The Artists Harlots: Interview & Giveaway: Celebrating The Artists Trilogy by Karina Halle

Hi, everyone! As many of you know, we are diehard Karina Halle fans (read: crazy stalker fangirls). Seriously, the insane levels of love we feel for Karina's books should be illegal, and yes, we are proud to say that we have happily pimped them to just about anyone and everyone who has an ear we can bend. Because they are JUST. THAT. GOOD.

To celebrate the upcoming release of Bold Tricks, the third and final book in The Artists Trilogy, we got together with some of our fellow bloggers and THIS is the result. A week-long celebration of the awesomeness that is Karina Halle and The Artists Trilogy. That's right, seven whole days of bloggers interviewing bloggers, dishing about everything from what we love about the books, to which team we're on, to how we think things will end. And to make it even more amazing, we'll be running one heck of a giveaway!

So what do you say? Are you ready to get this TAT party started?

To kick things off, we'd like to share a fan promo video/trailer made by Erika over at Your Urban Fantasy. (Some of you may know her from Goodreads as VampireNovelFan.) We think she did an incredible job with this vid, and we hope you agree!

INTERVIEW:

Janice: Joining me today are two fellow Karina fans, my blog partner, Lynsey, and Nadine from Hook Me Up Book Blog. Hi ladies! *waves*  I am soooooo excited to talk to you both and hear your thoughts about The Artists Trilogy! Are you two ready?

Okay, I'll take those impatient "get on with it!" looks as a yes....LOL ;)

Here we go, first question:

Q: How did you first hear about The Artists Trilogy? What drew you to the books?

Nadine: Actually I stumbled over Karina’s book by accident. I just got a Kindle and finished my books and was like mmh what now? So I looked through Amazon and Sins & Needles was the first book that pointed out. I loved the cover and when I read the blurb I was sold.

Lynsey: I came to The Artists Trilogy by way of Karina's other series, Experiment In Terror, which I read first and, as anyone who's read any of Karina's work will know, once you've read one of her books, you NEED to read them all!

Q: Is this your first Karina series, or have you been a fan of hers from the beginning?

Nadine: No, I’d read all her EIT books already, and I was craving more, so I looked her up. 

Lynsey: Did I not just tell you— Oh, for the sake of Pete...

No, I'd already read her longest-running series, EIT, first. Now please pay more attention. 

(Just kidding. Guess I should have read through the questions first, huh!)

Q: What's your favorite book in The Artists Trilogy so far, and why? 

Nadine: *sigh* that’s hard… I loved them all, even On Every Street. But I’d say Sins & Needles is my favorite so far.  I think because of the way it was set up -the flashbacks, inside of Ellie’s past and how she met Camden and Javier.

Lynsey: Book one - Sins & Needles. I always seem to like the beginning parts of characters' relationships when everything is new and exciting - and before Karina stomps all over them! (lol) So, yep, definitely book one for me. So far...

Q: How about a favorite quote or scene from one of the books? 

Nadine: Seriously, that’s like picking your favorite kid lol…

Favorite scene is definitely the burned steak scene from Sins & Needles *snickers*.

Favorite quote: “It was my heart being ripped in tiny, inconsequential pieces, bloody and cold. It was my pride falling down to its knees.” ~Camden in Shooting Scars

Great choices, Nadine! How about you, Lynsey? 

Lynsey: Favourite scene... Oh gosh. The tattoo scene, maybe? Or the golf scene? Gah! There are too many! I can tell you one thing, though: any favourite scene of mine will definitely have Camden in it!

Q: Okay, this may be the most important question you answer in this whole interview (LOL)

.....*drum roll please*.....

Team Javier or Team Camden - and why? 

Nadine: Ha, team Camden all the way! Why? It’s obvious: he’s hot, I mean his body is seriously panties-melting hot; he’s inked and I love guys with tattoos; he has a big heart but also has a darker side, as we learned in Shooting Scars.

Lynsey: Camden! Duh! He's the hero. I'm all for an anti-hero every now and again, but Javier crossed that line and kept on going into Villainville if you ask me. As much as I enjoy his scenes, he's just too bad for my liking.

I don't want to take sides or anything, but....I approve of your choices ;) 

Q: Speaking of hot men, be honest:  How many ice baths have you had to take while reading these books? (I myself have had to take several!) 

Nadine: Lmao… I’m honest, I had to take several breaks 'cause, damn, Karina knows how to write steamy scenes…and I might read some of the scenes twice ;)

Lynsey: She does get very racy! Particularly in this series. It was actually quite a relief after the torturous waiting we had to do in EIT to have the sexy times start quite promptly this time :)

Hmmm, I notice you didn't really answer the question, Lynsey. You're not turning shy on us, are you? 

*crickets*

Alrighty then, guess that's all we're getting out of her, folks! Moving on....

Q:  If you had the chance to say one thing - and one thing only - to the TAT characters, what would it be? 

Nadine: That’s easy - “Please, Camden, forget Ellie and take me instead. I'll definitely give you your happily ever after! :P 

Lynsey: Here's what I'd say to each of them: 

Ellie - What are you doing, woman?!
Camden - How far down do those tats go, exactly?

Javier - I'm sorry, we have filled our quota for sociopathic adulterers today. Please try again tomorrow. Or not.

Those are fabulous! Okay, let's take a break from the "serious" stuff and have a little fun, shall we? *grins wickedly* 

Q: Imagine you work for a secret government agency. What code names would you assign to Ellie, Camden, and Javier? 

Nadine: Javier’s codename would be Trigger - yeah, that’s fitting, because he’s fast in pulling the trigger and is a bit short-tempered - but only a tiny bit, LOL. Ellie’s would be Sin, because she’s beautiful and knows how to get her way. Camden's is Needle just because of this nasty scene in Shooting Scars.

Lynsey: Oh wow, now I have to get creative? Jeez, you don't want much, do you? *sigh* Okay, Ellie is "The Ghost", Camden is "The Saint" and Javier is...ooh so many things I could call him. I'll go for "The Viper". 

Q: Camden and Javier are in witness protection. For their new identities, they are posing as drag queens who work at a local club. What would their stage names be, what kind of outfits would they wear, and what kind of numbers would they perform? 

Nadine: Bahahaha that’s hilarious!!! After giving it a lot of thought........

Camden's new name is Candy and Javier's is Angelina - pretty fitting I think - and they are in a karaoke bar right now. 

Let’s start with Camden. Because of his glasses I’d dress him up like Britney Spears in her first music video (I've forgotten the name of that awful song), wearing this ridiculous school-girl outfit. Yeah, a blond wig, his glasses, and he's swinging his hips to this song singing karaoke-priceless picture right there!

Aaah now Javier… I’d dress him up as a flamenco dancer in a bright red, tight as hell dress, and a flower in her his hair. He already has longer hair so that works, and he's Hispanic, so that's another fit. He's got the attitude as well. I would let him shake it to Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira ;) Bet the crowd would go nuts seeing him LOL ;) 

Lynsey: I do worry about you sometimes, you know, Janice. How your mind gets to these strange places...

Okay, how about Camilla Von Tese and Janice (hee hee) Bendover?

Love your answer, Nadine! I see Lynsey has once again dodged part of the question! I'm sensing a pattern here  - although your name choice did make me laugh, so I'll forgive you. And for the record, there is nothing wrong with my mind or the places it goes ;) 

Next question......

Q: You're at the zoo and you've got TAT on the brain. What animals remind you of the characters? 

Nadine: A viper would remind me of Javier… he’s deadly like one and has no mercy

Camden is my black panther…*sigh*. Yeah, he’s built like one and is definitely nice to look at! For Ellie, it's hard to decide, but I guess she'd be a chameleon because she's a con artist. 

Lynsey: Camden would be a lion, Ellie would be a panther and Javier would be a....lemur?

I'm not even trying now, am I?

LOL. It's okay, Lynsey, just a few more questions and we'll have this baby all wrapped up. 

Q: Any predictions for book 3, Bold Tricks? What are you looking forward to most? (aside from reading it, of course!)

Nadine: That’s hard. I mean, of course I wish for Ellie to end up with Camden, and hopefully none of the three will die, but we all know Karina, right? Everything's possible. I might cry my eyes out if that happens, but overall, I hope the book will loaded, gritty, steamy, and a total mind-f**k.

Lynsey: I really, really need Camden and Ellie reunited and back on the same team! It was so painful to see Camden have all his illusions shattered in the last book, so I definitely need that fixing and pronto! Preferably right in front of Javier's FACE! Muah ha ha.

Q: If you had your way, how would the The Artists Trilogy end?

Nadine: With Camden and Ellie, living a relaxed life with no threats or enemies, slurping cocktails, and having lots of sex. I know it's the typical HEA but they deserve it. And even though I’m Team Cam all the way, I don’t wish Javier any harm (only the mental kind), so he's allowed to live somewhere, shipped far away, and somewhat happy, lol.

Lynsey: With Ellie and Camden able to live in peace, without fear, and most importantly - together!

Q: Last but certainly not least, why should people read these books? What makes them so special, in your opinion? 

Nadine: Karina has an ability to capture the reader with her words, and her way of writing is so witty - it's hard not to fall for her and her books. Her characters are real - none of them are super perfect; they have flaws, and that makes them so lovable for me. Her stories hook you, and I don’t know where she gets all her (twisted) ideas but they’re effing awesome. Oh and yes, Karina is really the only one that can pull off a male’s POV. Seriously, I bet she used to be a dude in a previous life. When I read her male POV’s it is like talking to my buddies at home and it cracks me up.

Lynsey: Well, I love them because I love flawed characters and emotional, gut-ripping books. So that's why they tick all of my boxes. But also, just from a story standpoint, they're a really good read. I mean, that plot twist in book one? Who saw that coming? Answer: no one, that's who! So I really think they've got something to offer everyone, even if you don't like all the romance-y, mushy stuff :)

And that's a wrap, folks! Big, huge, ginormous thanks to Nadine and Lynsey for being such great sports (Well, mostly just Nadine - haha, love ya, Lynsey!) and taking time to answer questions for us! 

Now that the interview's over, you know what you need to do, right? Of course you do. First, you're going to ENTER THE GIVEAWAY below, and then you're going to BUY THESE BOOKS so you can experience their awesomeness for yourself! 

**If you want to check out the rest of The Artists Harlots event, here's the schedule: 
10/9     Stephanie @ No BS Book Reviews interviewing The Romance Cover
10/10   Ali @ Ginger-Read Reviews interviewing Reading Is My Breathing
10/11   Little Read Riding Hood interviewing The Book Bella
10/12   Reading Is My Breathing interviewing Janice @ The Demon Librarian
10/13   The Book Bella interviewing No BS Book Reviews
10/14   Brenna @ No BS Book Reviews interviewing Ali & Chelcie @ Ginger-Read Reviews
10/15   Chelcie @ Ginger-Read Reviews interviewing Little Read Riding Hood

GIVEAWAY

We've got a fantabulous giveaway for you all! There will be TWO (2) winners selected.

***The paperback prize back is for US and Canada only (sorry!)
***The ebook prize pack is open internationally

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted in: Book News and Tidbits, giveaway, interview, Karina Halle, The Artists Trilogy