⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5

I received an advanced copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Book 9 of the Hart’s Ridge series and this one seemed to be the darkest for me. A carryover storyline from Book 8 of the missing wife of fellow officer, Caleb. Taylor also attempts to help a young mother caught in the throws of an abusive relationship.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series; storylines, family dynamics, characters, descriptive writing. I will admit the abuse, more implied than described, had my heart racing and left me feeling heartbroken for these women and angry at the men who do this. The human spirit is resilient and does what it needs to do to survive. I so missed the ongoing family drama of the Grey’s, touched on very briefly and the fluidity that typically follows from one book to the next. This was still an enjoyable read and I can’t wait to see how Ms. Bratt brings this series to an end. ( )

Blackbird, book 9 in the Hart Ridge series, was a real nail-biter from the first page to the last. Taylor has harried Sam and Sam's teenage daughter lives with them. Taylor still spends too much timer working her job as a deputy and is still neglecting her family but luckily, Sam pretty much understands how important her work is to her.

This book has two major plots that both affect Taylor and keep her working long hours.

-Allison and her two young children are living in an abusive household. Taylor works hard to move Allison to a safe place and to keep her abusive boyfriend from harming her. The boyfriend is relentless in his pursuit of Allison and Taylor spends a lot of time trying to keep the mom and two children safe.

-One of her fellow officers is having a hard time accepting the death of his wife after a kidnapping (details in book 8) because her body was never found. He can't get on with his healing until the case is totally solved and Taylor agrees to help him. Will they find clues that Lydia may not be dead? or is it another dead end?

Both plot lines are exciting and kept me turning the pages to find the outcomes. There wasn't much of a storyline about the rest of the Gray family but there were updates on all of them during the book. Right now the author plans that Book 10 will be the last book in the series and I'll be sad to say goodbye to Hart Ridge and the Grey family - especially Taylor. This is a fantastic series. ( )