Shielding the Baby

by Laura Scott

Officer Danica Hayes and her K9 partner Hutch, a German Shepherd, work with the Pacific Northwest K9 Unit. They are called out to a double murder at a bridge in the Mount Rainier area. While investigating that case, she interviews Luke Stark, the brother of the female victim, Stacey. She was a co-owner with a friend of three resorts in the area. Luke, a recently divorced medic, was released from the Army when his ex-wife died in a car accident. He is adjusting to life as a single parent to his adorable nine month old son Caden. They live at the resort.

After Danica meets with Luke, there are various attacks on both Danica and Luke and attempted kidnappings of little Caden. Danica moves into the resort to try to protect the father and son. Caden loves Hutch who has multiple skills as a K9 officer and is instinctively very protective of Caden.

The story moves rapidly as Danica tries to discover the identity of the murderer and the assailant. She needs to determine if one person is responsible for all of the crimes, and if so what could the motivation possibly be?  Meanwhile, a romance develops between Luke and Danica, as they hesitantly open up to each other despite Luke’s marriage failure and Danica’s childhood trauma. Danica’s faith in God inspires Luke to examine his own faith and renews his interest in having a closer relationship with God.

I enjoyed this page turner. It’s always interesting to read about the skills of K9 officers and their bonds with their human partners. I hope to read other books in this series and others by Laura Scott.

 I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Romance, Mystery, Christian

Notes: 1. Harlequin designates this book as “Inspirational Romance/Love Inspired Suspense” which helps readers know if this is a good choice for them.

    2. #1 in the Pacific Northwest K-9 Unit Series. Some threads were neatly tied, but there were other major threads left dangling. This is a series of eight books all written by different authors. I’m not sure how they will be connected. I do know that Colt and his dog, minor characters in this book, will take center stage in the next book, Scent of Truth by Valerie Hansen. I can’t tell if the unresolved issues will be sorted out in the second book of the series.

Publication: March 28, 2023—Harlequin Romance

Memorable Lines:

Shame on her for thinking the worst. Blame it on her tumultuous childhood.

The Pacific Northwest K9 Unit had been founded ten years ago, primarily funded through a generous federal grant bankrolled by Roland Evans, a philanthropist who strongly believed in their core mission of solving the most difficult crimes that transpired throughout several police jurisdictions in Washington State, including the three national parks.

Once he’d held his own on the battlefield, wielding a rifle while caring for injured soldiers, but civilian life, especially being a readymade father, was something completely outside his wheelhouse.