Review: Black Hearts by Karina Halle (Sins #1)

Note: This ARC was provided by the author via Nina Bocci PR in exchange for an honest review.

Black Hearts is the first novel in a new duet entitled Sins from bestselling author Karina Halle, and it's the second spin-off from her Artists series, the first one being Dirty Angels. Now, I've read and loved the original series, which was the story of Camden McQueen and Ellie Watt, along with the very special participation of one Javier Bernal, but have yet to read Javier's story with Luisa Chavez in the spin-off that followed. With this new duet, you can certainly go into not having any idea what happened with Camden and Ellie and Javier and Luisa because this new duology is about Violet McQueen and Vicente Bernal, the children of the aforementioned couples, respectively. However, all their stories are intertwined, so I'm certainly going to be spending my time reading the Dirty Angels trilogy while waiting for the release of the conclusion of the Sins series, Dirty Souls, which comes out on March 17.

Twenty-one-year-old Vicente Bernal and twenty-year-old Violet McQueen are bent on learning their parents's secrets. Vicente is leaving Mexico and heading for San Francisco to find the first woman that his drug cartel kingpin father ever fell in love with--the woman he lost his soul to, the soul he never got back--but he never a contingency plan for Violet, the only daughter of the woman he wants to find. When they meet, he's prepared with his story, with the fabrications he needs in order to get her to trust him. What starts as a lie quickly becomes an undeniable truth--Vicente is falling in love with his mark. In the midst of the well-built lies that her parents have created now crumbling around her, Violet finds solace in the bad boy who seems to understand more than her family does. But someone is more than interested in everything that's happening in San Francisco. Do the past and present collide?

History has a way of repeating itself. Ellie fell in love with Javier all those years ago--the con artist falling for her mark. More than two decades later, it's Javier's son who falls for Ellie's daughter--the right-hand man of his drug lord father and the photography student following in her renowned photographer mother's footsteps. The mystery suspense aspect of this duet starter was a constant, almost like a living thing that was palpable throughout. The romance between Violet and Vicente--with that infusion of Karina Halle-concocted love and lust that's uniquely hers--was torrid in all the best and dirty ways possible. I don't want to give too much away with as far as where the story takes readers, but fair warning: this ends in a cliffhanger. The second book does come out in less than a month's time, so the wait shouldn't be too long even as the bar's been set high by Black Hearts. This gets five stars. ♥

Release Date: 19 February 2017

Date Read: 16 February 2017

Learn more about Karina Halle.

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