Book Review for JUSTICE MISSION by Lynette Eason

Caught in a killer’s sights…

Introducing the True Blue K-9 Unit series

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After K-9 unit administrative assistant Sophie Walters spots a suspicious stranger lurking at the K-9 graduation, the man kidnaps her—and she barely escapes.
With Sophie’s boss missing and someone determined to silence her, NYPD officer Luke Hathaway vows he and his K-9 partner will guard her.
​But he must keep an emotional distance to ensure this mission ends in justice… not cold-blooded murder.

As the start of a new multi-author series, Justice Mission introduced the world of the K-9 unit in New York City, delivering intense suspense and action, paired with emotional scenes, danger, even death, and a touch of romance on the side as well as adorable, caring canine companions. 
The Love Inspired romantic suspense books have the three major elements that are expected to be present in each story: the suspense, the romance, and the faith in God the protagonist have. Some stories lay more heavily on one element than the other, and in some books, like in Justice Mission, the faith was more of an assumed part of the characters lives.
The suspense and mystery, the action that the investigation brought on, is vigorous, engaging the minds of the members of the unit, as well as mine, as the reader. The missing leader of the unit, and the family connections he had within the force, and in his personal life, as well as the threat to his assistant, Sophie Walters, brought sentimental, emotion-filled moments into the midst of the research into his disappearance. The case is not solved in this book, even though the immediate danger to Sophie is sorted out. 
There are many tears throughout the tale while the unit is desperately looking for answers, but the funeral scene for a fallen cop had me sopping uncontrollably, as each vivid moments, with all the feels, were tangible in the air. The final call at the end of the service left an echo into my mind and heart, just a devastatingly sad yet honorable moment that will be hard to forget or walk away from.
I wish the chemistry between Sophie and  NYPD officer Luke Hathaway would have been as palpable. They have an obvious connection, it is clear that they care for each other, and even that they are interested in each other, but the maudlin atmosphere of the investigation overpowers nearly everything else in the tale as the stage for the rest of the series is set. 
I did enjoy getting to know everyone, and Sophie and Luke especially. They both have to do some soul searching to be able to open up for a relationship, and especially Luke's pondering was well documented while he fights against the budding attraction to a much younger (nine years, a problem to him, not to me) woman. 
Justice Mission whet my appetite to the rest of the series that will keep unfolding each month for the rest of the year. The characters are intriguing, the interactions between them are arresting, and I am looking forward to getting to know them all better. The story is filled with emotions, from tangible fear and danger, sorrow and despair, to hope and love, and of course,  spiced up with adorable canines from working K-9 four-legged officers to delightful puppies. 
An effectively engaging and appealing start of a series filled with potent, deadly danger and harsh, rough action
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side 

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Lynette Eason grew up in Greenville, SC. She graduated from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and then obtained her masters in education from Converse College. Author of twenty inspirational romantic suspense books, she is also a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA). In 1996, Lynette married "the boy next door" and now she and her husband and their two children make their home in Simpsonville, South Carolina.

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