Small town Colorado vs. crime families

Alice Blanchett was born into a crime family and is held prisoner in her own home by her sadistic brother. She finds out he wants her to marry into another crime family to a ruthless man who happens to be an LAPD cop.

With help she escapes and ends up in the small town of Monroe, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains and changes her name to Sarah. She is immediately intrigued by one of the local police officers but her brother and supposed fiance have not quit looking for her.

I enjoy this series by author Katie Ruggle but I like her other SEARCH AND RESCUE series better. The characters were a bit more fleshed out and the storylines more plausible. I also got more of a sense of the Colorado setting in the S&R series.

That's not to say this series isn't worth reading because it is. The books are romantic thrillers and a fun read.

I received this book from Sourcebooks Casablanca through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

oh my! I have a new favorite author! I cannot tell you how much I loved this book and this series! You don't have to have read the previous books to totally enjoy this book. I love any story that has an animal in it but combine animals and police officers and I am there. Great read!

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆☆
4.5 stars
M/F Romance, Thriller
Triggers: Attempted murder, attempted kidnapping

This is Otto's story and it didn't disappoint. He has been the calm one throughout the series. You don't necessarily need to read the previous books, but it helps because the characters from the previous books do make prominent appearances in this story. However, you do get the backstory.

Sarah is running. She has lived a life of captivity. Her father was a horrible person and her brother is even worse. When she realizes that her life is literally hanging in the balance, she finds a single ray of hope.

When these two characters first meet, it's hilarious and sweet all wrapped in to one. I loved how Otto worked around Sarah and let her have her space when she needed it. Their relationship was so sweet and gentle. Despite his desire to want to hold Sarah and never let go, he allows her to become more comfortable with him. He knows that his presence can be intimidating.

Sarah is so strong and gentle. She is immediately drawn to Otto. When things get dangerous, she learns to trust him quickly, despite her reservations. I loved how she played with Otto and was so quick to bond with the other women in the story.

This story was fast paced and more thriller than romance, but the romance was intertwined nicely in the story. There was a sweetness to the relationship. I can't wait for the next book!


Mary – ☆☆☆☆
Alice is tired of being treated like a child and held prisoner in her own family home, and now she finds out that her brother plans to marry her off to make himself the leader of both crime families. With the help of a mystery man that helped rescue her, she ends up in Monroe, Colorado. There she meets Jules and Grace, both know exactly what she is going through and will help her and keep her safe.

Otto Gunnersen is a K9 officer with the Monroe PD, he is a gentle man, animal lover, and has a big heart for anyone in need. Watching his partners and friends – Theo and Hugh – fall in love with Jules and Grace, Otto wants to have that too.

When the three officers find out that an "old friend" of Jules is staying for a little while, they all want to know more about her. When Otto sees her for the first time, he is struck speechless, not a single sound made. Alice aka Sarah doesn't know if she can trust these officers because her brother has cops in his pocket.

When Sarah's brother and his army of bad guys show up, all hell breaks loose. And not to mention the snow storm pelting the town. They block the roads in and out of town, helicopters are bombing everything, people might die because Sarah is hiding in this town.

I love this series and this story did not disappoint me, although there were a few slow parts at the beginning, but once I got past that, it was fast paced who is coming after them next. Although Otto and Sarah were sweet and a little slow getting together, they had gone through a lot in a short time and knew what they wanted.

If you are looking for a great romantic suspense, I recommend you read this series in order, because you have to read Jules & Theo and Grace & Hugh's stories first.

This was an absolute thrill ride from start to finish. With nonstop action and a puppy-rescuing police officer for a hero, you won’t want this book ever to end.

Born into a prominent crime family, abused and controlled her entire life, Alice snatches at the chance to escape before she is married off to another crime lord to further her ambitious brother’s plans. Finding herself in Monroe, Colorado, she takes on a new identity and vows she’s never going back. An instant attraction to Otto, the gentle giant of the Monroe police force, threatens to complicate her life just when she’s trying to make everything simple, though. And when her brother and his allies strike, the entire town of Monroe must band together to fight back.

Katie Ruggle has written a romantic suspense which just keeps delivering in the action stakes, while interjecting some beautifully tender and humorous moments in between. Otto’s accidental quoting of Deliverance when he becomes tongue-tied in Sarah’s (Alice’s) presence was absolutely hilarious.

I’ve read one of the previous two books in this series (On The Chase) and I must admit that did help, as there is quite a cast of characters to keep up with. This one introduces Otto’s eclectic menagerie of rescued animals as well, and I have to agree with Sarah’s assessment “He was a Viking lumberjack cop who bottle-fed orphaned puppies? If he’d spent years trying to think of the most effective punch to the ovaries, he couldn’t have come up with a better plan.”

This is a great series and I highly recommend it if you like romantic suspense. Survive The Night is the best one yet and I can’t wait to see what the next book will bring! Five stars.

As much as I tried to read it, no matter how many times I picked it up, I just couldn't. It all felt mechanical and the characters fell flat for me.

Not to mention how many of them there are. I was confused, not really into the story, so I decided it was best if I just quit it.

I have previously read and loved a book by this author, so I'm not happy having to write this review, but it happens, I guess. I wasn't pulled into it and when your mind is wandering away, or you'd rather be doing something else, you know the book isn't for you.

I voluntarily agreed to read an early copy via Netgalley. My rating is my standard DNF rating, 2 stars.

This is the third in a series, while each book follows a different woman the previous characters are heavily present so it is advisable, but not necessary, to read the previous books. I have only read the first book before this one but I recognised the characters.

Alice Blanchett is the daughter and sister of crime bosses. Effectively a prisoner in her own home, an asset to be sold off to a rival crime family as a wife for the prodigal son, Logan Jovanovic, until a mysterious note warns her to be prepared to escape.

Some time later Alice is rescued by one of her brother's henchmen and sent, via secret ways by the mysterious Mr Espina to the small town of Monroe, Colorado as yet another "old friend" of Jules under the alias Sarah Clifton. Jules was Mr Espina's first rescue and there is a theme to the women he rescues, they are all connected in some way with the Jovanovic family.

K9 Officer Otto Gunnersen does not, in my mind, look anything like the picture on the front of the book, Sarah describes him as a cross between a viking and a lumberjack, and one of his best friends describes him as a Ninja Paul Bunyan. Anyway, he is one of a trio of friends in the Monroe Police department: Theo and Jules are a couple and Hugh and Grace (the couple from the second book) are also a couple. Otto is a big, strong, silent man, he lives alone outside of town and rescues animals that no-one else will take. When he meets Alice/Sarah it is insta-lurve, he is struck dumb. Unfortunately, the overwhelming impression I got, at least from the first half of the book, was that Otto was a little simple. Maybe because he was slow to speak, big and lumbering, good with animals?

Anyway, its not too long until Sarah's brother and future husband find her in Monroe and try to take her back to Texas. What follows is a tense cat and mouse game through the snow with helicopters and bombs and all sorts. Unfortunately, I have very little visualisation ability and frankly I was lost. One minute Sarah is nine miles from town down a deserted road, the next she seems to be bumping into the townsfolk left, right and centre. Everyone appeared to be a suspect and gathers in one place for a finale that was both thrilling and confusing (because of the visualisation thing again).

Overall, while I still enjoyed the book my credulity was stretched pretty thin. This is supposedly a small town yet it appears to have a large police force, the majority of whom have been sent off on a special training course, leaving just our three intrepid friends. Why draw attention to strangers by having three fugitives move to the town in a short period of time? I though that this was the final book in the series but the ending (and indeed NetGalley) suggests there is another to come. Not sure the premise can hold out for another book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

3.65 Stars

Of the three books in this series, Survive the Night is what I like best so far. Not only it’s action-packed with with mutual kickass move from both hero and heroine, the romance between Otto and Sarah felt real in a bumbling awkward, nervous to make a move sort of way.

Oh, I had huge question marks on a couple of issues (like reasoning of the fellow who helped Sarah escaped from home) and not to mention questioning the MPD’s trio self-preservation (considering the notoriety of their opponents and how quick their initial assault was). But I guess I give more leniency for this book just because I love Otto! Of the three men starring this series so far, Otto really delivered in ways that really count for me. And so I could look in the other way for Hugh/Grace’s overly comedian acts or even Theo/Jules’s PDA moments.

Otto was just a darling with his serious demeanor, few words and nervous around woman he’s attracted to. His initially meeting Sarah was just too adorably hilarious. I also love the balance of relationship between him and Sarah. They didn’t go straight humping each other even when the attraction is mutual.

On facing the villain front - of whom I got another question marks as they didn’t really merit sufficient explanation - the whole bloodied confrontation felt surreal (a bunch of mercenaries ready to kill townsfolk because ...of a runaway bride so to speak?) yet gripping in an action-packed, kaboom sort of way. Otto and Sarah also trusted each other enough to inadvertently work together dealing with each hurdles thrown their way.

Though I was rather goggle-eyed with how things unveiled at the end (like, wasn’t THAT too soon a step to take?) it’s the epilogue that left me torn. On one side, it nudge that showdown I expect would happen sooner or later. On the other hand, I just - the way the girls in this series hiding and running from something (or someone) - it’s very careless of them to get caught like that when there’s media around. On that note, I still wonder if the author would ever give Mateo Espina his own story...


Advanced copy for this book is kindly given by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Katie Ruggle’s Survive the Night is an action-packed romantic suspense. This was surprising since the characters did not exhibit confidence nor aggressiveness. Somehow that is okay with me because it is lovely that someone who is gentle can also be tough when needed.

K9 Officer Otto Gunnersen and Sarah Clifton were so self-conscious socially that I wondered how they were going to ever get together. Still, it worked out for them which is probably very realistic. The crime families putting Otto and Sarah in the middle, read like a thriller at the movies. This story had me rooting for Otto, Sarah and the rescue animals. It was great they had the entire gang along to help.

All in all, it is a heart racing book as far as the action goes, heartwarming with the romance and wonderful seeing the rescue animals being rehabilitated.

Although I haven’t read the first two books in this series, I didn’t feel lost while reading book 3. I loved Otto with his shy but dominant persona. He was a contradiction with his huge size and gruff voice balanced out by his gentle touch and sensitive insight. There is just something about a gentle giant that gets me every time and Otto hooked me right from the start. Like Grace, I fell for his big heart, especially when it came to the kids and his animals. Xena the rescue pit bull and Bean, the traumatized horse, especially showed us just how much Otto invests in his animals. He was devoted to them and gave them the love and understanding they needed to heal.

Grace was a strong resilient character. Dealing with her crazy brother and his equally psycho business associate all while trying to step out of her bubble and have a normal life was inspiring and sad. I thought she was a perfect fit for Otto and vise versa. I liked that they both were shy and awkward around each other. They charmed me with their back and forth banter. Normally a beta type hero isn’t my favorite but Otto changed my mind. He wasn’t an aggressive overconfident macho man. He was physically all alpha but he was more of the soft spoken, overly observant type.
I just wish the story hadn’t been so fast paced. I felt like the threat of Aaron and the Jovanovics and the destruction of the town kind of took precedence over the romance between Otto and Grace. It pretty much takes center stage and we only get snippets of Grace and Otto together before things get crazy and out of control. In this instance I think an epilogue would have gone a long way in showing us the MCs as a couple, outside the emotionally high events that got them from point A to point B.

Favorite Line(s):
* * * * * * * * * *
He was a Viking lumberjack cop who bottle fed orphaned puppies? If he’d spent years trying to think of the most effective punch to the ovaries, he couldn’t have come up with a better plan.

* * * * * * * * * *
She liked the image of her squeezed into Otto’s heart, surrounded by Xeno and Mort and Bob and Bean and Hortense. What a wonderful place to be.

* * * * * * * * * *
“I love you,” he said without thinking or planning or even knowing the words were going to fall out of his mouth. He didn’t care about the possible rejection or embarrassment. She needed to hear it, because she could’ve died, and then she would’ve never known how he felt about her. “I love you so much.”

* * * * * * * * * *
Would I recommend? Yes, romantic suspense readers will love this and from the bits and pieces we get of the other couples, I’m gonna have to check out the rest of the series. Especially Hugh’s story!

Well ok then! Just throw me into the deep end in a good way! I wasn't expecting Survive the Night to be as explosive - in more ways than one - as it was. Silly me! Because seriously, this book takes it all up exponential notches. Hugh's and Theo's books were pussy cat tame compared to Otto's. While both had plenty to worry about, Otto ends up in the middle of a fight he can't hope to win, and certainly not alone.

The sweetness that is Otto is reminiscent of George from Ruggle's previous series, including his stammering and silences. While he's definitely not as green as George, he has a lot of the same vibes: strong, tender, protective. Otto's gentleness reaches out and touches Sarah, giving her a sense of peace and security she has been without her whole life. Sarah is part of a horrendous family and let's just say that they are almost caricatures. But now that she is free of them - and with the help of a recurring character - she is slowly learning how to live. And she is learning with the help and support of Otto.

There were more than a couple of surprises in Survive the Night and most of them were not good. There's a reason for this title and it's shocking and explosive and just oh so crazy. But underneath the crazy is a story of people coming together for a bigger and better purpose, even when all their instincts scream at them to do the opposite.

I really, really liked this book. It's definitely my favorite so far of this series. I can't wait to see how Ruggle wraps it all up.

Survive the Night by Katie Ruggle
Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit #3

Captive of her family since childhood Alice Blanchett can hardly believe there is someone willing to help her escape her prison. When it finally happens there is a mad dash to freedom that sees her settled into Monroe, Colorado with two other women Mr. Espina has rescued in the past. Living with Jules and her siblings is a breath of fresh air and having friends in Jules and Grace a delight and blessing. The women have beaus and those beaus have a friend named Otto and of course Otto and Alice – renamed Sarah – will be attracted to one another. And, the beaus are police officers with K-9 partners – that only adds to the story.

The first time Otto sees Sarah he is speechless and so is she. Feeling awkward but interested they hope that their next encounter will go better. Well, their next meeting is over dueling elk and a wee bit easier. The third…awkward again…but…the attraction persists and when Sarah is found by her despicable brother and the man he wants her to marry things begin to heat up in more ways than one.

This is an action-packed suspense-filled romance with main characters that charmed me. Huge Otto and tiny Sarah are perfect for one another and oh so sweet together. Otto’s rescued animals are a delight and the finale stupendous…if perhaps a bit unbelievable. Two deserving but shy people find love unexpectedly and grab it with both hands in a book I could not put down.

There is a lead into book four that makes me think the evil stepmother from Jules and her siblings lives may make another appearance – hope she gets her comeuppance. I did not read book two, somehow missed it, and didn’t need it to thoroughly enjoy this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

Otto's turn! I do love Katie Ruggle's books, she delivers stories with fantastic plots and characters that are truly memorable. This newest series with the dogs are just catnip for me! Otto and Sarah's story don't disappoint at all. The suspense factor is still excellent, the characterization has always been great, multidimensional wrapped often times in humor but always with a side dose of emotional depth. Survive the Night like all the books in this series will definitely keep you up reading till the last page.

In SURVIVE THE NIGHT, the third installment of Katie Ruggle’s Rocky Mountain K9 Unit series, we follow the big, quiet Otto and gutsy heroine, Sarah Clifton.

Tying into the previous books (though you don’t need to read them to understand this one,) the ties to crime that have haunted the intrepid canine officers of Monroe County–and their respective ladies–are back. But the bad guys aren’t always obvious, and the mystery deepens when Sarah’s past collides with her present identity.

Ruggle continues to impress with her finely-tuned suspense mixed with the perfect amount of romance. This is not a steamy read, but rather a well-plotted and paced story that ties up loose threads in previous books while bringing older characters in for a closer look. The author is a master at creating likable protagonists, and Otto will surely pull at your heartstrings.

Sarah is no slouch either, and fighting to be an independent woman away from an abusive family life makes her that much more courageous and relatable as she works to overcome obstacles.

Kudos to Ruggle for continuing to write fun, suspenseful, engaging romantic suspense.

Don’t miss out! The Rocky Mountain K9 Unit series just keeps getting better.

4.5 Hearts, SJ, Romance Junkies

The recurring theme in this series keeps going back to Jules in book one. While you can probably read this as a standalone, you are going to be jumping into the middle of the overall plot and it could cause some confusion.

In book one, Jules needed to save her siblings from her evil stepmom. She kidnaps them and has a contact, Mr. Espina create a whole new identity for them all and moves them to a new location where she falls in love with Theo, a cop. Theo and his partner, Hugh know Jules is hiding something, but Theo is so in love with her, he decides to not look into her past.

At the end of each book, Jules gets a call from Mr. Espina to let her know he's sending someone to her that needs to start over just like she did. In book 2, it was Grace. During Grace and Hugh's book, they do learn Grace's true identity and that she is running from a family named the Jovanovics after witnessing something horrible. Jules and her siblings still remain quiet about why they left because Jules does not want Theo to be an accomplice if they are found out.

In this book, Mr. Espina sends Sarah to Jules. Sarah is the sister to a criminal family. Her brother Aaron is abusive and is about to sell her off to a Jovanovic. Theo, Hugh and now Otto are leary of anyone coming to Jules because they know they are hiding from a past. Theo and Hugh designate Otto to interrogate Sarah to find out who she is hiding from, except he takes one look at her and goes tongue tied.

A lot of progress was made in this book. We learn that Grace and Sarah are both hiding from the Jovanovics. Sarah's truth comes out very early in this book but what surprised me was Jules finally confessed to Theo, Hugh and Otto that she kidnapped the kids and why.

With everyone's true story out, I thought that would mean this was the last book and everything was going to come together. Instead, this book ended with a hint that the next book is circling back to Jules and the kids. There was no call from Mr. Espina about another woman needing to visit. I'm extremely curious how this is going to play out and if there will be new characters. This has been a very entertaining series so I'll be anxiously waiting for the next book. ARC provided by NetGalley.

Survive the Night is book 3 in the Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit series and you do not have to read the previous books you I do recommend that you do read them because this series is fantastic.



I loved every minute of this book. I love the main characters together and I just couldn't stop reading.



This book was such a quick read.



I give this 5 out of 5.



You can now purchase Survive the Night by Katie Ruggle in stores near you and online.

If you like over the top danger Survive the Night is the book for you. It seems the bad guys have enough weapons and people to take on an entire town. Why? Because there are two women there that are a big danger to them. This time it is Sarah Clifton who arrives trying to escape her brother who wants to marry her off to a member of another crime family. K9 Officer Otto Gunnersen takes one look at Sarah and knows he has to defend her from all comers. This has a very sweet romance between the two, danger that causes a very large amount of damage, tension from first to last page, and a continuation of the plot started in the first book. This can be read as a standalone but is much better if you have read the previous books. Ever way pick it up to read.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Survive the Night suffered from a case of insta-love and a few other plot flaws but can be forgiven since Otto and Sarah are adorable and the last third of the story is full of tension that you can easily forget about the nit-picking.

Monroe’s favorite K9 Officers Theo, Hugh and Otto are now very aware that there is something wrong whenever Theo’s girlfriend Jules has a “old friend” suddenly show up in town. And suddenly Sarah Clifton has shown up for a visit, just as the rest of Monroe has bugged out for the winter, acting quite jumpy. Neither Jules nor Grace are willing to give up the name of the name sending these women to Monroe, nor any information about the newest arrival in town.

Sarah (formerly Alice) is on the run from her brother, the head of a crime family who has kept Sarah all but locked in a tower like a princess in a fairy tale, until he has decided to sell her off to a dragon. A dragon in the from of the current head of the Javanovich crime family, a man known for brutalizing women.

Sarah is just so happy to be away from her brother and free of his grasp, she is even happy stocking shelves at Grady’s store. Sarah is also fascinated by Officer Otto Gunnerson, a ninja-viking-lumberjack of a man, who size should have her running the other way, but his love and care for wounded animals keeps drawing Sarah to him.

Sarah knows her brother doesn’t like to lose, and her time with Otto might not last if she has to run once again.
When her brother tracks her down to Monroe, he starts a war which might just take out what’s left of the citizens of Monroe, CO.

With so much going on in this story, the romance between Otto and Sarah needed to be sped up. There is also the issue of how her brother was able to locate her so quickly. When he first appeared, I thought this would turn out to be a nightmare that Sarah would wake up from and I was more than surprised that it was actually a plot point in the story. I don’t remember any explanation of how he managed to locate her so quickly. The action does pick up from this point so it was hard to focus on being annoyed with the plot fault.

I thought this would be the end of this series, but there is another story coming out this summer although I don’t remember meeting either of the main characters which is unusual after the other books by Katie Ruggle that I have read so far. There is also something which happens at the end of Survive the Night which revamps an nagging issue left over from Run to Ground and that is the fact that Jules “kidnapped” her siblings from her abusive stepmother and while the Sarah and Grace are both on the run from crime bosses, Jules’s action are actual considered criminal. I am guessing that Book 4 will come back and give us some closure on this issue.

I have enjoyed the Katie Ruggle stories that I have read so far, both in the Rocky Mountain K9 Unit and Search and Rescue series and have made her one of my automatic request authors.

I have enjoyed every book Ms. Ruggle has written, so I was looking forward to reading this book. Survive the Night felt off to me. I loved the first two books in the series, this one just did not work for me. The lead characters were not interesting, and they should have been. I tried to find them interesting, but honestly, Otto's animals seemed to have a stronger personality then their human owners.

The plot - it was all over the place. It was very chaotic and a bit confusing. There did not seem to be a smooth flow to the narrative. I really wanted to like this book, but....... Even though this was not my favorite I will continue to read this series.

Received as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars - 2 Flames

Another suspenseful read in this series. To say that there wasn't enough drama or action would be a lie. But I can say that it definitely lacked the "romance" element. At least compared to the first two in this series.

We've grown to know Theo and Hugh from the first two books in the series. But this is Otto's story, rounding out the cop trio. We learn a little more about this sweet and caring man who obviously has an extra heart, taking care of rescue animals of all species. But we also get to see the gentle, shy guy beneath the exterior. It was almost too cute watching him fumble over himself when dealing with Sarah.

Sarah comes from a bad family. A really bad family. In fact, her family is directly tied in to the same bad family from the other two books. So when the time comes for her to escape and seek refuge, she ends up in Jules house, hiding from her brother and his goons. But unlike the other books, it doesn't take long for her brother to find her. Causing many things to happen quicker than they normally would have.

I'll be completely honest. This one wasn't my favorite. Although I liked Otto and Sarah, I wish there was more intimacy between the two. They both clearly liked each other. And with her living with him, we could have experienced more of the romance between the two. Which is why when the words "I love you" are thrown out there, I cringed. But that's just me. All in all, good story that was well executed.

Reviewed by Chris