Read Your Writes Book Reviews: Review ~ IN SAFE HANDS by Katie Ruggle

In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue, #4)

by: Katie Ruggle

Series: Search and Rescue

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release Date: October 4, 2016

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca via NetGalley

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He was her hero,

But one wrong move ended their future before it could begin.

Now he'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe,

Even if that means turning against one of his own.

As a member of the Field County Sheriff's Department, Chris Jennings is used to having it rough. The Colorado Rockies aren't for the weak-of-spirit, but he's devoted his life to upholding the law-and to protecting the one woman he knows he can never have. He'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

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 & Rescue brotherhood apart for good.

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...

REVIEW

In Safe Hands is the final book in Katie Ruggle’s Search and Rescue series. It may be possible to read this as a standalone but I don’t think you would enjoy it as much as opposed to reading all of the books and the initial novella in succession because there are basically two mysteries that permeate through the whole series and ultimately get solved in this one.

Each book involves a member of Search and Rescue who inevitably ends up falling in love with someone that finds themselves in danger. This time, the Search and Rescue member is Deputy Chris Jennings and the person in danger is his longtime friend Daisy Little. Daisy suffers from agoraphobia and hasn’t left her house in 8 years. Since she spends her spare time staring out of her window, she sees the outside world as her own little television. Unfortunately, she ends up witnessing someone putting a possible dead body into a law enforcement vehicle. She confides in Chris and his inquiries set off a chain of events that lead to the revelation that there is a dirty cop in the department and that someone in town is a serial arsonist.

Katie Ruggle brings everyone from the previous books into this one like a family reunion. The way that they rally around Daisy and help to get her out of her shell is beautiful to see. As she watches other budding relationships, she realizes that she would like to have a romance of her own. Of course, there is nothing like a good murder investigation to bring people together. Chris and Daisy have been hiding their feelings from each other for years so it was bound to happen anyway. They make for a good couple.

I really loved the book overall. The one issue that I had was the fact that the villains’ identities are revealed to the reader early on while everyone else doesn’t have a clue. There were so many times where they just couldn’t put the pieces together and it was frustrating to me just like when you watch a horror movie and the person insists on going into the basement when you know that there is something down there and they should know too. I had to refrain from yelling at the characters to pay attention. Of course, that was probably the idea because it forced me to finish the book quickly to see how everyone else would react to the news.

**Received a copy from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed.**

Rating: 4