I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this amazing book. I am a big fan of this author, and I absolutely loved this story. The book features a high-powered female lawyer who takes on some dangerous criminals, but ends up in a difficult situation herself. The slow-burn romance in the story is well worth the wait, and the writing is both smart and witty.

Kelly McCann is a defense attorney at the top of her game. Her clients are all accused of sexual assault, misconduct, or rape and she has never lost a case. Her latest client, a brilliant scientist, is on the cusp of creating a vaccine for Alzheimer's. His ex-colleague has accused him of raping her. Kelly knows he's guilty, as well as guilty of other rapes too, but her need for victory, to win is much stronger than her morality.

That is until it's... her, too.

Kelly realizes she can never say anything. She can never report it. It would tarnish not only her career but reputation as well. Yet, the anger and rage is consuming her. She will get her justice one way or another.

What a blood boiling book this is. I will never understand why anyone would want to defend a rapist much less when your a woman so it took me some time to warm to Kelly. She may be ferocious in the courtroom but when you see her with her family you realize there is indeed another side to her. A caring and loving side. The juxtaposition between the two made for some compelling reading. This book would be a perfect selection for a book club because there is so much to be analyzed and discussed. Especially the relationship between Kelly and her teenage son. I can't delve into those details because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else but I thought it was a smart play by Kistler and it gives the reader so much more to think and ponder over. The end game was a total surprise. I never expected a twist in this, I just wanted to see this vile jerk get his comeuppance, but Kistler pulled the rug out from beneath my feet and I can honestly say I didn't see THAT coming. Whoa. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bedford Square Publishers for my complimentary copy.

Many many thanks to NetGalley Dash I love this author, and I adored this book. High powered lady lawyer taking on some bad dudes, until she finds herself on the other side! Slow burn that pays of.f. Smart and witty.

***Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, digital ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.***

Her, too is an easy to follow and quick read. Unlike others, I actually found this reasonably paced-if not fast paced in the second half. I felt that this was mix between a thriller and an episode of SVU. The author was formerly an attorney working in SA cases so her ability to write on this topic was clearly one that came from a place of experience and felt authentic.

I was very much appreciative of the authors choice to allude to the assault that Kelly survived, rather than describing it in excruciating detail. That is not to say that our character did not mention flashbacks here and there.

I initially found that some of the small twists weren’t easy to predict (for me this is major plus). I find that one of the biggest things that turns me off of a text is the predictability of it.

I felt that the authors choice in how perspectives were alternating was an interesting choice. Our main character, Kelly, was the predominant voice we heard throughout. Supporting characters had some sparse first person narrations throughout, which kept me as the reader guessing. I felt this was a complex and multifaceted read-the fact that the story wasn’t SOLELY about Benedict’s violence, but also about other goings on in Kelly’s life kept me invested.

Although it was likely a character choice and (possibly?) not the authors opinion, I did not appreciate the sexism and classism sprinkled throughout the other characters POV’s. For example: the character Tiffy was made to sound unintelligent (using the term weren’t in place of wasn’t) simply because she was a lower income individual who lived in a trailer park. During Emily’s POV she referred to another character as “crying rape” and “sleeping her way to the top”. During Javi’s POV he explained that when in search of information women simply gave it for “free” with a little flirting on his part, in contrast to men who required payment for it.

I also did not care for the bit about Kelly finding out about her teenage sons online girlfriend and how they exchanged “pictures”. For one, it went into far too much detail about an imagined minor’s body. Also, it went too far as to say he was “preying” on her. Don’t know if I agree with calling it predation when they are both teenaged kids around the same age…