Books for Christian Girls: "Deadly Proof" by Rachel Dylan

About this book:

  “In the biggest case of her career, attorney Kate Sullivan is tapped as lead counsel to take on Mason Pharmaceutical because of a corporate cover-up related to its newest drug. After a whistleblower dies, Kate knows the stakes are much higher than her other lawsuits.
   Former Army Ranger turned private investigator Landon James is still haunted by mistakes made while serving overseas. Trying to forget the past, he is hired by Kate to look into the whistleblower's allegation and soon suspects that the company may be engaging in a dangerous game for profit. He also soon finds himself falling for this passionate and earnest young lawyer.
   Determined not to make the same mistakes, he's intent on keeping Kate safe, but as the case deepens, it appears someone is willing to risk everything—even murder—to keep the case from going to trial.”

Series: Book #1 in the “Atlanta Justice” trilogy.

Spiritual Content- A couple Scriptures are mentioned; Prayers & Thanking God; Kate has a faith & witnesses to Landon; Landon feels like God has abandoned him (due to God not answering an important prayer) & and is on his own; *Spoiler* Landon opens his heart back to God about halfway when talking with Kate and then starts to pray for Kate’s safety *End of Spoiler*; It’s said that Nicole doesn’t have a “spiritual connection to any particular religion” but she did, she would pray over a decision; Talks about God, faiths, & praying; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God, His will, & faiths; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, & services.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘heck’, a ‘screw up’, a ‘sucks’, two ‘dumb’s, two forms of ‘idiot’, and five ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses (said, not written, including by Ethan); A bit of eye rolling; Seeing a murder, another person shot, & blood (up to semi-detailed); Being attacked, Being held at gunpoint, Being shot, Being rear-ended, A car chase, Fighting (self-defense), Threatened, Injuries, Pain, Blood/bleeding, & Passing out (up to semi-detailed); Kate has anxiety & depression (it’s mentioned and discussed, but not shown on-page; She handles with anxiety & depression with her faith in God); Ethan has the start of a panic attack (barely-above-not-detailed); Ethan’s morals are tested for representing a big company that will pay well but wants him to hide evidence (he also says some hurtful things to Kate since their positions are on different sides of the lawsuit); All about many mentions of prescription drugs, drug companies, side effects (including brain tumors), injuries, & deaths from the drugs (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a shooting, murder, & the murderer, & professional hits; Mentions of car accidents & deaths (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths & grief (including Kate for her parents (car accident), a husband (cancer), a mother for her daughter (brain tumor)); Mentions of wars, fighting overseas, violence, terrorists, & guilt over causing a death (Landon, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of crimes & criminals; Mentions of threats & blackmail (including slashed tires); Mentions of kidnappings, attacks, blood/bleeding, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; A handful of mentions of prescription drug abuse & addiction; A few mentions of alcohol & DUIs; A few mentions of parties & partying; A couple mentions of an arrest & prison; A couple mentions of robberies; A couple mentions of explosives; A couple mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of hatred; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of gang violence; A mention of thugs; A mention of a break-in; A mention of gambling; A mention of divorce; A mention of Landon’s father not being in the picture when he was growing up; A mention of an injured cat (barely-above-not-detailed);
             *Note: Kate wants a spot on a team because of her qualifications & not her gender (Ethan makes a comment that Kate got the spot partially because of being female; Another female attorney tells Kate that she can’t be soft with those under her because as a woman “the last thing you want is to be seen as weak”); Mentions of car brands; A mention of a store (Macy’s); A mention of a brand name (Kool-Aid); A mention of social media (Facebook).

Sexual Content- An almost (semi-detailed) kiss, a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, and a detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Warmth, & Butterflies (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (up to semi-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Landon is called a ‘hunk’ twice (by Kate and her friends); A few mentions of kisses & kissing; A few mentions of dates & dating; A few mentions of cheating & a guy hitting on his friend’s girlfriend (*Spoiler* Landon, which he deeply regrets doing *End of Spoiler*); A mention of jealousy; A mention of a crush; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.

-Kate Sullivan, age 38
-Landon James
                                P.O.V. switches between them, Ethan, & Nicole
                                                        320 pages

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My personal Rating-

{Add up to a full star for Older Teens interested in the legal field}

I was interested in this book because of the law theme and the case against a Big Pharma company, so that’s why I stuck with it even when the romance made me roll my eyes. Even though I enjoy a good (clean) romance, I think I honestly would have preferred there to be no romance in this book. It felt out of place and shoehorned in at times. But I’ll be honest that that could have been because I was much more interested in the case then the main characters. This was definitely a book where I was reading to the end for the plot, not the characters.

For being classified as a legal suspense book, it didn’t feel suspenseful at all to me, but maybe that’s because I’m use to books where both of the main characters are in the criminal justice field. The attorney and debate elements were completely interesting, and Kate was very well spoken in those parts so it felt well done. I truly enjoyed those scenes and am glad it was a major part of the books.

The faith content was good, but I do think this book was unbalanced with the legal parts and main couple having discussions about their struggles—nearly every time they were together, it was about past events or Kate trying to encourage Landon back to his faith. Which, mind you, wasn’t bad, but I never felt a connection—or spark if you will—about them. Their feelings for the other happened very fast and felt forced into the plot.

I might continue on with the series as I own the rest of the books, but I’ll admit to not anticipating a lot from them.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!