Blurb
He has nothing to live for.
Zak Hendricks has a reputation—a black-ops soldier willing to take on the hardest, dirtiest, most suicidal missions. But when his final mission goes sideways, he’s discharged back to his hometown of Steam Valley, CA, with half a leg and a bad attitude.
She has everything to fight for.
Dog trainer Anna Rawlings has done her level best to avoid Zak since he crushed her teenage heart, but then he’s court-ordered to enroll in her Paws for Vets program at Redwood Coast Rescue, and she has no choice but to help him. Because if she can’t rehabilitate the town’s most notorious bad boy, she’ll lose everything she’s worked so hard to build.
Can an unpredictable K9, marked for death, rescue them both?
Zak doesn’t want a service animal any more than Ranger, a former military working dog, wants to become one, but they both love Anna. When a missing persons case lands her in the crosshairs of an obsessive killer, the damaged soldier and unruly K9 have to learn to trust each other—and the entire Redwood Coast Rescue team—if they have any chance of rescuing her.
Review
In book one in the Redwood Coast Rescue series, Army vet Zak Hendricks is self-destructing with booze and drugs after a devastating event in Afghanistan left him an amputee. He’s pushed away his friends and family, and after trying to kill himself one night by riding his bike off a cliff, he’s assigned community service to a dog rescue that’s run by a woman he’d rather forget.
Anna Rawlings has forgiven Zak for breaking her heart all those years ago when they were teens, and she’s determined to help him as she does so many broken, injured dogs. But she has a secret that could ruin her and Zak’s fragile relationship if he ever finds it out.
Bella is a teenage girl in a horrible situation. Her mother is abusive and violent, and Bella’s only bright light in her life is her sweet little sister, Poppy, whom she would do anything to protect.
Zak’s, Anna’s, and Bella’s lives are about to collide in an emotional roller coaster of excitement, danger, and forgiveness.
I really enjoyed this story. Zak’s PTSD was hard to read (or hear, in my case), but it was handled delicately. His relationship with Anna and with the awesome rescue dog Ranger went a long way to help him heal. The side plot with Bella added a lot of depth and the “suspense” part to this romantic suspense novel. There’s a great cast of secondary characters (Ash, Donovan, and others), and I’m eager to learn more about them.
I listened to the audiobook version. The narrator, Stephen Borne, did an amazing job. His voice was deep and rough yet also soft when needed. I would love to listen to more books by him.
There were a few unanswered questions, but I’m sure they’ll be answered in later installments in the series. None affected the overall story.
I don’t read many military romance books, but I appreciate how this series delves into the trauma and aftermath of what so many veterans go through after serving. Nothing is white-washed. The next book is set up (Donovan and Sasha), and I’d love to read or listen to it.
5 Stars
— I’d love to know what you think of the book or my review. Please comment below.