He Fell in Love with a Criminal - An investigation in a small town with crossfire and K-9 UNIT Romance #999943

Nine years ago, Lena Vale drove the getaway car that destroyed her life.

She served seven years in prison, lost her family’s trust, and left Briar Glen determined never to become the woman she had been. But when her younger brother disappears and his bloodstained jacket is discovered inside the family garage, Lena is forced to return to the town that still remembers every detail of her crime.
Waiting for her is Sergeant Noah Pike.

He is the officer Lena lied to on the night of the robbery, the man her choices nearly got killed, and the one person she cannot afford to want. Now he is a respected K-9 sergeant investigating a stolen weapons operation that carries the unmistakable signature of Reed Calder, Lena’s former lover and the criminal who taught her how easily love could become a weapon.

As Noah and his fiercely loyal German shepherd, Bishop, follow the trail from Briar Glen’s historic streets to abandoned quarry tunnels, Lena becomes both a valuable witness and the investigation’s most convenient suspect. Someone has planted evidence against her. Someone wants her brother silenced. And when rifle fire tears through the window of her childhood home, it becomes clear that Lena was never meant to survive long enough to reveal what she knows.

Noah believes she has changed, but every secret she keeps threatens the fragile trust growing between them. Lena knows falling for a police officer could cost her the freedom she fought to reclaim. Noah knows loving a woman connected to his case could destroy his career.

Yet with a ruthless criminal closing in, a missing brother running out of time, and Bishop tracking a scent toward deadly crossfire, they may have to risk everything on the one thing neither of them has ever found easy.

The truth.
Perfect for readers who crave forbidden attraction, small-town secrets, a strong ex-con heroine, a protective K-9 officer, high-stakes danger, emotional redemption, and a loyal German shepherd who refuses to judge the past.

Do not miss the investigation where every clue raises the danger, every secret carries a price, and falling in love could become the most dangerous choice of all. Start reading now, because once Bishop catches the scent, the danger does not let go.