Dirty Angels (Dirty Angels Trilogy #1)

Overall Opinion: This was enjoyable. I felt like it was slow at times, and I actually skimmed some in hopes to speed it along. I thought the overall premise was good, and I liked the main characters and rooted for their happiness. I'll probably read the next books in the series (Dirty Deeds and Dirty Promises) because I want to get their HEA, but I'm not that eager to jump right in at the moment...**See [...] for my full review with spoiler**Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Luisa and Javier's story. Luisa is struggling as a waitress to support her blind Mom, and her Dad that is suffering from Alzheimer's. One day, a head of a cartel comes in and pursues her. She isn't in a position to deny his advances and in hopes of making things better for her parents, she ends up marrying him. She learns right away what a big mistake she made, and she eventually tries to escape only to be kidnapped by a rival cartel lord, Javier. Javier is instantly captivated by her, but he needs to get something from her husband and keep his distance. Lines are drawn and then crossed, there's a lot of crazy drama, they start to develop some strong feelings for the other, and they eventually get their HFN ending.POV: This alternated between Luisa and Javier's POV.Overall Pace of Story: Ok. I did skim at times because I wanted things to progress quicker, and the end is where all the big action happened (which I hate when that happens).Instalove: No and yes. I didn't feel like the feelings developed too quickly, but this whole book occurred over a short amount of time. I think the situations people are in sometimes allow for feelings to develop quicker and feel believable -- which is the case here.H rating: 4 stars. Javier. He was pretty psycho, but come on people he was a cartel lord!! He is a good mix of scary and sweet (if that makes sense), and he had me rooting for him in the end.h rating: 5 stars. Luisa. I liked her a lot. She was dealt a crappy hand, but she tried to make the most of it. She was strong and didn't become a whiny h like these characters often do, so I loved that! She'll keep Javier on his toes for sure!Sadness level: Low. I didn't tear up at any point, but it does cover some heavy subjects.Heat level: Moderate. Once they get together they have some good chemistry, but there aren't that many scenes that are descriptive.Descriptive sex: YesSafe sex: No. No mentions of birth control, condoms, or std status (that I remember).OW/OM drama: Not reallySex scene with OW or OM: Yes, but not in the typical wayCheating: YesPossible Triggers: YesClosure: This had ok closure and ended on a good stopping point, but their story continues on in the next two books. I would call it a HFN ending.How I got it: It was a freebie on Amazon.

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start by saying that I was a little skeptical that I would enjoy this book. I've read a few others about the Mexican drug cartel and wasn't that impressed. I decided that because I enjoyed "The Lie" so much, the author's writing, and style of writing, how she was so clever at weaving that story together, that I'd try it. And then, I was up all night long reading it. I literally could not put it down, even as it got to be 4 then 5 then 6 in the morning...I was caught between speed reading because I couldn't wait to see what happened next, but then having to go back to the beginning of the scene to savor it all. The writing was so good that there were times my heart was literally pounding hard inside my chest, and others when my stomach churned with dread, waiting to see what would happen...Javier is the leader of a drug cartel, so he cannot be expected to be sweet and caring. In fact, he is mostly somewhat of a violent character, (and I have to say, here, i did not read the Artists trilogy first, mostly because I wasn't aware Javier was in previous books, but I am going to read those now because I have to know everything about this man's life before Dirty Angels begins...). He is also a very, very sexy character and, given his nature, I wondered how the author could possibly make that work. But she did, in spades. Everything that came out of the man's mouth, and just the way he was, was so far beyond sexy that I think I fell a little bit in love with him myself.Luisa is one of the most likable characters I've ever read about. And now, these might be spoilers...Down and out, she marries another drug lord, Salvador, and Javier's arch-enemy, because, more than anything, she wants her ailing parents to be secure, happy, and taken care of. When Javier snatches her with the purpose of making a trade with her husband, their story begins. If Salvador doesn't cough up the goods in a week's time, Javier vows she will, most assuredly, die a slow, painful death. If Salvador does concede, he can have his wife back, only Luisa isn't sure what will be worse. Either way, she knows she's doomed. Adding even more angst to the story, Javier is well aware that he has to follow through with his threat to kill Luisa if Salvador doesn't come through. He not only has a reputation to uphold but he knows it is the order of things and his men will expect her death. And while I've had trouble in the past with captive/captor scenarios and wondering how it is that the two can finally come together, this particular pairing was done so perfectly that it was very easy to digest and accept. Reading how they did, how Luisa handles Javier, and how Javier handles Luisa made this, probably, the best romantic fiction book I've ever read. It was just that well done. Every single scene.

"Luisa was on her knees on the bed, naked, my 9mm in her hands and aimed right at me.I automatically had my gun pointed back at her.The sexiest Mexican standoff I'd ever been involved in."- Javier BernalFor all of you Dark Romance readers out there, this is a trilogy you don't want to miss. When I first read the content warning, I was wary. I was mostly worried that the main man, Javier Bernal, would be doing all of the treacherous things listed in said warning. But of course I didn't heed the caution and just went ahead and read it anyway, because it's a Karina Halle novel, people. I mean, come on. And I'm so glad I ignored that warning, by the way. Because yes, there are scenes of sexual and physical abuse. But please know that Javier is in no way abusive towards Luisa. Well, perhaps at the beginning. But I found those beginning scenes less evil and more about business and what is expected of someone in Javier's position. The major moments of abuse happen with Luisa's husband and the antagonist of the story, Salvador.Don't get me wrong, Javier isn't a saint. He's still a drug lord. Meaning, he's capable of some gruesome things. It is a Dark Romance, after all. He just has an extremely endearing soft spot for Luisa Reyes.I really enjoyed Luisa as the heroine of the story. She's strong, but still a bit vulnerable and innocent. She's sacrificial, but still spunky enough to catch the eye of a high-power drug lord. She has a good heart, but is damaged enough to love a black one. All in all, she has every quality that I value in a heroine of Dark Romance.For those of you that want a comparison, I would say that Dirty Angels is similar to Captive in the Dark by C.J. Roberts, but slightly less twisted. In case you're wondering, I adored Captive in the Dark so perhaps I'm a bit twisted myself.The writing is of course wonderful. Compared to her books more centered around travel and romance, I would say there's slightly less scenic imagery in Dirty Angels. But Halle makes up for it with scenic action. And by that I mean that it's action-packed. I read the novel within a day, it was so thrilling and fast-paced. And as always, Halle's economy of language is precise and cutting. I think the quote given at the beginning of this review exemplifies that perfectly.I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and I look forward to starting (and finishing) Dirty Deeds so I can be ready for when the last book comes out (in about two weeks).Side note: the Dirty Angels Trilogy is a spin-off of the Artist's Trilogy. I had not read those before reading Dirty Angels, as it says that it's not necessary, but I sort of wish that I had. It's true that it isn't necessary to read the other trilogy first, but there is a lot of reference to Ellie and Javier's past, which is the focus of the Artist's Trilogy. I just wanted to point that out in case you're someone that likes to know the whole background when reading a story.If you're a lover of Dark Romance, put this on your list! (That's an order, courtesy of Javier Bernal).Happy reading!

***I own a copy of this book. All thoughts are 100% my own***This is the story of Javier Bernal and Luisa Chavez. Luisa is a simple girl, who just wants to care for her parents. She’s beautiful, but she doesn’t like it much. It’s not gotten her anywhere. When one day she’s approached by a cartel leader named Salvador Reyes. No one tells Salvador no and lives. So she agrees to be his wife, hoping for a better life for her parents. She didn’t know the horrors that awaited her. So one day she ran away. Only to be picked up by another cartel leader named Javier Bernal. And this is the beginning of their story. His breaking and her building.This isn’t one of those happily ever after stories. It is, in that they are together at the end. BUT in this story, the bad guy is still the bad guy. He’s not some secret undercover good guy to save the day. No, Javi is a bad man. And he’s a bad man at the end. But just like there are levels of good men, there are levels of bad men. He’s just not AS bad as other men in the story.We’re warned in the beginning that this is a dark story. And it is. It’s not the darkest that I’d read, but it is still pretty brutal.The only experience I have with Ms. Halle is her story The Pact. And this is a major departure from that type of story. Which is really fine. It shows her diversity and her ability to create characters with a true voice instead of rewriting the same people over and over. I know there’s other stories with Javi in them, and I’m certain we would get more of him in all of them (and after reading this story, though HE is complete, you WILL want more of them, to just simply get more of HIM.), reading them isn’t necessary to feel like you know his character. So would I recommend this book? I would. I would just be sure to let people know that there’s no hero in this story. Javi would probably shoot me if I called him one. Like he says….Soy un hombre malo.

Dirty Angels is a dark and twisted story that I could not for the life of me put down!In Dirty Angels we meet Luisa who is a young, naive girl who working hard to help support her family. Her job isn't the best, her boss is disgusting, but she does her job so she can provide for her mother and father. I was drawn to Luisa's character because even though she should be broken, there was something about her that you knew she wouldn't give up.When Salvador Reyes, the notorious drug lord, ends up in the bar that Luisa works in, she tries to pretend at first she doesn't know who he is, but that doesn't work since everyone knows who he is and what he does. Over the weeks Salvador pursues Luisa and they end up getting married, not because Luisa is in love with him, but she knows she will die if she says no. Dying may have been a better option for Luisa as the marriage she is in his horrific and nothing like what this girl deserves. Just when she thinks she can get out, she's taken by Javier's cartel as a hostage.At first I wasn't sure what to think of Javier. Sure he was a cartel leader, he took the wife of another cartel leader, he was carving his name into her, and he wasn't too kind, but after a while, he really did grow on me. You could see that Javier had his own demon's he was dealing with, and was trying with all his might to ignore his attraction to Luisa.Luisa knew that even as a hostage of Javier's was better than being back with Salvador, and no one believed her when she told them that Salvador would not want her back. She knew no matter what was decided she would die, and she welcomed it. At times Luisa seemed weak to me, but then there were other times in this book that I admired her strength. The things she has been through would break any one, but she stood strong. Watching her accept her fate, as well as open up and welcome Javier into her life was amazing to watch. The chemistry between these two was hot, and very unconventional, but I couldn't help but root for these two.This is a powerful and amazing story. It was intense, it was hot, and it was bloody. I really enjoyed this book and the story that was told. Dirty Angels tells a powerful story that everyone should read. I am kicking myself for not picking this book up sooner, because I've been missing out on Javier!