ARC Review: Vindicate by Beth Yarnall

Vindicate is my first book by Beth Yarnall, and it is also the first book in her Recovered Innocence series. I was drawn in right away with the blurb and sexy cover though, and I knew this book was going to be one worth taking a chance on. I was captivated from the very start with these characters, and I am so glad that I gave this book a shot. This definitely won't be the last book I read from Beth Yarnall, and I can't wait to get the next book in the series. 

For the last five years, Cora has put her life on hold while she does everything she can to help her brother. He was wrongly convicted of a crime he didn't commit, and Cora is determined to get him out of prison. She works and goes to school, with all her money and focus going into ways that will help her brother but she knows that she is going to need some help if she is ever going to make any progress. So when she hears an interview with the owner of Nash Security and how they just got someone out of prison after he was wrongly convicted, she knows that it is fate stepping in. But they have just taken the one and only pro-bono case for this year and she has nowhere near enough money to pay them. So when the bosses son Leo offers to help Cora with the supervision and training of his father, Cora agrees as long as his dad will help train her too. As Cora and Leo partner up to track down the real person responsible for the horrible crimes her brother was convicted for, they can't help but grow closer to each other and give in to the attraction between them. 

I really liked Cora and Leo. They were great together, and I could see a connection between them right away. Though at first Cora thought that Leo was a player and wasn't convinced that he would be able to help her, it became clear that Leo was interested in more than just getting into her pants even though that was how his interest started. As Cora saw him stepping up and taking an actual interest in her brother's case, things began to get really interesting between them. Cora was smart and loyal, and I loved how dedicated she was to her brother. I can't imagine doing everything she did for him, and I really admired her for that just like Leo did. Leo was exactly what she needed though, and I loved how he was with her. He didn't let her just lose herself in her brother's case, and he helped her to start living her life for herself as well as her family. While Cora tried to do everything herself at the beginning, it was great to see her letting Leo in and allowing him to handle the parts of the investigation that she wasn't able to. These two were a great team, and they had strong chemistry and attraction between them. Their connection was real and believable and I couldn't stop reading as I had to see what would happen next. 

Overall, this was a really good book. I was drawn in right from the start, and Beth Yarnall did a great job with writing this story so that it kept my interest the entire way through. Not only did i have to see what would happen with Cora and Leo, but I needed to know what would happen for Cora's brother and his case. I won't get into the details as I don't want to spoil anything here, but I really enjoyed the entire journey here and I really liked the characters. The only thing I had any issues with was the way this one ended and that I would have liked a bit more romance. I felt like the ending could have been a bit stronger, even though I did like how things turned out. I suspect part of this is because the series does continue and hopefully we will get a bit more in the next book. I also wish that there had been a bit more romance between Cora and Leo, besides just the suspense here. While I did enjoy all the twists and turns and the process of the investigation, I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Leo and Cora together beyond just as partners. I still think that this was a good book though, and I am definitely going to be watching for the next book in the series which will be Beau's.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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