Hold Your Breath

Callum Cook is the captain of the Field County’s ice rescue dive team and he’s driven to perfection but all his hard-won order is obliterated in an instant when he meets Louise “Lou” Sparks who is a walking disaster in this thrilling romantic suspense. Tagging along on the rescue missions all while Callum and Lou try to stay alive was quite an exhilarating experience, though to be honest, I wasn’t sure that I was going to like Lou all that much (hurricane describes her perfectly) but she had a few surprises in store for readers and changed my mind pretty quickly as her and Callum make a great combination and I can’t wait to tag along on the next rescue mission. See my full review at: Paranormal Haven .com

Lou leaves Connecticut and her overbearing parents and boyfriend and moves to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. She is training on the Search & Rescue dive team where the divers work in freezing lakes. Because she's the only woman on the team she has to work extra hard to get their trust. Lou was a lawyer in Connecticut but now works in a coffee shop so this is a huge change for her. Callum is her team leader. He's a tough and intense man with complete control over his team. Lou is quite spontaneous so his control over her actions is not easy for him. Even though Callum's approach to everything having to be "just right" and Lou blunders through life, they are attracted to each other. In this case, opposites do attract. While on a dive training Lou dislodges a body from under the ice. When she goes back to her truck she sees one of the tires have been slashed and this isn't the first time it's happened. Between Lou wanting to find out who the dead man was and having a stalker, she's got a mess on her hands. Callum gets all alpha and won't leave Lou, feeling she needs his protection. Katie Ruggle is a very illustrative writer making it easy to picture the events taking place. The book is a great read and definitely captures the reader in the story line, but that wouldn't work if she didn't have good characters. Lou is a strong, courageous woman that comes across a bit klutzy at first. But we see that's mainly because of her feelings for Callum which she tries to hide. Since she wants him to see her as capable, whenever she messes up, she feels it's ten times worse than it really is. Callum is very competent and can't abide being anything else. The differences between them was so extreme that I couldn't picture them as a couple. He had OCD, being a clean freak and she was a total slob. I wondered how they could have feelings for each other but, obviously, attraction has nothing to do with how clean or messy someone's house is. If you like suspense and action with a bit of romance tossed in, you'll like this book.

What a story! Both the immediate plot & the one overarching the series as a whole were fantastic. The suspense had me riveted while the romance tugged at my heart. I like the way that the why’s and how’s are part of the story. It made the mystery of it all come fully to life for me. And Ruggle backed up this interesting plot with strong, compassionate characters to do it justice. Callum’s OCD was a fantastic counterpoint to Lou’s scattered streak. They balanced each other so well, their strengths countering the other’s weaknesses while also coming together fully as a couple should. I was dying to know Callum’s backstory. I would have enjoyed a bit more detail, but seeing where he came from allowed me a bit of insight into his personality. At the same time, the way that Lou’s family treated her had me completely floored. This story was fun yet suspenseful with just the right amount of heat. This introduction into this new series & to Ruggle’s writing as a whole has me dying for more. Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.