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Targeted

Deadly Objective

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When it comes to love, some lines are meant to be crossed

True, US Secret Service Agent Liam Harper is charming, handsome, and absolutely devoted to the people and things he cares about--including his job protecting the vice president's moody son, Mason. But Emily Harper can't let Liam's good qualities cloud her judgment. As the sister of a Secret Service agent, she knows that Liam's job could mean taking a bullet, and she's vowed never to get romantically involved with someone in that line of work.

Agent Harper knows he's been friend-zoned, but that doesn't stop him from falling for Mason's petite and plucky physical therapist. She never fails to put the privileged teen through his paces, yet she manages to make the kid like her all the same. And that Southern drawl is nearly intoxicating when she lays it on thick.

But when Mason enters the crosshairs of a killer, Emily and Liam will find the lines between professional and personal are about to get awfully blurry.

126 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2023

43 people are currently reading
242 people want to read

About the author

Lynn H. Blackburn

21 books1,501 followers
Librarian Note: Also writes under the pen name Lynn Huggins Blackburn.

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5 stars
181 (60%)
4 stars
83 (27%)
3 stars
23 (7%)
2 stars
8 (2%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Patricia Rupell.
151 reviews57 followers
April 11, 2025
I really enjoyed this. I like that Emily got her own story, though I didn't completely buy the romance. Mason's storyline and his growth throughout was what I liked the most. All in all, a really good read.
Profile Image for Michelle.
175 reviews34 followers
March 17, 2023
I enjoyed this novella! Emily is one of my favorite characters from this series and I loved seeing her take the lead in this story.
Profile Image for Andrea Cox.
Author 4 books1,735 followers
August 31, 2023
This was a difficult novella for me.

The leading man, who was a Secret Service agent tasked with protecting the VP’s son, seemed hyper-focused on Emily to the detriment of his job. He also called his coworkers “yahoos,” which was highly unprofessional. He also called Emily “baby” long before the relationship felt stable and established. The term was also way overused throughout.

Emily was sweet but quite pampered, so the way she easily accepted the camping trip seemed out of character, particularly since she said early on that there was no way she’d ever go camping. I expected her to throw a fit or complain or something, but she simply slipped into the outdoorsman role instead. She also seemed to ask the questions of the situation that Liam, the Secret Service agent, ought to have been asking. Their roles seemed quite reversed at times. And how dare she tell a teenager that he was toasting marshmallows wrong! There is no wrong way to toast marshmallows, as far as I’m aware, and it was just plain rude to degrade the kid in such a fashion.

Mason was quite spoiled and bratty at first, but his character had the best arc of the entire story. He gained so much maturity through the misadventure he went through. His growth was the highlight of the story for me.

Content: crude nickname, crude sexual terms, replacement expletives, vaping, replacement profanity
Profile Image for Lauren.
52 reviews
April 22, 2023
Novellas can be a hit or miss for me, but I didn’t want this one to end!
Deadly Objective follows Gil’s sister, Emily. While there’s cameos from characters in the Defend and Protect series, you don’t need to read the series to enjoy or understand this novella. Although that series is great, so I would add it to your TBR pile!
I enjoyed Emily and Liam together and loved their relationship with Mason. This novella packed in romance, action, and suspense in only 127 pages!
I do wish there was a little more of Mason towards the end, but overall I really enjoyed this novella.
*This novella is connected to the Defend and Protect series. This novella can also be found in the Targeted novella collection.
26 reviews3 followers
July 23, 2023
Why wasn’t it longer! It was just such a good branch off to the “Defend and Protect” series

This is a story about Emily Dixon (Gil Dixon’s twin sister) and it is set only a couple months after the second book in the “Defend and Protect.” Series ended.

The whole gang was mentioned!

Even Hope Malone (Faiths sister) who also has a novella about her.

Liam was so sweet ahh and his relationship with Mason!
Mason was sweet and I can understand his attitude a bit but I love his relationship with Liam.
Emily was great as always.

I loved how Gil got brought up and how the whole group kinda assessed Liam! Cause obviously Emily is a part of their family and no one is good enough.

Faith and Luke’s wedding!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Phyllis (Avid Reader).
149 reviews1 follower
March 28, 2025
4.25 stars

I really enjoyed this novella! It grabbed me from the beginning and kept my interest all the way through. There was good character development for a novella, which seems to be difficult to achieve for most authors. Although multiple characters were mentioned from other books by the author, it wasn't intrusive to this story - something that I've seen happen in other novellas and have found annoying.

This was my first book by this author and I'm looking forward to reading more from her.
1,017 reviews11 followers
April 18, 2023
Short

This is the second book in a row that has been too short for the cost. It was a book to tie up loose ends in the Targeted Collection by Lynn Blackburn. Emily & Liam bond while protecting the vice president's son. Trouble finds them on a camping trip & firepower it's needed to protect Mason. It's a good novella but should have been marketed as such.
Profile Image for Lauren.
491 reviews21 followers
October 2, 2023
Liam and Mason's relationship was super sweet, and I love how they both love Emily. Having met Emily first through Gil's story, it was really nice to see her get her own, along with finally getting to meet Liam more than just a mention here and there. And we got Luke and Faith's wedding at the end!
Profile Image for Mary Johns.
Author 5 books242 followers
May 15, 2023
Loved Liam and Emily's story! Loved his Royal Hiney. This author does a superb job with romantic suspense. Makes me want to reread the series. Looking forward to more. Keep writing!
334 reviews1 follower
July 2, 2023
An enjoyable quick read with some romance, banter action and suspense!
12 reviews
April 3, 2025
Loved it

Love Lynn Blackburn! She is a great writer. I can't wait for more from her. I loved that Emily got her story.
1,027 reviews
August 3, 2025
Review appears under the title Targeted. It is three novellas.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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