Aim
Circle of Justice, Book #3
By L.P. Dover
Author’s Website: http://www.lpdover.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Ian Chandler takes his job as an FBI assassin seriously, ridding the world of lowlifes the law can’t touch. It’s more or less the family business, The Circle of Justice was created by his father and is now being carried on by Ian and his brothers. Nothing can take Ian off his path of mowing through ‘the list’. That is until he learns that his longtime crush, Grace, has gone missing! Now he will move Heaven and Earth to find her, and he won’t stop until those responsible pay dearly!
Grace has avoided dating ever since her ex-boyfriend cheated on her. Instead, she’s thrown herself into her work, always putting in late hours, and being available whenever is necessary. The good work has paid off as the boss’s son, Jared, invites her to meet him and his dad after-hours and mentions a promotion. However, she never makes it to the meeting. Instead, she is abducted from her work’s parking lot and taken prisoner to be hunted by an unknown enemy.
Grace must use all the skills she learned growing up from her police chief father to escape, before it’s too late! And, Ian ends up finding a disoriented and dirty Grace at his backdoor. He is filled with relief that she is alive and makes her protection his personal duty until her abductor and unknown enemy are found and dealt with, permanently.
This is the first book I’ve read from L.P. Dover and I knew from glancing at the acknowledgements, at the beginning of the novel, that she is someone that could entertain me.
“To my husband – Thank you for helping me with the Circle of Justice series. Your knowledge has definitely helped me. I’m starting to think you’d be a good assassin.”
I thought this was a likeable enough story. Ian, the sexy bad boy assassin and his hunky assassin brothers. Assassins with morals, if you will. And, the workaholic love interest, Grace.
I enjoyed the Chandler brothers quite a bit, especially the way they interacted with each other and always had each other’s backs. But I guess that would be a necessity in their line of work.
Unfortunately, I did think the book lacked a little of the zing I was hoping for. I found the romance between Ian and Grace was too easy and sudden. Grace is someone that was hurt badly by her ex. Hurt so badly, that she’s pretty much given up on dating altogether. Then, you have bad boy Ian; sexy tattooed, and flirty who always gains the attention of the females in his vicinity. I find it hard to believe all Grace’s fears about him hurting her go out the window so quickly just because Ian takes an interest. I was also surprised with how quickly Ian divulged all his (and his family’s) secrets … you’d think you’d keep the fact that you’re assassins a little closer to the vest when entering into a new relationship.
“Our closest friends tend to be the ones who betray us first.”
I would have also liked to have seen the characters and the story as a whole to have more dimension to them. That’s not to stay the story was bad by any means, but there are definitely areas where it could be improved.
I thought this was a decent read and it’s a pretty fast read as well, it could easily be read in a day or two. The concept of the Circle of Justice is an interesting one and is not your cookie-cutter romance novel! If you’re looking for something a bit different, it may be worth the read.
