Detective James Cross has been honorably discharged from the Army Criminal Investigation Division due to wounds sustained when an IED blew up near him. Now with the Lake City Police Department, he's rooming with this good buddy and partner, Cole, while he figures out his family dynamics.
Physician Assistant Lainie Jackson is eighteen months out from an attempted murder perpetrated by her ex, which ended when she managed to grab the weapon and shoot him. When he appears to have survived and is back to finish the job he started, Lainie insists it's not possible. But someone keeps trying to kill her, and she keeps seeing his face.
Together, Lainie and James must work together to find out who, exactly, is after her and why he wants her dead. And failure is not an option.
Series: Lake City Heroes, book #1
My rating:
So good! It's been awhile since I've written a well-thought-through review, so let's dive right in!
Okay, let's be honest, when I say 'well-thought-through' I really mean that I spent more than 2 minutes writing this. Set the bar of expectations low, people.
I really enjoyed Lainie. She wasn't annoyingly in-your-face macho-woman like a lot of female protagonists can be, but she was strong. And that's the best type of women to read about, in my humble opinion.
I also loved James, he was the sweetest. And the fact that he has fantastic siblings?? Y'all know that I'm hooked. (I may or may not be a sucker for tight-knit fictional families). I hope we get a spin-off series about Keegan and Dixon. I'll admit that the whole side plot with his dad seemed kinda random, but I also kinda liked it?? Idk, my thoughts are all over the place.
Lainie's group of friends was great. I loved them so much, and the fact that they dropped everything as soon as they could in order to give her a pizza party and a night of distraction? Forget women empowering women, this was straight up BESTIES and I was totally here for it.
And Cole. I was also totally here for Cole. I may or may not have been excited to see that book two will be about him and Kenzie.
The plot itself was intriguing, and that, combined with the likeability of the characters, made it a book that was hard to put down! Much to my chagrin, I didn't have the bad guy pegged within the first half - and whether that's a testimony to my rustiness as a reader or Eason's prowess as a writer, I'm not sure, but I have to admit that it was fun being surprised, haha.
Albeit slightly unsettling, ngl. Luckily I don't have much imagination so I wasn't struck with the absolute terror of not knowing who's out to murder people.
The faith aspect of the book was kinda lacking for me, tbh. I think the main reason is that it was not the message for me, so I won't let that affect my rating. (The prayers did seem few and far between, but as one fellow adult to another, I can understand. Is it right? No. Is it relatable? Absolutely.)
Overall, it was a fantastic romantic suspense (the romance didn't make me gag, miracle of miracles - just a lil bit of cringing, but it's all good) and I look forward to reading the next one!
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for promotional purposes. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
