Freelance paralegal Riley Russell is building her business one case at a time. When asked to work on the legal team defending her abusive ex, she must decide whether she’s willing to face the truth about her past to win the case that can ensure her future.

Riley has put the physical and emotional scars of her relationship with Chris Fiorelli behind her, but the call from Harrington & Malloy threatens to upend her life all over again. A high-profile case like the Victoria Landon murder would give her reputation a huge boost. It would also mean trying to prove the innocence of a man she knows is anything but.

Weaving together the tenuous threads of a reasonable doubt defense takes Riley to the seedy underbelly of Atlantic City and puts her on the radar of organized crime boss Nemo Cardinale. A second murder; a mystery man linked to both victims; and a tangle of loyalties, secrets, and lies threaten to derail her efforts to get to the truth. When she finds her own life in jeopardy, there is but one question left to ask: When nothing is as it seems, who can you trust?

L.C. Rooney’s professional career began by convincing her first boss to pay for her paralegal training. She still considers that to be the most fun she’s ever had working—until she began writing fiction…about a paralegal. While there may be some similarities between the author and her protagonist Riley Russell, the latter is savvier, younger, and more willing to confront danger than the former. Let’s face it: there’s a lot to be said for only having to think, dream, and write about criminals rather than face down the real thing in dark places.

Ms. Rooney currently calls Mount Desert Island home, but, like Riley, she is and always will be a Jersey girl at heart.