GRR Reviews The Heart's Shrapnel by S. J. Lynn

The Heart's Shrapnel is an interesting tale of romance, loss, and undercover work / secret identity that puts the love at risk. But at its heart, it's a mystery to be solved. The romance is secondary.

Phil McClintock is a sergeant in the US Army, that's keeping a huge secret, one that got him shot almost in the heart. A beautiful surgeon, Jane Summers, saved him, and seems to have fallen for him, yet stayed aloof. For Jane is hiding her own secrets... Her ex, Kevin, is an abusive SOB and a soldier, and she volunteered for the army hospital position in Germany partly to get away from him. She swore she will never fall for a soldier again, but she can't stay away from Phillip. But Phil was investigating something big... missing weapons, human trafficking, all done from the US base. And there is a mole in his team. And here's the biggest secret... Phil actually Wes, Phil's twin brother. Phil... is dead. Shot by someone he knew. Wes chose to impersonate Phil by hiding Phil's death, get shot, and continue to investigate because he must find his brother's killer... but how can one find a killer in an institution that trains killers, and no one to trust? When the enemy is willing to prey upon his instinct to protect Jane? When enemy seems to know his every move?

The mystery was deep, but I don't like it when it basically relied on "enemy defection" to resolve the problem. Still, the rest of the book sort of made up for it, even as some of the details are rather fuzzy. And I think the link between Phil and Jane was a bit... "too easy"? Once established, the relationship is okay.

Category: Romantic Suspense / Military

Primary Plot: Man got shot near the heart, and almost died. A beautiful army surgeon saved him, and seem to have fallen for him too. But he's keeping a huge secret... He's investigating a huge conspiracy, and people are out to silence him... and he can't keep her safe if he involved her...

Tropes: disguise, secret world, conspiracy, military, protector, woman in peril

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up