
by M.K. York
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: March 5, 2018
Genres: Mystery, Romance
Pages: 293
Reading Challenges: Read Harder 2018, Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January - March 2018
Source: NetGalley
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My rating:



Rule number one: hands off the witness
As a newbie public defender, Mark Eliades is stuck defending DUIs. But when his latest client gets charged with felony arson, the result is a career-making case he has to win. The last thing he needs is to fall for his key witness. Any hint of impropriety and his credibility will be shot, along with Mark’s case. But the more time Mark spends with the jaded private investigator, the more the rules began to blur.
Tired of endless nights chasing people who don’t want to be found, private investigator Lukas Nystrom needs a change—and a guaranteed paycheck. When a high-profile contract with the state falls in his lap, he can’t screw it up. Even if it means ignoring his growing desire for the hotshot attorney who hired him.
Convinced their client is innocent, Mark and Lukas team up to investigate the crime. With the trial looming and every lead gone cold, they work relentlessly to uncover the truth. But keeping things professional while searching for evidence they need might just make this the hardest case they’ve ever taken on.This book is approximately 90,000 words
One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Anne Scott





This was delightful! It’s not exactly what I was expecting, but I was quite happily surprised. While I wouldn’t exactly call either character “hard-bitten,” I think the title does set the tone for a riveting legal procedural mystery.
“‘I can’t—you can’t ask me to stop being what I am.’
‘And what is that, exactly?’
‘I believe in the letter of the law. It’s what I do. It’s all I do, and I’m good at it. Finding, finding compromises, sure, but I can’t—violate it, and still do what I do. I can’t sit there and know I’m doing the wrong thing.'”
“Lukas turned his back to Mark and bent down to put the beers in the fridge. His jeans were worn so thin (full! of! holes! Mark’s brain unhelpfully supplied with great emphasis, circling them and underlining like sports commentators drawing plays on the video of the field, arrows, skin visible here) that very little was left to the imagination, and his shirt was long-sleeved, but painfully tight.”
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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