Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle

January 26th, 2017 Kimberly Review 43 Comments

26th Jan
Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle
Hold Your Breath
by Katie Ruggle
Series: Search and Rescue #1
Narrator: Rachel Dulude
Length: 9 hours and 53 minutes
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Goodreads
Rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Heat Level: One FlameOne FlameOne Flame
Narration: 4.5 cups

As the captain of Field County's ice rescue dive team, Callum Cook is driven to perfection. But when he meets new diver Louise "Lou" Sparks, all that hard-won order is obliterated in an instant. Lou is a hurricane. A walking disaster. And with her, he's never felt more alive . . . even if keeping her safe may just kill him. Lou's new to the Rockies, intent on escaping her controlling ex, and she's determined to make it on her own terms . . . no matter how tempting Callum may be. But when a routine training exercise unearths a body, Lou and Callum find themselves thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse with a killer who'll stop at nothing to silence Lou-and prove that not even her new Search and Rescue family can keep her safe forever. Contains mature themes.

SUSPENSE snarky ROMANCE Audiobook

I have wanted to try the Search and Rescue series.  I even added the first two books to my Kindle. (We all know how that goes) When the audiobook(s) became available for review, I decided to take the plunge. Hold Your Breath delivered a suspenseful tale with a quirky romance and strong characters.

“I’m sick and tired of people trying to kill us!”

Coffee Dates with Hold Your Breath

First Date: I loved the Colorado setting from the mountains to the quaint town. The delightful narrations from Rachel Dulude quickly made me familiar with our heroine Louise “Lou” Sparks and her Resue Team Captain Callum Cook. On this first date, we learn a little about Lou’s past and her new position on Field County’s Ice Resue Dive Team. The team is going through a training exercise on the lake when Lou discovers a dead body in the water. Lou is inquisitive, and I can already tell that her quest for answers is going to get us all in trouble. The chemistry between Callum and Lou is sizzling but complicated by their personalities and positions. I am all in and curious to see what develops.

Second Date: I love romantic suspense but finding a story that is balanced between the romantic aspect, and the mystery is often hard. Usually one ends up lacking, but this was not the case with Hold Your Breath. Ruggle carefully balanced the two and weaved them skillfully together. Cullum is a bit of a neat freak with some OCD tendencies and I felt his pain. Lou’s inner dialogue and spunky personality is a perfect match for Cullum’s controlled and quiet manner. I loved Lou’s sarcasm and inner dialogue. Her tendency to get verbal diarrhea when nervous led to some laugh out loud moments. Poor Callum. A slashed tire and other incidents lead Lou to the discovery that she has a stalker. This thread escalated throughout the story placing our heroine in danger. We even get a few scenes from the stalker. I picked right up on who the stalker was but enjoyed the thread.

Third Date: The synopsis has a warning about mature themes, but there was nothing overly shocking for an adult contemporary romance here. The romance was slow building and moments took place in the midsts of the suspense thread. I love that despite the seriousness of the situation Ruggle allowed for humor in part due to Lou’s vibrant, snarky personality and the fact that Callum is her polar opposite. It was funny and felt genuine. Despite knowing who, we had some hold your breath moments as we moved towards the climatic end. I was delighted we were given a complete story. The romantic thread wrapped up nicely as well and left me removing my earbuds with a smile.

Hold Your Breath delivered all the elements I enjoy in a good romantic suspense. The decision to listen was a good one. Rachel Dulude captured Lou’s spunky personality. I thought she did a good job with the characters she introduced us to. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of the Search and Rescue series.

 

Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle was fantastic on audio and perfect for fans of romantic suspense Click To Tweet
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About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

43 Responses to “Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle”

  1. Lorna

    I don’t know how I missed this back in January. Anyhow, just found it when I read you review of book 2. This one sounds really good and better to me than the second. I love a snarky heroine!

  2. Lily B

    oh snarky and an ocd mixed couple, now that has my attention. I’m glad to hear this handles the bland really well, I’ll have to add it to my TBR

  3. Melanie Simmons

    I didn’t even read the blurb, just a few people’s reviews. I didn’t realize it had any kind disclaimer on it. Not sure what is so “adult” about this book. I thought it was a fairly tame romance. Oh well, whatever works. Glad you enjoyed this one as much as I did.

  4. Dragonfly

    It’s true that good balance is hard to achieve in sub-genres of romance either with suspense or with paranormal elements. Glad this one did and you enjoyed it ❤

  5. Wattle

    I like the sound of this one (I had to go and read the preview before reading your review lol). Will definitely have to add it to my list 🙂 romantic suspense is a genre I really enjoy but don’t read nearly enough!

  6. Ethan

    I find myself doing the exact same thing! I can’t tell you how many books I download to my kindle only to finally listen to the book when it is available as an audiobook. I’m glad this one lived up to your expectations!

    • kimbacaffeinate

      While this was an audio from the publisher, I regularly look at my to-read list on Amazon Kindle and buy the upgrade to audio…I love that they are connected. In fact it is one of the reasons I bought a Kindle e-reader..lol

  7. Katherine

    I love romantic suspense and I love a law enforcement hero. Lou sounds awesome and Callum doesn’t sound to bad himself. I need this book!

  8. Kristin

    I JUST read Melanie’s review for this same book so you guys must have gotten a hold of the audios at the same time!! Too funny 🙂 It totally sounded up your alley when I was reading it so I’m glad to see you liked it a lot!!! It sounds great!!!

  9. Sophia Rose

    Oh yay! Glad you enjoyed Lou and Callum. They are truly opposites and I loved how the author fit them together and fit the romance with the suspense. You’re coming up on my favorite book of the series. Hope you like it. 🙂

  10. Heidi

    I read a review for this the other day, maybe Hot Listens… It sounds like a good one. I haven’t read a good romantic suspense in awhile. Plus that cover!

  11. Geybie's Book Blog

    Kim, Great review as usual. I tried an audiobook before but it was difficult for me to follow and enjoy the story. Maybe it’s because of the narator or the fact that I just don’t enjoy audiobook at all. I don’t know. Any advice? I see that you love audiobooks. 🙂

    • kimbacaffeinate

      The narrator can make all of the difference. When I first began I just sat with my earbuds and listened. Now I can run, grocery shop, do chores and set up blog posts while listening.

  12. Michele

    I like the sound of this! That quote made me laugh, and you know I’m ALL about the suspense right now. I’m happy to hear the author wrapped everything up and there was no cliffhanger. Adding this!

  13. Rowena

    This series has been on my radar for a little bit but romantic suspense seems to be hit or miss with me lately because of what you mentioned in here. The balance of romance and the mystery. I’m glad that I read your review because this looks like it would be a hit for me so on my list it goes.

    Thanks, Kim!

  14. Laurie

    This does sound like a decent listen but I’m wary about starting any new series. I am so bad about finishing them.

    • kimbacaffeinate

      I know how you feel. All of the books in this series are out. What I like about these books is that each truly works on its own. Think companion serial.

  15. Bookworm Brandee

    This sounds absolutely fantastic, Kimberly. I’m more excited about getting to it as I have it in audio for review as well. I didn’t realize it was set in Colorado…you know that makes it even more appealing. 😉

  16. Nick

    Oooh I’ve been very curious about this author myself! I’m glad this was a hit for you, Kim, so I’ll be sure to add it to my TBR. I love that it has a Colorado setting – I’m sure it will make me miss Colorado though! And snarky characters are always fun to read about.
    Great review!