance with an actual plot (wow!) and an actual message (wow-wow!) It features a set of characters, Ellie and Camden, that are as broken as they come. However, it has none of that overly-done cliche misogynistic, dysfunctional stuff you see out there. Sure these kids are messed up, but you somehow don't feel that way. And that is my other reason for the 5 stars. This author has managed to create some of the best characterization I have ever seen. Like ever.

      Camden. That's all.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars
      That was fantastic... I can't wait for the next installment!!
    • 4/5
      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.***The Artists Trilogy is a dark and sexy contemporary ride about three flawed individuals caught in a world where it's so easy to justify the bad things we do. This is a pure adult read (Not YA or NA).Ellie Watt never stood a fighting chance at a normal life. Both parents were con artists and grifters, and that's what they taught her to be before she even knew what such things were. At the age of ten it all fell apart thanks to her mother and her insatiable thirst for something - be it the con, or spite, maybe revenge, possibly heartbreak - whatever it was it destroyed Ellie that day. Instead of the adults paying the price for their lies and deception Ellie did, when Travis Raines squirted some sort of acid mixture down her leg from the knee to her foot.A few years later her parents just couldn't take being straight, tried to run a con in the town they lived and almost got caught. They bailed, leaving Ellie with her Uncle Jim. Ellie had one friend, the first and only real friend in her life, Camden McQueen. Camden was the town Sherrif's son, and like Ellie was a total social misfit. But one day a new girl at school was being nice to Ellie, and somehow Ellie ended up being weak, telling herself that Camden was always dressing so weird and now he was trying to bring her down with him. In an attempt to gain some breathing space, if not a measure of peace from the constant teasing, Ellie didn't just turn her back on her one and only friend in front of the whole school. She publicly humiliated him.A few years later and Eden White, formerly Ellie Watt, has chosen her mark. She's out for revenge against the man that ruined her life. She looking to take from Travis exactly what he took from her, and she figures Javier is her way in the door. But time goes by and she loses sight of her revenge because her vision is filled with love. Somehow she fell in love with Javier, even knowing who, and more importantly what, he was. He breaks her heart, and her reaction is to steal his money and beloved GTO, Jose, and run line the wind.Tired of running, out of money, Ellie has one clean name left in her repertoire. Oddly enough it's her real name. She heads back home, fairly sure she's safe cause Javier never knew Ellie, he only knew Eden. She heads back thinking to stay with her Uncle Jim until she's back on her feet. Only he's not doing very well himself. The orchard isn't as financially productive as it used to be. He agrees she can stay, but only for a few days. While in town looking for a job she runs into her former friend, Camden. Ellie can't get a read on Camden, other than he's turned into a breathtaking specimen of man. Tall, dark, dimpled, and covered in ink. Turns out he owns a very lucrative tattoo shop. Which Ellie can't resist ripping off, after she sets up the perfect patsy that is. But things don't always work out as planned, and now Ellie and Camden are both on the run. Except they're running from different folks, same essential reason, but completely different sickos.Somehow, in the middle of all the chaos swirling around them, Camden breaks through to the inner Ellie, the little girl that believed she had a real life waiting for her once upon a time. He even gets her to let down her guard enough to show him her scars, then manages to convince her to let him tattoo the worst of the scars along her shin. She ends up with a gorgeous piece of ink that somehow manages to transform something she's always hidden out of shame into a work of art, a thing of beauty. Ellie tries to do the right thing. But will either of them survive her doing the right thing? After so much growth in such a short period of time, will all the good Camden did for Ellie survive, or will Ellie Watt revert to form and die as jaded as she was when she arrived back home?
    • 4/5
      Giselle of Xpresso Reads expressly recommended Sins & Needles to me and suggested I see if there were any slots still open on the blog tour. Karina Halle was magnanimous enough to fit me in. Having heard only good things about Halle's Experiment in Terror series, The Devil's Metal, and Sins & Needles, I was almost entirely certain I wouldn't regret shoe-horning my way into the blog tour. Thankfully, my instincts proved correct, or this would have been really awkward. Sins & Needles is a funny, sexy, dark start to a scintillating new series.

      Ellie Watt's parents were (probably still are, wherever they are) con artists, and they taught Ellie the lifestyle. Now in her twenties, she continues to make the bulk of her money this way, even though she keeps trying to go legit. Ellie makes a very compelling main character, deeply flawed and programmed into a number of very destructive behaviors. Even with new incentives to live an honest life, she finds the con hard to resist, because it's so much easier and it's what she's used to doing. I really love that Halle showed what a far-reaching, nigh inescapable impact has on Ellie.

      Part of the way Halle cleverly establishes Ellie's character is through flashbacks. The flashbacks go back to high school, when Ellie first new Camden. In them and in Ellie's other references to her past, she refers to herself as "the girl," as though speaking of someone else. Ellie has lived under several identities in her life, and she feels a disconnection from her actual self; they allow her to escape and pretend to be someone new, someone over the past. In actuality, though, Ellie cannot truly escape the past until she faces it head-on and overcomes her fears and hang-ups.

      Camden and Ellie's past puts a really interesting spin on what might otherwise be an overly stereotypical romance. Sexy, daring, damaged Ellie and gorgeous, guitar-playing, hot-bod-having Camden were best friends for a while; in fact, they had no other friends. Ellie, beautiful though she is, was teased mercilessly for her odd walk, a side effect of the devastating scars she always keeps hidden. Camden was a goth, wearing full makeup with long hair and a huge black jacket, and was called Camden the Queen, a cruel play on his last name McQueen. There's more to Camden and Ellie's past than that, but I'll leave it for you to find out for yourself. Suffice it to say that their past is complicated and adds complexities to their relationship, and also allows for a completely amazing thrift store date.

      Much as I do like Camden and Ellie, and even like them together, I do feel that I could have bought into their relationship more strongly had they had a few more days together. The timeline moves very quickly, and I felt like they progressed a bit too quickly. The romance is good, but I think a slow burn would have had more impact, at least for me.

      Now, I am not the kind of person who particularly cares for tattoos and piercings, largely because they both involve *gulps* needles *SHUDDERS*, but Halle does make them sound pretty damn sexy. I love the way Camden views the world and how he sees beauty, representing it in tattoos and other forms of art. Ellie's music note tattoo is also really cool, though her motivations for getting it are less so.

      Oh, also, I love the pop culture references throughout. I am such a sucker for a good pop culture reference. The band Calexico comes up a lot, and I'm actually listening to them as I write this. From what I hear, Halle does this quite a bit in her other books as well, so I am excited about that.

      Sins & Needles made for a lovely respite from all the YA I read. If you're looking for a sexy, darkly funny read, I highly recommend Halle's newest work. The humor and sexiness remind me of the the Stephanie Plum series, only with more serious issues and character development, which is my way of saying that I think that Sins & Needles has a huge potential fanbase. Personally, I know I'll be planning to read Shooting Scars, the next book in the trilogy, when it comes out, and perhaps some other Halle books in the meantime, schedule permitting.