Books for Christian Girls: "Target Acquired" by Lynette Eason

About this book:

  “Tough-as-nails Kenzie King has finally earned her place as a tactical medic on a SWAT team. But not everyone on the all-male team accepts her. Rumor is, she didn't get the position because of what she could do but because of who she knew. Which means she has to work harder and longer than anyone else to prove herself.
    Cole Garrison is a man with deep faith who is finally ready to settle down and build a family of his own--if he can find the right person, that is. Kenzie sure has set off his interest meter, but trouble seems to follow in her wake. Since she joined the team, someone has begun to ambush and pick off team members, one by one.
    It's all hands on deck to discover the culprit and end the killing. Can Kenzie and Cole put aside their differences and work together as a team? Or will their budding attraction be snuffed out by a sniper's bullet?”

Series: Book #2 in the “Lake City Heroes” series. Review of Book #1 Here!

Spiritual Content- Prayers & Thanking God; ’H’s are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; A few mentions of churches, church going, & church events; A couple mentions of those & events in the Bible; A mention of Heaven; A mention of faiths;
             *Note: A couple mentions of VeggieTales; A couple mentions of some not believing in jinxes; A mention of someone who has passed not being at her grave, but in Heaven.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: A ‘good grief’, a ‘oh my word’, a ‘sheesh’, a ‘ticked’, two ‘dang’s, three forms of ‘heck’, four ‘dumb’s, eight ‘idiot’s, ten ‘stupid’, and eleven forms of ‘shut up’; A mention of someone working her “tail” off; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Lots of Attacks/Ambushes, Fighting back, Hostage situations, Being shot at, Gunfire, Explosions, Being stabbed, Being attacked, Being hit, Being kidnapped and tied-up, Being held at gunpoint & threatened, Nearly being hit by a car, Being drugged, Pain, Injuries, Blood/Bleeding (semi-detailed); Seeing someone shot and killed by a sniper (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a criminal attempt to commit suicide (with a gun, but is stopped, barely-above-not-detailed); A SWAT K-9 attacks a shooter on command (up to semi-detailed); In the flashbacks, there is a young woman being held at a mental hospital against her will (she is told she tried to commit suicide and has bandages on her wrists; She has to go through shock therapy (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoilers* She recalls that her sociopath father was actually trying to kill her and tries to escape from the hospital with help from a doctor and a friend; She eventually leaves under the guise of being submissive so her father will take her back home and is kept in their home like a prisoner until she is later successful in later running away from him *End of Spoilers*; There is a comment from Cole and Kenzie about people not knowing how to deal with mental illness back then and that a lot of people don’t know how to deal with it today either); Many mentions of an attempted murder, suicide attempts, a mental hospital, it being a terrible place with abuse and shock therapy, screams from those there, & someone being held there against her will (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of hostage situations, explosives/bombs, fires, weapons, gunfire, shooters, people being shot, attacks/ambushes, concussions, pain, injuries, stitches, & blood/bleeding (semi-detailed); Many mentions of the car accident that killed Kenzie’s mother & made her father paralyzed (including mentions of possible foul play, her grief for her mother; *Spoiler* The brakes were cut and while her mother wasn’t supposed to be in the car, she was a victim of the murder attempt *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of World War II, deaths of brothers, & grief; Mentions of other car wrecks, deaths, & injuries; Mentions of other deaths (including from a heart attack, fires, cancer, & a hunting accident *Spoiler* The last one was not an accident and was murdered *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of domestic violence; Mentions of being drugged & kidnapped; Mentions of someone nearly being hit by a car & a slashed tire; Mentions of fires & arsonists; Mentions of a break-in & and intruders/burglars; Mentions of stealing & stolen items; Mentions of crimes, crime scenes, criminals, prison/jail & arrests; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & drunk driving; Mentions of drugs, drug overdoses, dealers, addicts, & rehab; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of jealousy & hatred; Mentions of rumors; Mentions of Kenzie’s parents having marital difficulties & sleeping in separate rooms; A few mentions of battlefields & tours overseas; A few mentions of bullies; A few mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of lice; A couple mentions of stalkers; A couple mentions of blackmail; A couple mentions of a man leaving his family; A couple mentions of teens sneaking out & parties; A couple mentions of urine; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of possible internal bleeding;
             *Note: Kenzie and her father have a very strained relationship due to his bitterness and how he would always put her and her brothers against each other when they were growing up (verbal abuse included) (When she thinks of her father, it’s said “now there was a subject worthy of a multitude of therapy sessions” and while she loves him, she spends as little time as possible with him for her own mental health; She also does not do well with apologies because they would be thrown back in her face growing up as it showed weakness; She tries to avoid thinking about how she always felt she had to earn her father’s love; She comments that it took her five years of counseling to understand that nothing is wrong with her); Eliza in the historical setting thinks about how she used to relish her father’s approval; Kenzie has a team member that doesn’t like her because of her gender (he makes comments and snide remarks towards her and her abilities; Others and herself stand up for her, but it does get to her at times as she feels she’s proven herself over and over again); Mentions of crime in areas where people are “poor and desperate” and the SWAT team wanting to show that police officers can be good (also a mention of kids being trapped in their situations and some kids being leery towards the police); Mentions of a child battling anemia & needing blood transfusions; Mentions of brand names (M&M’s, Hershey chocolate bar, Snickers, Jell-O, Coke, Band-Aid, Motrin, & Scrabble); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of a movie & an actor (Tom Cruise & Shemar Moore); A few mentions of apps/websites (FaceTime, Zoom, & Google); A couple mentions of Alzheimer’s & dementia; A couple mentions of Uber; A mention of Kenzie using a picture of someone on her punching bag for her type of therapy; A mention of HGTV.

Sexual Content- Two cheek kisses, an almost kiss (up to semi-detailed), three barely-above-not-detailed kisses, and a semi-detailed kiss; Staring at another’s lips & Wanting to kiss (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Embraces, Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to touch & embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Cole says he’s not a player because he doesn’t lead anyone on, but Kenzie says he “plays the field”; Cole doesn’t want to cross the line with Kenzie as he is her supervisor; A guy is called “hunky”; A ‘smoking hot’; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, dating, break-ups, & exes; Mentions of flirting & blushes; Mentions of attraction; A few mentions of guys stealing other guys’ girls; A few mentions of crushes; A couple mentions of kisses & kissing; A mention of a couple kissing; A mention of jealousy; Attraction & Longing; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Kenzie thinks that she has great legs thanks to exercise & a friend compliments her on them; A couple mentions of a man being interested in a woman who is fifteen years his junior.

-Kenzie King, age 34
-Cole Garrison
                                P.O.V. switches between them & Six Flashbacks to 1947
                                                        304 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Trigger Warning: Scenes at a mental asylum & mentions of suicides

I really enjoyed the first book of this series, so I’ve been excited to read this one as soon as it released. I would definitely say I liked the first book more, but it was neat to see behind the scenes of a SWAT team as I’m not sure if I’ve read about one of those before.

I’ll admit to when I opened the book and saw a long list of the cast of characters and how everyone was connected, I got a little nervous for this book. Thankfully, I was reading a Kindle edition so I was able to search for names to keep track of them all as I read, but it did take me out of the story because I couldn’t keep everyone straight.

The historical parts of this book felt a little shoehorned in and dramatic. Not that it couldn’t have happened—this is fiction overall—but it pull me out of the contemporary setting where all the action and suspense was happening. I knew both times would eventually intersect together, but for the first half of the book, I felt kind of meh on those parts.

I will say that the dialogue and pacing felt a little off to me at times, but I still mostly enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the third book when it releases next year!

See y’all on Friday with a new review!