Publisher's Weekly Review
This exciting second installment of Hannon's Code of Honor series (after Dangerous Illusions) continues the story of the Treehouse Gang, a trio of adults bonded since childhood. After serving in the Peace Corps, the only female gang member, Kristin Dane, runs a small shop in St. Louis, Mo., selling goods for humanitarian causes, such as candles produced by Christian refugees in Syria. At her friend Colin's wedding, she meets his new coworker, police detective Luke Carter, a widower. There's an obvious first-sight attraction, but their next meeting is much more somber: Kristin's clerk is murdered, and Luke takes the lead on the investigation. When the shop is connected to two more murders, it quickly becomes evident that Susan's death was more than a botched robbery attempt, and Kristin could be being targeted because of her humanitarian work. Hannon combines intrigue and restrained romance to create a story layered with multiple intertwining mysteries. Subplots involving Kristin's parents and Luke's family help round out the heroes without slowing the breakneck pace. The book can be read as a standalone, but the depth of the story and surprising twists will entice readers to circle back to the first. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
In the second in the Code of Honor series, several seemingly unrelated deaths are revealed to have a common factor: a store that deals in fair-trade goods from around the world. Detective Luke Carter is on the case, but it isn't long before the FBI gets involved, and soon the store's owner, Kristin Dane, finds herself targeted by a megalomaniac with an ambitious and deadly scheme. Author Hannon specializes in romantic suspense, a subgenre that combines the thriller with the traditional romance novel. It's a subgenre that sometimes produces uneven results, and this book is a good example of that: the romantic story and the thriller story seem to be jockeying for position, each wanting to be the book's central focus, and the result is that the book has no central focus. It's skilfully written, and the characters are nicely defined, but some readers may find themselves wishing the author had just picked one element romance or thriller and stuck with it. Still, Hannon has established a solid fan base, and her readers will find plenty to enjoy here.--David Pitt Copyright 2019 Booklist
