Books for Christian Girls: "Code of Valor" by Lynette Eason

About this book:

“What Detective Brady St. John really needs is a relaxing vacation. Unfortunately, just as the sun is setting on his second day at a friend's cabin on Lake Henley, he hears a scream and races to rescue a woman from her would-be killer. When the killer escapes only to return to finish the job, Brady vows to utilize all of his many resources to keep her safe—and catch those who would see her dead.
Financial crimes investigator Emily Chastain doesn't trust many people. And even though she let the detective who saved her life in on a few pertinent facts about why she was being attacked, there are some things you just don't share with a stranger. Little does she suspect that the secret she is keeping just might get them both killed.”

Series: Book #3 in the “Blue Justice” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here! and Book #2 Here! Also mentions characters from “Dive Team Investigators” series by Lynn H. Blackburn.

Spiritual Content- 1 Samuel 16:7 at the beginning; Prayers; Talks about God, prayers, believing in Him after traumatic times, & His plans; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Brady believes in God, but thinks He failed him so he’s shut Him out; Brady says that God doesn’t always answers prayers “like we want [H]im to” and his sister reminds him that sometimes He does (he does a couple jabs on this topic; *Spoiler* but later prays for Emily’s safety and starts talking to God again *End of Spoiler*); Emily asks God why something bad happened and asks Him to help her not to become bitter over it; *Spoiler* When the mastermind villain has been shot and killed, Emily feels compassion for him and tells him to repent and call out to Jesus; Later, Brady asks her how she was able to do that after everything, they discuss it a bit, & Emily says at the end that she didn’t want the devil to win another one *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of Heaven & hell; A few mentions of faiths; A few mentions of churches & church going; A mention of a Bible.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘duh’, a ‘suck up’, an unfinished ‘what the—‘, a ‘wimp’, five ‘idiot’s, five ‘shut up’s, eight ‘dumb’s, and eleven ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written); Sarcasm & Eye rolling; Thinking you’re going to die, Being kidnapped, Being shot at, Being shot (x2), Gunfire, Being attacked, Fighting, & Stalked (up to semi-detailed); Seeing others shot and killed & seeing dead bodies (up to semi-detailed); Fires & Explosions (up to semi-detailed); Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Hearing a terrifying phone call, Throwing up, & Grief (up to semi-detailed); Threatening & Aiming a gun at someone (the villain); The villain has a glass of bourbon; The second chapter is in the point of view of Emily’s friend while she’s been stalked, threatened with being killed, & on the phone with 911 (semi-detailed, *Spoiler* Towards the end it’s confirmed that she was killed *End of Spoiler*); Brady & Emily have to break into a place for safety; Emily lies and feels guilty; Many mentions of deaths, killings/murders, murderers, blackmail, & threats (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of hits being ordered, hired assassins, crimes, crime scenes, criminals, stealing, stolen items, arrests, prisons, & the death penalty; Many mentions of gunfire, being shot at, being shot/gunshot wounds, & shootings (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of bodies & bodies found missing parts (up to semi-detailed); Mention of an abusive father, being a violent drunk, thinking he’s going to kill someone, him threatening that and nearly doing it, & him being shot and killed (*Spoiler* Emily’s father *End of Spoiler*, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of drownings (including a case where a mother drowned herself and her young children, barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of human trafficking & rings; Mentions of kidnappings, kidnappers, being drugged, & almost being killed (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a fire, arson, explosions, & bombs; Mentions of gangs & tattoos; Mentions of a stalker & stalking; Mentions of break-ins & burglaries; Mentions of car wrecks & major injuries; Mentions of fighting, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of drugs/narcotics, addictions, & someone beating an addiction to painkillers (*Spoiler* Emily *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of grief (for a close friend, for a daughter); Mentions of a divorce & the parents each taking a son with them; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of hatred & self-hate; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & bars; Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of someone being tortured & the aftermath (up to semi-detailed); A few mentions of almost drowning; A few mentions of someone being stabbed; A few mentions of money laundering; A couple mentions of a high school bully; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a psychopath taking joy in killing others;
             *Note: Emily has scars on her wrist from when she started cutting, but never planned to commit suicide because it “was too easy” to do that (barely-above-not-detailed); Emily lived on the streets for a year as a teen after her mom kicked her out; Emily & her mother have a strained relationship and throw jabs at each other; *Spoiler* Emily’s father was shot and killed by a cop, which Emily’s mother blamed her for and hates cops because of it (Emily says her father deserved it as he was threatening to kill them) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of car brands; Mentions of Uber; A mention of brand names (Nikon); A mention of a movie & fictional characters (Despicable Me); A mention of aliens; A mention of butting into a case.

Sexual Content- Three not-detailed kisses and two border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Recalling a kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Warmth, & Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler, but important content note* In high school, a guy made a bet about sleeping with Emily, which he finally wore her down and she agreed to do it in his parents’ barn (with one of his friends hiding nearby) (barely-above-not-detailed) and she got pregnant (Brady asks why she didn’t have an abortion—saying “I’m not saying that I believe that’s what you should have done, I’m just asking why not?” and Emily says that she thought about it but couldn’t bring herself to do it, thinking of it as part of her punishment; The baby has been raised as her little sister and Emily hasn’t been around her much) *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of dates & dating; A few mentions of jealousy; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Emily thinks that while she doesn’t like the number on the scale, she likes herself now (she is still self-conscious about her appearance but tries to find happiness in other things); Mentions of women’s clothing sizes; A mention of Emily’s mom making comments on her (Emily’s) weight in the past (Emily beats her to saying one jab); A mention of Emily fixing her shirt to feel less fat; A mention of Emily being overweight in high school; A mention of jealousy over another woman’s appearance (Emily).

-Emily Chastain
-Brady St. John
                                P.O.V. switches between them, villains (x7), & Heather (x1)
                                                        315 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{ Add up to a full star for Older High School Teens interested in law enforcement }

I’ve been meaning to finish this series for years but never got around to doing it as they released. The concept of this series—a big family with almost everyone in law enforcement—is such a fun plot and I love seeing the siblings interact through the books.

That said, there has been some content that lower the ratings for girls in BFCG’s target range age and make this series better for older girls who are highly interested in law enforcement. There’s a lot of harder themes for far in this series and especially with this one because of things Emily has gone through and goes through in this book.

I will say that I had a hard time keeping tract with who everyone was and how they were connected. I read this book as a physical book, but also grabbed it off on Kindle Unlimited so I could search different names because I was lost at times.

I liked both Emily and Brady and enjoyed how they communicated and thought the romance wasn’t over-the-top or stealing the (suspense) show, which I appreciated. There were a few parts that were kind of gut-wrenching at times and added to the heaviness, but I will say that I really liked the faith content and discussions, especially towards the end of the book.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!