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An Innocent Man
Lincoln Carter wants nothing from the world around him. He trusts no one and shuns any attempts at friendship. Convicted while still a teenager, he has spent most of his life trapped behind metal bars. When an unexpected pardon brings him face to face with the first officer on scene, he flees into the mountains to escape Dallas’s compelling presence and the memories the man triggers.
At long last, he will get the answers he’s spent his career hunting. Dallas Schultz never believed Lincoln was guilty. When Lincoln’s family doesn’t respond, he personally delivers the pardon to the super max prison where Lincoln Carter has been incarcerated for two decades. Lincoln is not the gangly kid he remembers. Prison has hardened him. Dallas’s hopes of finally putting together the pieces of his first major case are dashed when Lincoln rejects his help and disappears into the mountains.
But, they aren’t the only players involved. The news of Lincoln’s release sparks a wave of outrage fed by the media. When someone violently opposed to the pardon takes aim at them both, they find themselves working together to solve the old case and the new threat against them before one of them ends up dead.
At long last, he will get the answers he’s spent his career hunting. Dallas Schultz never believed Lincoln was guilty. When Lincoln’s family doesn’t respond, he personally delivers the pardon to the super max prison where Lincoln Carter has been incarcerated for two decades. Lincoln is not the gangly kid he remembers. Prison has hardened him. Dallas’s hopes of finally putting together the pieces of his first major case are dashed when Lincoln rejects his help and disappears into the mountains.
But, they aren’t the only players involved. The news of Lincoln’s release sparks a wave of outrage fed by the media. When someone violently opposed to the pardon takes aim at them both, they find themselves working together to solve the old case and the new threat against them before one of them ends up dead.
- GenresM M Romance
275 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2022
34 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
J.T. Cheyanne
17 books191 followersJ.T. Cheyanne resides in the beautiful state of Alabama. J.T. lives with her two sons and daughter. An avid reader since fourth grade, she has only just started writing her own stories. She also has several works in progress with a co-author. When she’s not writing, she enjoys coaching cheerleading in her local youth organization.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 17, 2022
This was sooo good, so dark, so mysterious!!! ❤️🤯🤯🤯
The romance was a little rushed when they got together, but who cares? I was in the edge of my seat, I wanted to hug Linc all the fucking time. Nobody realized he was a victim all along, only Dallas and the universe bless him for it.
The mystery was on point, the plot, side characters and the surprise they brought to the story, the layout of it. Brilliant! Loved it! 🥰🥰
The romance was a little rushed when they got together, but who cares? I was in the edge of my seat, I wanted to hug Linc all the fucking time. Nobody realized he was a victim all along, only Dallas and the universe bless him for it.
The mystery was on point, the plot, side characters and the surprise they brought to the story, the layout of it. Brilliant! Loved it! 🥰🥰
May 12, 2022
So good! I love prison romance. The mystery is good and the romance well developed.
This is a new author for me
This is a new author for me
May 13, 2022
🥹♥️🥰
I loved this story so much, the writing was just so good, the MCs so lovable and their chemistry was just undeniable. The plot ♥️ everything about this was just enjoyable. I wanted to rate it 4 ⭐️s but then thought it really does deserve a 5⭐️ rating.
This is a new author to me , I saw Simona’s rating 😊 thank you for introducing this gem 💎♥️
I loved this story so much, the writing was just so good, the MCs so lovable and their chemistry was just undeniable. The plot ♥️ everything about this was just enjoyable. I wanted to rate it 4 ⭐️s but then thought it really does deserve a 5⭐️ rating.
This is a new author to me , I saw Simona’s rating 😊 thank you for introducing this gem 💎♥️
May 22, 2022
This wasn't really my cup of tea. The mystery wasn't very interesting to me and I wasn't sold on the romance. But the writing was good and I found myself finishing it in a day, so that's why I gave it 3 stars.
May 17, 2022
WOW! I cannot believe how amazing this book is! I couldn't put it down, it was engaging and the suspense was present on every page turn!
June 28, 2022
Not even sure why I finished. This started out strong with an engaging plot and characters but quickly devolved into a hot mess. The mystery is some of the worst and most unbelievable, nonsensical stuff I’ve ever read. The relationship development is laughable. Everyone is either a villain or a saint and the twists at the end made me want to pull my hair out. Also the blatant self insert of the author pissed me off on principle (the character was even named Cheyanne). Another thing that majorly annoyed me is the author’s misuse and lack of use of commas. Drove me up the wall and interrupted the flow of the story.
September 9, 2023
3,5 🌟
Mais uma história de policial X presidiário, mas nesse caso, é o policial lutando pela inocência do nosso presidiário, que foi acusado injustamente.
Extremamente fofo, por mais que tenham assuntos pesados. Queria maisssssss!
Mais uma história de policial X presidiário, mas nesse caso, é o policial lutando pela inocência do nosso presidiário, que foi acusado injustamente.
Extremamente fofo, por mais que tenham assuntos pesados. Queria maisssssss!
March 11, 2022
Page turning
Really enjoyed this story. The characters were all developed, the plot along with the mystery was good. I enjoyed the story because it kept me engaged and interested. I was invested and wanted to know the outcome. One of the better engaging books I have read.
Really enjoyed this story. The characters were all developed, the plot along with the mystery was good. I enjoyed the story because it kept me engaged and interested. I was invested and wanted to know the outcome. One of the better engaging books I have read.
March 3, 2022
SPECTACULAR
This is another MAGNIFICENT Book!!! J.T. CHEYANNE has always been one of my top Authors. This is the Author who puts you into the Book in real time. I read this straight through because I couldn't put it down. Dallas is a man everyone wants in their life. Determined, focused and never giving up. Linc is set up to take the fall. This Book is riveting. I would give this Book 10 Golden Stars if I could, it's that AMAZING. Thank You J.T. Cheyanne for another SPECTACULAR Book!!!! I HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND THIS INCREDIBLE AUTHOR!!!!!!!!!!
This is another MAGNIFICENT Book!!! J.T. CHEYANNE has always been one of my top Authors. This is the Author who puts you into the Book in real time. I read this straight through because I couldn't put it down. Dallas is a man everyone wants in their life. Determined, focused and never giving up. Linc is set up to take the fall. This Book is riveting. I would give this Book 10 Golden Stars if I could, it's that AMAZING. Thank You J.T. Cheyanne for another SPECTACULAR Book!!!! I HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND THIS INCREDIBLE AUTHOR!!!!!!!!!!
March 5, 2022
SOOOOOOOOOOOO PERFECT
Thank-you J.T. Cheyanne "An Innocent Man" so perfectly written. I fell in love with both Dallas and Linc❤ I couldn't put your book down and I honestly hope and🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 that you release An Innocent Man on paperback🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank-you J.T. Cheyanne "An Innocent Man" so perfectly written. I fell in love with both Dallas and Linc❤ I couldn't put your book down and I honestly hope and🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 that you release An Innocent Man on paperback🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
May 22, 2022
The TL;DR:
Spoilers to follow: Eh, maybe? I’ll try not to. It’ll be minor at most. Best to be warned about the details section, just in case.
Worth a read? Yes, hands down.
Worth reading again? Definitely.
Plot: Solid.
Intrigue: Yes.
Feels: Yes
Steamy? Yes. Thank you, insane chemistry.
Romance? Yes, again, thanks to the aforementioned insane chemistry.
Any triggers: Nothing that set off any bells here.
Nifty gifts: Yes, a sneaky tie in to a previous book. Thank you, book nerd gods. I happy squealed and everything.
Pick it up for the characters.
The details:
Right, let’s start in the most important place: characters. (Because, let’s face it, if they aren’t believable or do not gel then no book works.) Above and beyond anything else, the characters in An Innocent Man stand out. Dallas and Lincoln are wonderful characters. Please and thank you. They’re engrossing. You can empathize. They bring on all the feels (and definitely the fan-worthy ones). As I mentioned above they have some wicked epic chemistry. It’s tangible, like it’s close enough for you to grasp in your own hands, and palpable, in the same way.
I bought them from the first to last page. They grew and evolved so neither them nor their relationship is static.
The plot was pretty solid and definitely engrossing. It had all the grit and bells and whistles this kind of intrigue calls for. I had a page-turner on my hands and couldn’t read it fast enough. All the to do’s of my reader expectations were ticked off by the last page. Including some unexpected squishy moments I loved. So I wasn’t left with any huge lingering questions. I only had one minor question at one point, but I was satisfied by the time I reached the end. And while I would have loved for some of the later action to have taken more center stage, nothing broke my immersion.
For those who hone in on editing, the editing is good. I came across nothing more than a minor handful of spelling errors in those places where it’s so easy to read over it. They didn’t break my pace or immersion, which is more than I can say for some prominent traditionally published authors whose works I could name.
The last thing I wanted to mention is probably the closest thing to a spoiler. One of my favorite occurrences in fiction is when you read a second book by the author only to discover it ties into a world the author wrote previously. Connected works. I love series too, but connected works are an undying love for me. I love it and thank you a million times for such a true gem.
This was a great read and it was such a boost to my time reading it.
Pick it up.
I believe you’ll enjoy yourself and find plenty to love.
Spoilers to follow: Eh, maybe? I’ll try not to. It’ll be minor at most. Best to be warned about the details section, just in case.
Worth a read? Yes, hands down.
Worth reading again? Definitely.
Plot: Solid.
Intrigue: Yes.
Feels: Yes
Steamy? Yes. Thank you, insane chemistry.
Romance? Yes, again, thanks to the aforementioned insane chemistry.
Any triggers: Nothing that set off any bells here.
Nifty gifts: Yes, a sneaky tie in to a previous book. Thank you, book nerd gods. I happy squealed and everything.
Pick it up for the characters.
The details:
Right, let’s start in the most important place: characters. (Because, let’s face it, if they aren’t believable or do not gel then no book works.) Above and beyond anything else, the characters in An Innocent Man stand out. Dallas and Lincoln are wonderful characters. Please and thank you. They’re engrossing. You can empathize. They bring on all the feels (and definitely the fan-worthy ones). As I mentioned above they have some wicked epic chemistry. It’s tangible, like it’s close enough for you to grasp in your own hands, and palpable, in the same way.
I bought them from the first to last page. They grew and evolved so neither them nor their relationship is static.
The plot was pretty solid and definitely engrossing. It had all the grit and bells and whistles this kind of intrigue calls for. I had a page-turner on my hands and couldn’t read it fast enough. All the to do’s of my reader expectations were ticked off by the last page. Including some unexpected squishy moments I loved. So I wasn’t left with any huge lingering questions. I only had one minor question at one point, but I was satisfied by the time I reached the end. And while I would have loved for some of the later action to have taken more center stage, nothing broke my immersion.
For those who hone in on editing, the editing is good. I came across nothing more than a minor handful of spelling errors in those places where it’s so easy to read over it. They didn’t break my pace or immersion, which is more than I can say for some prominent traditionally published authors whose works I could name.
The last thing I wanted to mention is probably the closest thing to a spoiler. One of my favorite occurrences in fiction is when you read a second book by the author only to discover it ties into a world the author wrote previously. Connected works. I love series too, but connected works are an undying love for me. I love it and thank you a million times for such a true gem.
This was a great read and it was such a boost to my time reading it.
Pick it up.
I believe you’ll enjoy yourself and find plenty to love.
November 15, 2025
odd…
Ok so I really wanted to like it so much so that I finished it without really wanting to. The concept of the story was interesting. However as the headline suggests it’s just odd. It starts normally then just goes off the rails bonkers. There’s no real complexity or nuance to the characters and it felt really weird how it tried to justify some pretty disturbing things. SPOILERS INCOMING-
-find it hard to believe that attempts on the LT Governors life within the span of maybe 4 days resulted in little more than just “stay inside”
-Joshua holding on to information that could’ve released Lincoln, yes I get it he was six and we find out exactly why through over the too exposition.
-The wife being let go just because Lincoln didn’t want to press charges and then all of a sudden she’s this bleeding heart. Like ma’am your husband wasn’t having an affair with a 16 year old. He was being a predator point blank.
-worst of all the writing trying to justify the acts of a predator because Lincoln loved him. Using quotes from Lincoln “I initiated it…it was just oral….he tried to get me to stop…we had sex 3 times after….” And everyone just taking that as it is. The amount of times this dude was called ‘honorable, kind, a good man’ was atrocious. And no I’m not easily triggered but normally these topics are handled with much more grace and realism and while tragic are things that occur in this world everyday. But in my experience I never read a book where they rationalize it in this way. Just because he didn’t want to participate in the trafficking ring doesn’t negate the fact that he was also a predator.
-Then the last pages of book don’t make sense. There’s proposal not proposal that is a proposal. And Dallas and Lincoln are all of sudden to very different characters then they were just the page before.
Ok so I really wanted to like it so much so that I finished it without really wanting to. The concept of the story was interesting. However as the headline suggests it’s just odd. It starts normally then just goes off the rails bonkers. There’s no real complexity or nuance to the characters and it felt really weird how it tried to justify some pretty disturbing things. SPOILERS INCOMING-
-find it hard to believe that attempts on the LT Governors life within the span of maybe 4 days resulted in little more than just “stay inside”
-Joshua holding on to information that could’ve released Lincoln, yes I get it he was six and we find out exactly why through over the too exposition.
-The wife being let go just because Lincoln didn’t want to press charges and then all of a sudden she’s this bleeding heart. Like ma’am your husband wasn’t having an affair with a 16 year old. He was being a predator point blank.
-worst of all the writing trying to justify the acts of a predator because Lincoln loved him. Using quotes from Lincoln “I initiated it…it was just oral….he tried to get me to stop…we had sex 3 times after….” And everyone just taking that as it is. The amount of times this dude was called ‘honorable, kind, a good man’ was atrocious. And no I’m not easily triggered but normally these topics are handled with much more grace and realism and while tragic are things that occur in this world everyday. But in my experience I never read a book where they rationalize it in this way. Just because he didn’t want to participate in the trafficking ring doesn’t negate the fact that he was also a predator.
-Then the last pages of book don’t make sense. There’s proposal not proposal that is a proposal. And Dallas and Lincoln are all of sudden to very different characters then they were just the page before.
June 11, 2022
3.75 stars. A policeman who arrested a young man years ago at the scene of the murder of a U.S. Senator, never believed that the boy was the actual murderer. Irregardless, the boy was sentenced to life in a supermax prison. Now, 20 years later the policeman has been elected as Lieutenant Governor and has persuaded his good friend, now the Governor, to pardon the boy (now man) and to reopen the case.
This is a new author for me and while I didn't rate this book with a very high rating, it did hold my interest and I never thought twice about putting it down and not finishing it. There was lots of emotional feelings for the boy who spent 20 years and was brutalized in prison and was now trying to fit back into a regular life (which really could never happen). The cop never gave up even as he met closed doors, faked evidence and a less than helpful, mentally scarred boy who had his whole world turned upside down.
There is a nice romance here but it needed to be built up a little more before it was consummated.
Overall I think the book needed to be tightened a little bit but I can certainly see many people liking it.
This is a new author for me and while I didn't rate this book with a very high rating, it did hold my interest and I never thought twice about putting it down and not finishing it. There was lots of emotional feelings for the boy who spent 20 years and was brutalized in prison and was now trying to fit back into a regular life (which really could never happen). The cop never gave up even as he met closed doors, faked evidence and a less than helpful, mentally scarred boy who had his whole world turned upside down.
There is a nice romance here but it needed to be built up a little more before it was consummated.
Overall I think the book needed to be tightened a little bit but I can certainly see many people liking it.
April 23, 2022
This was my very first read by this author and I was pleasantly surprised. I will definitely be reading more.
The story captured my attention from the beginning. I loved the way Dallas never gave up on Lincoln. He was immediately convinced he was innocent and kept fighting all those years to prove it. And Lincoln, oh dear Lincoln. Hurt so badly, abandoned by his parents, abused and accused of a crime he didn't commit.
This is a love story mixed with some suspense. The steam is very low, but the emotional connection betweem the two MC's is very clear.
I really loved this book and can't wait to discover more by this author.
The story captured my attention from the beginning. I loved the way Dallas never gave up on Lincoln. He was immediately convinced he was innocent and kept fighting all those years to prove it. And Lincoln, oh dear Lincoln. Hurt so badly, abandoned by his parents, abused and accused of a crime he didn't commit.
This is a love story mixed with some suspense. The steam is very low, but the emotional connection betweem the two MC's is very clear.
I really loved this book and can't wait to discover more by this author.
February 20, 2023
Great story.
I really enjoyed this, it had a bit of everything, romance, mystery, politics. It was emotional at times and a true page turner.
They characters in this were amazing, poor Linc had really gone to hell and back and everyone just turned his back on him, everyone except Dallas. I felt so sorry for Linc, I could understand his lack of trust in everyone.
The mystery part of everything was amazing, I had no idea where it was all leading, the level of corruption used to keep everything covered up was outstanding. This is my first read by this author but it definitely won’t be the last.
I really enjoyed this, it had a bit of everything, romance, mystery, politics. It was emotional at times and a true page turner.
They characters in this were amazing, poor Linc had really gone to hell and back and everyone just turned his back on him, everyone except Dallas. I felt so sorry for Linc, I could understand his lack of trust in everyone.
The mystery part of everything was amazing, I had no idea where it was all leading, the level of corruption used to keep everything covered up was outstanding. This is my first read by this author but it definitely won’t be the last.
May 23, 2022
Couldn’t put it down!
Such a great story of a cop fighting his whole life to prove the innocence of a child who was imprisoned for life. I really enjoyed how the story was told
with present day and flashback merging together. It was easy to read and the attraction between the two mcs was there early on. It’s a slow burn and I enjoyed the mystery of it also. I was sad to reach the ending and wish it could have gone on a bit more. Will definitely be looking up more books by this author.
Such a great story of a cop fighting his whole life to prove the innocence of a child who was imprisoned for life. I really enjoyed how the story was told
with present day and flashback merging together. It was easy to read and the attraction between the two mcs was there early on. It’s a slow burn and I enjoyed the mystery of it also. I was sad to reach the ending and wish it could have gone on a bit more. Will definitely be looking up more books by this author.
March 24, 2022
great story
First book I’ve read from this author and won’t be the last. What a story my heart broke for Linc in so many ways. Lost 20teara of his life and Dallas wow my favourite character stubborn and loyal man and determined. Loved the pace of the relationship and the plot kept me Intrigued.
First book I’ve read from this author and won’t be the last. What a story my heart broke for Linc in so many ways. Lost 20teara of his life and Dallas wow my favourite character stubborn and loyal man and determined. Loved the pace of the relationship and the plot kept me Intrigued.
November 14, 2022
This book was freaking awesome, I just adored it. Linc had been through a lot, that poor man deserved a break. I just loved the fact that Dallas always had his back, right from the beggining, he was there for Linc, he never gave up or doubted his innocent. Dallas was so protective of him, all the d*mn time. God, these two were so good together, they really were perfect for each other
May 8, 2022
Crying. So beautiful.
February 9, 2023
I really liked the storyline but the romance could of been kicked up a few notches
September 12, 2023
gostei, 4 ⅐
May 17, 2024
2.70⭐
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews