Imperfect Justice by Cara Putnam

About the Book:

The police say the woman was a murderer. Emilie Wesley knows they can’t be talking about her client . . . can they?

To the world it seems obvious: Kaylene Adams killed her daughter and then was shot by police. Attorney Emilie Wesley knows a different story: Kaylene would never hurt anyone and was looking for a way out of a controlling, abusive relationship. Her death shakes Emilie’s belief that she can make a difference for women in violent marriages. Self-doubt plagues her as she struggles to continue her work in the wake of the tragedy.

Reid Billings thought he knew his sister—right up until he learned how she died. He discovers a letter from Kaylene begging him to fight for custody of her daughters if anything should happen to her. No attorney in her right mind would support an uncle instead of the father in a custody case, but Kaylene’s letter claims Emilie Wesley will help him.

Thrown together in a race to save Kaylene’s surviving daughter, Emily and Reid pursue the constantly evasive truth. If they can hang on to hope together, can they save a young girl—and find a future for themselves in the process?

My Review:

This is a good legal procedure novel about helping women leave a harmful relationship. We are taken into the world of an organization helping women, especially in the legal realm with Emilie.

We are also taken into the world of wealth management with Reid. Reid is an important character in the plot but I felt there was too much about his profession in this novel. While I appreciate learning how wealth management companies try to gain new clients, I felt that information was unnecessary and detracted from the true issue of the plot – protecting women and children from domestic harm through legal proceedings.

There is also another aspect to the broad plot in that Emilie is being stalked. There are several flashbacks so we get an idea of how he came to be infatuated with Emilie. I felt the flashbacks were intrusive to the major aspect of the plot. I would have preferred only one, perhaps a prologue.

Putnam's writing style includes lots of thinking by the characters. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy the ruminations of characters as they review what they know and suppose possible answers to dilemmas. There is not much suspense but there is a little romance.

I am taking part in a blog tour of this book and you can eventually read other reviews here.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

Cara Putman is the author of more than 25 legal thrillers, historical romances, and romantic suspense novels. She has won or been a finalist for honors including the ACFW Book of the Year and the Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Cara graduated high school at 16, college at 20, completed her law degree at 27, and recently received her MBA. She is a practicing attorney, teaches undergraduate and graduate law courses at a Big Ten business school, and is a homeschooling mom of four. She lives with her husband and children in Indiana.

Thomas Nelson, 352 pages. You can buy a copy here.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Litfuse. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Litfuse.