4.5/5 Stars
I went back and forth between four and five stars for this novel for a long while, thus I decided to settle on a happy medium: 4.5 stars. Officer Leah Radcliff confronts her husband, Brad, after she witnesses his involvement in what she thinks is a payoff. Brad’s threat to kill her—following years of abuse—forces her to shoot him. He’s a town hero, someone who can do no wrong in others’ eyes. With that single bullet, Leah’s life plummets into a tailspin at maximum velocity. She loses hope, but a fellow officer—Clint Tanner—believes in her innocence. He will stop at nothing to see her name cleared of all charges. Partnering with her lawyer, his investigations reveal there is much more happening than he ever realized.

Clint Tanner doesn’t change much throughout Breach of Honor by Janice Cantore, but Leah definitely does. She goes from a broken soul, bitter toward God, to a woman of prayer that finds her peace in the Father’s arms. That was inspiring. To see her open her heart to Cliff, as well, little by little, made me smile. Not because of the romance itself, necessarily, but Leah finding healing and learning how to forgive herself. I loved everything about her character. Cliff, on the other hand, seemed almost too good to be true. No one in this life is perfect, but I can’t think of a single negative trait for Cliff.

What I appreciate most about Breach of Honor is its accuracy. Janice Cantore portrays the daily operations of a police department with a mastery of someone who has real-life experience. I rarely read author bios. That being said, it was only after completing the book that I learned of Cantore’s career as a police officer. She knows her subject matter backward and forward, and that’s beyond evident in the novel. She pulls readers into her world. When she introduces terms, Cantore does so in a manner not demeaning or patronizing for her readers. Instead, she provides context clues. “TRO,” for example—a temporary restraining order. A judge grants the order, then the characters discuss the acronym.

I also loved how Breach of Honor built a foundation of faith. Most romantic suspense novels—even Christian ones—don’t often incorporate God beyond the occasional prayer. With Cantore’s novel, God is a silent character. Never speaking, but He offers peace, calmness, and direction in the midst of a storm. Cantore also scatters Bible verses throughout her writing. Some, I knew by heart. Others, when she just provided references, I felt compelled to look them up. A novel pushed me into God’s Word…how cool is that?

My only other negative comment (outside of the too perfect hero): At 448 pages, Breach of Honor by Janice Cantore felt a little too long. There were times the book just seemed to drag. Cantore reminded me of Dee Henderson, who while I love her, can sometimes get…distracted by the small points in the story. I wanted Breach of Honor to move along. Picture a Stormtrooper in Star Wars, dismissively waving a hand. I wanted to fast forward, yet Cantore traveled forward at a snail’s pace. And no amount of tugging on a leash was going to make the plot move faster.

Don’t let this deter you from reading Breach of Honor. It is a brilliant and suspense-filled novel that will cause cartoon question marks (and exclamation points!) to appear over your head. I didn’t identify any suspicious characters till close to the end of the novel. Even then, I only figured them out before their “great reveal” because Cantore made it pretty obvious they were shady individuals. If you like crime shows without any outlandish soap opera drama, I highly recommend picking up Breach of Honor. It reads more like true crime than fiction. You won’t regret reading it!

*Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All views expressed are my own.

A two year marriage for Leah has her feeling scared and on emotionally roller coaster. Brad a son of a political figure and a decorated cop. When Leah gets a call of domestic valance and sees the damage, Brad wouldn’t go this far or would he, she was scared. Clint wonder what she saw in Brad to have married him. For him he disliked Brad immediately didn’t like his manner or tactics. Brad was on the same shift as Leah, a quiet night maybe they could talk. Instead she got a shock of what he was doing, confronting him later almost led to her death. Now she is suspect in his. Wanting her father, he too never liked Brad, a womanizer, wild, so not much communication with him in two years.
Her father, and Clint’s father and now Clint were strong in their faith, and prayer was the best weapon, giving help to those that need it.
A story seeing domestic violence in her line of work, and didn’t tell anyone, feeling guilty, and mad at God for allowing it to happen. Emotion are tense, rumors were rampant that she is guilty. Who will believe her innocence.
With a young Christian attorney, prayers, can she be cleared..
Given ARC by Net Galley, Tynsdale for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

BREACH OF HONOR by JANICE CANTORE is a nail biting legal suspense novel with a great Christian message. There is all sorts of intrigue, with dirty cops, smuggling operations, "bought" judges and a whole lot more, with a big emphasis on abusive relationships and domestic violence.
Table Rock police officer, Leah Radcliff, has tried to pretend that all is well in her two year old marriage to decorated cop Brad Draper, but when she tells Brad she suspects that he is hiding something, all hell breaks loose.
Clint Tanner, a fellow cop, and her father Randy, are a real support to Leah whose case has caused havoc in the police force and other ruling bodies in Table Rock. Will they be able to uncover the darkness that is threatening to destroy them all?
The author makes it clear that it is better to trust God for His solution to a problem than to operate in one's own strength. It is a story about truth exposing lies and the Bible verses that the author uses underline this very well.
The characters are interesting and the plot is well worked out and exciting. I highly recommend Breach of Honor as a great read.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Tyndale House Publishers. The opinions in this review are completely my own.