This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I thought that this was good. Years ago I read a ton of Linda Howard but I stopped picking up her books for one reason or another. I decided to give this one a try and I found that I do still enjoy her writing. I found this to be a really enjoyable listen.

I really only have one main complaint with this book. I can't believe that I am going to say this but too much of this book was about the dog. I love dogs. My world revolves around my three dogs and I have to admit that they are incredibly spoiled. I love it when dogs are a part of the story. This book took things a bit far even for me. I felt like I had spent hours listening to how Tricks liked to play catch, how smart she was, how she liked to be fed, where she thought she needed to sit in the car, and the list goes on. Do you see that cover? It should have had the dog in the foreground with the humans in the background because that would have been more accurate.

Now, on to the humans. Morgan works for an elite unit and is enjoying some time off at the start of the story. He is attacked near his own home comes close to losing his life. Once he has recovered enough to leave constant medical care, his supervisor arranges for him to go to the home of his step-sister, Bo, who lives in a small remote town. Bo is the part-time police chief of a small town. It's is an administrative position and she fills in the rest of her time with computer work out of her home. She does not expect to find an incredibly sick man on her doorstep but he is in such bad shape she can't bring herself to send him away.

There is a lot going on in this book. Not only do they need to figure out who is responsible for the attack on Morgan at the start of the book, but Bo also has some issues in town that prove to be more dangerous than she counted on. It did feel like nothing happened with the mystery of who was responsible for trying to kill Morgan for the majority of the book and then everything came together really quickly at the end of the story. Bo's situation in town filled in the main part of the book nicely.

I thought that Morgan and Bo worked well together. Morgan was pretty open and shared as much with Bo as he could. Morgan was in pretty rough shape for a long time in this story but when he started to recover he seemed to do so very quickly and that is when things started to heat up between the pair. I thought that they had good chemistry with each other and I liked them as a couple.

I thought that Tanya Eby did a good job with the narration. It did take me just a bit to get used to her voice but once I did, I had no complaints. She handled all of the character voices very well and was able to add a lot of emotion to the story. I had no problem listening to her voice for hours at a time.

I think that readers who enjoy romantic suspense and love dogs will enjoy this one. I didn't think that this was Linda Howard's best work but it was an enjoyable story. I wouldn't hesitate to read more of her work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from William Morrow via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.

Initial Thoughts
This was probably closer to 3.5 stars but I am going with 3 for now. I love dogs. I have 3 dogs that mean the world to me and I do adjust my life quite often to meet their needs. I love dogs in books so it pains me to say that there was just too much of the dog in this book. If I talked about my 3 dogs as much as this book talked about, Tricks, nobody would want to be around me. I feel like the book was 50% about the dog with the rest of the story taking a back seat.

I liked Bo and Morgan well enough. It seemed like the book kind of forgot that Morgan was in danger for the bulk of the story until it came back into focus at the very end. Morgan went from being quite frail to almost superhero status in a blink of an eye which seemed odd to me. I thought that the story was interesting enough to keep me going. I listened to this story and thought that Tanya Eby did an acceptable job with the narration.

What's a person to do when happily ever after turns out to be a dud? In the case of Rory Haven, give people something to talk about. Hometown Troublemaker is proof that the best of intentions, can have surprising results. Brighton Walsh turns heartache into a new beginning with a little laughter and a ton of heart.

I enjoyed this story that is mostly about the dog Tricks but also about two people who end up befriending her.

Morgan Yancy is just back from a tricky mission and now he's trying to relax so he heads out on his boat to fish.  While there he meets some people he knows and he realises that somethings has gone badly wrong when he arrives home to an assassin.  When he wakes it's in a hospital bed and he's in pain.  He had survived the assassination but his boss, Axel, has no idea who and why he had been targeted.

Axel decides to send Morgan to someone he hasn't seen in years and someone he seriously doesn't care for, her mother and his father were once married for a few months and they didn't get on then.  She's distant enough and needs the money so Bo Maran agrees.  Bo never intended to be in the house she is and part-time working as the Sherrif (mostly to get the paperwork done) and not a dog owner.  But these things are what have her in the town she's in and she likes the community around her.

I enjoyed the read, I liked how Morgan had to come to terms with his now body (though he didn't have enough falling over for long enough to be honest and never relapsed, it is a fantasy/thriller version of recovery).  Things do get resolved fairly quickly and this is also more a romance with a taste of thriller than a full thriller.  There's also a lot of dealing with a spoilt dog who walks all over the two characters (and a lot of other people in the town).  I really did like how respectful Morgan was about her job and her and dealt with his issues like an actual adult.

The author could use other members of the team for more stories...

What was great: the crime plot. 

The characters and the story line, the way this all unfolded.

I was missing the personal development with Dave - he felt a bit detached.

Still, a very good crime novel.

I started watching Leah Remini’s documentary on A&E about Scientology and have been fascinated with it. I have a self-admitted fascination with how different faiths work, especially those of a more controversial nature. It was what led me to the library to find this book. And I haven’t been able to put it down since.

One of the things I most appreciate about this book is that Remini doesn’t try to portray herself as anyone other than who she is. She doesn’t clean it up for a book. She presents her story as if she were telling it to you over a cup of coffee, f-bombs and all. And she presents it with truth and honesty, not only describing her issues with the church, but putting her faults and those of her loved ones with equal measure. There are no holds barred and that really gave legitimacy to what she had to say.

The book is about her experience with Scientology and that with Hollywood. For her, the two experiences have been largely entwined. There really was no line separating Scientology from any other part of her life. Her career, her family, her friends, even her marriage… all highly dictated and controlled by her church. It is an eye-opening read.

Overall:  No matter what your personal thoughts or beliefs, this is a fascinating read. It is honest, deep, and sometimes very dark. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for an intense personal story.