Pete Brooks can't believe he's waited an entire year for Jess Tagg to return to Montana, only to have her break his heart by getting engaged to her ex-fiancé. Worse, a series of mistakes on the job have cost lives, and Pete isn't sure he wants to continue to work in Search and Rescue. Maybe if he can just get over Jess, he can figure out how to move forward.
EMT Jess Tagg has returned to Montana to finally give her heart to Pete, but it seems he's no longer interested. When a terrible fight between them sparks an impulsive decision, she finds herself crashed on the side of a highway along with Esme Shaw. And just when she thinks things couldn't get any worse, she and Esme are taken captive and into the untamed Montana wilderness--with murderous intent.
Now Pete and the other PEAK Rescue Team members are in a race against time, the elements, and the actions of a vengeful man. Pete will have to use everything he's learned to find Jess and Esme--and pray that his past mistakes don't cost him the life of the woman he can't stop loving.
When Pete hears that Jess is missing, he doesn’t think twice about going out to find her. Because that is what love does. It rescues with no thought of cost or whether the love will be returned. Though it wasn’t referenced specifically in the story, as I read of his desperate search for her, I couldn’t help but think about the scripture that talks about how the Good Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep who are safe to go find the one who is lost. My entire picture of that passage changed from a view of a relatively simple search to one more like the kind that went on here – through perilous circumstances, sacrificing everything to save the lost sheep. Wow! Because the things Jesus went through to rescue me weren’t easy or simple.
In case you haven’t figure it out yet, I was profoundly touched by this story. The sacrificial kind of love shown by Pete, who had no hope of having his love returned, was also shown by Ned. Ned first appeared in Storm Front and he returns in this story to see if the attraction he felt was returned. And in the process, he is severely injured along with Jess and the love of his life. As they escape from a kidnapper, he fights through his pain to carry his love, who is now close to death, to whatever safety they can find. (I won’t reveal her name in case you haven’t started the series yet – that could be a spoiler.)
Every page I turned had another twist. Each time they thought they were safe, they found out they weren’t. Floods, kidnappings, attempted murder, jealousy. Yep. It is all here, and more.
With the stories from the previous novels being so closely linked to this one, it was necessary for the author to do some recapping. She did a marvelous job in providing the backstory in a manner that flowed well and didn’t feel even remotely like an information dump. It seriously may have been the best I’ve ever seen. In addition, details from the past year from both Pete and Jess’ lives needed to be revealed, and again, the way that was done was masterful.
This was an amazing conclusion to an already thrilling series!
I was given a copy of this book for free. I was not required to give a favorable review nor was any money received for this review. All comments and opinions are my own.
