Colton K-9 Target

The Coltons of Grave Gulch #8

by Justine Davis

Man's best friend
…is this cop's most trusted partner

New to the Grave Gulch Police Department, K-9 detective Brett Shea feels like an outsider among its many Coltons. Even Annalise, his dog's trainer, is a Colton! But when she's attacked by a man pretending to be her date, Brett vows to track down the criminal. Though he's sworn off forever love—which is proving harder by the day—Brett will protect her at any cost.

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, Suspense, Harlequin

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2021

About the author

Author biographies are supposed to give you all those statistics, books written, awards won, etc. and I will, I promise...but first let me tell you about this ornery little tomboy (back then, the boys had all the fun...) who was always the one to make up the stories the neighborhood kids would "play". For those who came of age in the computer game era, this is something that was done usually in the backyard, by any number of summer-bored children, with props where appropriate. (Did you know a 55 gallon drum tied to a picnic bench makes a very cool horse?) It wasn't until much later that this tomboy realized two things: A) not everyone made up stories in their heads all the time, and B) in real life, the boys that had already had all the fun now seemed to always be winning.

But I digress. I was born on a farm down in Iowa....well, not quite, but close; Boone, Iowa is in the middle of farm country, but I arrived at a hospital. In a snow storm. Make that a blizzard. My sister tells me she knew my destiny when I was very young, because when I first saw the Disney classic Old Yeller, I was apparently so upset that I promptly went home and rewrote the story. In my version, the dog lived, of course. Should have been a clue.

Possibly in response to that blizzard I was born in, I've been a West Coaster since before I was a year old, and intend to stay that way. I have a history of staying. I started my first full time job right out of school (well, there was a very brief sojourn at a place where they made, among other things, burial vaults, but I prefer not to recall that one...) and stayed for twenty-one years. I've been married to the same wonderful guy for going on two decades now. We lived in our last house for seventeen years. (I won't even mention how many dumpsters we filled moving after that long....)

Readers seem as fascinated by my first career as they are with my writing. My time in law enforcement was many things, exciting, nerve wracking, and irritating, but most importantly never, ever boring. It was fascinating enough that I didn't think about writing seriously for several years. I kept a journal, and wrote long letters, collected quotes, mentally rewrote movies, and still made up those stories in my head, but never dreamed of actually writing for publication. I was having too much fun helping to catch bad guys, and being continually amazed at the situations people get themselves into. And eventually I walked away with a wealth of background and story ideas, and knowing some truly great people who work very hard to keep all of us safe. I'm proud to have been one of them, and I'm very aware that I have had the great good fortune of having had two jobs in my life that I love. Many people don't get even one.

But now that I'm in the delicious position of being able to make a living telling those stories in my head, I promise my readers two things: A) I'm staying--I'll keep writing as long as you keep reading, and B) in my stories, the girl--tomboy or not--always wins!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And now, the official stats:

Justine Dare Davis sold her first book in 1989, and followed that up with the sale of nineteen novels in less than two years. Her first four books were published in 1991, and she saw all reach the finals for either the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award or the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA Award. She has since won the RITA award four times, along with several Reviewer's Choice awards and three Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times. At the 1998 national conference, Justine was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame, making her one of a very select group of just eight writers. She also had four titles on the Romantic Times "Top 200 of All Time" list. Her sales now total more than 45, and her books have appeared regularly on best seller lists, including the USA Today list. She has been featured in several local newspapers and nationwide by Associated Press, has appeared on CN

Reviews

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Romantic Suspense, and this is the 8th book in the Coltons of Grave Gulch series. I have not read and review all the other books in this series, but I have read and reviewed some of them. I think I this is one of those books I never to say you will enjoy more if you read the other books in the series. There is an on going case in this book series, and that case is in the background of this book. I really loved all the dogs in this book. I have to say I did not love the beginning because I guessed what was going on. I did love that a lot of the characters I already know because of reading some of the other books in this book series. I think the romance in this book was better then the suspense. I wanted more for the suspense. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Harlequin Romantic Suspense) or author (Justine Davis) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

["Avonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out all my reviews at: https://www.avonnalovesgenres.com

COLTON K-9 TARGET (Coltons of Grave Gulch Book #8) by Justine Davis is a romantic suspense in the Coltons of Grave Gulch series. This is the first Colton book I have read in this series and while the romance is enjoyable, I wish I would have read the previous books first. This series should be read in order and not as standalones.

Detective Brett Shea was happy to move to the small-town police force in Grave Gulch and become their first K-9 officer. Brett’s canine partner is the black lab, Ember who has been training with Annalise Colton.

Annalise Colton and many in her family are all part of law enforcement in Grave Gulch. Besides her job training dogs, she wants to find a forever love like many in her family. She goes on-line and believes she has found her perfect match, until she is attacked and discovers she has been “catfished”. Brett happens to be close by and interrupts the attack, but he gets away.

Brett and Annalise have grown up with very different examples of family and love and even as Brett does want to catch Annalise’s attacker, he is hesitant about their strong attraction. As the two grow closer, so does the danger from an attacker who wants to finish the job.

I enjoyed Brett, Annalise and all the dogs in this story, but the romantic suspense plot itself was not strong enough for me. Much of the book was two supposedly successful and mature adults not honestly communicating enough until three quarters of the way through the story and the “catfishing” plot was interesting, but it was interrupted repeatedly by the series overall plotline of a serial killer on the loose.

Overall, it was a fast, enjoyable read, but not as good as other Colton books I have read.

[Jo-Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many Coltons in Grave Gulch that newcomer K-9 detective Brett Shea feels like an outsider. Dog trainer Annalise Colton is attacked by someone pretending to be her date, and Brett is determined to find the man. Despite his vows to refrain from love, he can't help but be drawn to Annalise.

Colton K-9 Target is a fast-paced romantic suspense novel full of action, intrigue, passion and adorable canines.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off like always I want to say a huge thank you to the publisher Harlequin Romantic Suspense-HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada), the author Justine Davis, and to NetGalley for the invite to join this blog tour as well as letting me read and review it.As well as a big thank you for introducing a new to me author and for still been one of my go to romance publishers .For those who don't know this Harlequin romance was always in my home thanks to my Grandmother who was a big read , they was her all time favorite romance books to read and when she passed away when I was still little I had I don't know how many bags of her books that I wanted to keep and all of them was Harlequin.unfortunately I don't have them any more but every time I pick up one of their romances it brings me back to reading some of them. In fact that's how I got in to reading romance Suspense, and when every I see one from Harlequin and its some thing I knew I'l read I tend to go head and pick it up, and as soon as I saw this one even before been invited to the blog tour , I had already knew that I wanted it to read it, one was because of the cover ( what can I say I love dogs ) 2 : part of the title said K 9 ( other thing I love in books wither their romance or not is when you have characters working with dogs wither their K9 , or search and rescue), and with those types of books I tend to read them in a day ,because their the ones that I get lost in when I'm having a bad day.And that's what happened with this one right from the start I got lost in it , from the characters themselves to the case they were working, as for the story itself it seemed to be romance then suspense ( but that was fine because like I said I needed something to just get me out of my head for while it it did its job).

[Donna Repsher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by stating that I've been a fan of Justine Davis' books since the early 1990s, and I've especially enjoyed her Cutter's Code series, because her love of dogs is obvious, as is her background in law enforcement, all of which add to the knowledge that when it comes to romantic suspense novels and police procedurals, she knows what she's writing about. This novel, the eighth book in her Colton's of Grave Gulch series is the first title in the series I've read, and while it was an enjoyable read, it also felt a like walking in during the last 30 minutes of a movie--I didn't know any of the characters or their stories, most or all of which had been featured in previous novels, so I strongly advise reading the books in this series in the order in which they were written. The best rating I could give this novel is 3 stars. I liked it but didn't love it.

While the fault in reading the books in this series out of order is mostly mine, I also felt that this novel, which had plenty of sexual tension, didn't really deliver on the romance. As for the suspense, there's a serial killer on the loose in Grave Gulch, although it was news to me, since he first showed up near the end of this novel. Once again, I missed out on any knowledge of him or the crimes he committed.

The main character in this novel is Annalise, who is one of the Colton family, all of whom seem to be in law enforcement, and she used a dating app trying to meet the man of her dreams. She thinks she found him, an ER doctor, but she couldn't have been more wrong. Apparently, what happened to her, and other women, is called catfishing, and the primary focus is in catching him, which brings her into falling hard for recent transferee to the Grave Gulch police department, handsome and protective officer, Brett Shea. Annalise is looking for love, and Brett doesn't even believe love exists.

If you are as unfamiliar with the term "catfishing" as I was, it's loosely defined as a deceptive activity where a person creates a fictional persona or fake identity on a social network, usually targeting a specific victim. The practice may be used for financial gain, to compromise a victim in some way, as a way to intentionally upset, rape, or torture and kill a victim. In the case of Annalise, while she fought off her attacker, he still scared her, but as with his previous victims, his only intent was to steal something of value, and he got away with a diamond bracelet given to Annalise by her grandmother. Again, had he seriously harmed any of his victims other than stealing from them, all the time spent on luring him into another meeting with a fake social media persona in hopes of catching him in the act when he struck again didn't strike me as particularly suspenseful, nor did I think that is Annalise wasn't a Colton, no other police department would have devoted that much time to catching the perpetrator.

Finally, much of this novel deals with the K-9 dogs that Annalise trains, including Brett's dog, Ember, who is the reason they first met. While I love animals, more time was spent on Ember and the two abused dogs Annalise is helping by fostering and training them. It added charm to the novel for this animal lover, but it was no substitute for the romantic suspense plot. Although Colton K-9 Target was an enjoyable read, I would have preferred that it had included both more danger and more romance than it did. This novel simply wasn't a good example of the taut romantic suspense that I've become accustomed to from this author.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

[Paula (on hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read many “Colton” book series before but I missed a couple here and there and I have to admit I was a bit confused. This is not a standalone because you will be confused by all the drama & side characters if you are not in the know.

That being said, Annalise is our heroine who is a “Colton” and looking for love. Our Hero is not. She goes on a dating app and finds herself in trouble and cue Hero & her family to the rescue.

This is the same formula that I have come to expect in this series so nothing new here.

I received a copy from NetGalley & Publisher for an honest review.

[Elaine - Splashes Into Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley, too,
For my copy of this book, here's my honest review:

If Romantic Suspense is one of your favourite reads,
This book should help meet those needs!
Add in a detective and his K-9, Ember,
With their trainer, Annalise, and you've a book to remember.

When Annalise is attacked by a man she thought to date
K-9 Detective Brett Shea and Ember are nearby- it must be fate!
Brett's is surprised how he fears she's in more danger
For him this is a reaction that is a total stranger.

For someone who doesn't believe in love that's true
All of this is something very new
Can the culprit be caught and pay for his crimes
And for this couple lead to happier times?

There's another perpetrator they're out to catch
Will Brett and Ember prove to be his match?
With politics, danger and family, too
This is a page turner read for me and for you!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific continuation of the Coltons of Grave Gulch series. In this book, Detective Brett Shea and his K-9 recently joined the Grave Gulch PD. He left his big-city department, looking for something to feel more connected to the people he serves. Brett didn't realize at the time that there were quite so many of the same family working for the department, from the chief down to the newest rookie. He's a little uncomfortable with all that family closeness, something he never experienced with his family. I ached a bit for Brett, who felt like an outsider among them, despite having Troy Colton as his partner. Brett's connection with the Coltons goes up significantly when he comes to Annalise Colton's rescue during an attack.

Annalise works as a dog trainer, including training some of the GGPD's dogs. Having watched several of her family members find true love over the past few months, she wants the same thing for herself. At the advice of a friend, she joined a local dating app and connected with an ER doctor who checks all her boxes. But when he cancels on the night of their first date (because of an emergency), she's attacked by a deliveryman he sent - only it's more than that. Annalise becomes the victim of a catfisher, a man who lures women and attacks them for various reasons. Fortunately for Annalise, Brett and his dog, Ember, were in the neighborhood and witnessed her fight against her attacker.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Brett and Annalise. Because Annalise works with Ember, she and Brett know each other already. Though neither has acknowledged it, sparks of attraction are already present between them. When Brett witnesses the attack on Annalise, his protective instincts kick in stronger than for any other woman he's helped. I loved how he stayed close that first night and invited her to stay with him in case the guy came back to finish the job. Shaken badly, Annalise accepts his offer. Over the next few days, they work together to try to catch her attacker. At the same time, all that togetherness ramps up the attraction between them, though both try to fight it. Brett isn't looking for a relationship. He doesn't believe in forever love because of what he witnessed with his parents, and he knows that's what Annalise is looking for. Annalise knows Brett's views and tries to convince herself it's just the situation that draws her to him.

There were some sweet moments between Brett and Annalise. I loved how he looked after her, built up her confidence when she felt down because of falling for the catfisher's tricks and involved her in the search. I liked seeing Annalise show Brett what family should be. When they give in to the attraction, both freak out a bit at the intensity of the connection and try to put some space between them. When something goes wrong with the attempt to catch the bad guy, both Brett and Annalise finally realize the depth of their feelings for each other. I loved Brett's big moment at the end.

I liked the suspense of the book. The main story involves catching the man who attacked Annalise. The underlying tension of worrying if the man would attack again pushed Brett and Annalise together. Each bit of evidence uncovered about other attacks gave Brett more ammunition for the sting operation he planned. The tension ramped up with the second attack and kept me glued to the pages waiting for the intense final confrontation.

The other suspense involved the ongoing story arc for the series. A corrupt CSI official, Randall Bowe, tampered with evidence in ways that suited his agenda, allowing a serial killer to go free. At the same time, he went into hiding to escape prosecution. The entire GGPD is under attack by protestors who hold them responsible. The intensity increases as the released serial killer, Len Davison, strikes several more times. Both fugitives make appearances in this book. Bowe contacts the chief of police with demands. Davison strikes again while Brett and others attempt to set up a trap to catch him. The frustration of the entire GGPD leaps off the page as the two continue to elude capture.

The author was an excellent choice for this particular book in the series. She has a wonderful touch with dogs in her books (see the Cutter's Code series). Brett's K-9 partner, Ember, and Analise's two dogs, Jack and Apple, come alive in this story with unique personalities, lending an extra layer of realism to the story.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The Coltons of Grave Gulch continuity continues with the eight installment in this much-loved series from reader favorite Justine Davis: Colton K-9 Target.

K-9 Detective Brett Shea is new to the Grave Gulch Police Department and he cannot help but feel like an outsider looking in. It seems that wherever he goes in town and wherever he turns, he finds himself bumping into a Colton. Brett never thought that there would be so many members of the same family living in the same town – even Annalise, his dog’s trainer, is a Colton! Brett was intrigued by Annalise from the very first second he clapped eyes on her. However, even though he cannot stop himself from thinking about his dog’s trainer, Brett has erected iron-clad barriers around his heart and has sworn off love for good. But could Annalise get him to change his mind?

As his attraction to Annalise intensifies with each passing day, Brett finds his resolve to keep his emotions at bay wavering. When Annalise is attacked by a man pretending to be her date, Brett vows to do whatever it takes to catch the monster who hurt her and to punish him for what he did. Will Brett manage to track him down? Will he find the courage to admit to Annalise how he really feels about her? Can they ever have a future together? Or is a relationship for the two of them simply out of the question?

Justine Davis certainly knows how to juggle pulse-pounding drama, emotional romance and nerve-twisting tension. Colton K-9 Target is a fast-paced romantic suspense novel full of action, intrigue, passion and adorable canines.

My only qualm was that, as this was the eighth title in the Coltons of Grave Culch continuity, readers who hadn’t read the previous instalments would be a bit lost sometimes because of the over-arching back story, however, Justine Davis’ mastery of romantic suspense ensures that they will still find themselves hooked by her latest novel, Colton K-9 Target.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Robin Loves Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Brett Shea is the new K-9 officer for the small town of Grave Gulch. His partner is a gorgeous black lab named Ember, and Ember's trainer was Annalise Colton. The Colton name is not new to Brett. In fact, his boss is a Colton, as is most of her family.

Annalise longed for true love, and chose an online service in her search. However, she was catfished and soon attacked. Although the man has gotten away, he has no intention of letting Annalise go. Brett is determined to do his job and find Annalise's attacker, and in the meantime, he finds himself drawn to her. However, Brett and Annalise are very different. At least their backgrounds are. Annalise has the entire Colton clan behind her. Brett's family life left a lot to be desired.

While Annalise and Brett draw closer together, so does the danger facing her. Will they catch the man, and while they work on that will Annalise be kept safe? At the same time, will Annalise and Brett find a way to be together, despite Brett's reticence due to his past?

Colton K-9 Target was a quick and enjoyable read, especially if you enjoy dogs that play an important role in stories.

Many thanks to Harlequin Romantic Suspense and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annalise is a dog trainer who was catfished and was attacked thankfully K-9 Detective Brett Shea is there to help her out. Brett will do everything he can to protect her but also figure out who is the guy pretending to be a doctor/dog lover and prevent this person from attraction someone again.

I really enjoyed this book. To be honest it took me a couple tries to get into this book but once I got the hang this book was pretty hard to put down. I enjoyed the characters and seeing why Brett was a bit hung up over that she was a Colton things aren't looking too good for the family. So for this story Annalise is a bit down falling for this guys tricks and wanted to do what she can to help Brett and the others catch the guy it was an interesting process. Then theres the bit of romance that although felt rush during high intense things it was clear they were going to end up having something together this was after everything was done would it last? Overall great book I enjoyed it.

[Dita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a light suspense romance read.

I really enjoy the suspense, the catfish case really got me creepy and the action that the K-9 brings is really good, although all the excitement happened in the last few chapters. The romance quite cute. So yeah, I pretty enjoyed it.

What's really bothering me though is all the repetitions in those inner dialogs, Annalise's innocence kinda annoying for me, well it's cute but it makes me want to slap some senses to her and for Brett, his inner dialogs feels like he's whining and get jealous all the time, I found it hard to like these two main characters. Once I get passed all of that though, Annalise and Brett so cute together.

Overall it's really entertaining and enjoyable suspense read for me.

[Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's just something about the K-9 units in romantic suspense. I tend to be drawn to them, and I'm rarely disappointed. Colton K-9 Target is one more on my list of entertaining romance with danger and suspense. The pacing is good, and the characters are interesting. This is the 8th book in the Coltons of Grave Gulch series, and I'd have to say it's not really a standalone kind of story. There's a continuing storyline that kind of runs in the background and there are characters that cross over from the earlier books. That said, this particular case and romance are engaging, and I enjoyed rooting for this couple.

[Katherine Hayward Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guarding Colton's Child (the Colton's of Grave Gulch Book #5) is the only other book from the series I have reviewed.

I have enjoyed K-9-themed books by other Harlequin authors, and so when I saw Colton K-9 Target featured in the Fall Blog Tour I knew some of the backstory and would have liked more suspense in the book but the romance was well done and the writing flowed well.

Thanks to Justine Davis and Harlequin Romantic Suspense for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

4 stars

[M. K. French · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many Coltons in Grave Gulch that newcomer K-9 detective Brett Shea feels like an outsider. Dog trainer Annalise Colton is attacked by someone pretending to be her date, and Brett is determined to find the man. Despite his vows to refrain from love, he can't help but be drawn to Annalise.

Colton K-9 Target is the eighth book in the Coltons of Grave Gulch series. I haven't read any of the others and didn't feel like I lost anything. Other Coltons mentioned were likely those from the other books, but they were involved in this story when their lives touched on Annalise's. The attraction between Brett and Annalise was present even prior to the man showing up at her door intending to tranq her with a dart, and only became heightened over the course of the novel. Grave Gulch is a relatively small town, and there's definitely the small-town feel of everyone knowing almost everyone else. It's both good and bad; Brett assumes that anything he does will circle back to the Colton half of the police department almost immediately.

In addition to the catfish scam being run on women that had caught Annalise, there is a separate case that Brett is working on with his partner, and background tensions rising due to problems in the police department. Those likely were brought up in earlier books as well, and serve to increase the tension between Brett and Annalise; while he's potentially endangering himself elsewhere, Annalise is forced to admit her feelings for him. The potential risks to Annalise also force Brett to recognize his own feelings and desires.

This is a fast-paced novel, and I had a lot of fun watching the push and pull of the characters as they navigated in and out of each others' space. It's primarily a romance, so the tensions aren't drawn out for too long before we get to the happily ever after.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Bought this one as I am a fan of Justine Davis. Now I'm considering buying the other books in the series as the Colton family seems interesting even though the other books are by authors I haven't read.

[Happily Ever After Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed at Happily Ever After Romance

Colton K-9 Target is the eighth title in the multi-author mini-series Coltons of Grave Gulch, and Brett’s and Annalise’s romance while intense in itself also reveals a disgusting criminal intent called catfishing where in order to gain someone’s romantic attention a person will pretend to be someone they’re not using a fictional online personality complete with stock photos and other people’s lives… basically creating a completely false identity in order to lure someone with malice intent. I knew the phrase, yet seeing it play out in this romantic suspense was chilling to a degree that I can’t really express. And while this telling of catfishing is fictional it angers and saddens me that many people face this every day with possible harm beyond emotional distress. People are simply vile and disgusting at times… and I’m stepping off of that soapbox now.

While her siblings and her cousins are falling into romantic bliss like ducks in a row Annalise is still searching for her “the one” without much success. She’s not directly in law enforcement like the others but her chosen career does put her in contact with police K-9 officers, like Brett, through her training programs. When she takes a chance with online dating her match sounds just perfect for her, and he might have been if he was, in fact, real… but he isn’t and she’s about to face being on another side of law enforcement as a victim.

Annalise is such a strong character even when faced with a vile man who would harm her if he ever got close enough, she’s not taking what happened to her by calmly stepping back. Sure, she’s scared but beyond that she’s angry… and attracted to the one man who doesn’t believe in love or happy ever afters like she’s looking for in a life partner.

We’ve known Brett from earlier stories in the series as Troy’s partner and a newer member of the police force. He is an intriguing man with a very solid mindset that will be hard for Annalise to break through. We learned a lot about Brett in Colton K-9 Target, but mostly we learned of a man who is loyal to a fault, stubborn beyond belief, and who when he falls it’s going to be forever.

The search for this villain is intense, and winding as he’s not stupid but cunning. Add to that situation there are the ongoing investigations for a serial murderer, a former employee of the police department who has changed so many lives with his lies and deception, and a police chief who is taking the brunt of the civilian’s viewpoint of the criminal activity in their small town. The series arc moves along a bit and the intensity of the series ratchets up a few notches.

I am enjoying this series so much, and am waiting, impatiently, for the next title, A Colton Internal Affair by Jennifer D. Bokal, to drop in this series that has me tightly in its grip. If you are captured by good romantic suspense romances that keep you on edge with believable characters then this story and this series should be on your reading radar.

I own a Kindle edition of this title.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colton K-9 Target is the 8th book in the Coltons of Grave Gulch series. This one is Annalise and Brett's story. I enjoyed the book. I thought the catfishing mystery was interesting and fast paced. Annalise and Brett had great chemistry and their fall for each other made perfect sense given the amount of time they had known each other. I loved how Annalise was able to show Brett what family is supposed to be like. This book reads well as a stand alone. The series is written by different authors and seems to have a serial killer story line that runs through the series. There is enough back story given for events in the previous books that I didn't feel lost. I definitely recommend this one.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

New to me author Ms. Davis adds to the Coltons of Grave Gulch multi-author series. I'm glad I picked up this own with adorable dogs. Book 8 in this series can be read as a standalone. This book features Annalise, a dog trainer and a K-9 Detective Brett. Their tentative romance is put through the paces with many factors.

This world building features a town call Grave Gulch somewhere in Michigan. It's easy get a up to speed with the overall story arc. This town's law enforcement is populated with many Coltons and this leads to accusations of nepotism and corruption. This specific book shows from the Colton point of view. After reading what is going on, I tend to lean towards the Coltons as being the good guys.

To read the rest of my review, click on the image below to see it on my website.

[Haney Hayes Promotions · Rating 3 out of 5]

For readers who crave a fascinating and romantic tale of loyalty, trust, and protection, this is a must-read, weaving together the unbreakable bond between a detective and his canine partner with a heart-pounding mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

[Harlequin Books]

Categories
Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, Animal Fiction
Miniseries
The Coltons of Grave Gulch (Book #8)

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
The dogs upped it half a star.
I like this author but working within the parameters of a continuity story didn’t help.
Slow burn romance that was fairly annoying to this reader....

[Donna Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't read any of the Colton series but I'm a big fan of Justine Davis to I had to read this book. Great read. I enjoyed the characters and the plot kept me guessing until the end.