This is a well written story, but it drags along in spots, I think because the wavers between it being an adventure story and a falling in love story.
The two main characters are both damaged individuals but for different reasons. Mason has just gotten out of prison serving 15 years for murder and Jess is a severely damaged marine vet.
What have in common is a dog named Lucy who Mason trained while in prison.
The rest of the story involves Jess’s dead ex husband, drugs, and corrupt police in a small town.
There is a follow up book, I will probably read to see how these two characters develop. ( )

I actually listened to this as an audiobook, very well narrated by Courtney Patterson & Kevin Stillwell.

The book is about a man, Mason Burke, a woman, Jess Winslow, and a dog, Lucy. The dog was a rescue dog, part pit bull, who was going to be a fighter, but was rescued before she had to fight. She was sent to prison - not for doing anything wrong, but to be socialized by prisoners as part of a program to help both sides. She was terrified, and afraid of everyone. Burke, who was near the end of a 15 year sentence for a murder he knew nothing about but was legally involved in, wasn't too happy about getting this loser of a dog, but they bonded. When Burke got out of prison, he checked up on the dog and found out she was in trouble for attacking someone in Washington state, and with a bit of digging, discovered where she was and set out to investigate - knowing the dog was not violent.

The dog had been given to Jess, a former Marine who was determined to need a companion animal to help her adjust after some hard times in Afghanistan. Her dog was taken by the local law enforcement for attacking a lowlife deputy who was bad to the bone and was hassling Jess because her dead husband had been mixed up with them in some deal gone bad, and they were looking for something he supposedly had. The dog was being held as bait to get her to cooperate. The entire law enforcement of the small town was a leader in drug making and illegal activities, and did not shy away from outright murder to keep their activities going. But it's also the story of small-town people with little to look forward to making bad decisions that led them down into holes they were unable to dig out of.

The story was a bit of a tear-jerker, I though. Burke and Jess were good people who were getting a raw deal from society, and Lucy brought them together. Unfortunately, this caused a lot of hard times, death and destruction, with never a dull moment. It was hard to put down up until the end.

( )

I enjoyed this, will continue the series ( )

To be reviewed over at Fresh Fiction! ( )

I was on the edge of my seat for most of this book. Set in the Pacific Northwest and starring a female ex-Marine with severe PTSD, a man convicted of murder just released from prison, and a wonderful rescue dog named Lucy, it's an action-packed thriller that never lets up. It's the first in a series - I'm picking up the second one at the library this afternoon. This is not usually my type of book, but I absolutely loved it! ( )