Police Officer (Jefferson Davis. The southern girl in me loves it:)) J.D. Burnside befriends a man on a cold winter night that looks in need of an understanding friend. It turns out to be one of the best moves he ever made. I really like this little series and I will hate to see it end. The guys are all such good friends and they all show up in one another's stories even if only marginally. Both JD and Fisher have family difficulties but together figure that they can surmount any obstacle and actually mange to work some issues out. I see my friends have the other books so I'll get to visit the guys in their quaint little town of Carlisle for a little while longer. ( )

The MCs in this story are in both trying to recover from their families turning them out but for different reason. They are both incredibly broken and hurting with dark things in their pasts and one has TBI and is bi-polar. If that’s not enough of a battle to draw you in, add that there is a drug ring problem growing and with it danger to the police and citizens. And one of the MCs is caught up in the mess by a past that doesn’t want to let him go.

Good read good pacing ( )

This latest installment in the ‘Carlisle Cops’ series is as touching, suspenseful, and heartwarming as the first three. Determination and courage are again central themes, but this time both men battle a sense of abandonment, having been cut off by their families. JD is a well-liked police officer, so at least he has his colleagues (Red, Carter, and Kip – all well known from the first three books) to talk to and support him. Fisher is not so lucky – he has a dark past, suffered an accident with horrific consequences for his health, and faces life all alone. To make things even more difficult for both of them, Fisher’s past seems to be catching up with him, JD’s mother exhibits a sudden need to return him under her control, and increasing threats from drug dealers turn all of the usually quiet city streets of Carlisle into a battlefield. What a roller coaster!

Fisher has never had an easy life and did some things he is less than proud of, but he was trying to get his life in order. Then an accident left him with traumatic brain injury and he is now bipolar, making everything much more challenging. His boyfriend abandoned him, his parents and siblings kicked him out, and his mood swings and memory lapses make every single day a challenge. He doesn’t easily trust, so he has no friends, but even though he is lonely, he has no idea how to fix it.

JD is from the South and has started a new life after being cut off by his family – mainly his mother. All she worried about was the scandal JD caused, and JD, knowing a lost battle when he sees one, decided to leave and build his own life. He likes being a cop despite the occasional danger, and he works well with the Carlisle team. When he sees Fisher sitting on a bench in the park, all on his own and in the freezing cold, he decides to check on him and help if he can.

This simple act of human kindness has all kinds of consequences. Fisher is attracted to JD, but afraid the man will run once he finds out the truth about Fisher – everyone else in Fisher’s life has left him. JD finds Fisher intriguing, and he admires the strength it has taken for Fisher to get where he is now. Both men clearly need each other, and when the increasing incidents with drug dealers begin to look like someone is after Fisher, JD’s protectiveness comes to the fore and they combine their efforts to catch the criminals – only to find they are falling for each other. Very sweet!

If you like stories about men who fight for the right to live a peaceful life the way they want, if you want to know more about the effect of mental issues can have on a budding relationship, and if you’re looking for a read that combines suspense, emotion, determination, and an indomitable will to live unencumbered by what others think, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did. It’s a worthy addition to this beautiful series!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )