Review: The Perfect Ending!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 16, 2013
Five HUGE Stars!! **SPOILER FREE**When I first started this series I had no idea where everything would end up. It seemed like anything was possible when dealing with con artists, kidnappings, revenge, love and lust. Throw in a couple of drug lords and you have a recipe for amazing plot directions. The first two books in this series were a roller coaster ride of "what will happen next?" screaming at you from every twist and turn and when you start Bold Tricks, Halle doesn't give any indication of how this incredible ride will end. But after finishing the book, I can't see how it could have ended any other way. And that way was perfect.Ellie, Camden and Javier are three very different and very polarizing characters. People have their "teams" they root for but it is really them as a whole, together, that make this book such a thrill. It is the only book where all three of them are together for any long amount of time and you really get to see the dynamics of what works and what doesn't. IN Sins & Needles, Ellie and Camden were the stars, laying the groundwork for the love story and major plot points. In Shooting Scars, Javier gets his turn with Ellie and their relationship takes a very different turn (way off course from On Every Street, which of course I must include but as backstory I see more as a structure for their future relationship, something to turn to for comparison.) But we can't forget the insight we get on Camden too as his POV helps mold his character into someone different fro the first book but I believe more true to himself as he fights for the woman he loves. So when we get to Bold Tricks, these singular characters, all strong in their own right, must find a way to work together toward a (somewhat) common goal. Past and present slam into future with such a vengance there are times you wonder if anyone is going to come out the other side intact. As the story progresses, you clearly that this book is centered on Ellie and the direction she must choose for her destiny, her future and what she wants out of it. She had several choices to make and the book does a beautiful way showing her growth, struggle and acceptance of things about herself and things about the most important men in her life who have helped shaped into the woman she becomes by the end of the book.The action in this story is non-stop, the tension so thick at times I felt like the pages were strangling me. But never once does Halle let go of her grip on your jugular as she rips you through the trio's journey and makes no promises for a happily ever after. There's a lot of destruction, death and mayhem, and each page feels like it could jump into any action movie and entertain you immensely. Each page is crafted in such a way you really have no idea how things will or can work out in the end. You are just along for the glorious ride with Ellie, learning as she learns, about what her life entails and who that life may be with.