In Too Deep by Tracey Alvarez

I don't usually have much luck with free books, 97% of the time i can't even finish them because the writing style and plot are just not my cup of tea. So i started In too Deep with low expectations. Color me surprised, when from the very first pages i became so engrossed in the story that i just couldn't put it down.

In too Deep is the first book in Due South series and Ms Alvarez definitely managed to captivate me to continue reading all the other books. After having her heart broken and witnessing her fathers death almost at same time nine years ago, our heroine Piper Harland, became a cop who’s part of the elite New Zealand Police National Dive Squad. She's a tough woman, who believes this is what she is meant to do. I came to admire and love Piper a lot throughout the whole book. She's one of the strongest characters i have ever read about, very few people would be able to do what she does on daily basis and not break down. Especially considering the tragedy she had to go through almost a decade ago.

Piper never planned to come back to Stewart Island, a place where she grew up but which now also holds two of the most painful memories, her father's death which she still feels so much guilt for and Ryan “West” Westlake breaking her heart. But she has no other option, because her brother, Ben, is having financial problems and might lose the business he took over after their father's death. Coming back means facing West and her family. Throughout the book we see Ben, Piper and Shaye slowly working their issues out and finally letting old wounds to start healing. I'm sucker for sibling relationships so you can imagine how much it hurt to see them so fallen apart from each other. Also i loved their mother Glenna who was quite a force of nature. That women is definitely one of many highlights of the book.

I loved West too. It's easy to see how much it hurt him to let Piper go all those years ago, which was both because of his fear of abandonment and also not wanting to hold Piper back from achieving her dreams. He is an amazing character, a very loyal friend, a very sweet guy through and through and he also has sense of humor, what is not to love? It was also very funny how they thought they could resist each other once she came back. Since love-hate relationships and second chance love stories are some of my favorite, it made me enjoy this book even more. The banter between these two dorks was priceless. But there also were quite a few scenes that made my heart melt, i live for those little, sweet scenes that make you want smile and cry at the same time. This book definitely had them.

All in all it was a very enjoyable read for me. It was my kind of book and i'm glad that i finally did read it. It's also still free so y'all should definitely give it a chance!