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
Heat Level:
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.
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 Share on X
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. BlueSky | Facebook | Instagram
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!
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
kimbacaffeinate
Hehe..right. This was good.
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.
kimbacaffeinate
Right. It surprised me as this was very mainstream.
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 ❤
kimbacaffeinate
Yep, and while some prefer the romance to be heavier, I like a nice balance or tipped towards the suspense/paranormal angle 🙂
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!
kimbacaffeinate
I like that it removes any angst from the romance…lol
Christine
Sounds like a good read/listen! Love the cover!
kimbacaffeinate
It was, I am looking forward to listening to the next one 🙂
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
The Bibliophile Babe
Mmm, nice cover. 😉
kimbacaffeinate
Yep, nothing wrong with a little eye-candy *winks*
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!
kimbacaffeinate
I am the same Katherine 🙂
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!!!
kimbacaffeinate
LOL, yep the audio arcs just came out recently…lol
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. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
I am looking forward to the audiobook arriving!
blodeuedd
I do have one of hers
kimbacaffeinate
Sweet!
Angela Adams
Great looking book cover…I’m always ready for a good romantic suspense story. Thanks for the post.
kimbacaffeinate
I am the same Angela 🙂
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!
kimbacaffeinate
Maybe, a lot of us picked it up for review.
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.
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!
kimbacaffeinate
I appreciated the conclusion and there are some funny one-liners in here.
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!
kimbacaffeinate
This was good Rowena and a lot of my favorite bloggers enjoyed this series.
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.
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. 😉
kimbacaffeinate
Enjoy the audio Brandee.
Mary Kirkland
Nice! That sounds like a good book and I love that cover.
kimbacaffeinate
I love the newest covers for them too Mary 🙂
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!
kimbacaffeinate
That’s right you spent some school time there. Enjoy!
Ailyn Koay
I am holding my breath! The suspense is killing me XD
kimbacaffeinate
LOL, you are too funny!