Hold Your Breath (Search and Rescue, #1)

by Katie Ruggle

All it takes to start the adventure of a lifetime is the discovery of one headless dead guy. Then, before you know it, you've gone from new girl to it girl with a determined gang of amateur sleuths made up of:
the ice-cold hot guy (icy hot guy? Sure, we'll go with that) who just so happens to be your sorta-boss the childhood best friends who woulda coulda never quite got their act together the strong-but-silent (seriously, does he ever talk?) wilderness guide and his city girl opposite in every way the guy next door and the girl who is a mystery all her ownGather your gang and hold your breath—the romantic mystery of a lifetime is about to begin.
Lou's new to the Rockies, intent on escaping her oh-so-controlling ex, and she's determined to make it on her own terms…no matter how tempting new ice dive captain Callum Cook may be. But when a routine training exercise unearths a body, Lou and Callum find themselves thrust into a game of cat and mouse with a killer who'll stop at nothing to silence Lou—and prove that not even her faithful Search and Rescue brotherhood can keep her safe forever.
Lou is a hurricane. A walking disaster. Perfect chaos in every way. And with her, Callum's never felt more alive…even if keeping her safe may just kill him.
What People Are Saying about Katie Ruggle:
"I love Ruggle's characters. They're sharply drawn, and vividly alive. These are wonderful escapist books."—CHARLAINE HARRIS, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Gripping suspense, unique heroines, sexy heroes."—CHRISTINE FEEHAN, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Sexy and suspenseful, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough."—JULIE ANN WALKER, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
"Chills and thrills and a sexy slow-burning romance from a terrific new voice."—D.D. AYRES, author of the K-9 Rescue Series

• ISBN10: 1492628174
• ISBN13: 9781492628170
• Publish Date: 5 April 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Casablanca
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

Katie Ruggle is a new-to-me author. When I saw some of the reviews going around for this series, it looked really interesting. Actually, I think it was the second book in the series that really caught my eye. Being that I really prefer to read series in order, if and at all possible, I started with this one. I was very excited when this book came up for review on audio.

So this series is about different kinds of first responders. In this case, a dive and ice rescue team in Field County, Colorado. Lou, short for Louise, but don’t call her that, is a newbie on the dive team. She hasn’t lived in Colorado. She left her family and fiancee in Connecticut and went to a place that she hoped she would never see them again.

Callum Cooke is the dive team leader. He is a no nonsense kind of guy. He is also a bit OCD. He gets very frustrated with Lou on several occasions. While, I liked Callum, he is not what made the story for me. Lou and even some of the others on the dive team were really fun. He’s a real good guy, I just like my men a little more fun.

So there are two storylines for this book. During training, Lou accidentally knocks against something loose in the water and a headless dead guy (Lou proceeds to call him HDG) floats to the top. So there is the investigation into who this dead guy is and how did he end up headless in the lake. Second storyline consists of a what appears to be a stalker following Lou. This is where Callum and Lou start to come together. He doesn’t want her left alone for her own safety.

The romance is a slow build, but Callum does get protective very quickly. The suspense is pretty good. Even if I did figure out who the stalker was before it was revealed, it was still a good story. I didn’t realize how it would escalate and at what lengths this stalker would go to. There was also another surprise that I won’t go into. This story does leave some unanswered questions. They were meant to be unanswered and I think more information will build throughout the series. Just know that everything doesn’t wrap up completely, but was a great ending to this romance.

“Wait until I get there, and I’ll help you hang the shades.”
Her spoon clanked against the glass bowl as she set it down firmly. “Are you saying that I’m incapable of hanging shades on my own?”
“No.” He obviously saw the warning signs of an imminent explosion and was hurrying to backtrack. “I was just offering to help.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously as she picked up her spoon again.
He was quiet for a moment before asking, “Do you need to borrow my drill?”
“I have my own drill, thanks.”
“How about some drywall screws?”
“Got ’em.”
“I have a level in the truck you can use.” ”
Why would I need that to hang shades?” At his aghast look, she laughed. “Kidding, of course. I have a level. I am fully stocked with tools, despite being in possession of a vagina.”

Narration
This is my first book with Rachel Dulude. I thought she did a really great job. She reminds me a lot of Amanda Ronconi. She did a great job with Lou and her silliness. I thought she also handled Callum’s gruffness. Thought she added the right amount of fear when needed and snark when the time called for it. If you haven’t tried her, I suggest giving her a listen.

[leelu92]

3.5 stars. Enjoyed it enough to read more of the series.

[kimbacaffeinate]

Coffee Dates with Hold Your Breath

First Date: I loved the Colorado setting from the mountains to the quaint town. The delightful narrations from Rachel Dulude quickly made me familiar with our heroine Louise "Lou" Sparks and her Resue Team Captain Callum Cook. On this first date, we learn a little about Lou's past and her new position on Field County's Ice Resue Dive Team. The team is going through a training exercise on the lake when Lou discovers a dead body in the water. Lou is inquisitive, and I can already tell that her quest for answers is going to get us all in trouble. The chemistry between Callum and Lou is sizzling but complicated by their personalities and positions. I am all in and curious to see what develops.

Second Date: I love romantic suspense but finding a story that is balanced between the romantic aspect, and the mystery is often hard. Usually one ends up lacking, but this was not the case with Hold Your Breath. Ruggle carefully balanced the two and weaved them skillfully together. Cullum is a bit of a neat freak with some OCD tendencies and I felt his pain. Lou's inner dialogue and spunky personality is a perfect match for Cullum's controlled and quiet manner. I loved Lou's sarcasm and inner dialogue. Her tendency to get verbal diarrhea when nervous led to some laugh out loud moments. Poor Callum. A slashed tire and other incidents lead Lou to the discovery that she has a stalker. This thread escalated throughout the story placing our heroine in danger. We even get a few scenes from the stalker. I picked right up on who the stalker was but enjoyed the thread.

Third Date: The synopsis has a warning about mature themes, but there was nothing overly shocking for an adult contemporary romance here. The romance was slow building and moments took place in the midsts of the suspense thread. I love that despite the seriousness of the situation Ruggle allowed for humor in part due to Lou's vibrant, snarky personality and the fact that Callum is her polar opposite. It was funny and felt genuine. Despite knowing who, we had some hold your breath moments as we moved towards the climatic end. I was delighted we were given a complete story. The romantic thread wrapped up nicely as well and left me removing my earbuds with a smile.

Audio provided by publisher. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Amanda]

Unusual romantic suspense in that Lou, the heroine, is the only POV we get besides the bad guy. Still unsure how I feel about that, but even so, this is a solid romantic suspense, and a much better writing style than the prequel novella. Will have to pick up the next book in the series immediately.

[EBookObsessed]

Katie Ruggle’s debut novel is exciting and sweet. It kept me up late into the night reading. I held on to an ARC offer for the next book, Fan the Flames, waiting to see what I thought of this one and I ran to my computer to download it even before I was halfway finished.

Callum Cook, Captain of the Field County ice rescue dive team, is working on training his newest recruits, which includes way-too-perky newbie to town, Louise Sparks. It was a good day to practice getting in the icy water and recreating a fall through the ice rescue. Especially when the recent warm-ish spell for the Colorado mountains can create dangerous conditions for fools who still try to walk across the no longer frozen lakes.

Lou is having problems keeping herself upright in the water but that’s not uncommon for the newbies their first time in the protective dive suits. Cal explains to her how to get herself straightened out and the rescue starts going well, but in righting herself, Lou kicks loose something stuck to the bottom of the lake. From the moment a headless body floats up from the bottom of the lake, everything in Lou’s life starts to change.

Lou can’t stop thinking about the poor man whose family is probably worried about him. She knows the police are on the investigation but she wants to help out as well, and she kind of drags Cal into it as her Dr. Watson.

Lou might have more to worry about than just HDG (headless dead guy). Someone is slashing her tires and apparently peeping in her windows. Lou has a stalker and he is getting more and more obsessed with her. Does this have anything to do with the HDG or is it simply coincidence?

Cal is going to make it his business to protect Lou whether she likes it or not. He isn’t going to wait around to see just how crazy or dangerous this guy will get.

There has been an attraction between Cal and Lou since she arrived in town a few months ago, but the forced close quarters are heating things up quite nicely and everyone in town is happy to see them together…well, everyone but Lou’s stalker. Lou will never be his until he gets Callum out of the way, for good.

THOUGHTS:
This was a fabulous debut novel from Katie Ruggle. I thought we would get an interesting search and rescue book, but wow, it was so much more. It had more than one intriguing mystery to solve. It had romance. It had great characters as well as an introduction to interesting secondary characters. This story kept me reading late into the night and the only reason I put it down is because I knew that I would not be able to finish but it still kept me up wondering where the author was going to go with the story. First thing the next morning, I grabbed my coffee and my Kindle and was back at it.

We had the wonderful characters Lou and Cal, who were introduced quickly in the free short story, On His Watch. We have the stoic, all business, Callum, Chief of the dive team, and the bubbly, smart-ass Lou who is a female counterpart to Derek from On His Watch. This is definitely a case of opposites attract. I loved seeing the changes in Cal as the story progressed and how the town couldn’t stop gossiping about how much Cal was smiling lately when no one was sure if he his face was actually frozen in that perpetual frown of his. It would be hard to keep that frown on when Lou is the type who actually bounced on her toes whenever she is happy about something.

Since Lou was the one who kicked the body free from the lake, it weighed on her as a personal responsibility to find out who the man was so that his family could stop worrying about him. To keep up the excitement, there was two mysteries to be solved, or was it only one? Hmmm. Someone killed the headless dead guy and someone is stalking Lou. Is this the same person? Does one have anything to do with the other? If not, who is the stalker and who is the killer? Who can we trust?

The usual problem with romance-thrillers is that there is usually so few characters introduced that you can easily guess who is your bad guy and what is going to happen. This story really kept me captivated and needing to keep reading. It is also set up to flow into the next story so I don’t know if you will be able to read these as standalones, but you will definitely want to keep reading.

My only complaint here is where On His Watch had what I considered inappropriate sexy time, in Hold Your Breath, there was not enough. Cal and Lou were sharing beds in their one bedroom homes while Cal was protecting Lou from her stalker. There was attraction and interest on both parts and we took way too long to get to sexy times. There was really no reason to drag it out so long. There was mutual attraction from the get go and the close quarters and the danger should have sped that up more. Hot kisses were few and far between and didn’t go anywhere. She wasn’t a untouched virgin nor was it the case of we really don’t know each other. More sexy times were required here!

Oddly, this was written entirely in first person and I would have like to have some time in Cal’s head. :(

On His Watch is a free novella and an optional read. You won’t be missing out if you skip it, but it is a free novella so you might as well start there. Just keep in mind that this is a much better story and don’t stop after the novella.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See more at http://EBookObsessed.com

[thebookdisciple]

overall a bit predictable, but enjoyable and I am looking forward to more in the series!