I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Mali is in Hawaii doing research for a human rights study focusing on sex trafficking, when her principal investigator blows his alert whistle when her and her colleagues are out doing street interviews, she knows she's in trouble. Her former military sister Arin works on the island, so she calls her for help.

Raul has just been hired by Search and Protect Corps, a job his former colleague and friend Arin helped him get. When he gets a call forwarded from Arin's phone because she is currently on a mission and hears her little sister asking for help, he knows he has to act.

Mali and Raul both have trust issues but as they work to find out what happened to Mali's colleagues, the spark between them is getting harder and harder to ignore.

Her laughter faded, and her dark brown eyes sparkled with mischief. “Well, if you're going to get in trouble anyway...”

She bent then, leaning a hand on his chest, and pressed her lips to his.

Total Bravery, is number four in the True Heroes series but you would have no problem picking this up with no prior knowledge. I've only read the first in the series and I never felt lost. The story brings you into the action right away, which really worked for me in some ways and not in others. Raul's partner is a German Sheppard named Taz and, something that I thought was missing from the first book, the author utilized Taz wonderfully. Even though Mali is running and hiding, the way Taz brings Raul to her started the story off cute and exciting. However, jumping right into the danger that sets up the action plot didn't allow for an introduction to Mali's colleagues. When Mali manages to evade the ominous men in suits that caused the leader of her research group to warn people to run but her colleagues all get kidnapped, I didn't have an emotional stake in their danger or any future reveals pertaining to the characters; nixed a supposed surprise ending thread.

A cold nose touched her thigh, and Taz slipped his head under her hand. The big dog pressed against her leg. Raul murmured gently, “We won't leave you.”

Mali was the stronger of the two characters because of getting more background information on her. She grew-up protected by her older sister and this caused her to look up to her but also have some fear towards the violence Arin exhibited in front of her. We get a scene between the sisters where Mali learns that Arin thinks of her in a way that Mali was clueless about and bolsters her confidence. I wish we could have gotten more scenes between the two because their uneasy but loving relationship provided great complex emotions. The same with Raul and Arin, I would have liked to see these two friends together. As the new guy on the job, Raul didn't have any connections and he didn't seem to have family or other friends than Arin, this left some of the different layers of his character blank for me.

She was doing research because she believed people were worth saving. He'd spent the better part of his last assignment proving to people that there was a hell, and it didn't take demons to send them there.

Mali and Raul had a cute start, even though their first kiss happens very quickly and as Mali's character gets revealed more, it made the first kiss seem out of character for her. Their romance felt pushed to the side a bit too much in favor of the plot to find out who and why Mali's colleagues were taken. The villains behind the sex trafficking plot felt a bit whiffed on with their structure and reveal but maybe since they're close to the Search and Protect corps they will show up again. I'm a dog person and I adored the relationship between Taz and Mali and how Taz worked with Raul; Taz made this book for me. I thought the writing was smooth and the author handled the moving parts well, research felt evident in how scenes and characters were conducted, most importantly, it kept me wanting to read but I didn't fully feel the love building between Raul and Mali. Even in the later half of the story Mali was still not thinking a relationship with Raul would be serious. I wish the ending text messages that Raul sends to Mali would have been shown so we could read and feel more of an emotional connection between the two.

She stared up at him. “I am so glad you're here.”

He smiled then, slow and incredibly sexy.

Each book in the series has a main character paired with a dog (keep hoping for a Rottweiler someday!) and I love that. Trust me, you're going to love Taz, the moment where he shuts a car door during a mission was ridiculously cute and high training impressive. This was the second book in the series I've read and even though I thought the romance relationship between the two could have been better, I enjoyed it even more than the first.

Good morning! Rainy and cloudy in my neck of the woods.
I told Raiden to give me “alert ears” for this pic to match Taz. My Rottie tried :)

Apples, sweet potatoes, and cinnamon to fuel the first half of my day.
Best wishes and health to everyone

Total Bravery by Piper J. Drake purchase link

Cinnamon Apple Sweet Potato Breakfast bow recipe

True Heroes #6, Ever since Zu walked into the room with Buck in book 4, Total Bravery, I knew that this strong, silent, intimidating man would be my next book boyfriend. It was worth the wait because this book was fantastic. Piper J. Drake is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, top ten easily, she's already an autobuy author, as in if I see the book on the shelf and I don't have it I buy it. I love her diverse characters, especially the ones in the latter part of the series. This was an action-packed edge of my seat story I didn't want to put down. It is definitely one of my favorites in the series.

Jang Ying Yue was one of the people that Zu rescued from a cargo container in the last book, for this story arc I would recommend reading at least from book 4 although it can be read as a standalone. Ying Yue was kidnapped in Singapore and brought to Hawaii for ransom and to manipulate her father into doing something bad with his international, has government contracts, corporation. Zu feels a pull toward Ying Yue, he feels more protective over her than anybody else. She questions him about the decisions he makes so that she understands what he's doing and voices her concerns and her wants and needs and it just makes Zu like her even more. Even after rescuing her from the initial kidnapping they realize she's still not safe and Zu won't have anyone but himself and Buck protecting her. When the shit hits the fan, as it always seems to do, friends old and new come to lend a helping hand, and dog.

Overall, I'm gonna cry I think this is the last book of the series...Say it Ain't So! I really loved this series and Forever Strong (if it is the last book) is a strong finish to the series. I loved that she brought in all True Heroes and their people from the previous books. It is a well paced action with plenty of emotion and romance, loveable dogs and one pig. Definitely great reads.   

Ultimate Courage is a fantastic romantic suspense by Piper J. Drake.  Ms. Drake has provided readers with a well-written book loaded with a cast of characters that is stellar.  I love the characters in this book!  Elisa is on the run trying to keep away from her fiance.  Alex is a single dad and a retired Navy SEAL.  Alex and Elisa's story is packed with drama, humor, sizzle, action and susupense.  I loved every word of this book and can't wait for my next book by Piper J. Drake.  Ultimate Courage is book 2 of the True Heroes Series but can easily be read as a standalone.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.  OH!!  Kudos to Ms. Drake for introducing scrapple to the masses...everything but the oink.  

I read a print copy of this book.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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

I enjoyed this romance quite a bit. This is the third book in Piper J. Drake's True Heroes series but it can easily be read as a stand-alone. I haven't read any of the other books from this series and I had absolutely no problems jumping in with this one. I picked this book up on a day that I was home waiting to get some repairs done because I thought it fit my mood that day. I was right. I consumed this entire book in a single day and had a great time with it.

When Raul gets a call for help from Mali, a friend and co-worker's sister, he doesn't hesitate to come to her aid. Raul works at Search and Protect along with his partner Taz, a German Shepherd. He is brand new on the job and hasn't even officially started when he gets the call from Mali but he knows he needs to help. Mali is afraid. She has been in Hawaii doing research and her group had to scatter. She believes that people may be after her and she fears for the safety of her group.

This book had plenty of action to keep things really interesting. There were some pretty intense scenes that really kept the pace of the book moving forward. I thought that the action was nicely balanced out by the scenes that were more character-driven. I really enjoyed getting to know Raul, Mali, Taz, and the rest of the crew. It was very interesting to see what motivated them to act. I loved the fact that Taz was such a well-developed character that played a huge part in the story. I am a sucker for books that involve dogs and I thought that Taz added a whole lot to the story.

I liked the chemistry between Raul and Mali. I enjoyed the romance in this story but I did feel like the action of the story felt like a larger focus. I liked that things moved a little slower and I thought that their chemistry was very well done. I was completely invested in seeing this pair figure out how to make things work long term.

I would recommend this book to fans of romantic suspense. The story does deal with human trafficking which may be hard for some readers. I found this story to be very entertaining and action-packed and therefore hard to put down. I would not hesitate to read more of well-done series.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Forever (Grand Central Publishing).

Initial Thoughts
I enjoyed this romance. This was the first book by Piper Drake that I have had the chance to read so I was very glad that this book worked well as a stand-alone. I thought that the characters were well done and there was a lot of excitement to keep things moving forward. I was really happy that the dogs were present throughout the story and that Taz played such a huge role. Raul and Mali were great together.