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5/5 Stars

Full of twists and turns, it takes a few pages to determine who the good guys are… or if there are any.

Viggo Bryson has been arrested for tax fraud and his younger brother, Nils has been pulled into service to take care of his eight-year-old nephew.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier Charles is determined to send the brothers to federal prison with the testimony of Viggo’s ex-wife. The oh-so-pious counselor reminded me of Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame… so upright, righteous, and better than anyone else. Until I learned Xavier was hiding secrets from his past that would get him thrown off the Bryson case.

Caught up in the drama is Devlin Winters, a childhood friend of the brothers and Nils’ ex. She’s also a disbarred attorney who’d had the life she’d worked for, including a partnership in a prestigious law firm, when the pressure of staying on top became too much. Her meltdown culminated in Devlin punching her client in open court during his trial. Not a good look for any attorney, but definitely a deal-breaker when the client is a former governor.

I was on Team Devlin from that point on.

She’s a great protagonist. There are fleeting moments when she misses her expensive lifestyle, but she doesn’t miss the courtroom and is content to be a carny in the coastal town of Galveston, Texas, and live on her boat. She’s very straightforward and matter-of-fact, never dancing around the truth. That is until Nils shows up with his nephew in tow and she has to deal with another part of her past she’d rather not.

Agreeing to look over legal documents from Viggo’s attorney pulls Devlin in deeper, and though she’s not a fan of the older Bryson brother, something feels off about the case.

Her investigation will lead her to the island of St. Kitts, back into the courtroom, and the possibility of a second chance at love.

A wild plot twist near the end left me grinning! What. Just. Happened? NICE!

Looking forward to another adventure and more fun banter with Devlin and company in book two!

Enjoy!

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Synopsis:

After fleeing the crush of a partnership at a large Chicago criminal-defense firm and a professional breakdown, Devlin Winters just wants to be left alone with a couple sundowners on the deck of her dilapidated mahogany trawler on Galveston Bay. But when an old flame shows up on the boardwalk with a mysterious little boy in tow and an indictment on his heels, fate has other plans, and Devlin finds herself thrust onto a sailboat bound for St. Kitts and staring down her demons in the courtroom, as she squares off against an obsessed prosecutor with a secret of his own.

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thriller
Published by: Stoneman House Press, LLC
Publication Date: November 15th 2020
Number of Pages: 329
ISBN: 9781733737944 (Ebook: 9781733737951)
Links: Amazon | Goodreads

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