Police Dog Procedural - Lena Diaz (HI #2104 - Nov 2022)

Series: K-9s on Patrol (Book 6)
 
A child left on a doorstep…
A K-9 officer and his partner determined to solve this mystery…
 
When police lieutenant Macon Ridley and his loyal K-9, Bogie, respond to a frantic call from Daniels Canine Academy, they're stunned to discover a baby on DCA's doorstep. New recruit Macon tantalized Emma Daniels when she first trained his new pup. Now, that sizzling spark propels the pair to solve a dangerous mystery. At stake is not only an innocent infant, but also Emma herself…
 
Terrific conclusion to the series. Emma is the owner and head trainer at the Daniels Canine Academy. As such, she has been a fixture in the previous books, training the Jasper PD K-9s and providing other support when needed. As the book opens, Emma needs the Jasper PD when she discovers an abandoned infant on her doorstep, and she's surprised when Macon is the officer who responds.
 
Emma and Macon have a little bit of history. Two years earlier, she had trained the Boise cop and his dog, Bogart. They had an easy friendship, with underlying sparks of attraction, but they did nothing about it. After training, Macon went back to Boise. A few months earlier, a bust gone bad resulted in the death of Macon's partner, with Bogie also suffering some PTSD from the event. Macon joined the Jasper PD to seek a quieter place to heal from his grief and get help for Bogie. This is the first time he's seen Emma since his return.
 
Emma faces a dilemma with baby Angel. She has been a foster parent to teens but gave it up when it became too hard to say goodbye to her kids. Because of trauma in her past, she didn't trust herself with infants. But there is a shortage of available foster parents, and though she tries to resist, she can't say no to caring for Angel.
 
As the police begin their search for Angel's mother, matters become more complicated when someone attempts to break into Emma's home. Is this person after the baby or Emma? Macon is determined to keep Emma and Angel safe while they search for the truth, even if that means setting up 24-hour protection.
 
I loved watching the relationship develop between Macon and Emma. Their attraction is undeniable, but Emma is wary of opening her heart. Working together on the investigation allows them to get to know each other, especially with Macon pulling the night shift at Emma's. There are some sweet scenes involving Macon, Emma, and Angel, that burrow into Emma's heart. At the same time, Macon does his best to stay in control, so he doesn't scare her off. They do butt heads a few times when Emma's protectiveness toward her teen volunteers runs up against Macon's suspicions, and her frustration at the investigation's slow progress creates a foot-in-mouth argument. I wanted to shake her when she allowed her fears to push him away and ached for her self-imposed misery. Fortunately, she has good friends who can and do dispense needed advice. The ending was sweet as Emma faced those fears and went after what she wanted.
 
The suspense and action were excellent. From the moment baby Angel appeared, the Jasper PD was all hands on deck to find the truth. Macon's determination is evident as the lead on the case, though his methods are sometimes a little intense. I loved the attention to detail in the search for Angel's mother. The attacks on Emma's property involve a different set of questions. One episode reveals a surprising answer and a small sigh of relief. But that relief is short-lived when they find the truth of Angel's parentage. The final confrontation is a nail-biter, with Emma's life in danger from a desperate man. I was impressed by Emma's calmness in the face of that danger. The resolution was well done and realistic in how it happened.
 
The epilogue was an excellent wrap-up for the book and the series. I loved seeing the characters from the previous books. I loved the long-anticipated retirement of Chief Walters and the terrific twist of naming his replacement.
 
I enjoyed seeing so much of Macon's dog Bogie. Emma's compassion for him over the events that brought Bogie and Macon to Jasper was sweet. I loved how she figured out his trouble and her work to get him past it. I loved his almost human reactions when he was around Emma and laughed out loud at how he sometimes seemed to play Macon and Emma against each other. The dogs in this series were terrific, and I loved seeing their relationships with their human partners.

Scent Detection - Leslie Marshman (HI #2086 - Aug 2022)

Series: K-9s on Patrol (Book 5)
 
Would a mysterious stranger blow her cover
Or wind up saving her life?
 
Veterinarian Marie Beaumont's spent five years in witness protection hiding from a ruthless foe. But then she and her K-9 save the life of a handsome stranger with amnesia and Marie's horrified when he begins to remember her -- as the woman she once was. But who is the elusive Jack? A caring, electrifying protector…or a killer sent to finish off Marie once and for all?
 
This was a gripping tale that kept me hooked from start to finish. The book opens with a man driving his truck through a storm faster than was prudent in that weather. Unsurprisingly, he hydroplanes and leaves the road, his truck rolling over and over. He struggles to escape and nearly gets caught in a mudslide, all while his mind yells at him that there is danger. He almost makes it back to the road before he collapses.
 
The next morning Marie and her dog Astrid are out for a run. Marie thinks about her life for the past five years, far away from the trouble that put her in witness protection. While she never stops looking over her shoulder, she has made a few friends, even though they don't know everything about her. Marie is stunned when Astrid finds an unconscious man who is moments away from drowning in a drainage ditch.
 
The man, known only as Jack, suffers from amnesia thanks to his injuries. He remembers nothing about his life, from who he is to why he was on that road. The only thing he has going for him is his gut feeling that he is supposed to be in Jasper and that it has something to do with Marie. She is horrified when he comments on her hair, fearing that he is there because of her. She's relieved when the doctor plans to send him to a city hospital where he can get better help.
 
Marie is determined to stay away from Jack until he leaves. But fate, and Jack, have other plans. Jack refuses to leave Jasper, believing that the answers to his past are linked to the town and Marie. She is deeply suspicious of him and his sudden appearance. Jack takes a job at the canine academy, which keeps him in Marie's orbit. She spends a lot of time there as a veterinarian, and exposure to Jack leaves her torn. Something about him stirs up feelings she's buried for years, but prudence tells her to keep him at a distance.
 
Jack recognizes that Marie is skittish and suspects that she's hiding something. He hopes that being around her will awaken his memories. But when he gets flashes of his past, they leave him wondering if he's a good or bad guy. As he and Marie spend time together, they grow closer, and Marie starts feeling more comfortable in his presence. Then a news story about an escaped prisoner sends her into a panic, worried that her past is about to rear its ugly head. Her suspicions are reawakened by the coincidence of Jack's arrival at about the same time as the prisoner's escape.
 
The story is full of twists and turns as Marie struggles with her growing feelings for Jack and her worry that he isn't the nice guy he appears to be. News that the escaped prisoner is headed in her direction, combined with suspicious accidents, keeps Marie on edge. The kayaking scene is intense and nerve-wracking as the fun excursion she and Jack planned turns deadly, and she fears his intentions. A timely discovery puts those fears to rest, but the threat from her past is still out there. When the final confrontation came, I was glued to the pages until it was all over.