Total Bravery – Piper J. Drake – Book Review

Total Bravery takes us to Hawaii where we’re introduced to Raul, his K9 partner Taz and the damsel in distress Mali.

One of the things I love most about reading is the opportunity to travel to far away places for nothing more than the cost of a book. It’s such a lovely coincidence that I happened to pick #TravelTuesday as my day for the blog tour.

TOTAL BRAVERY by Piper J. Drake

Series: True Heros #4
Publication Date: April 28, 2018
Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing – Forever
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: 304 Pages
Purchase: Amazon 
Source: Publisher/ Publicist
Story Rating: 4/ 5

Description:

True heroes will do anything to protect the women they love…

As the newest recruit at Search and Protect, Raul has a lot to prove. Luckily, he’s got the best friend and partner a man could ask for: a highly trained, fiercely loyal German Shepherd Dog named Taz. Together, Raul and Taz make an unbeatable team. But their first mission in Hawaii really puts them to the test when an international kidnapping ring sets its sights on the bravest woman Raul’s ever met . . .

Mali knows her latest job has put one hell of a target on her back. And on this small island paradise, there’s nowhere to hide. With a service dog like Taz, Mali feels safe. Sharing close quarters with a smoldering muscle-for-hire like Raul, she feels something else – an unexpected wave of desire. Raul feels it too. But when the kidnappers make their move, he’s got to turn that slow-burning passion into hard-hitting action – and save the life of the woman he loves.

Review:

My goodness people, I can practically hear your shock and confusion through my computer. Randi read a book that doesn’t have a topless guy on the cover, there’s no couple embracing, something must be terribly wrong! I’m ok, I promise. Let me explain.

Look at the puppy! Are you awwing? I totally am. That smile, those ears… The guy isn’t too hard on the eyes either, if you’re into men with shirts on. I always appreciate when authors write animals into their books. When the animal is a character in it’s own right with its own personality and behaviors. Taz was the star of the book for me.

I enjoyed this book. It follows a young lady who is working on a Ph.D. in Human Rights. The unthinkable happens, her research team is kidnapped and she narrowly escapes. Obviously afraid, she tried to call her sister but ended up talking to Raul instead. As soon as she makes the call Raul andhis dog, Taz are on their way to rescue her.

I loved the addition of a dog to the typical law enforcement rescues  a woman in distress trope. It was a refreshing twist on an old favorite.

Throughout the book, Raul was super calm and collected. The author did an amazing job of capturing the blank expression so often seen in law enforcement and military professionals. I enjoyed the glimpse into Raul’s head. It was enlightening to see the process he went through when deciding his expressions and actions. Honestly, I wish I had that much control over my facial expressions.

Mali was much the same. Her words were always very logical and calculated. That was a bit of a problem for me. You see, it was so believable and realistic for Raul because of his training. When it came to Mali those same traits made her seem cold, robotic and unrelatable. I don’t want to look into it, but as I read I found myself very concerned for her emotional well being.

Her colleagues, people she had been working closely with for several months were kidnapped for goodness sake! I’m pretty sure I have a stronger emotional reaction when I misplace my car keys.  I think she was more than due at least a couple freakouts, some tears, maybe even some emotional heart-to-hearts between her and Raul.

As much as I enjoyed the story, I didn’t see the relationship transition from protector – protectee to equals. I wish we got to see a bit of that. It’s clear Raul has some baggage he should probably get off his chest before he falls in love. I have to assume those conversations took place off the pages.

I absolutely loved all the mentions of new-to-me foods found in this book. None of the food sounded especially easy to make, I’m not even entirely sure how to pronounce most of it, which meant my diet wasn’t at risk. Although there was one mention of pineapple ice cream that would have been absolutely delicious had it not been so cold here.

Overall, Total Bravery was an engaging and entertaining read. I would recommend it to anyone who loves animals and clean romance novels.

If you like books about men in law enforcement you might also enjoy Be a Good Girl and No Angel.

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