Book Review: Malicious Intent by Lynn H. Blackburn

Dr. Ivy Collins, founder and CEO of Hedera, Inc., is ready to begin clinical trials of her company's cutting-edge prosthetic. Her work has been heralded by government, medical, and advocacy groups and everyone hopes the device will be a success. Well, almost everyone. Someone is trying to sabotage Hedera and the launch, but to what purpose—and how far will they go to get what they want?

Meanwhile, U.S. Secret Service Agent Gil Dixon can't believe he's finally been reunited with Ivy, his childhood best friend. Now that he's found her again, Gil intends to spend the rest of his life with her. But it will take all his skill to uncover the truth in time to save Ivy's life's work, her own life, and the innocent lives caught in the crossfire.

Perfectly balancing chilling suspense and uplifting romance, award-winning author Lynn H. Blackburn delivers a story of revenge, greed, and overcoming that you won't want to put down no matter how late it gets.

Series: Defend and Protect, Book #2 (could be read as a standalone)

My rating:

I loved book 1, so duh, of course I'm going to request the sequel to review! Unfortunately, I didn't love this book as much as the first, but it was still enjoyable and kept me on my toes.

First of all, I loved getting back into the lives of these characters. Zane, Gil, Luke, Faith, Tessa...I adore these folks. There didn't seem to be as much banter in this book, though, which was a huge disappointment after book 1. 

I enjoyed Gil's character, and his interactions with everyone, and the way he fiercely loved and protected both Ivy and his sister, but honestly, the only character growth I noticed was him reconciling with the past, and learning how to interact with Ivy. While this could be argued that this was the only character arc he needed, I personally believe that it just...fell flat.

And then let's talk about Ivy, shall we? Super intelligent, emotionally strong (but at her breaking point because who wouldn't be after being tortured with a curling iron), and very sweet. But again, there's no...depth to her character? Like Gil, she has to reconcile with the past and learn to know Gil again. The most inner conflict we see is stress because people are trying to kill her—which is definitely conflict, don't get me wrong, I just...I don't know how to put it into words, haha!

I guess the best way to say it is that it's definitely a plot-driven story...but not really a character driven story. Which is okay, as long as you still love the characters and the plot keeps you involved. But it just...fell very flat for me.

This is a short review (for me), buuuuut honestly, that pretty much sums it up. I enjoyed it, I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a clean romantic suspense novel (I didn't mind the romance, it was just pretty meh) with a good message (they trusted God, prayed, all that good stuff, and it was actually very good), I just personally didn't find myself super attached to the story, even during the suspenseful parts.

(And I think the name Daniel is absolutely epic. #iykyk)

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (this has absolutely nothing to do with anything in this post, I just didn't know what to put here)