Release Reviews: In Safe Hands: Katie Ruggle

by - Tuesday, October 04, 2016


In Safe Hands  (Search and Rescue #4)
Add to Goodreads
Expected October 4, 2016

In the remote Rocky Mountains, lives depend on the Search & Rescue brotherhood. But in a place this far off the map, trust is hard to come by and secrets can be murder...

It's all come down to this...

Daisy Little has lived in agoraphobic terror for over eight years. Trapped within a prison of her own making, she watches time pass through her bedroom window. Daisy knows she'll never be a part of the world...until the day she becomes the sole witness of a terrible crime that may finally tear the Search and Rescue brotherhood apart for good. 
This review is going to be brief and spoiler free since this book is basically one big spoiler for the entire series. At the end of the last book, Gone Too Deep we got a glimpse at the killer that has been at the center of the investigation. This one digs into all of dirty deeds, motivation, and his need to continue to hide his tracks and get rid of any loose ends.

Unfortunately, Daisy Little has just put herself into the category of loose end. She's a shut-in who watches the world through her windows behind locked doors and one night she sees something she was not supposed to.

Her only friend, Deputy Chris Jennings, has been her protector for years...since the incident that made her close herself of from the dangerous outside world. They share a connection, camaraderie, and a hidden attraction. Chris introduces her to his search and rescue friends who have been doing their own investigation into the body found in book one. Lou, Callum, Ian, Rory, Elle, and George multiply her friends list as they begin coming into her home and make her part of their amateur sleuthing team. But there are antagonists working to maintain secrets and hide their crimes and Daisy is now on their radar. 

Are her new friends and Chris enough to keep her safe? Is her safe house really safe or will it become a trap?

The relationship with Chris is a slow build. They are longtime friends, he takes on a protector and helper role, and they hide their feelings and attraction. He's got issues that make him try to keep her at arm's length. And she has self worth issues on top of her shut-in status that make her feel vulnerable and undesirable. 

But as the danger and suspense grows, so does the depth of their attachment and willingness to admit it. In a small town with strange activities and threats that keep coming, it is hard to know who to trust. This installment finally gives us all of the answers we have been seeking and solves the mysteries. And it builds with a layering of suspense and danger, to a pulse pounding climax. This one focuses a lot on the crimes and some on the relationship, but it is also about Daisy dealing with her past and finding ways to empower herself and heal. And her relationship with Chris is just one small part of the puzzle.

This series has been interesting with each book focusing on different aspects of the search and rescue divisions with strong, quirky characters and multiple antagonists with nefarious intentions. It has been fun seeing their relationships build, grow, and to become a tight knit group that looks out for each other.

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. 
In the final installment of the Search and Rescue series, all the pieces finally fit into place. Much of the plot is dedicated to the resolution of the arsons and murders in Field County, and as such would offer spoilers if I go into too much detail.

Daisy has lived as a shut in for the last 8 years, with her only company from her father and Chris Jennings to keep her in touch with life in Simpson. A traumatic event has kept her confined, but as Christ’s world begins to seep into her haven, she finds herself wishing she could overcome her fears. She also faces danger for the first time since she witnessed her mother’s murder when her insomnia leads to her witnessing new middle of the night illegal activities.

This was Chris’s chance to make up for his mistake in the previous book. He quickly became the hero here though, acting as Daisy’s link to the outside world when her father was away on jobs. I loved the way he took care of her and kept her best interests in mind. It was clear early on that both her hiding deeper feelings, but he had his own reasons for not acting on them.

It was great to see all the other Search and Rescue characters return. As Lou continues to attempt to solve the mystery of her HDG, George and Callum maintain their over-protectiveness. Ellie brings a lightness to the scenes, and Ian and Rory bring strength. I loved the way this whole group complements each other and brings Daisy into their ranks quickly and without fanfare -- accepting that they have to go to her rather than pushing to have her join them.

The villain finally has a face, and knowing who is behind the narration of the antagonist kept me watching to see what mistakes would be made. This was a great resolution for the series, both because readers finally know the who and why, but also because the why explains so much about the events in Field County. 

Daisy and Chris’s friendship slowly moves to more than friends. This is not a fast moving romance, but with all the drama surrounding the town, Daisy’s anxiety, and the length of time they’ve known each other, the pacing fit with their situation. While romance may have often been the secondary plot, the mystery kept me turning pages. I enjoyed this series from start to finish. The mystery that flowed through the series kept me intrigued and tied to the story from one book to the next and the setting was one that is close to my heart, in fact, I read this one while camping in the CO mountains, which only added to my enjoyment of the plot.
 
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
On His Watch (Search and Rescue #0.5)
Add to Goodreads
FREE Novella Amazon/B&N/iTunes
 

Ice rescue diver Derek Warner never meant to be a hero. But when two little girls go missing, he's the first in line to bring them home-even if that means scouring the wilderness with the woman he once loved and lost, Artemis Rey.

Artemis has never stopped wanting Derek. Now, racing to find the girls before it's too late, minutes turn to hours. Night falls. Old flames rekindle. And a danger grows in the darkest wilderness that may be more than even the Search and Rescue brotherhood can hope to face... 



As the captain of Field County's ice rescue dive team, Callum Cook is driven to perfection. But when he meets new diver Louise "Lou" Sparks, all that hard-won order is obliterated in an instant. Lou is a hurricane. A walking disaster. And with her, he's never felt more alive...even if keeping her safe may just kill him.

Lou's new to the Rockies, intent on escaping her controlling ex, and she's determined to make it on her own terms...no matter how tempting Callum may be. But when a routine training exercise unearths a body, Lou and Callum find themselves thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse with a killer who will stop at nothing to silence Lou-and prove that not even her new Search and Rescue family can keep her safe forever.


Fan the Flames (Search and Rescue #2)

In the remote Rocky Mountains, lives depend on the Search & Rescue brotherhood. But in a place this far off the map, trust is hard to come by and secrets can be murder... 

As a Motorcycle Club member and firefighter, Ian Walsh is used to riding the line between the good guys and the bad. He may owe the Club his life, but his heart rests with his fire station brothers...and with the girl he's loved since they were kids, Rory Sorenson. Ian would do anything for Rory. He'd die for her. Kill for her. Defend her to his last breath-and he may just have to.

Every con in the Rockies knows Rory is the go-to girl for less-than-legal firearms, and for the past few years, she's managed to keep the peace between dangerous factions by remaining strictly neutral. But when she defends herself against a brutal attack, Rory finds herself catapulted into the center of a Motorcycle Club war-with only Ian standing between her and a threat greater than either of them could have imagined.


Gone too Deep (Search and Rescue #3)
Add to Goodreads

George Holloway has spent his life alone, exploring the treacherous beauty of the Colorado Rockies. He's the best survival expert Search and Rescue has, which makes him the obvious choice to lead Ellie Price through deadly terrain to find her missing father. There's just one problem-Ellie's everything George isn't. She's a city girl, charming, gregarious, delicate, small. And when she looks up at him with those big, dark eyes, he swears he would tear the world apart to keep her safe.

With a killer on the loose, he may have no choice.

Ellie's determined to find her father no matter the cost. But as she and her gorgeous mountain of a guide fight their way through an unforgiving wilderness, they find themselves in the crosshairs of a dangerous man in search of revenge. And they are now his prey... 

Katie Ruggle Website/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest

A fan of the old adage “write what you know”, Katie Ruggle lived in an off-grid, solar- and wind-powered house in the Rocky Mountains until her family lured her back to Minnesota. When she’s not writing, Katie rides horses, shoots guns (not while riding, although that would be awesome), cross-country skis (badly) and travels to warm places where she can scuba dive. A graduate of the Police Academy, Katie received her ice-rescue certification and can attest that the reservoirs in the Colorado mountains really are that cold. A fan of anything that makes her feel like a bad-ass, she has trained in Krav Maga, boxing and gymnastics.

You May Also Like

0 comments