Ultimate Courage by Piper J. Drake Pages: 336
Series: True Heroes #2
Also in this series: Extreme Honor, Dark Corners, Absolute Trust
Also by this author: Extreme Honor, Absolute Trust, Contracted Defense
Goodreads
Elisa Hall is good at starting from scratch. Leaving an abusive relationship in her rearview, she packs everything she owns into the trunk of her car and heads for refuge with her friend in Hope's Crossing, North Carolina.
Alex Rojas returned from his second deployment as a Navy SEAL to find his condo empty and divorce papers on the breakfast table. Now he's building a life for himself and his daughter at Hope's Crossing kennels training younger dogs and handlers to search and rescue, struggling to adjust to life back in the States and as a single father.
When Elisa shows up at the kennels, it's obvious she's running from something. Luckily, the dogs and trainers at Hope's Crossing are more than capable of warding off trouble. And with every minute he spends with Elisa, Alex becomes even more and more determined to protect the woman he's certain he won't be able to live without...
Ultimate Courage
Piper J. Drake
I really enjoyed book 1, Extreme Honor, in this series. I mean, its hot ex-military men and dogs! Seriously-Its everything I love. I enjoyed Drake’s writing as well so when I got the chance to read Ultimate Courage I jumped at it!!
Elisa is on the run from an abusive ex. As weird as it may sound, I actually love this trope (I’m not sure what that says about me, but I try not to think about it!). She meets Alex Rojas and his daughter “Boom” in the ER. Rojas knows right away something is up, so when Elisa shows up at the kennel the next day, he starts pushing to help her-he offered her a job and a place to stay. I think Alex and Boom are well written characters. While you met them in book 1, it was nice to get more of their back story.
I was a little confused as to why Elisa’s ex would have done something so odd View Spoiler » But, aside from that, its a good story. Regardless of why she was on the run, she is in danger and needs help. I enjoyed the slow burn between Alex Rojas and Elisa. It wasn’t so slow as to seem boring, but slow enough that you aren’t questioning their feelings. However, the ending was a little abrupt and I would have liked to have some of what happened at the end as an epilogue that occurs maybe a few weeks after the big final climax. But, thats just me being a bit picky!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: No
- Trope: on the run
- Triggers: domestic abuse (Emotional)/stalking
- Series/Standalone: standalone within an interconnected series
- Cliffhanger: No
- HEA: View Spoiler »
Chasing Daylight by Carey Heywood, Fan the Flames by Katie Ruggle, Dangerous Protector by Katie Reus…then you will probably like Ultimate Courage!
Book 1 Book 3
From Ultimate Courage:
Alex’s hand came up slowly to cradle the side of her face, encouraging her to tilt her head, and she did. He deepened the kiss then, his tongue running across her lips and coaxing them to open for him. She opened with a sigh, and his tongue swept into her mouth, gently tasting. She kissed him back in return, leaning into him until she had one hand braced against his hard chest.
A needy moan escaped her, and he responded in kind. When he lifted his mouth from hers, she almost tipped into him, her knees not holding her upright anymore and her head spinning. Wow.
She took not one, but several long breaths to clear her head, looking down at a black and tan face staring up at her with soulful, dark eyes. Souze wasn’t shy about watching, apparently.
The thought brought her the rest of the way to her senses, because weird. Yeah. Weird.
She took a step back, and Alex let her. He’d done that since the beginning. Letting her go if she wanted. So why was it so hard to leave now even if she kept saying she should?
“Thank you,” she told him, not looking up into his eyes.
“But?” Alex’s voice came cool, deep, and so sexy it just wasn’t fair.
“But I should go. Especially because this is obviously not a professional thing now.”
“No. But none of your previous employers particularly cared if you left, did they?” He sounded reasonable. “Did they bother to try to check on you?”
“Not that I know of.” She said it slowly. She’d had her phone with her, and she’d been checking her e-mail. Both big mistakes, she knew now. But she’d been paid under the table and they didn’t really have a way to contact her after she disappeared.
“I think that’s a little odd.” Rojas lifted his hand, giving her plenty of time to avoid him, and brushed her hair back from her face. “Maybe this time, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone care about whether you disappear.”
I’ve never heard of this author, but the book sounds interesting and the cover definitely caught my attention! The characters sound great and who doesn’t love dogs?! I’m glad you enjoyed this one! Great review 😀
I like that cover a lot! I haven’t read a lot of romantic suspense, but the few that I have read, I’ve really enjoyed. I really like that this is a slow burn too. Love those!
Great review! 🙂
I am on a big romantic suspense kick! It seems like the only genre that is holding my attention!