This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I am giving this book three stars, as I don't want to give it a good or bad rating, since I did not get to it and we have to leave a star rating.

Lexi and Nita are heading to meet Noah for another award for the work they did on a previous mission they ended up working together on. But someone wants revenge on how they ruined his plans to take out the governor of Texas. Meanwhile Nita is struggling after being shot in a bar. Lexi tries to be there for her, but work gets in the way.
Goodreads

great writing, I was absorbed quickly. I wish I had read the first book in this series, but the gist was expressed during the book, main character was cool as a cucumber and great as a bomb defuser…I would read more of this author .

“PROXIMITY is a propulsive action thriller with a fearless heroine ”

I’ll say. This second book in the Lexi Mills series is filled with more nail biting moments for our heroine Lexi. Her arch nemesis has once again set traps meant to advance his cause and eliminate Lexi in the process. Her sense of duty makes it impossible for Lexi to not rush in to help those in danger. Action thriller/heroism 101. What adds to the expected mayhem in Proximity is the presence of Lexi’s girlfriend Nita throughout the novel.

Nita plays a small but important role in the first book [Fuze] as Lexi’s physio and eventual lover. In Proximity we see the other side of falling in love with a hero. Nita is battling demons of her own and the stress of not knowing the one you love will survive her mission is explored. Kudos to the authors for adding some needed depth and emotional conflict to both Lexi and Nita. I found myself questioning what I would do in Nita’s shoes. Added to my reading pleasure and discomfort. Well done.

A copy of this book was received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

This is the second book in the Lexi Mills series and I recommend reading them in order as the storyline is continuing. Overall, there were less action scenes and plot twists in this book than in the first book, but there were enough suspense moments and I liked that there was more room for Lexi and Nita as a couple and I especially liked to see Nita’s side of the story.

Lexi, an ATF explosives expert, is still chasing her arch nemesis who cost her her leg. He hates her as much as she hates him because in this book, he lays out an explosive trap for Lexi to further his own evil plans and kill Lexi in the process. Lexi once again gets help from Noah and she is caught between work and her private life.
Nita is struggling with coping with Lexi’s dangerous job, her injury and her history with addiction and she’s is about to relapse. As I already mentioned, I liked that Nita has a bigger role in this book and that you get to see things from her perspective. I hope this will continue in the third book as well. To me, their private life and their dynamic as a couple really adds to the storyline and to Lexi as a character.

The writing in this instalment was smoother than the first instalment and it seems that Brian Shea and Stacy Lynn Miller found their writing groove together. This is an excellent second book in the Lexi Mills series that I easily recommend.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I have read by the authors even though it features a repeating character from prior books. The character description was detailed enough so that I never felt I was missing any prior information.

There are a lot of sub plots going on but they all combine to be a part of the main storyline. I thought this book was a stand out and one that I will remember for a long time. It was very well laid out and the characters were people I felt I knew in real life. I found myself holding my breath at times anticipating what was going to happen next.

I can’t wait till this book is published so that I can recommend it to my reading circle of friends. Once they have read it I plan on discussing this book in detail.

The authors did a great job in their knowledge of the subject and how they simplified it enough for me to understand everything. I can’t wait to read more from these authors.

I received a ARC of this book and my thanks to the team of NetGalley and the author for the copy.

All views expressed in this review are my own and based on my reading of this book. Some of the initial comments were made as I progressed in this book and I have not tried editing them as it expresses my contiguous thoughts as I proceeded with the story.



This is the second book of a series featuring titular character Lexi Mills and despite flashbacks to the earlier book can be read as a standalone novel.
I have been expanding my reading horizon with NetGalley reading new authors writing on my favorite topics especially thrillers. This is my first book from the authors.

The story is a taut thriller featuring Lexi as a much decorated ATF agent, one who has received name and fame in the line of duty having foiled an assassination attempt on a Governor. Right through the book we see her character as someone passionate about her duty and an expert of sorts on diffusing explosives as well as one with an encyclopedic memory of various types of mines and bombs.

I got pulled into the book initially by the name and the cover picture which frankly took me off in a different direction making me feel this was aa story about an UFO landing on a field and maybe something to do with crop circles.
It was when I read the Book Blurb that I got an inkling on the story line so for me the cover was a red flag.

Coming back to the story the years of law enforcement experience of the writer duo reflects well in the writing with the police processes in handling a crisis spot on.

Here in this book we have what seems to be a kidnapping for money blowing up into a major hostage crisis involving terrorists, bombs and prisoner release.

This is also where the story nods its head to its prequel and brings Lexi Mills into the story as the person demanded by the kidnapper to participate as the representative of law enforcement in this crisis.

A terrorist with a history with Lexi has set up a chessboard to trap and kill her in the line of duty and expose her as a false hero in the process securing release for his brother.

The story pans out with the usual and has all the items for an intense drama with the police, the FBI, an eager beaver by the books SWAT, hostages at different locations, a reluctant participant blackmailed to become the villain, bombs placed strategically, protagonist challenged to prove herself and a terrorist with a bone to grind with her. The story moves fast and the twists and expected turns coming every other page.

The story gives us a bird's eye view of Lexi's personal life and life after losing a limb and becoming a prosthetic limb user. Her struggles and her success at regaining her work life is something that I loved reading about in this book. Her love and family life is also a part of this story and we see her travails and struggles to maintain her relationship with her job and more her singlemindedness to duty being the biggest constraint. The story gives us stories about people like we see in our lives and their challenges like Nita her friend and one whom Lexi hopes to propose to one day is struggling with her addiction and rehabilitation after surgery and who also faces the mental strain of loving someone who is a dedicated officer and who doesn't think consequences while following her duty where she has already faced death before.

As a person who engages with people in the sphere of disability as a social activist trying to make society aware of the importance of Inclusion and Access for all, this story gave me characters that are a representation of the eco-system. We have Lexi the principal character as a person with a prosthetic limb and Dylan a child, one of the hostages has a hearing disability and is learning lip reading and sign language. The strength and independence of both the characters is a refreshing reading.


Lexi the hero of this piece feels that receiving awards and medals for doing her job was unnecessary and embarrassing and it is almost like being portrayed as inspiration porn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inspiration_porn) and as a reader I could identify it. I appreciate Stacy drawing on her own experiences with challenges in vision and extending them to the book.

Belcher senior comes across as a villain who is hell bent on revenge while fulfilling his larger plan. His brother "Amadeus" comes across as a smug sick b****** who doesn't care two hoots for others lives and this is where I feel the duo of Brian and Stacy have excelled.

What did not feel clear was how Belcher comes across as a master terrorist who seems to plan his activities to a T but has no back-up to his plan at the store. The original kidnapping and rescue was also where his planning seemed to falter as not a single bomb explodes and Lexi decodes his challenge quite well.
The too obvious love between Lexi and Nita is again sometimes a bit of drag and does not add to the story. Nita's aloofness due to a combination of stress, medicine and drugs should have been enough and apart from the first meeting which one could understand what with a Damocles sword hanging on Lexi, the rest was just chaff. Nita's character could have been more clingy with her background not Lexi.
Another thing that rankled was that the character Biscuit conveniently knows about the only Achilles heel of the shed where Belcher's stooges have left his kidnapped family. Too pat a scenario.

Notwithstanding the above, this series stands out as a book of real looking characters with their scars and flaws both physical and mental, real and imagined, fighting with their own demons of livelihood, addiction, confidence, physical challenges and living their lives.

A worth read and recommended to all.

4 stars through and through. Brian and Stacy have it in them to take this up several notches. Best of luck to the duo.

Proximity is an excellent addition to The Lexi Mills series!
Fast paced, action packed, thriller.
Intriguing plot with interesting and developed characters, returning and new.
Look forward to reading Impact next!

I'm afraid my review is tainted by the fact that I haven't read the previous books in the series. I felt that there was too much reference to the problems in the relationship between characters without enough background information given to new readers. Then there is the relationship between ATF agent and be bomber, which also began in previous storylines. I just felt like I was missing half of the story.

Lexi Mills comes upon a hostage situation in a grocery store in the Sacramento valley. The explosive devices are wired to kill them. Lexi has to put her ATF bomb skills to work to save these victims before time runs out. She also has to fight a madman to put a stop to this and to face her own demons. She is pressed to the absolute limit to save the hostages and herself.,

This was an enjoyable and quick read. It is part 2 of a 4 part series. Once again Lexi Mills is chasing her arch enemy Belcher and risking her life to do it. She’s also risking the love of her life in the process.

This book is filled with action and diffusing bombs left and right. Lexi has her work cut out for her but luckily she has her friend Noah Black to help her.

Lexi’s girlfriend Nita, is along on this mission and she has a very difficult time dealing with the danger that Lexi jumps into headfirst everytime.

ARC received from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review.

What a treat to be approved to read this advance reader copy from NetGalley. I read and enjoyed the first of this series although each could be read as a standalone. Carve out some time for this action packed, tension filled story, you won’t be able to find a place to pause.
Lexi is a decorated ATF agent with unparalleled skills when it comes to diffusing explosives. She literally gets pulled from her flight to a new crisis. Hostages, incendiary devices, SWAT, the FBI and an evil terrorist group leader demanding her presence. The scenes play out with white-knuckle intensity.
Lexi’s life partner gets an up-close, frightening experience seeing what the job entails and she is not prepared for how the unrelenting fear of losing her feels like. She may not be able to handle loving her. It takes a special commitment to love someone you know risks their life every time they go to work.
What sets this series apart is the diverse representation of ordinary people with strengths and flaws, those you might pass every day. The homeless, an addict, a deaf child, the LBGQ couple, a housewife, the store clerk, each one is relevant if given the opportunity.
Highly recommend this thrilling read and the authors. Proximity is 2nd in the Lexi Mills series, by Brian Shea and Stacy Lynn Miller, expected publish date Feb. 09, 2023 by Severn River Publishing. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

This was a fast-paced and engaging thriller! I did find myself wishing I had first read other books involving the main character, Lexi, because I did feel like I was missing out on some of the background of the story. That being said, I enjoyed the intriguing plot, fast pace and nonstop suspense. I appreciate the opportunity to read this novel!

ATF agent Lexi Mills is drawn into a hostage situation in a small family run grocery store when explosives are discovered wired throughout the market. The situation becomes even more precarious when the mastermind pulling the strings turns out to be her former nemesis with untenable demands.
Great action story with very well defined characters and plot line.
The suspense builds as the plot unwinds and it becomes a rapid page turner.
The only less than riveting part for me were excessive personal sideline add ins which really were totally superfluous and a bit tedious.