Black Hearts by Karina Halle Published by Metal Blonde Books Publication Date: February 19th 2017
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Black Hearts is a BRAND NEW STANDALONE DUET - the second book and conclusion, Dirty Souls, releases March 17th.
For Vicente Bernal, truth is all he’s known. The son of an infamous drug lord, Vicente was born to help run the family business, which means he’s been raised on a throne of sordid pasts and dirty laundry, violence and pride. But when Vicente stumbles across someone he’s not supposed to know about – a woman from his father’s checkered past – he sets out to California to find her behind his father’s back.
What Vicente doesn’t expect to find in San Francisco is Violet McQueen, the woman’s twenty-year old daughter. Beautiful and edgy with a vulnerability he can’t resist, Violet tempts Vicente from afar and though he promised himself he’d stay away from her, curiosity and lust are powerful forces. Besides, Vicente has always gotten everything he wants – why shouldn’t he have Violet too?
Soon his wants turn into an obsession, one that sweeps Violet into his games as they fall madly, deeply in love with each other, the type of first love that can drive a person mad.
But it’s a love with tragic consequences.
Both the truth – and the lies – not only threaten to tear them apart, but threaten their very lives.
Someone has to pay for the sins of the fathers.
And they’ll be paying the price with their souls.
Black Hearts is a BRAND NEW STANDALONE DUET - the second book and conclusion, Dirty Souls, releases March 17th.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Provided by Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
I have devoured everything Karina Halle has written except her Experiment in Terror series and I adored The Artists and Dirty Angels Trilogies. If you are a fan of these, we get to meet children of some of Karina’s best characters: Violet and Vincente. This book much like their parents’ books are dark and gritty and you aren’t sure what is coming next as you turn the pages.
Violet McQueen is a photography student in her second year at the Art Institute of San Francisco and she is generally content with her life. But, something has always been off with her family and she soon discovers she has been raised in a house of lies. She is confused on who she is, what she should do about the new information until she meets a beautiful Hispanic man named Vicente. The chemistry between these two is immediate and he seems different from everyone else that Violet knows. Strangely amidst the chaos of her life, she feels safe with him.
Vicente Bernal is the prodigal son, of Javier Bernal one of the great drug lords of Mexico. He grew up in the cartel and is expected to take over the reins. Vicente wants power and respect but not the way his father wants him to have it. Vicente has come to America to unravel his father’s secrets but instead gets entangled with Violet.
Unfortunately, these two are entangled in more than a love affair and as this book got closer and closer to the end, we see that their families may destroy what if any relationship they have. If I have one complaint about this book is that I wanted more. I don’t think it is short but I just wanted more of Vicente and Violet. I also wanted more chapters in the parent’s POV. There are so many interesting voices in this book that I felt like I didn’t get enough but I guess that is why it is a duet. I can’t wait to see what Karina has in store for us. I imagine the conclusion will be filled with suspenseful twists and turns and plenty of heartache.
About Karina Halle
Karina Halle is a former travel writer and music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling author of The Pact, Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, Dirty Angels and over 20 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her rescue pup, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.
Halle is represented by the Waxman Leavell Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster and Hachette in North America and in the UK.
Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.
