'How many people were going to die before this ended?'

I've been a fan of Dani Pettrey's work since her first book years ago. They sit proudly on my shelves. This one is no exception to her action-packed suspense. The Coastal Guardians is a great series and I love it.

Join this amazing team as they try to stop a madman with a stolen weapon that could cause tremendous destruction if they don't catch him first. There is a mass shooting that devastates the team, but it's only the beginning of the havoc that falls in the wake of this diabolical maniac.

Pettrey deftly adds layers all along that serve to constantly bring more intrigue to the reader. The personal stories of those involved are great to watch as well. They struggle with real problems just like the rest of us, and they've allowed God into their lives and have His help with those problems. We also get a great secondary story as well as see old friends making an appearance. Very well done!

I have four words for you:

Well.

Worth.

The.

Wait.

One of the things I love most about Dani Pettrey’s Coastal Guardians series is that, while each book does focus on a main couple, each book is also about the whole team. So you can always spend quality time with your favorite character(s) or pairing(s) even if they aren’t the focus of the specific book you’re reading. This helps readers become deeply invested in this team of CGIS agents as well as the CGIS-adjacent private investigators, journalists, and flight medics they love. Ergo, we have been squirming and fidgeting and and re-reading the first two books, trying very hard to be patient as we anticipated the release of The Deadly Shallows. And oh my goodness, this story was SO worth waiting for.

I have long been ‘team Noah-Brooke’. Having already invested in these characters from the previous two books, I loved getting a closer look at the layers that have made up their past and influenced their present. Whew – I’m still fanning over some of those kisses, but their romance is more than just some swoonilicious smoochy-time. As they each wrestle with their feelings for each other, Pettrey gives us a master class in multidimensional characters and seamlessly integrates a faith thread that touches the soul without being preachy or inauthentic.

The author also did a number on my heart rate with the dangerous situations Noah & Brooke kept getting into. A mass shooting on a Coast Guard base, a violent kidnapping, the theft of a weapon of mass destruction, illegal toxic waste dumping… and that’s just the first couple of days. Tensions rise along with the body count, and I stayed on the edge of my seat, frantically turning the pages and often unsure whether Noah and Brooke would both survive to find the happily-ever-after we’ve been waiting for. The suspense doesn’t ease up, even for the kissing scenes, keeping the mood of the story charged & dynamic.

Bottom Line: The Deadly Shallows by Dani Pettrey is everything I hoped it would be and more. Readers will love the don’t-blink, remember-to-breathe, high stakes suspense as our beloved Coastal Guardians race to save the day – and each other. Not only are we treated to a front row seat as Noah & Brooke finally – finally – admit their deep feelings for each other, but we also get to watch Caleb & Austin stop fighting their feelings too. Austin is one of my fave characters in the series, and her banter-bickering with Caleb is so fun. Add some kisses to the mix, and it’s even more entertaining. The faith thread fits organically with the plot and I appreciated that Noah & Brooke were mature and open with each other about their struggles. (If you’re waiting for Emmy & Logan’s romance, too, don’t despair when you hear this is the last book in the series. A novella is releasing next May that will tie up their story.)

I love action packed romantic suspense. And you always get that with Pettrey's book. This is a series, but it can be read as a standalone. I was not lost and found it a thrilling read. I recommend this.

Don’t miss Dani Pettrey’s fabulous romance set among suspense, mystery, and intrigue that is sure to keep the reader flipping pages until the satisfying ending. I loved Noah and Brooke's romance, and their internal struggles made them so relatable that I cheered them on until the end and sighed with their happily-ever-after.

Dani has created a rich story with characters readers have come to love, and two sets of heros and heroines who step to the forefront of the story. It's a intricately woven story with multiple layers happening simultaneously in a race to find homegrown terrorists before the body count rises even higher. Light romance. Spiritual elements. Great characters. An enjoyable read!

It was great re-connecting with the team in this third book in the Coastal Guardian series.

As usual, Ms Pettrey starts out with a highly toxic situation when a mass shooting disrupts a graduation on base. It only ramps up from there. It was non-stop action with the team going in several directions at once and wondering if all the clues were connected in some way.

This time there are two couples that we follow on their romantic journey: Austin, head of her own detective agency and Caleb, a CGIS agent. Their banter was classic and fun. And Noah, a leader at CGIS and Brooke a Coastguard flight medic. These tense situations bring out the hero in Noah but he has some issues to work through before he can declare himself to Brooke.

I like that there is a large group who are connected by faith and friendship and that they are almost like family. A suspenseful follow up to the first two books and makes me want to go back and reread them. Ms. Pettrey is a master at Romantic Suspense. I look forward to her next book.

The author's books are always non stop action and this one is no different. Action that captivates you from the first pages hooks your attention. You won't be able to stop reading because once you start reading you'll need to have all your questions answered.

A mass shooting has the first responders including CGIS Agent Noah Rowley and his team and Coast Guard flight medic Brooke Kesler on high alert.

A mysterious message given to medic Brooke by the only surviving gunman has her questioning it's importance. Was he even coherent when he spoke to her?

This fast paced thriller will have you questioning who ordered the shooting and why?

I enjoyed seeing the interaction between Noah and Brooke they have a comfort level with each other that has built up from previous books but will sparks be able to fly as he does everything he possibly can to protect her while keeping a secret from her that may change the whole scope of things if she'd find out what it was.

The attack wasn't the end game. It was only the beginning.

Sure to please you won't be able to stop til you've read it all the way through.

What do mass shootings, stolen weapons, and deep secrets have in common? A lot, in fact. The Deadly Shallows follows the stories of CGIS agent Noah Rowley and Coast Guard flight medic Brooke Kesler work to find the culprits who instigated the mass shooting, took the lives of innocent people, and threatened harm to loved ones. When a traumatic situation hits close to home for Noah and the case brings him and Brooke closer, he realizes he needs to confront his secrets before he can unravel the secrets behind the case. Can he, will he? You’ll have to read for yourself to find out!

There were a few things I appreciated about this book:

One, the emphasis and relevance of faith in the story. It’s not often you read a suspense book, even under the Christian genre, that has elements of faith to it.

Two, the importance the author stressed of being honest, even when it may cost you something you desperately want. Noah’s character wrestles a lot with this because he knows his secrets may cause him something he wants more than anything, but living a lie won’t only hurt him, but the woman he loves. It’s only when we’re brave enough to let others into our hurts and pain that we will experience true freedom and healing.

Three, there were some scenes the author could have made pretty gory/graphic. However, she avoided this by not describing the scene in full and instead having the character give a brief recap of what happened. I appreciated this so much because I feel like a lot of suspense books are really heavy on graphic scenes were something bad is happening, like torture/abuse, etc.

A few things that kept me from giving this book a higher rating:

One, the romance. We’ve got Noah/Brooke and Caleb/Austin, so needless to say, this book has more romance than others because it’s covering two stories and relationships. However, some of the scenes felt very similar/redundant between Noah and Brooke. Literally the dialogue was the same two or three times, and I felt like it took away from their relationship. This, of course, is just my personal opinion and others may not agree, which is completely okay.

Two, some of the inner dialogue between Noah and Caleb felt very similar when it came to their thoughts for Brooke and Austin. I felt like a distinct voice was lacking and, without knowing which POV the chapter was coming from through the chapter heading, it would have been very easy to confuse their characters. This was the case for me, at least.

Overall, my dislikes from the story were a matter of my personal opinion and not a problem with the storyline itself.

If you enjoy Christian suspense-filled reads with exciting (but not too dark/gory) storylines and romance, I’m sure this will be a good read for you!

Oh so much going on in this book! I found it to be exciting and suspenseful in parts which I really enjoyed. There seemed to be two main events that the team was investigating. Both interesting but I wish that the author had only focused on one. And focused on one relationship. There were times that I felt a bit lost as to who was who and what case they were on. Not that it was hard to understand, but just that I would get distracted while reading, so it was hard to keep up. I enjoyed Brooke and Noah’s relationship that developed, but then there was Austin(who is a girl which took me a few to figure out) and Caleb’s relationship and a case that they come across. I enjoyed both Noah and Brooke and Austin and Caleb’s relationships and both of their cases were interesting and exciting, but I wish they had had separate books. I would have liked to have been able to focus on one couple and one case. Since I received my copy of The Deadly Shallows from Netgalley I am hoping that there will be some tightening up of the story. I love the way Noah’s team interacts with each other. They are solid and trustworthy and good at their jobs. I’m hoping that the next book will focus on Emmy and Logan’s relationship. There is a lot of flirting going on there and the potential romance has me piqued. The Deadly Shallows is an exciting read with engaging characters and exciting events that I have come to expect from author Dani Pettrey. I definitely recommend!

This is quite a wrap up for the Coastal Guardians Series. There is a thread of the Romance of three couples and there are three cases happening with two of them becoming intertwined. So good to see the couples finding their happily ever after. Dani Pettrey has done a fantastic job on all three of the books in this series and with the main characters in each of the books. I recommend that you get this whole series because I believe you will love it as I have.