Unleashed

Love To The Rescue, Book #1

Rachel Lacey

ISBN# 9781455582099

Author’s Website:  http://www.rachellacey.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Jerjen

Unleashed by Rachel Lacey is such a great book.  This book perfectly blended together romance, friendship, animal rescue and animal abuse.  That may sound like a strange combination, but believe me, it all goes together nicely.  This book pulled me in from the very beginning and did not let me go until the very end.  I could not read it fast enough.

Cara Medlen is a nanny, a want-to-be photographer and and animal rescue foster parent.  She is also a cancer survivor of eight years.  She has basically put her life on hold until she reaches the ten year cancer free mark.  She feels she cannot make any permanent commitment to anything or anyone in her life until she meets this milestone.  That is why she fosters dogs instead of owning her very own dog,  why she is a part time nanny instead of pursuing a career in photography.  She does not know her neighbors very well because she does not want to get close to others in case the cancer returns.  But she begins to question that decision when she meets her neighbor, Matt Dumont.

Matt is a private investigator who owns his own company.  He is about to move out of state to help take care of his aging mother and go into business with his brother.  So when he meets his neighbor and begins to spend time with her, he knows that there is no chance of anything developing between them, even though he wishes something could develop.  They say timing is everything, and in this case, the timing is lousy.

The characters are very well developed, realistic and three dimensional.  I really enjoyed reading about the relationship that developed between Cara and Matt.  There are times when they both irritate each other enough to make them want to scream.  Other times they get along great and each know it is going to be hard to say goodbye.  Matt at times has to keep a close eye on Cara to prevent her from breaking the law where animal safety is involved.  Their relationship is very realistic and they face some of the same obstacles that everyone faces in daily life.  Reading about their relationship was one of the things I like most about this book.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read.  The author is very descriptive in her writing and it is very easy to picture places and events in my mind.  There is some suspense involved in Matt’s investigative case and also in a dog abuse situation.  At times, things got very intense and exciting.  I really enjoyed the surprise at the end of the book, I did not see it coming.  .

The author seems very knowledgeable about animal rescue and animal abuse. At times it was hard to read about the abuse and the cruel things that people do,  At other times it was heartwarming to read about the happily-ever-after stories.  Unfortunately, this is the way it is in real life and I feel that the author did a very good job portraying both sides of the issues in a realistic manner.   I really enjoyed this aspect of the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written contemporary women’s fiction.  This is the first book that I have read by Rachel Lacey and it will definitely not be my last.  I am excited to see that book two in the series, For Keeps, has just been released.  I cannot recommend Unleashed enough, so treat yourself and get this book.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*