Linda O. Johnston

Good book. In the previous book (A Colton InternalAffair), Madison saw a man who looked like her father while in a nearby town with her cousin Grace. But Richard Foster has been dead for twenty-five years, so how is that possible? This book picks up a week later as Madison returns to that town looking for the man she saw. But just as she is about to follow the man into a store, Marshal Oren Margulies stops her. Oren has good reasons to stop her from speaking to the man, but Madison refuses show more to leave it alone.

I laughed as kindergarten teacher Madison outwitted the marshal and succeeded in speaking with her quarry. She never expected to find that it was her father and that he's been in witness protection all this time. Oren fears that now that contact has been made, both Madison and her father could be in danger, and he is proved right within hours.

The action and suspense took off as a revenge-driven adversary attempted to take out Madison and her brother and sister. Madison was the main target at this time, and Oren was determined to keep her safe. I was glued to the pages as each attack seemed closer to succeeding. I loved seeing the partnership between Oren, the Grave Gulch PD, and Madison's brother Bryce, the FBI agent, as they worked to track the attacker. Just when the reader thinks they have him located, a bit of deception puts Madison in extreme danger. I loved seeing her keep a cool head and exceed even her law enforcement family's expectations when her pursuer confronts her. The final confrontation was a nail-biter and kept me engrossed to the end.

I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Oren and Madison develop. Oren is fascinated and attracted to Madison from the beginning but determined to remain professional. Madison is equally attracted and has no problem letting Oren know her interest. Oren's protectiveness had him sticking to Madison like glue, and I enjoyed seeing him fall under her spell. Oren has had bad luck with previous relationships and believes there is no future for them as much as he would like it. There are some terrific scenes between them as they get to know each other and bond over his sister's matzo ball soup. I wanted to shake Oren at the end as he pushed Madison away, ostensibly to protect her from being hurt by him. I loved the lecture he got from his sister, followed by the advice from Madison's father. His big moment at the end was sweet, romantic, and pretty impressive.

The story of Madison's father and what happened to him was heartbreaking at times. It was easy to understand Madison and her family's disbelief, hurt, and anger when they found out the truth. There were also times I wanted to shake him for possibly carrying it too far. The final scene with the family dinner was a hopeful sign for their future as a family.

There was a brief mention of the story arc about the missing forensic scientist. The serial killer story had an odd turn at the end of the book when he robbed Oren's sister Olivia's restaurant, but it serves as a lead-in for the next book. show less

Good book with a nice blend of suspense and romance, leaning a little more on the romance side. Having recently solved one cattle rustling case, Casey is picked for another one. A local rancher and bigwig is missing some of his very valuable Angus cattle and wants it investigated immediately. He assigns one of his ranch hands to stick with Casey and provide any needed assistance. Casey isn't thrilled to involve a civilian, especially a female one.

There are sparks between Casey and Melody show more from the start, and neither one is happy about it. Casey was left at the altar by his fiancée and is not interested in pursuing any new relationships. Melody is recently divorced from a man who constantly put her down, causing her to doubt her judgment. She isn't interested in letting a man into her life, but she also won't be sidelined. Though Casey is initially reluctant to take Melody along on his investigation, she makes a good case that her knowledge of the ranch would be an asset. With it being just the two of them, they had plenty of time to talk and get to know each other. Neither planned to talk about their pasts, but their growing closeness made it happen anyway. It was interesting to see how they reacted to each other at times, their responses influenced by their pasts. Though the sparks flared hot enough at one point for them to give in, both still resist the thought of anything more. While I appreciated that there was no quick declaration of feelings, there were moments of frustration that Casey, especially, was going to let his fears come between them. I liked the realistic ending as both of them faced their fears and sought to move forward.

The suspense of the story was good. The value of the cattle was a good incentive for their theft, and for the desire of their owner to get them back. I found the electronic tagging of the animals interesting and how that enabled them to be tracked. I was a bit skeptical of the length of time it took Casey and Melody to catch up, as two people on horseback should have been able to move faster than people who also had to herd cows, but it worked for the story. Things got complicated when Casey and Melody found one of the cattle dead, and the body of a ranch hand nearby, making them realize that the danger is a bit greater than they had previously thought. One clue that they found gave Casey one suspect, but he wasn't sure about it. The final confrontation was intense, with both Casey and Melody in extreme danger. Both kept their heads as they faced the rustlers, though Casey's shock and anger were obvious. The resolution was terrific with help coming from an unexpected source. show less

I am so excited to read another book in this series. The author writes a great story with interesting characters. I love that animals are in the series because they just make the story fun. I have thought it would be fun to work at a Vet clinic. You get to see all different breeds of dogs, cats and other animals. I would want to take them all home but I think the owners may get a bit upset if I did.

Carrie is such a great character with a big heart for her patients and her care for them is show more wonderful. Reed seems nice but I don't think he cares for Carrie getting involved with murder cases.I think it is great that she has a keen eye for detail. Perhaps her investigative skills will come in handy when her boyfriend Reed is accused of murder.I knew from the first few pages who was going to be killed, but I still liked how the character was introduced. Raela is just a nasty person who has a grudge against Reed for some reason. Her presence at the clinic would make dogs howl with displeasure. I almost thought of her as the mean person from 101 Dalmatians. Well at least I pictured her like that because she is just an angry, snotty unhappy person. What is the real reason Raela is in town? Why does she keep showing up at every place Carrie goes to?

One of the things I love about this series is the emphasis on animal adoption. It is so nice to see awareness about a problem that so many animals face. The author always does such a great job of putting pet adoptions in the stories and it makes me smile every time I read it. As you can tell, I love animals especially dogs. I love how the animals play a big role in the series and how easy it is to fall in love with them. On the day of the adoption I was very mad at what I read. Why would some vicious out of town person say negative things about the vets that see the animals before being adopted? The poor animals are trying to find new homes and it is being ruined. I would have walked over to the person and kindly shoved her out the door.I loved how the author allowed Raela to become nastier with her unfounded claims of shady work being done a the clinic Carrie works for. Some people may believe her and that could be the end of the well known veterinarian clinic.

I remember from the last book how Reed didn't like Carrie getting involved with murder investigations. Funny how he changes his mind when he finds himself as a murder suspect. The book is quite intriguing and has twists that I found surprising.Who killed Raela and why? All these questions will be answered when you read this well written story.

I received a copy of this book from The Great Escape Virtual Blog Tour. The review is my own opinion. show less

Beaglemania is filled with useful information on shelters, puppy mills, and how to care for animals, and I enjoyed all of that very much. If only the rest of the book had been as interesting.

The mystery is fairly predictable, and I knew the identity of the killer in the first scene in which that person made an appearance. (I hate that when it happens.) Even then I would have liked the book if I'd liked the characters, but they seemed lackluster as well. The rest of the cast takes a backseat show more to Lauren Vancouver, who has an irritating tendency to fly off half-cocked. She's trying to find a killer, so she goes off to question the people on her suspect list by herself. She's lucky she didn't get stabbed and shoved down a storm drain. Then she agrees to an interview and expects the media not to do a slice-dice-and-spin-it-our-way on the tape. It's very difficult for me to like a character who repeatedly forgets to use her little grey cells.

I was expecting something a little bit different in this book because of the first two lines I quoted-- which I found very intriguing; however, those lines came to nothing, and I was left feeling as though Beaglemania was a sad-eyed dog that couldn't wag its tail. show less