This book is a trainwreck. There are so many issues I don't know where to begin. We have ethical issues and the sheriff playing the judge jury and God. A "hero" that definitely was trying to do a good thing but also his instalove reasoning for cheating and the heroine randomly kissing someone in the dark on the side of the road who was fixing her tire was left field. Definite villain husband who was awful. What doctor would break so many rules of ethics? Then no one bats an eye when she starts kissing and cuddling a stranger? Don't get me started on the "free spirited" "1/4 native American stoner chick who was bohemian. Gag. Any POC mentioned in the book had a vibe to it. The ending who dun it wasn't even a twist or suspenseful. The time jumping didn't add to the story. Just NO. Annoyed at myself for spending the day listening to this.

3.5 - very confusing at times, such beautiful prose, thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Not my favorite of the series. Liked how there was a firefighter + MC hero but didn't find the romance, chemistry or pining in this one very good. Heroine is a badass, so much bunker/guns/preparedness for danger.

This book had a lot going on. From the beginning backpacking into the freezing tundra to search for a mentally unstable parent to the who-dun-it of escaping from a murderer. In hindsight I probably should have started this series from the beginning instead of into book 3, but I came for the romance, which is what i'll breakdown.

This is a very instant love romance between the love interests. The hero has the strong n silent thing going on; usually resorting to answering questions with grunts or nods rather than using words. The heroine is chatty, but also self aware, which I appreciated. This book spans over a short period of time, has a lot of moving parts and is pure adventure and intrigue with a fast paced romance. Overall it was done well. The romance wasn't as steamy as I personally would have liked, but i'm all for super explicit scenes. They were open door, nothing fancy romance scenes near the last 25% of the book. While I could make some guesses for the bad guys, I couldn't actually guess who it was (which was nice!) The mental health rep could have been a bit stronger, and I get that the heroine needed a reason to need the hero as her tour guide in the wilderness to find her relapsed father, but meeeeeh it's hard to put into words how it is uncomfortable reading on.

2.5 - glad to finish the series. This romantic suspense story was weak though. Plot was exciting, characters chemistry nonexistent and on the back burner.

Just your average contemporary instalove romance between a firefighter and heroine who ends up being a quasi neighbor while she's visiting her grandparents. Was not feeling the love declarations and talk of having babies and her moving from west to east coast just from a couple magical dick appointments with the hero over the span of knowing each other for 2 months, partially together partially long distance.

Also the plot point of the heroines father wasn't fleshed through, and the ending had a HFN for the leads but NOTHING WAS WRAPPED UP. What happened with the house? Her grandparents? Her career and father? His apartment? Like leave us hanging I guess?

3.5 Lou has very much so the same energy as the Emperor's Edge heroine and I'm here for it. I especially loved how the hero was a strong n silent type all business ex marine type tough guy, but turned into a ball of smiles and sunshine around the heroine. Are that shit up. Appreciated that the romance was more two people working against an external issue rather than having the romance be a bunch of communication issues. They made little quips or statements to each other on how they felt about one another. The hero being a bit jealous and eye rolley when the heroine talked to other (hot) men was silly but accurate. Loved that the heroine called him out on it though, and didn't squish herself or not keep her independence throughout their growing relationship. Loved that they verbalized consent and verbalized that the hero wasn't expecting her to change or become a damsel in distress for him. Twas nice. Digging romantic suspense at the moment. This does end on a cliff hanger for the plot, not romance aspect of the book.

DNF @ 70%

The slut shaming and anti sex worker comments from the heroine were harsh and unnecessary. The heroine makes the most left field and out of character choices. The insta-love was not realistic whatsoever. There was such bad PTSD and depression representation in this book. The hero and his magic touch heals the heroine's touch trauma to everyone after one slight hand hold? I'm calling a bluff.

Also with the only two POC characters in the book being shamed and fetishized was not ok. This is the second book in which K.A. Tucker has done this to any non pale characters in her book to "other" them, and it's not an appropriate way to show diverse characters in a story.

Just to toot my own horn - I guessed the twist immediately. Gold star for me.

Wow, surprised that this book is so recommended. If you need an entitled "edgy" white cis man telling you how to not care about shit, this may be for you. I found a lot of his "enlightening" discoveries to be pretty big no-brainers. He swears a lot to be relatable, his jokes fall flat and are dull, and after getting through a few of his useless side stories on pandas and whatever else he thought us mere anxious mortals could understand, I gave up on this. Not impressed, would not recommend.