Hidden Agenda - Kara Lennox (HS #1791 - July 2012)

Series: Project Justice (Book 6) 

Work undercover, catch the bad guy, become a full-time Project Justice investigator. Simple enough plan, until Jillian Baxter recognizes the man she's investigating. Her new "boss" is none other than Conner Blake—her childhood crush. Luckily, he has no idea who she is, since Jillian is no longer Jillybean, the short, overweight teenager he publicly humiliated. 

Despite their past, Jillian knows Conner isn't a murderer. Nor is he that same cruel boy. In fact, there's much to admire about the man he is. Still, this is an ongoing case and whatever is happening between them will have to wait. As she gets closer to finding the killer, she must decide if she can trust Conner with the truth. And that could be her toughest decision yet. 

Excellent book.  I love the Project Justice series. In this book, Jillian has been given her first job as an investigator.  She is to play the part of an administrative assistant to a lumber company executive.  She is horrified to discover it is the guy she had a crush on in high school.  During a science fair project she was humiliated and she has never forgiven him.  Jillian had some problems with letting go of her past with Conner, but did eventually realize that she couldn't hang on to her anger. He didn't recognize her at first, since she has grown into a beautiful woman.  As they work together she begins to see that he has outgrown that obnoxious teenage boy and has become an honorable man.  She also realizes she has never really gotten over her crush and it has begun to grow into something more serious.  Conner was immediately attracted to Jillian, but didn't believe she could do the job.  He had had a succession of assistants and none of them had lasted.  He thought Jillian was an empty-headed bit of fluff and figured she wouldn't last more than a couple days.  When she was able to quickly bring order to his chaos, he began to realize he had misjudged her.  When her reason for being there came out, he was furious, but thanks to the people at Project Justice found that he needed her to help clear his boss.  Even after being told to work together, he still had a problem trusting her abilities.  I loved the way she was able to get information and process it.  She was able to figure out the murderer, but when she told Conner he didn't believe her.  His disbelief nearly got her killed, and he finally realized just what she meant to him.  This was one of my favorite books of the series.

For Just Cause - Kara Lennox (HS #1779 - May 2012)

Series: Project Justice (Book 5) 

Guilt. Innocence. Psychologist and body-language expert Claudia Ellison can sense them both, which is why she's so good at her job. Unfortunately, even the innocent are convicted and this time Claudia's partially to blame. To help free a wrongfully imprisoned woman, she teams up with Project Justice investigator Billy Cantu, the one man she can't read.

They must track down the truth before someone gets hurt. And to do that, they need to trust each other. Only, the ex-undercover cop has secrets he wants to keep, and to Claudia, not knowing everything is not an option. But some things aren't meant to be shared. Because once they are revealed, they can never be taken back. 

Good book.   Claudia feels guilty because some of her testimony sent an innocent woman to prison.  She goes to Billy for help on the case.  Billy doesn't believe in the science of body language, but he does admit that she gets results.  In his former work as an undercover cop, Billy got very good at hiding his emotions and reactions.  Thanks to her past as a foster child, Claudia got very good at reading body language and expressions, and doesn't really feel safe unless she completely understands the person she's with.  She knows Billy is hiding something and really wants him to trust her with it.  As they work together to solve the mystery they learn more about each other.  They also learn that they work together very well, which helps their trust issues.  Both Claudia and Billy learned a lot about themselves.  Claudia finally accepts that she can get close to and trust people without having to know all their secrets.  Billy learns that he can tell Claudia about his past without driving her away.  Overall, I enjoyed the book, though I have to say that Claudia's ability was a little creepy to me.  I understand its usefulness, but using it outside her profession seemed to be pushing unethical to me.
 

Outside the Law - Kara Lennox (HS #1767 - Mar 2012)

Series: Project Justice (Book 4) 

Mitch Delacroix is everything Beth McClelland likes in a man. Smart, good-looking and so very safe. She's this close to making her intentions known.

Then Mitch is accused of murdering his best friend years ago. Suddenly his rebel past -- including the criminal record -- is revealed to everyone.

But something doesn't fit -- the Mitch she knows couldn't possibly kill anyone. She's determined to find the truth. As a forensics expert, she's used to uncovering people's secrets. Yet she never expected Mitch could be hiding so many. Despite rising doubts, she'll help clear his name. Even if what she discovers could threaten their relationship...and their lives. 

Very good book.  I liked Mitch in the previous books.  He seemed like such a sweet, nerdy kind of guy.  And he is -- but he's also much more.  When he's accused of murdering his best friend years ago, Beth knows there's no way he could have done it.  She and the rest of the team start investigating to clear his name.  But as more things from his past come to light, she begins to think she doesn't know him at all.  Beth irritated me just a bit.  I know she had issues with violence because of her abusive ex-boyfriend, but it bugged me that she couldn't see the differences between him and Mitch's MMA activities.  I think Mitch could have avoided some of his problems if he hadn't kept that part of his life secret.  I loved the conclusion, and the epilogue was fantastic.