Survive the Night

This is the third in a series, while each book follows a different woman the previous characters are heavily present so it is advisable, but not necessary, to read the previous books. I have only read the first book before this one but I recognised the characters. Alice Blanchett is the daughter and sister of crime bosses. Effectively a prisoner in her own home, an asset to be sold off to a rival crime family as a wife for the prodigal son, Logan Jovanovic, until a mysterious note warns her to be prepared to escape. Some time later Alice is rescued by one of her brother's henchmen and sent, via secret ways by the mysterious Mr Espina to the small town of Monroe, Colorado as yet another "old friend" of Jules under the alias Sarah Clifton. Jules was Mr Espina's first rescue and there is a theme to the women he rescues, they are all connected in some way with the Jovanovic family. K9 Officer Otto Gunnersen does not, in my mind, look anything like the picture on the front of the book, Sarah describes him as a cross between a viking and a lumberjack, and one of his best friends describes him as a Ninja Paul Bunyan. Anyway, he is one of a trio of friends in the Monroe Police department: Theo and Jules are a couple and Hugh and Grace (the couple from the second book) are also a couple. Otto is a big, strong, silent man, he lives alone outside of town and rescues animals that no-one else will take. When he meets Alice/Sarah it is insta-lurve, he is struck dumb. Unfortunately, the overwhelming impression I got, at least from the first half of the book, was that Otto was a little simple. Maybe because he was slow to speak, big and lumbering, good with animals? Anyway, its not too long until Sarah's brother and future husband find her in Monroe and try to take her back to Texas. What follows is a tense cat and mouse game through the snow with helicopters and bombs and all sorts. Unfortunately, I have very little visualisation ability and frankly I was lost. One minute Sarah is nine miles from town down a deserted road, the next she seems to be bumping into the townsfolk left, right and centre. Everyone appeared to be a suspect and gathers in one place for a finale that was both thrilling and confusing (because of the visualisation thing again). Overall, while I still enjoyed the book my credulity was stretched pretty thin. This is supposedly a small town yet it appears to have a large police force, the majority of whom have been sent off on a special training course, leaving just our three intrepid friends. Why draw attention to strangers by having three fugitives move to the town in a short period of time? I though that this was the final book in the series but the ending (and indeed NetGalley) suggests there is another to come. Not sure the premise can hold out for another book. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

The third book in the Rocky Mountain K9 Unit series is an emotionally gripping story full of suspense that had me biting my nails. Sarah and Otto are strong characters that have steamy chemistry that draws readers to them. Their romance is sweet and has readers believing that ‘happily ever after’ is possible after all as they emphasize with Sarah who has some turbulent emotional issues to deal with as they fight for her life and readers can’t help but become completely caught up in their story. Sarah’s past tugs at the heartstrings but so does Otto, with his quiet but caring demeanor that screams safety and love. Anticipation and suspense build throughout the story as danger stalks the nights keeping readers on the edge of their seat. The twists and turns keep readers guessing and along with some hair raising action there is never a dull moment during this fast paced plot. I have to confess that I have read every book in the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue series but I missed the first two in the K9 Unit series, of course I will be remedying that soon. Like the Search and Rescue series, Katie Ruggle has brought her K9 Unit series to brilliant life with strong, compelling characters that are so lifelike that the readers feel as if they are part of the story. I was caught up in Survive the Night from the very beginning and couldn’t put it down until I knew how the book would end and the author provided enough clues from the first two books that I had no problem getting caught up in the series and of course it was just enough to wet my appetite and ensure that I go back and read them and has me anticipating the next one.