Heather’s Bookshelf: Miranda Fights
Author: Gail Ward Olmsted
Released: 12/04/24
Genre: Legal Thriller
“As we were both pretty much buzzing on caffeine, we decided to head for the beach. After a long walk in the nippy air, we headed for home and warmed up in bed. Aside from stresses about work, anxiety over our move to London, and new worries about Pop’s behavior, all in all, it was a simply delightful day.”
“Miranda Fights” is a book in a series, but is reviewed as a standalone. It follows Miranda Quinn, a legal aid attorney who’s asked to represent the daughter of an old friend. Well…a former friend from high school who had a huge falling out with “Randi” and now blames her for everything bad in her life.
The former ADA has given up both her previous high profile career and her talk show to work as a social counsel. It’s not as profitable, but she finds helping those in her community to be much more fulfilling. That’s how she’s connected to Lennon, her high school friend’s daughter who’s been charged with theft after attempting to steal a pack of lobster. Lennon’s had a hard life and she’s careful to trust. But when her best friend from her group home goes missing, she confides in her new legal counsel.
Meanwhile, Miranda also leads a group for at-risk teenagers. When some of the young women also report disappearances, Miranda believes something much bigger and dangerous could be going on.
Will Miranda discover the truth before more young women, including Lennon, go missing? Or will history Miranda’s history with Lennon’s mother be too much to overcome?
Trigger Warning: violence, sex trafficking, reference to rape/sexual assault, adult language, reference to drug use and abuse
Overall, I enjoyed this story. This book is part of a series, which I have read and reviewed other selections of. However, this review was done as a standalone. The book can easily be read as a standalone as the author does well in incorporating enough background information on the protagonist and ancillary characters to keep you engaged. Miranda is a smart and caring protagonist. Her love for her husband, family and friends is clear and obvious, providing emotional connections to the main characters. Lennon is a well-developed, damaged, and intriguing ancillary character. She’s quick-witted, driven, and trying to overcome bad circumstances. You can’t help but want to see what happens to the young woman along the way. There’s some bad stuff that happens in this book, but the villains were not as well developed or present as the rest of the characters, retracting a bit from the response to the story. Side stories about Miranda’s husband and family keep the story on the lighter side- regardless of the sometimes dark themes within the pages. The ending wrapped everything up nicely, with clear indications that there may be more adventures for Miranda in the future.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A quick-witted and intriguing ancillary character steals the show in this legal thriller.
Want to learn more about the author?
Check out my interview with Gail Ward Olmsted
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Find it for purchase here
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