Coming in strong with her second novel, Karen Lieversz takes us back to the world of dream worthy police officers – reintroducing us to Jack’s best friend, Greg. Having met him in “With or Without Panties,” we already suspected something was brewing just under the surface between Greg and Emily. “With or Without Trust” picks up at Jack’s engagement party where Greg and Emily’s simmering tension promises to boil over.
“Big things come in small packages,” Em reminds herself as she counters the common misconceptions about her height. Standing just five feet tall, Em is a spirited redhead with a black belt in kickboxing. Her dream of becoming a cop is only hindered by what she sees as an agree-to-disagree point: her impulse control issues. Despite an undeniable draw to a certain detective, she doesn’t believe she has impulse control problems—even if she did impulsively throw herself at Greg during an engagement party. Determined to maintain professionalism, she’s convinced no man should compromise her career. However, her willpower wanes when Silas, a one-eyed sweetheart of a dog, enters her life. As Em becomes more involved with Silas and Greg, the lines of professionalism begin to blur; especially as Internal Affairs starts investigating the Drug Task Force and discovers Em’s whereabouts at night. Presented with an uncompromising proposition, Em is torn between pursuing her career at all costs and protecting the man who has surprisingly captured her heart.
I couldn’t get enough of the internal struggles within the main characters. Their insecurities were continuously projected onto those around them. Emily’s feeling of never being enough—good enough, strong enough—provided a solid foundation to achieve the goals she wanted in life, but it also clouded her judgment and perspective. The same was true for Greg. Watching the character development of these two was incredible because their “ghosts” and “skeletons” created a vast chasm between them. They were so occupied with believing they were not enough that they didn’t realize they were doing an excellent job of convincing each other of the same.
Jimmy and Silas are secondary characters I absolutely adored! When you hear “homeless,” you might immediately write the person off as a drunk or a druggie, as exemplified by Greg’s dad’s views. However, Karen, through Greg, reminds the reader that these are real people with real problems—some self-inflicted, many serving as cautionary tales—all deserving of common decency.
Similar to “With or Without Panties,” Karen tends to spoon-feed the readers through redundancy and the constant reiteration of pertinent facts. As a seasoned writer, I would love to see her place more faith in her readers—that her writing is engaging and strong enough for the reader to retain the importance of Em’s dreams of becoming a cop, Greg’s avoidance of relationships, and the impact of Internal Affairs. These points, while crucial to the overall story, are emphasized too heavily—so much so that when they are mentioned again later in the narrative, the temptation to skip them is strong because we feel the urge to say, “We know! We get it!”
The intimacy in the book sizzles, with Greg and Em’s connection leaping off the page. That said, the subtle and more sensual scenes that reveal the depth of love between the two characters are more impactful. Honestly, while I appreciate a good dose of spice in a novel, the moments when Greg displays tenderness and vulnerability towards Em rank among the hottest.
Karen also took the time to address several social themes that were truly appreciated: the traditionalist views of Em’s parents, the underbelly of politics and how it can impact a family and marriage, the callousness of miscommunication (or lack thereof), the plague that is Internal Affairs (from the perspective of a police officer), and gender roles in general.
Overall, “With or Without Trust” lives up to its title. Throughout the book, we learn about the importance of self-trust and placing trust in those around us. The story teaches us that communication fosters trust while lies undermine it. Moreover, we discover that trust manifests in various forms, such as believing someone has your back even when it may not appear so. Kudos to Karen for another job well done!