Alluring Reads

I have to admit that I wasn’t too sure what I was getting into when I signed up to be on the tour for Sins & Needles. My single previous experience with Halle was with The Devil’s Metal and that one was a very middle of the road novel for me. What I didn’t find in that one, I definitely found here in Sins & Needles. This is a novel that sucks you in with the very first chapter and keeps you reading until you have devoured every single word. Needless to say this was a one day read for me and one that left me longing for more upon finishing. We live out this tale as Ellie Watt who has grown up moving from town to town, never really having a home. Her parents were grifters who started teaching her the tricks of the trade very early on. She proves that old habits die hard and we catch up with her in the middle of one of her scams going wrong. I loved how crooked Ellie’s life was. A lot of the time when I read an adult contemporary the woman is just a regular woman who lives her life by the book and is pretty plain. Ellie was anything but, she had scams going left and right and was raking in the dough doing so. As her old scams came back to haunt her she retreated back to the small farming town she lived in with her Uncle Jim during her high school years. She retreats back to being simply Ellie Watt (not one of her many fake personas.)I really liked Ellie, I liked her possibly more than I have ever liked an MC before. She was strong headed and she was rough around the edges, I appreciated that because it made her come to life in my mind. As she cursed and just thought about things in a down to Earth way she became someone I could see myself having a conversation with. The detached way in which she tells the tales of her childhood (we are treated to Now and Then chapters) really hit home and I felt really bad for all that she had gone through. It’s clear early on that through one of her parent’s jobs she suffered something horrific that left her with scars and a limp. As that part of the tale came to light I felt heartbroken for her and I also understood her anger towards life. Yes, she wasn’t exactly making the best choices as an adult but her childhood didn’t really leave her many options. It’s pretty sad that her parents abandoning her with her uncle was probably the best thing that could have happened for her. The romance within is not your everyday girl-comes-back-to-town-and-rekindles-high-school-romance story. I loved the twists and turns that Ellie and Camden’s love story took and it constantly keeps the reader on their toes. It also led to some pretty steamy scenes that had me fanning myself and craving some steak (which I don’t even eat BTW but I’d eat Camden’s steaks any day of the week oooohweeee!) One thing that I love about Halle’s sex scenes is that they are not sweet and sensual, they are rough and steamy, but oh so hot through and through. While I did find that the twists were not exactly hard to see coming, the characters and their twisted relationships left me feeling completely satisfied. The ending is one that leaves you pondering exactly where this series will go and have you dying to get your hands on the sequel. Sins & Needles is a contemporary novel that has all the makings of a great gangster movie to satisfy your thirst for a rush. This is series that is not to be missed!A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.