
Genre:
Thriller
Themes:
Body Positivity
Low Angst
Married or Established Couple
Opposites Attract
Second Chance
Heat Level:
Hot & Steamy (full, graphic description of sexual acts occurs and may include crude language)
Archetypes:
Lawyer / Judge / Paralegal
Geographic Location:
United States
Setting:
Courtroom / Courthouse
Small Town / Rural
Sexual / Gender Identity:
Lesbian
Trigger/Content Warning:
centers on a crime of sexual assault and stabbing
Standby Counsel
Lesfic Bard Award
The Monica Spade Trilogy, Book 2
By Alexi Venice
Winner of the 2020 Lesfic Bard Award in Mystery
Monica Spade insists she isn’t a trial lawyer, much less one who represents dangerous criminals. Despite her protests, Judge O’Brien orders Monica to serve as standby counsel for a young woman accused of repeatedly stabbing her boyfriend.
Setting aside her abject fear, Monica drags herself to the jail to meet her new client, Stela Reiter. A demure Romanian, Stela looks more like a meek librarian than a person capable of overpowering and stabbing a young man to death. Unlike Monica’s other clients, Stela is coy and secretive during their interview.
Meanwhile, Monica’s girlfriend, Shelby St. Claire, is keeping secrets of her own, forcing Monica to question the foundation of their relationship. Cursed with intrepid curiosity, Monica digs into the backgrounds of both women.
Monica uncovers sexual innuendo and layers of international intrigue. Stuck between an unrelenting judge and a killer in a pink cardigan, Monica pursues the truth in court while fighting to keep Shelby and herself out of harm’s way.
Set in the dead of winter in surprisingly progressive Apple Grove, Wisconsin, Standby Counsel will keep readers’ hearts racing.