Hold your Breath

synopsis

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 will stop at nothing to silence Lou — and prove that not even her new Search and Rescue family can keep her safe forever.

writer Katie Ruggle Series Search and Rescue #1 published 05-04-2016 ------ main characters Louise Sparks, Callum Cook side character smelly jim, Ian Walsh, Tyler ------- location the rockies, Canada? ------- goodreads ★★★★☆ 4.01/5 366 ratings personal rating ★★★☆☆

So, at first, I wasn’t going to review this book [sometimes, I just want to enjoy a book instead of reviewing it] therefore I don’t have a progress bar for this one and some details about characters might be wrong. Sorry for that! We start our story with Louise [Lou] in training for the ice rescue dive team and you do get the immediate feeling of companionship between the team. The teasing feels natural. The only odd one, being the leader of the team, Callum Cook, who seems to be annoyed all the time by the unprofessionalism of the others. Even though, I find, his attitude borders on the line of condescension, I think Katie does succeed in making it feel like his stoic demeanor comes from the sense he wants everyone to be safe. I wish we could have explored his character a little more, as I feel we still don’t really know him at the end of the book. He says he had a chaotic past, why? He liked the order of the navy, but he has no friends from there anymore? here is his father? I want to know more! and then theirs Lou. What to say about her. To some extent, I liked her goofiness and moxie, she is badass in the way she faces the HDG, her stalker, the fire, the drowning, and then her stepfather.  But her teasing of Callum’s ocd tendencies does get a little on my nerves. It would be fine if Callum could laugh about it as well but sometimes you read about him getting a little defensive so to then just keep going and keep teasing him seems a little, I don’t know, uncaring, mockery. Which is not okay if you ask me. Talking about all the things that happen… jeez. It’s like Murphy’s law. It’s a lot. And however, I could see someone like Callum wanting to protect his teammate it does feel a little weird for him to just invite himself into her house as they have a boss-employee relationship. [and not a great one at that].  Personally, I did get past the weirdness as I actually liked the independence both of them still had. It’s not like they fall in love and suddenly lose their ability to think straight. No, not here, both characters are strong-willed and able to rationalize their decision [even though, they don’t always make sense to me.] Hold your breath is an easy-to-read book, with a little romance in it. Yes, a little! As it’s more of a murder investigation, want to be a thriller book complimented with a little love story. We are still left with the question; why was HDQ killed? And what does Ian mean by we got a problem. I, for one, Am curious to find out! How about you?