by Misty Evans, Adrienne Giordano
Series: Justice Team #1
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
In this first book in a thrilling new romantic suspense series… Justice “Grey” Greystone was fired from the FBI for insubordination. Now the FBI wants him to use his renegade skills to take down a serial killer who’s above the law. To trap the Lion, Grey will need to send the perfect woman undercover. Sydney Banfield runs a women’s shelter and bends the law daily to help victims of abuse escape their painful lives. Three of the women she’s recruited for government jobs have become victims of the Lion. If Syd has her way, the vicious killer will never touch another woman again.
Grey and Sydney set a trap—with Sydney as the sexy bait—but the Lion adds a complex twist to his homicidal agenda. With Sydney’s life on the line, Grey must race against the clock to catch a killer who’s as unstoppable as he is evil.
Stealing Justice by Misty Evans and Adrienne Giordano is the first in a romantic suspense series that takes us into the world of high profile dignitaries and government officials. Escorts, murder and cover ups added to the suspense and had me flipping the pages. Mini review: Complex characters, sexual tension, heat, murder and suspense made this an excellent beginning to the Justice Team series.
Justice “Grey” Greystone lost his job at the FBI for insubordination. His skill set has them knocking on his door asking for help in taking down a serial killer. The “Lion” is a dignitary who skirts the law by brutally raping and strangling his victims. He recruits Sydney Banfield, a feisty, damaged and gusty female who runs a woman’s shelter in DC. She also heads up an underground network that helps woman and children escape their abusive husbands. Her office has a direct link to the murdered victims.
Caffeinated Aspects:
• The case involving the Lion and the murders had intense moments, twists and danger. As Sydney went undercover and they searched for evidence I found myself caught up in the action.
• Cupcakes! Sydney’s obsession with cupcakes made me giggle and I began craving them in the worse way.
• The romance that built between Grey and Sydney while bordering on insta-love had some hilarious moments, heat and touching scenes as these two flawed characters opened up and shared. I felt they made each other stronger. As a team, they worked well together. Sydney reacts and Grey plans giving balance to their investigation.
• The political world of DC and privilege made for an intriguing read. Navigating these shark infested waters increased the tension.
• The characters were complex and far from perfect. Grey is honorable and has his own code. Good or bad he stands by it. I would call him old-fashion, and his reaction to Sydney was fun to watch. Sydney is wacky, damaged, aggressive and at times hilarious. She is also protective, caring and insightful. The banter between them was fun and I felt their connection.
• The romance moved a little fast which is often the case in romantic suspense. Despite some issues, I rooted for them. Frenzied sex following tense situations made for some hot scenes, wicked banter and snark.
• The tale wrapped up nicely following a climatic, nail biting scene and wrapped thing up with a touching moment.
Decaffeinated Aspects:
• Foreshadowing and clues revealed things to me as a reader and by 40% I knew how the murder would be solved. I loved the clues, but some were mentioned more than once through the course of the investigation. I felt Grey should have made the connection sooner, and the second mention probably made more readers aware who normally might have enjoyed guessing longer.
• Sometimes conversations between Grey and Sydney felt a little forced especially when they opened up about their past.
• Grey’s ex-partner just kind of appeared, and I would have liked more details about him. I felt their camaraderie and liked the way they interacted. I am hoping we see more of him in future books.
• The cupcakes were fun, and certainly made me laugh. The final scene with them was delightful, but I feel there was some overkill. I love cupcakes, but Sydney should be the size of a house for all the times she mentions them and wants them.
Stealing Justice was a fast paced, action packed romantic suspense, and I enjoyed the ride. I am looking forward to the next installment of the Justice Team.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
Tyler H Jolley
That’s always a bummer when you can figure out the mystery so early in the book. But it sounds like the great writing made up for it. Thanks for the review, Kimba.
Lily B
mm cupcakes, haven’t had those in a while. Ha that happens to me as well thought.
kimbacaffeinate
This review and book have had me craving them 🙂
Glass
This kind of books are usually predictable, so there is nothing surprising for me there, but I like that character are more complex and that there is a lot of funny parts.
Great review.
kimbacaffeinate
It had parts that made it a worthy read Glass 🙂
Diana Leigh
Bummer that the mystery was easy to solve, but the other elements seem to make up for that. Nice review!
kimbacaffeinate
Agreed Diana overall I enjoyed this one 🙂
Christy
Sydney sounds like my kind of character!v 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Sydney was create cupcake obsession and all 🙂
Giselle
Ha now you have me craving Cupcakes!! I hate too many clues in a mystery myself bc I take all of that in and I guess so easily. I just want a book to surprise me for once! That’s what happens when you spend your childhood inside mystery novels I guess >.<
kimbacaffeinate
Same here Giselle, I think Agatha spoiled me with her mysteries 🙂 Have a lovely weekend
Lauren
Oh no I don’t need another reason to crave cupcakes, I already do that most of the time anyway! 🙂 I’m glad the romance seemed to work even if it was sort of insta. I agree that romantic suspense romances tend to go a lot faster, and I don’t mind if it makes sense i the context of the story. Great review!
kimbacaffeinate
Insta tends to work in this genre, and as a series they will have time to develop the relationship beyond the cupcakes and smexy time 🙂
Cyn
Sounds like there’s good potential for this series! I do love me some good suspense romance with wicked banter. That’s too funny that the cupcake talk ended up being overkill! I’ll have to check out this series sometimes. Thanks for the review!
kimbacaffeinate
hehehe..it was cupcakes galore!
Angela Adams
Hot lookin’ book cover. Thanks for the post.
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Angela I like the cover too 🙂
blodeuedd
Now I want cupcakes too
kimbacaffeinate
*hands you a chocolate raspberry cupcake*
Heidi
Sounds like a good little mystery romance, and who doesn’t like cupcakes. Too bad the mystery wasn’t as strong though.
kimbacaffeinate
Yes cupcakes are good.:)
Melissa (Books and Things)
She must have the metabolism of a hummingbird. 🙂 This sounds like a fun book. I love a good twisty mystery and now I want cupcakes! LOL
kimbacaffeinate
hahaha..yes she must Melissa!
aurian
I just dislike names like Justice, it makes it so clear the hero is the good guy. And you mentioning that some clues were mentioned twice so you can not possibly miss them, nope, not for me.
kimbacaffeinate
LOL, well he did get discharged for insubordination but you are right he is a good guy!
Nick
I’m going to like Sydney because I have an obsession with cupcakes too. I can see why it was an overkill too. I mean I love cupcakes too but that doesn’t mean I’m thinking about it constantly.
The murder mystery while it sounds fun would not be for me because I hate it when authors do the foreshadowing thing and you end up figuring out who the murderer is. I want to be taken by surprise (like with all Agatha Christie books!).
Still, I’m glad you enjoyed elements of it, Kim! Lovely balanced review! 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Yeah if they stump me I am impressed, this was a fun read though. Thanks Nick!
ShootingStarsMag
Sounds like an exciting read overall; that’s a bummer you figured out how things would end beforehand though!
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Lauren, overall this was a good one and I enjoyed it!
LuAnn Braley
TBR’d on GoodReads
kimbacaffeinate
Enjoy LuAnn. I have enjoyed several of Misty Evans books 🙂
finley jayne
Great review!
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Finley Jane 🙂
Grace
Oh, I enjoy romantic suspense, especially ones with a political DC setting! I haven’t heard of this one before. I will add to my TBR. I like reads with cupcakes. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Enjoy Grace! Have a good weekend 🙂
Braine Talk Supe
I love political thrillers like this, keeps the heart pumping. If only the mystery was a little more tricky to solve this would’ve been perfect.
kimbacaffeinate
Exactly, but I had fun all the same. 🙂
Candace
It’s too bad that you figured it out so fast. I’m not sure if I would figure it out as quickly, but that could be a big downside. I’ve been wanting to read Misty Evans but I’m not sure I would start with this one. She has some others I thought sounded good.
kimbacaffeinate
I adore Evans, and maybe I am too well versed in this genre, but if you don’t read a lot of mysteries or crime cases you may be stumped much longer.it’s fun to be guessing.
Jenny
Just the mere mention of cupcakes has me craving them Kim, I’m not sure I’d make it all the way through this book without running out and buying myself a dozen. Or two 😉 The frenzied sex and the snark sounds like fun, but it’s a shame you had the murder figured out so early on! I like to guess the whole way through. Aside from that though, this sounds like a solid story:)
kimbacaffeinate
This was fun Jenny and all these comments about the cupcakes has my stomach growling! Happy Weekend 🙂
Debbie Haupt
Thanks Kimba, great review. I kind of like being given big hints so I’m putting this on my list.
kimbacaffeinate
I do too Debbie, but this came together too soon for me. I don’t mind having a few suspects but there was no twist. It was a good read and well written. I certainly enjoyed it 🙂
kindlemom1
There is nothing worse than reading a book with food mentioned and then being hungry for it!
This sounds like it was a really good start to a new series.
kimbacaffeinate
Agreed Ali..if I know it is a foodie book I can go in prepared. Although today’s comments are making me crave cupcakes!!!
Jenea
This sounds like an interesting mix. The cupcake things sounds kinda fun, too bad about the overkill of it though. I’m glad that you enjoy it. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
I know, I was like enough with the damn cupcakes already..hehehe
Mary
I like your caffeinated/decaffeinated points…because caffeine is good. Caffeine is life. And, while I’m not a big insta-love fan, I do agree that the romantic aspects almost always move faster in romantic suspense, which works with the pace of the story. This sounds pretty good!
kimbacaffeinate
This was good Mary, with moments of laughter, suspense and sexy time 🙂
Livia
Sounds like a great read. Lol at the size Sydney should be after all those cupcakes, I sometimes secretly hate character who go on munching sprees like that and don’t suffer the consequences, lol. It’s like reader cruelty :))
kimbacaffeinate
Seriously right..I would explode out of my jeans just looking at them!
Livia
Sniffle~sniffle, I can feel myself outgrowing mine just thinking about them, lol!
Melliane
The cupcake thing is fun maybe if it’s a little too much sometimes, it’s funny to have this aspect. It’s sad that aften 40% you knew how the murder would be resolved it’s quite early. But well the book sounds really interesting too and I think I could like it as well. Thanks for the review!
kimbacaffeinate
Yeah, the clues may have been great for someone who doesn’t read a lot of suspense/mystery but it needed more twists.
Jennifer Bielman
Obsession with cupcakes? Effing endearing! I hate that you could guess the mystery so early on though. No fun.
kimbacaffeinate
Ooo and they even talked about different types of cupcakes..I seriously wanted one!
Faye
Hahaha, the overkill mention of cupcakes made me laugh! That was funny 🙂 I’m not sure what to feel towards a book that is overflowing of them 😀 On the other hand, the overforeshadowing is kind of a turn off. I love a book that can keep me second guessing, but I want it to tease me, not hand me the answers in a silver platter! :/
kimbacaffeinate
It was hilarious, and to be honest I was craving them 🙂