ARC Review: Order of Protection by Lexi Blake

Series:	Courting Justice #1
Pub. Date:	June 5, 2018
Publisher:	Berkley
Length:	336 pages
Source:	NetGalley

Order of Protection is the first installment of the new Courting Justice series by Lexi Blake. This series ties into Lexi's other series involving the Lawless family and the McKay-Taggert guys. It seems that this series will follow some of the attorneys that we met in the Lawless series, and heavily features Noah Lawless, who has joined the firm. I am interested to see how these stories play out and entwines with the other two series.

Our heroine in this story is Taylor Winston ("Winnie") Hughes, known as the Million Dollar Baby after her miraculous survival when the rest of her family was lost in a yachting accident. We meet Taylor after she has left a reality television show and been released from treatment for a severe eating disorder. I'm not usually a fan of Hollywood-type heroines, but I liked Winnie. I felt like she was down-to-earth for how insanely wealthy she was, and she was philanthropic and hard-working.

Our hero is Henry Garrison, a high-powered criminal attorney known as the Monster of Manhattan. After being put through the ringer by his famous ex-wife, he wants nothing to do with Hollywood types. Henry is also a recovering alcoholic, who is still struggling mightily with his addiction. I'm not big on this character flaw in my heroes, and this was my second in the the last week, so I was not excited. To top it off, Henry was an asshole. I hated him more than I liked him. The way he treated Winnie was way over the top and out of line. It's odd that I hate a hero and like the heroine, but that is what happened here.

The relationship between these two was hot and cold, mainly due to Henry being a douche canoe. Because of his behavior, I had a hard time getting behind the relationship. However, when he got over himself, Henry and Win were good together - very good. They had chemistry and they brought out the best in one another. They were supportive of the other's issues. But Henry was just too judgy, reluctant and downright mean at times.

The suspense plot was great. I loved how it was laid out. Someone was out to get Winnie Hughes, and there were plenty of candidates in her life. While it wasn't completely unpredictable, I loved the suspense and trickling of details as the story progressed. I enjoyed the secondary characters, particularly Henry's law partners. I am definitely interested in their books going forward.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher, Berkley.

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