South of the Border

"A soul needs it's other half to truly live.
I said that to you once, do you remember?
...I don't have a soul. You make me feel like I do."

--Karina Halle, Shooting Scars

Genre: Adult Contemporary

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Pages: 265

Publication Date: August 20th, 2013

Source: Bought

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Previous Books in Series: Sins and Needles & On Every Street

Goodreads Description

A Dangerous Kind of Love . . .
When Ellie Watt offered herself to her thuggish former lover Javier to save Camden's life, she never imagined the twisted game Javier had planned for her. Trapped by him and his entourage of killers, Ellie is forced to commit a dangerous, heinous crime-or Javier will kill Camden. Now ex-con artist Ellie must find a way to stay ahead of the game . . . before it destroys her and the only man she ever loved.
Camden McQueen can't forget Ellie Watt. Seeking revenge and pursued by the authorities for a crime he didn't commit, the talented tattoo artist does things he never thought himself capable of to save Ellie. As Camden straddles the line between love and retribution, he vows to do everything in his power to get her back. But if Camden unleashes his dark side, will Ellie still love him?

Mini-Review

I was foaming at the mouth for this book. Sins and Needles blew me away. On Every Street opened up a whole other dimension to the complexities of these characters. AND we get Camden’s perspective. Holla! This book was full of action, confessions, betrayals of the deepest kind, and sex. Hot, hot sex. Anyways!

Camden is in the midst of tracking down Ellie and this is what we are reading about from his perspective. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED this. I loved reading his thoughts and understanding his emotions. He was making me swoon all over the place with how much he loves Ellie and what he would do for her. He is Liam fucking Neeson on steroids and will.not.stop. until he finds her. Le sigh.

However, as much as I loved getting into Camden’s head, his chapters were the ones I was flipping through a little faster…because Ellie’s story and journey continues to steal the show. I could not WAIT for her to get some answers out of Javier and find out what the fuck happened six years ago and what he’s doing now. It was equally heartbreaking and captivating watching these two interact. I love Camden, I think he is the choice for her overall, but dayum if there isn’t something so enthralling about Javier. This bastardo steals the show every time. He’s so cunning and seductive and fuck if I don’t wanna hop in a car and head south to find him. Shit. Their dynamic is so unique and so filled with past transgressions and broken hearts that you are just waiting for the spark to erupt the inferno.

Ellie is as complex a character as the come. Even while I’m rooting for Camden who is kicking asses and taking names in order to find Ellie, I can completely understand all decisions Ellie makes while being under Javier’s thumb. From her perspective, it all totally makes sense which is why AGAIN I will reiterate how much I fucking LOVE Karina Halle’s writing because she takes situations that you would objectively hear and think, ‘oh what a horrible person, who would do that,’ and writes and them and explores them to a point where when you hear the same situation again you think, ‘oh well yeah, that totally makes sense, 100% understandable.’ Her characterizations are simply brilliant. The journey these three characters take in this book is ridiculous. I love Camden and he has my vote in our present day story…but there is a great, big part of me that wishes time could fragment and Ellie of six years ago could live happily ever after with Javier…le sigh.

Have I mentioned how excited I am for Javier’s book?...

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