Review originally posted at Ramblings From This Chick 
 Sins and Needles is the first book in The Artists Trilogy by Karina Halle. There is a prequel that can be read before Sins & Needles, but you don't need to have read On Every Street in order to understand what is going on in this one. However, I would recommend that you read On Every Street first though, because it adds so much more to this story! I am really enjoying this series and I have no idea what took me so long! This series is so unique and there are so many twists and turns! I honestly never know exactly what is going to happen or where Halle will take us, but I thoroughly enjoy every bit of it! I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this one after getting so attached to Javier in On Every Street (despite what he did at the end!). But I really did end up liking this one and I even enjoyed Ellie and Camden. 
 Ellie is the daughter of two con artists. She is used to being on her own and doing whatever it takes to survive. But after a bad con, she is ready to give it up for good and heads to the only place she has ever considered home. She runs into Camden McQueen, the boy she once considered her best friend. Camden is no longer the weird boy he used to be though, now he is a successful tattoo artist. Camden and Ellie start hanging out and she quickly discovers that his tattoo shop is thriving. She plans on Camden being so into her that he won't notice if a little cash goes missing. But Camden knows her better than she thinks and he figures out what she is up to. Camden needs Ellie's help and uses her attempt to con him in order to get her to help him with some problems that he is having. As Camden and Ellie start working together, they end up on a dangerous path with some very bad people after each of them. As they struggle to get away from those after them, old feelings resurface and the two of them begin to want more than just to make it out of this safely. But will they be able to escape those who refuse to give up hunting them and manage to have a relationship together? 
 Oh Camden. I will admit that I really didn't want to like him. I was 100% team Javier going into this book. I just knew that it was Javier and Ellie that were meant to be. But Camden won me over. He was tattooed and sexy, and just a little bit nerdy. He was likable and interesting, and there was so much more to his character than what you see on the surface. I think that Camden and Ellie were great together. They not only have a history together, but they also had an easiness to their relationship that was different from what Ellie had with Javier. I really enjoyed Ellie and Camden getting to know each other again, and seeing them interact as the people that they had grown to be. I thought that the flashbacks were a great way to really allow us to get to know them when they were younger as well as the people they were in the present. They had a natural chemistry and they were really sexy together! I wasn't expecting them to have steam like she had with Javier, but these two were great together. I loved that even when Camden was mad at her for things that she had done, he was still sweet with her. These two had a great connection that I felt was very real. 
 Overall, I am loving this series. The characters are flawed and deep. There is always more to them than meets the eye and I really love the way that each one is always evolving and changing. Karina Halle is an excellent writer and I love the depth that she brings not only to the characters but the story. Things are constantly developing and not everything that happens is good for the characters, but everything feels so realistic and believable. I love that I never quite know whats going to happen next, and even if I guess I am always surprised by what actually takes place. I think that this series is going to end up being one of my absolute favorites. I just can't seem to put these books down, and I end up reading until 4 AM just so that I know what happens. I absolutely recommend that you give this series a shot if you are into edgy and unique stories that have flawed characters. The steam and chemistry is fabulous and the twists and turns will keep you turning the pages. I can't wait to read Shooting Scars and see where these characters go from here. These characters have drawn me in and I am so invested that I have to know that is going to happen to all of them. 
 **ARC provided by NetGalley**