“The stack of cash on his desk was as close to genuine currency as squeeze cheese was to Brie.”

Starting with this great first line is a highly enjoyable romantic suspense book. This is book two in the “Defend and Protect” series by Lynn H. Blackburn. This series features fictional characters in the North Carolina Secret Service office.

What many may not realize is that part of the Secret Service employee job description is looking for counterfeiters. From the beginning of this book, they are tracking a money trail. But the conclusions that they are drawing do not make any sense.

This book features childhood friends who have lost track of each other. Gil and Ivy’s relationship is SO sweet. Watching them try to find their footing again made for an enjoyable. The storyline is compelling, and personally this is now my favorite Blackburn book.

Trying to determine why and how Ivy was being targeted was definitely puzzling. There were definitely a lot of clues to throw readers off. I might have guessed part of the plot. But a lot of it made me wonder. I definitely did not figure out every detail.

If you have read any of Blackburn books, you will appreciate how many of the characters return. One would expect the characters from Defend and Protect Book 1, “Unknown Threat.” But there were also several characters that returned from Blackburn’s previous Dive Team Investigations series. As a reader, that adds to the enjoyment of a new series to “see familiar faces” again.

I read this book as a part of the book launch team, so I was provided a copy. I wanted to review the book because I really, really liked it. I definitely recommend this one! All opinions are my own.