Kira Bennett’s earliest memories are of living alone and wild in the woods. She has no idea how long she was on her own or what she had to do to survive, but she remembers the moment that Cady Bennett and one of her search-and-rescue dogs found her perfectly. Adopted into the Bennett family, Kira still struggles with human interaction years later, but she excels at the family business: search-and-rescue. Along with Cady’s son, Jude, and their neighbor, Free, Kira works alongside Cady to train the world’s most elite search-and-rescue dogs. Someday, all three teenagers hope to put their skills to use, finding the lost and bringing them home.

But when Cady’s estranged father, the enigmatic Bales Bennett, tracks his daughter down and asks for her help in locating a missing child—one of several visitors who has disappeared in the Sierra Glades National Park in the past twelve months—the teens find themselves on the frontlines sooner than they could have ever expected. As the search through 750,000 acres of unbridled wilderness intensifies, Kira becomes obsessed with finding the missing child. She knows all too well what it’s like to be lost in the wilderness, fighting for survival, alone.

But this case isn’t simple. There is more afoot than a single, missing girl, and Kira’s memories threaten to overwhelm her at every turn. As the danger mounts and long-held family secrets come to light, Kira is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her adopted family, her true nature, and her past.

My thoughts
Rating: 5
This was the first time I've ever read this author but I've been waiting to give her a try and I'm so glad I went with this one, wow what a story ( just wish it was a series because I would pick it up in a heart beat and read it). It had me hooked from the story , and I just had to keep reading , I loved how you got to see bits of pieces of Lisa's past and her love for the dogs especially for Sliver and her dog , and her love for her family, and find characters to fall in love with as well as characters to hate . With that said I want to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

As a small child, Kira was found in the woods after managing to survive on her own weeks. She has no memories of her life before that. She was taken in and adopted by Cady, the K-9 search and rescue handler who originally found her. Now, years later, teenage Kira, along with her adoptive brother Jude and friend Free, are training under Cady to be search and rescue handlers themselves. But despite years with her adoptive family, Kira still feels like she is ill-adapted to life in civilization. All of her instincts run more feral than human.

Suddenly, the group is summoned by Cady's estranged father to assist in the search for a missing child. But when they get on the trail, it becomes clear that the girl did not just get lost, but was kidnapped. And clues indicate that the kidnapper is deadly.

But not only does Kira and the other searchers find themselves caught up in a game of cat and mouse with a kidnapper, returning to the town and family that her adoptive mother left behind opens old wounds for everyone and reveals secrets that threaten the stability of the family that Kira's relies on.

I liked this book. I've read a couple of others by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, but have to say that this one has been my favorite. Kira is such a complex character that the book feels deeper than many other YA reads. The other characters and their relationships were also complex, including the adults. I loved Jude, the adoptive brother who stole every scene he was in. When I first picked up the book, I was leery about a story in which teenagers were put on a dangerous search and rescue case. It felt too unrealistic. But I needn't have worried. They were all older teens and the story makes it very clear that Cady has trained them well and they take the hunt very seriously. Plus, as soon as it becomes clear that this isn't a standard lost child case, Cady immediately pulls all of the kids off the hunt and sends them home, out of danger (whether or not they decide to stay out of danger is another matter entirely).

I've also got to hand it to Barnes for doing her research on search and rescue dogs. Each of the dogs is a memorable character in their own right. Plus, she explains the different ways in which the dogs were trained and the various roles they perform.. For example, why Jude, Free, and their dogs go on the trail first and then Kira and her dog are brought in after. I train dogs as a hobby and even I didn't know about that practice.

Over all, this is good start to what feels like an entertaining and exciting new series.

The Lovely and the Lost is one of those books that grabbed me by the throat and wouldn’t let go!

Kira was a wild child, found in the woods by Cady and her rescue dog. No one knows how long Kira was lost, alone in the woods, but she’s never fully recovered.

Adopted by Cady, Kira is socially awkward but thrives when it comes to the family business of training search and rescue dogs. She has a connection with the dogs that goes beyond the ordinary trainer-dog relationship.

Then Cady’s father shows up, asking for their help in finding a missing child. Cady is reluctant at first due to some bad blood between them, but eventually agrees to help in the search.

But it’s not a straightforward search for a missing child, as there are mysteries afoot!

What caused the falling out between Cady and her father? What happened to all of the other missing tourists? What’s up with Bale’s young protege Gabriel and what is he hiding? And can they find the missing girl before it’s too late?

All of the characters in The Lovely and the Lost were incredibly interesting and practically jumped off the page at you. I loved Kira, her adopted brother Jude, and their neighbor Finn! What a great group of friends!

And the dogs!

Absolutely loved the dogs! From the dog who originally found Kira and treated her like one of her own pups to the damaged dog that Kira was currently partnered with, they were all wonderfully developed characters in their own right.

Barnes is a very talented writer who always comes up with great characters and interesting, well-paced plots.

Really enjoyed this one and while there are no plans for a sequel (that I can find), I’d love to revisit Kira and her friends down the road.

I was given an early copy of The Lovely And The Lost for an honest review! Thanks to authors, publishers & NetGalley as always - all
opinions are my own.

Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

Would I recommend- yes overall I did enjoy the story if Kira and especially the rescue dog aspect!

Random thoughts: I have never read this author and have heard raves about Jennifer Lynn Barnes from several of my bookish buds! Honestly, the writing was well done - and I can see why she’s got buzz, but... this book was just not my jam. Without really being able to put my finger on why, I struggled with this book! I loved the unusual family unit here, and the DOGS oh
My! ❤️ However, the characters to me were just annoying at times and perhaps undeveloped ?? 🤷‍♀️

I am happy I was able to complete it - and although it just wasn’t my thing, maybe I’m too immersed in fast paced thrillers these days, I know so many will enjoy this one - 👍🏻

The Lovely and the Lost was a good read, but not a favorite of mine from Barnes. I enjoyed the characters and the mystery of who did it, but at times the story was a bit dull and confusing...

The ending was very good and makes me curious to know what happens next. I don't know if there will be a sequel or not, but I'd be interested in reading it if one is in the works.

All in all, The Lovely and the Lost was a fine read and I'm glad I read it. I liked it. :)

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

Kira is in training to be a search and rescue dog handler. Kira was adopted by Cady Bennett when she was very young. Before that, she was living on her own in the woods for many weeks. She has vague memories, but they come and go and she doesn’t really know much of her own history before Cady found her and adopted her. She has an adopted brother, Cady’s son, Jude. Her neighbor is also her close friend, named Phoebe, but called Free by everyone who knows her. All three teens are in training to be SAR dog handlers, so they spend a lot of time together training, with their three dogs.

Cady’s estranged father shows up out of the blue and asks her to help with a difficult search for a missing girl. Cady agrees to help.

Cady’s father has a boy working for him, Gabriel, whose own brother had disappeared into the same mountains where the little girl is now missing. He was never found and Gabriel stills spends a lot of time searching the mountains for him. He knows the mountains better than anyone. His stepfather is the local sheriff, and they have some bad blood between them which comes out later in the story.

Once the searchers and their dogs get on the trail, it is discovered that the missing girl was actually kidnapped, not simply lost. So, the young searchers all get pulled off the search. This gives them time to go poking around on their own, which they do.

There are some interesting scenes in the mountains with caves and even some locally-known ceremonial sites that they discover. The dogs each have different search functions. For example, one man has a dog that is trained exclusively to find remains. The other dogs are trained to make live finds. These different roles were explained in the text as well. It’s an interesting look into how dogs are trained for this work. Each of the dogs has a specific personality and the searchers each have to learn to work with their dog and recognize any cues they give. It’s pretty interesting stuff.

My big objection to the story was that Kira seemed to be overreacting to everything. She was lost in the woods for weeks, but she acted like she was raised by wolves her entire life. She has been living in civilization with Cady and family for long enough that she should not be reacting that way. I thought that part of the story was overdone. It made her seem like some wild child who was never in contact with civilization prior to being found by Cady, but the rest of the details given don’t support that. I think she had some sort of PTSD from the events. However, I hope that readers don’t take that to mean that they should fear the wilderness or wolves because of this. Her negative experiences have more to do with her time prior to being lost in the wilderness, I think. I’m a firm believer that we need to encourage young people to love and respect wilderness, but not fear it.

The writing was great and the scenes were described well. Dialog seemed OK, but the witty exchanges between the teens seemed a bit much. I work with teens and they really don’t talk like that at all. I felt like that part of the book didn’t work well because it was pretty unrealistic. It was a bit too cutesy for me. It does serve to emphasize that this group is a team and that they communicate well with each other, which may have been the purpose of including these exchanges. But, to me, it detracted from the realism of the rest of the story. It makes for good reading and shows the closeness of the three teens, but is otherwise not that accurate a portrayal of real life dialog in that age group.

The other characters in the story are glossed over. There are no big descriptions of the outside agencies assisting with the search or how it was organized. The story is told from the point of view of this particular family and group of searchers only. So, the rest is left to the reader’s imagination. That’s probably just as well since it would have diluted the story to include many of those details. But, in some scenes it would be better to include a bit more detail. The local sheriff would not have jurisdiction to run a search in a national park. Park rangers would be running it. And they were not given any dialog in the scenes where they went into the cave, etc. I think the idea was to keep that part of the story separate from the story of the Bennett family and their search dogs. As a reader though, I wanted those other searchers to say something in those scenes.

Overall, I think this was a really well-done story. The characters were complicated and had plenty of backstory to learn about. You won’t see the ending coming. There’s a pretty good twist there. Other than the few minor objections I have above, I think this is a great book to recommend for young adults and it should hold their interest. It would make a great addition to any library too. One hopes that there will be a sequel that expands on what happened at the end.

THE LOVELY AND THE LOST is an atmospheric mystery with relatable characters and interesting (in a good way) themes. I especially loved learning about the rescue dogs and the deep bond they share with their trainers. This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and if her others are as engaging as this, I’ll be reading more. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC!

I don't really know how she does it, but Jennifer Lynn Barnes has yet to write something I didn't absolutely LOVE. And I've read a fair amount of her work. And she publishes so fast! It's a wonderful thing to know she will guarantee a favorite book of the year for me each year.

THE LOVELY AND THE LOST is perfect if you love any of the following:
-mystery, especially set in cool atmospheric places (Sierra Nevadas anyone?)
-DOGS. SO MANY DOGS. CUTE DOGS.
-crying while reading but still getting happy endings!
-subtle romance
-main characters who have seen some things and maybe are still working through them

I should written these down as I came across them, but there are a fair amount of content warnings to put on this book (in order of severity, in my opinion):
TW: kidnapping, animal death (not tragic), PTSD, child abuse, murder, grief

Kira was found by a search and rescue dog in a ravine as a child, and had no memories of how she got there or how she'd been surviving that long alone in the woods. Years later, she's living with the woman who found her, training her own dog to be search-and-rescue and find others just like her. After Kira and her mother, Cady, get a call about a small girl gone missing on a mountain range, Kira is off to bring her home and maybe figure out what happened to her all those years ago.

I love mysteries that take place in small towns, and this was no exception. Twisty and gossipy and full of interesting characters, Kira's brother and best friend are the perfect additions to this story. I loved all the characters so much, and the slightly open ended way the book ended was just... so perfect? I loved not necessarily getting all the answers, and I loved the book got dark but not in a nauseating or disturbing way. I saw through a handful of the twists and turns, but overall the book surprised me consistently. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants more mysteries in their life that aren't intimidating.

Also, read with tissues. I cried for the entire last 1/3.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book is available now!

Rescued herself, Kira has been raised working with search and rescue dogs. Her past has left her with scars, both physically and mentally, and she uses her time training the animals to try to find herself. When a mysterious man shows up asking Kira's adoptive mom to help in searching for a lost little girl, they find themselves in the middle of a mess they may not be able to fix.

While not over the top, the characters are relatable and their emotional connections and interactions are clear. I especially enjoyed learning a little about search and rescue dogs.

A great new suspense from Barnes. It's an easy read for reluctant readers who are looking for a quick read in the genre.

I loved this story of Kira and the dogs who saved her. Jennifer did a good job of sharing the life of dog trainers and their animals, and I felt the pain Kira had.

Lovely and the Lost is a engaging tale of Kira, Jude and Free. 3 teenagers who couldn’t be more different, but who share an unbreakable bond. The 3 of them share a unique background training specialized search and rescue dogs. Free and Jude both act as supporting characters acting in concert to aid Kira, an adopted teen with a strange, traumatic past. Kira was found in the woods when she was very young, injured, and barely socialized. The bond Kira, Jude, Free, the intuitive rescue dogs share act in concert to help Kira heal and repair herself.

The search and rescue team gets their first challenge when they are called in to investigate the disappearance of a 9 year old girl inside a vast and expansive park. The team each gets a different set of challenges on the road to finding the missing child.

This story’s strengths lie in the bonds between Kira and her special dogs. Anyone who has ever had a special animal in their life can relate to this story. This is a really quick read and worthwhile as a weekend read.

I have read (and loved) the Naturalist series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes and was excited to read The Lovely and the Lost. Like her other books, The Lovely and the Lost grabs you right from the beginning and is hard to put down. I immediately felt a connection to the characters and wanted to keep reading. I would recommend this to anyone. I went into it not knowing really anything about it and would also recommend reading it this way. It is a good mix of adventure, mystery, and family dynamics.

Kira is a search and rescue dog trainee. Kira is passionately obsessed with this job because some of her first memories are of her being saved by her adoptive mother, Cady and her search and rescue dog. Kira has trouble interacting with others due to her emotional trauma, but she has let in her adoptive brother and next-door neighbor. When Cady is asked by her absent father to come back to town to help with a difficult search and rescue mission, Kira and co. secretly follow along and force their way onto the search and rescue team. Kira is forced to face her past traumas, while struggling to find a missing girl. Things are going to get worse before they get better.

This book was fascinating. Barnes created characters that felt real and that I felt like I could know in real life. The search rescue aspect was interesting. The mystery was interesting, however the resolution did not feel developed.

I truly feel blessed anytime I finish a book by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Over the past year, she has quickly shot up to one of my favorite authors. Her talent for writing some of the best relationships to grace YA draws me in and I cannot help but finish any book I read by her with my mouth hanging open and desperate for a sequel. If flawed characters, found family, trauma handled well, the best of dogs and a bit of a mystery are your thing, The Lovely and the Lost is the book for you.

Kira does not trust many people except for her family. It took years after Cady rescued her for Kira to learn how to trust again and now she is following in Cady’s footsteps and training to become a search and rescue professional. When Cady’s father shows up out of the blue, asking them to join the search for a little lost girl, secrets start coming out. Things Cady has never disclosed about her past and Kira’s memories of a time before Cady & Jude & Free.

I genuinely love how this book dealt with Kira’s resurfacing memories and how much support she had from the people around her. Everyone in this book is so fiercely protective of each other. I love that it isn’t just a surface level bond. They fight, hurt each other sometimes but also know when they need to apologize and admit to their mistakes.

While there is a strong mystery element to this book, I felt like it took a backseat to the characters themselves. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because I honestly just loved the characters. Free, Jude and Kira all have such distinct personalities and when you throw in Gabriel into the mix … shenanigans ensue.

“I understand now,” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “The three of you share a single iota of common sense. I’m just a little unclear on which one of you had custody of it now.”

To be clear, even though I thought that the characters were at the forefront of this book rather than the plot, there was still an urgency running throughout the book because a child was missing and out alone. The child was never forgotten about. Rather, their search for the child eventually lead them to reflect inwards. They were also stepping back into Cady’s past so… yeah… secrets came out.

This book doesn’t really end on a cliffhanger but some information is divulged that makes me want to beg Disney to give us a sequel. I am not done with these characters and I don’t think JLB is done with these characters either so I really hope we get to see them again. OTHERWISE I’ll just have to reread my favorite scenes from now till the end of time.

I really enjoyed this book. Kira was my favorite character as she was complex and I was never sure of what she was going to do. I loved Kira's relationship with Saskia. Ms. Barnes did a wonderful job of fleshing out her characters, the humans and the dogs.
I loved the setting, as a forest with caves makes a great place for action. I am really hoping that Kira's thoughts about Ash make their way into the next book. I am hoping for more with these characters.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes, you have a new fan!

The Lovely and the Lost is the first novel I read by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Considering she published almost 30 novels in genres I usually read, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Young Adult, that is surprising.

In it, we are introduced to the Bennett family. Cady, the mother, is one of the best search and rescuers who also trains search and rescue dogs. Her son is Jude and her adopted daughter, Kira, was found by Cady in the woods many years ago. Rounding out the family is Phoebe, who prefers to be called Free, the 3rd in the teen's close-knit trio. The story focuses on a search and rescue and gives some detail on how to tray search and rescue dogs. All of the teens work with the dogs and are training to be search and rescuers.

The Young Adult novel is well thought out and well-written. The characters are flawed, show their limitations, their strengths, and feel real. While it would be enjoyable for all readers of YA, I feel middle school students would enjoy it the most.

I will definitely read one of Jennifer Lynn Barnes's series. As of 6/17/19, Goodreads lists 7 series.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/17/19. When available, the review will be published on Scribd.com and, using Overdrive, will be rated in 9 libraries.

A good suspense novel with many twists, I would love to read more about this family -Kira, Cate, Jude, and even Free in future rescue stories. A lot of research went into this story which made for an enjoyable read.

3.5 stars.

Conceptually, this was an excellent story. The execution, however, really needed some cleanup.

I enjoyed the basic premise of the book immensely, but the pacing was really uneven. The first half of the book drags badly. It’s difficult to engage with and is jammed with way too much “witty banter” that really isn’t all that witty.

Things change in the second half of the book, where something shifts and the story began to captivate me. This is partially because the bulk of the action takes place in the latter part of the book (makes sense to a point, but the reader would have benefitted from a little more in the first half to make the early going a bit more compelling.) Additionally, the second half of the book provides some much-needed character depth on several of the principals, which made it easier to engage as a reader.

There are twists and turns in spades in the last hundred or so pages, some of which are excellent and some of which border on the nonsensical. The “solve” was-in a theoretical sense-a good one, but it felt kind of half baked in practice.

In all, this is is a good story that just needed better cleanup and editing. I also wish Barnes would back off with the snappy dialogue. This has been a problem in most of her novels (all of which, for the record, I liked in a more general sense). She just isn’t as funny as she thinks she is, and it always damages the overall quality of her otherwise well-written work.

Kira remembers the time she survived on her own as a child in the woods, finding food and evading predators, though she doesn’t remember anything beforehand. Those primal feelings, those instincts that kept her alive, are still a big part of her even a decade later, since being found and adopted by Cady Bennett, who trains search-and-rescue dogs. Cady and her son, Jude, have helped Kira adapt to life and civilization and still help her to interact with others appropriately, to breathe through situations that incite flashbacks of the harrowing time of her young life, and to find her way. Their neighbor Free also is an important part of Kira’s life while not officially family; Free and Jude and Kira are a team in learning the business of search and rescue and training the dogs they work with. For that matter, the dogs are just as much a vital part of Kira’s life as the humans.

Kira and Jude are surprised when the grandfather they didn’t know existed, Bales Bennett, finds Cady and asks her to help find a missing girl in a national park adjacent to the town he lives in. The group heads off to participate in the search for the girl in a huge area of wilderness, dogs in tow. Even though Kira has trained for this kind of a hunt, she finds herself having more and more flashbacks to the time she was a little girl alone in the wilderness, and now she’s getting bits of memories about why she was in the woods. Not only that, but she, Jude and Free observe soon after their arrival that Cady has been keeping plenty of secrets about her history.

As the search for the little girl drags on, it is clear there is more going on than just a simple case of a child wandering away from her campsite. The three friends learn that this isn’t the first person to go missing under strange circumstances in the area in recent months. As they ask around town to learn more about the case, they also ask about Cady’s father and the friends she spent time with in an effort to piece together a picture that long was just a blank canvas to them.

At the same time, Kira finds herself nearly incapacitated by the memories that are surfacing; does she even want to remember what her own mind has kept hidden for so long? Is she destined to just be “that wild girl” who just lived by her instincts? Can she prove herself?

The Lovely and the Lostis a story of the love and support of family, of one teen figuring out who she is and what her place in the world is. It’s a mystery and a bit of a thriller, and it held my interest the whole way, as it revealed bit by bit the answers to the questions it presented throughout. I had read Barnes’ The Naturals and enjoyed that, and this had a similar feel. Entertaining but also a sweet book about love and being loved. Kira remembers the time she survived on her own as a child in the woods, finding food and evading predators, though she doesn’t remember anything beforehand. Those primal feelings, those instincts that kept her alive, are still a big part of her even a decade later, since being found and adopted by Cady Bennett, who trains search-and-rescue dogs. Cady and her son, Jude, have helped Kira adapt to life and civilization and still help her to interact with others appropriately, to breathe through situations that incite flashbacks of the harrowing time of her young life, and to find her way. Their neighbor Free also is an important part of Kira’s life while not officially family; Free and Jude and Kira are a team in learning the business of search and rescue and training the dogs they work with. For that matter, the dogs are just as much a vital part of Kira’s life as the humans.

Kira and Jude are surprised when the grandfather they didn’t know existed, Bales Bennett, finds Cady and asks her to help find a missing girl in a national park adjacent to the town he lives in. The group heads off to participate in the search for the girl in a huge area of wilderness, dogs in tow. Even though Kira has trained for this kind of a hunt, she finds herself having more and more flashbacks to the time she was a little girl alone in the wilderness, and now she’s getting bits of memories about why she was in the woods. Not only that, but she, Jude and Free observe soon after their arrival that Cady has been keeping plenty of secrets about her history.

As the search for the little girl drags on, it is clear there is more going on than just a simple case of a child wandering away from her campsite. The three friends learn that this isn’t the first person to go missing under strange circumstances in the area in recent months. As they ask around town to learn more about the case, they also ask about Cady’s father and the friends she spent time with in an effort to piece together a picture that long was just a blank canvas to them.

At the same time, Kira finds herself nearly incapacitated by the memories that are surfacing; does she even want to remember what her own mind has kept hidden for so long? Is she destined to just be “that wild girl” who just lived by her instincts? Can she prove herself?

The Lovely and the Lostis a story of the love and support of family, of one teen figuring out who she is and what her place in the world is. It’s a mystery and a bit of a thriller, and it held my interest the whole way, as it revealed bit by bit the answers to the questions it presented throughout. I had read Barnes’ The Naturals and enjoyed that, and this had a similar feel. Entertaining but also a sweet book about love and being loved.

Book Talk…5/10/19 Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ The Lovely and the Lost
Traci Kenworth

The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Disney Hyperion. May 7 2019.
Amazon blurb: Kira Bennett's earliest memories are of living alone and wild in the woods. She has no idea how long she was on her own or what she had to do to survive, but she remembers the moment that Cady Bennett and one of her search-and-rescue dogs found her. Adopted into the Bennett family, Kira still struggles with human interaction years later, but she excels at the family business: search-and-rescue. Along with Cady's son, Jude, and their neighbor, Free, Kira works alongside Cady to train the world's most elite search-and-rescue dogs. Someday, all three teenagers hope to put their skills to use, finding the lost and bringing them home. But when Cady's estranged father, the enigmatic Bales Bennett, tracks his daughter down and asks for her help in locating a missing child—one of several visitors who has disappeared in the Sierra Glades National Park in the past twelve months—the teens find themselves on the frontlines sooner than they could have ever expected. As the search through 750,000 acres of unbridled wilderness intensifies, Kira becomes obsessed with finding the missing child. She knows all too well what it's like to be lost in the wilderness, fighting for survival, alone. But this case isn't simple. There is more afoot than a single, missing girl, and Kira's memories threaten to overwhelm her at every turn. As the danger mounts and long-held family secrets come to light, Kira is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her adopted family, her true nature, and her past.

My Review: Kira was a lost child out in a forest, trying to survive when her adoptive mother, Cady, found her. She had an instant brother, Jude, who always did his best to keep her comforted as did Cady. Her next door neighbor, Free, is also part of the Miscreants. Now a teen, trying to get her place on Cady’s Search and Rescue team, Kira knows she and her husky, Saskia, also a beaten, rescued dog are ready. When Cady’s dad shows up with a case, it brings strong emotions from Cady who at first refuses her father and then gives in. The missing girl’s name is Bella. Kira promises to be the one to bring her home. She is the first one to bring a clue to the disappearance in. Cady worries that she is going to be triggered by the situation so takes her of the search. Meanwhile a boy staying with Cady’s father, Gabriel, gains her attention in the search for his own brother. But is there something more to Gabriel? Should Kira trust him? Should she trust anyone as her past is thrown in her face?
This was an incredible book! Intense and an exciting mystery to be solved. The characters are believable and a learning experience to hang out with throughout the story. The plot is twisted and sure.