Review: Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy #2) by Karina Halle

First thing first. The writing of Karina Halle is something that I Iove to read and you can not compare her to any other authors work. It's not forced. It's not cheesy. It's not a "trend". I've said it's once and I'll keep saying it, her writing is superb. You really don't know what you will get in her stories. They're not predictable which I highly value cause I really like to be stupefied sometimes. This is me not kissing ass. This is Spoiler Whore speaking truth.

My review was gonna be short, simple and straight to the point. It was going to be...READ THE FUCKING BOOK! But then I want to share what I love about this story.

Shooting Scars picks up where S&N leaves off. We are with Ellie and Javier and and he is taking her to their past. What this entails I hadn't a clue when I started reading and when the story finished I was like...WOAH. I didn't see many things coming and I had lightbulb moments. For me, this is the story I was highly anticipating cause we all wanted to know why Javier did what he did to Ellie. It's revealed and I am still heartbroken at why he did it. I kinda understood why. Does it make it ok? Fuck no but when it comes to Javier, I tend to forgive him. Maybe it's because of the way he treats Ellie. He treasures and loves her in his own psycho way but that makes him him and I love how he protects her, again in his own demented way. Is he physically abusive? No. Mentally and emotionally? Yes. He puts her on a path that she doesn't want to go on but he knows that this will bring her closure. But he doesn't do this just for her. Oh no. Javier is a master at mind games and he's seeking his own revenge. Orange blossoms were never sweeter and while they go thru their past and drama, Camden has his own troubles.

Life just seems to keep kicking Camden down. While Ellie and Javier are "riding into the sunset", Camden is left with his family. He loves Ellie but his son comes first. After yet another let down, Camden is on a mission to rescue Ellie. She is who he wants and he does anything and I mean anything to get one step closer to her. He notices that he's changing and not for the better and he doesn't like it but for Ellie he will endeavour the changes to get back whats his. Camden gets help along the way but not without action packed scenes and one very heartbreaking scene.

The question everyone will want to know is, who do we want for Ellie? After reading this I seriously don't know. I want her with Camden cause they're real with each other. They knew each other first but people change. With Camden, there's something about him that I don't like. I want him happy cause he deserves it. I'm #TeamJavier. He's ruthless, suave, protective, manipulative, sexy and I wouldn't have him any other way. Yes, he's a bad guy but what I absolutely love about him is that he takes out the people who hurt Ellie and some might say that he needs to off himself cause he hurt her the most but not I. She's his Angel, his soulmate and I really believe that she can bring out the good in him. He just has to make the effort to change which I don't think will happen but I can only hope.

I loved the way it ended. Kinda of a cliffhanger but I didn't mind. The story has you guessing. How will Karina do this? How will Karina do that? Who the fuck is Ellie gonna end up with? And that right there my dear readers is how an author should leave off a book. It keeps you on your toes, your mind engaged and highly anticipating for the conclusion of this one of a kind series. This is one author that I will pimp out forever.