In This Together - Kara Lennox (HS #1880 - Oct 2013)

Series: Project Justice (Book 8)

Desperate times call for desperate measures…

And Travis Riggs is way past desperate. With time running out to overturn his brother's wrongful murder conviction and stop his niece's adoption, Project Justice is Travis's last hope. But when his request for an interview is denied, he resorts to drastic measures -- kidnapping the founder's personal assistant, Elena Marquez.

Travis hadn't planned for any of this to happen, least of all the chemistry between him and Elena. Under different circumstances, they may have had a chance at a relationship. However, the last thing he wants is to drag her down with him, which is exactly what will happen if he accepts her help. Not that Elena is giving him much of a choice….

Good book.  Travis is getting desperate to get his brother out of prison in time to stop his niece from being adopted away from the family.  He's tried getting Project Justice involved but has run into problems with the online application and getting through by phone has been impossible.  Next he shows up at Daniel Logan's home, hoping to see him face to face.  Instead he gets Daniel's assistant, Elena, who he promptly tosses in his truck and drives off with, hoping to force Daniel to help him.  The kidnapping doesn't last long, with Travis regretting his actions immediately.  All Elena wants is a chance to help Travis clear his brother's name.

I really liked Elena.  She has been working for Daniel as his personal assistant for awhile and has a good feel for how things are done.  She is the one who takes the call when Travis shows up at the mansion and tries to get Daniel to listen, but he's on his way out to an emergency and just tells her to tell Travis to fill out the application.  When she goes down to tell him in person his frustration gets the better of him and he kidnaps her.  She's frightened at first, but soon learns that Travis isn't dangerous, just desperate.  Once the whole kidnapping thing is dealt with, Elena really wants to help Travis get the resolution he needs.  I loved the way that she uses her organization and research skills to try to help him.  She gets very frustrated with his refusal to accept the help she can give.  She is also very attracted to him which is adding a whole other layer to her frustration because he keeps saying he's not good enough for her.  I loved her persistence in keeping her eye on the goal of getting Travis's brother cleared and his niece back where she belongs.  There are also some great scenes with Elena's mother.  The ending was very satisfying and moving.

Travis is a man with a good heart and a problem with making some bad impulsive decisions.  One of those impulses got him some jail time, another one saw him married to a real piece of work, and the latest had him kidnapping Elena.  All he really wanted was a chance to get his request in front of the Project Justice people.  He had some real problems with the online application due to some learning disabilities and a definite aversion to asking for help doing something that should be easy.  As soon as he kidnapped Elena he knew he was in trouble but didn't know how to fix it.  Once he had convinced her that he really didn't want to hurt her he was surprised at how forgiving she was.  He was also surprised by her offer to help him.  He has a problem accepting any kind of help for two reasons.  First, his ex-wife had considered him a "project" and wasn't happy with him the way he was.  She kept trying to "help" him improve himself, so now he sees all offers of help as an indication that he isn't good enough.  Second, because of his jail time and background he doesn't think he deserves the kind of happiness that Elena's help could bring.  I have to admit that I got pretty frustrated with his constant negative attitude about himself.  It was great to see the way that she chipped away at that attitude, then really blasted him when it got to be too much for her.  I did like the way he came through at the end.

There was quite a bit of action also.  The kidnapping itself and Travis's efforts to evade being caught were pretty intense.  The most important action revolved around Travis's niece MacKenzie and his efforts to get her away from the foster family that is trying to adopt her.  There is definitely something fishy going on with them.  There are also multiple instances of vandalism to the house that Travis is renovating that seem to be tied to MacKenzie and Travis's brother's imprisonment.  It certainly kept me turning the pages to see how it was all going to work out.

One-Night Alibi - Kara Lennox (HS #1862 - July 2013)

Series: Project Justice (Book 7)

Walking away is not an option

It was one night. And it might have stayed that way for Elizabeth Downey if her steamy evening with Hudson Vale hadn't been the same night her estranged father was murdered. Now she and Hudson -- a cop who had arrested her father -- are the prime suspects.

Forced to work together to clear their names, Elizabeth and Hudson must deal with their wildly different approaches. Worse, the simmering attraction between them won't go away. As they race to untangle a web of deceit, the stakes get higher. Because not only do their lives depend on finding the truth, but so does this passion that's turning into so much more....

Very good book.  Liz had approached Hudson at a wedding they were both at, simply wanting a chance to talk to the man who had  the courage to take on her father.  She wasn't expecting the intense chemistry that gave them a steamy night together.  Then her father is murdered and both she and Hudson are considered suspects.  The only way to get out of it is to find out who really killed him.  With the help of the people at Project Justice they set out to do just that.

I liked both Liz and Hudson.  They have very different ways of looking at things but they end up working pretty well together.  Liz had cut ties with her father when she was eighteen because he wouldn't stop interfering in her private life.  He was so controlling that she couldn't even have a boyfriend.  When she heard about Hudson's arrest of her father she was impressed that he hadn't caved in to the pressure and wanted a chance to talk to him.  Her attraction to him was unexpected but she went with it, figuring it would be just one night, and she never told him her last name.  When she discovers that they're both suspects in her father's murder all she can think of is to appeal to Project Justice for their help.  For all that Liz is a talented social worker I thought she was kind of naive.  She spends a lot of time coming down on Hudson because of his negativity but she has a hard time seeing the bad things that could happen to them.  I did enjoy her strength in standing up to Hudson in order to protect her clients and how she did have something of an effect on his attitude.  She knew that she was falling for him but she didn't trust that they had a chance of any kind of future because of how different they were.  There were a couple times that she did some really stupid things but that was all part of her personality.  I liked that she did finally see that there was room for hope for them.

Hudson has been a cop/detective for long enough that he mostly sees the down side of people and what they do.  When he sees Liz's father trying to force money on and threatening a prostitute he places him under arrest.  He then ends up suspended because of the accusations made by the powerful man.  He's going a bit stir crazy when he attends the wedding where he meets Liz.  Something feels off about their meeting but the attraction is enough that he ignores it.  The next day he ends up a suspect in the murder and he has no idea who his alibi is.  When he tracks her down and discovers that she's as much a suspect as he is he's not sure that he wasn't set up.  As they decide that their only option is to clear themselves he has to decide whether to trust her.  There were times I wanted to smack him for being such a downer but it certainly kept them out of trouble a few times.  I enjoyed his partnership with Project Justice, especially as he had to reconcile his attitude toward them as a cop with his gratitude as a victim.  He was certainly impressed with their resources.  I really enjoyed the discussions he and Liz got into over their differing viewpoints.  I also liked the way that he was so open to the idea of a future for them even with their differences and how frustrated he was with her certainty that it wasn't possible.  It was his ability as a detective that came to her rescue at the end.

I loved seeing the Project Justice team at work again.  It's always fun to see how they are able to push the boundaries and get the job done.  I really enjoyed seeing Daniel and how much happier he is now.  I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.