Corporate lawyer Ava Burch lived in the big city until the unexpected passing of her father. Moving to the small town of Cuervo with Huck, the last search and rescue dog that her father trained, Ava uses her free time outside of the law office to volunteer for rescue missions. Between Ava's smarts and Huck's excellent training, the pair's seriousness convinces Detective Grant Wycoff to look into a suspicious finding. Ava’s discovery is eerily similar to the unsolved case of a young woman who went missing two years prior. Will the investigation lead the pair to the truth or will it place danger directly in their paths?

There were aspects of this novel that I really liked, especially the descriptions on how searches are conducted through complicated terrain and how rescue dogs work. Though there was a little bit of romance, I did like how the author focused mainly on the mystery and suspense elements. Ava and Grant worked well together and I could see more books being written about the pair. The audiobook was well narrated and helped to bring the story to life. The narrator, Julia Atwood, used good expression and emotion in her telling of the story. Vanishing Hour was pleasant to listen to and the plot moved at a good pace. For these reasons, I would recommend the novel to other readers, especially in audiobook format.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Audio Copy by NetGalley and the publisher. The decision to listen and review this novel was entirely my own.

𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤!

My first book from this author and I’m a fan. What a great read, thrilling, suspenseful, a cold case file, a murder mystery, an adorable dog and a bit of romance. Loved the writing, loved the characters, loved the storyline. A fantastic read.

Thank you Berkley Pub Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for this gifted copy.

𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿 by Laura Griffin released December 6, 2022.

What I loved ❤️
✨Search and Rescue Dog - Huck is the true hero of this story. Sometimes causing mischief but always hardworking during a rescue mission. I found the procedural details of a search and rescue fascinating.
✨Setting - vivid descriptions of rural Texas and its national parks created a real sense of desolation and danger; even the snakes had me freaked out!
✨Blended Genre - perfect mix of mystery, police investigation, and romance.
✨Great narration - Julia Atwood changed voices throughout the novel, which made the story not only exciting but suspenseful.

Solid thriller! ❤️

Ava is an attorney. But, she has had enough of the big city. She has uprooted herself and her trained search and rescue dog, Huck. They have moved to a rural Texas town to start an easier life. But, on their first call out for rescue, Ava discovers an abandoned campsite. And this opens up a whole can of worms!

As most of y’all know, romantic suspense Is one of my guilty pleasures. And I really enjoyed this one. Plus…IT HAS A DOG! This book just really hit the spot.

I enjoyed Ava and Grant. Both are strong characters with a mission to not get involved. But, life has a way of throwing them together and making them realize their connection is not just about their chemistry.

I also found the hunt for the killer intriguing, especially with the canyons. This created a unique place (or rather a smart place) for the killer to hide bodies. And with all the young ladies missing, Ava and Grant have a terrible situation on their hands.

The narrator, Julia Atwood, is great! She did a wonderful job with all the voices.

Need a good escape with a bit of mystery and a sweet romance to boot…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. This story opens with a girl being murdered at a remote part of a park. And then goes to our main character helping in a search and rescue as many people go hiking unprepared. The love story part was ok but I could have done without. I did love how the female lead was strong and independent. It can be so annoying when they are so dependent on the male leads. Either way this had me guessing until the end - so well written and so full of twists of turns. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I found Laura Griffen on Net Galley and I have come to really enjoy her books. I get so engrossed in the story line and I am always left wanting more.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for accepting my request to audibly read and review Vanishing Hour.

Author: Laura Griffin
Narrator: Julia Atwood
Published: 10/25/22
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

Julia Atwood earned Vanishing Hour 1 star with her performance. I was able to relax and follow the story along with her skill-set.

The mystery surrounds several women disappearing sound the same date. There is a new to the force, but not new to the community, detective. Huck, the search and rescue, but not cadaver dog, offset the middle school romance between the attorney and detective.

Despite the cheesy romance, the story moved along. The ending, however, was rushed and over-the-top.

Huck's role kept the story afloat for me. I did take the author's explanations on search and rescue dogs at face value. His way of working and taking commands was interesting.

We get more than half way before I noticed profanity. At that point it felt like an oops, I forgot to include this. There were several more spews continuing to the end. Why? There was no reason for it.

I loved that the dog was respected.

If specifically requested, I would gift.

Really enjoyed this fast paced Romantic Thriller , great storyline , kept you guessing , great characters , loved the romantic side to ., I enjoyed the audio version , the narroter really brough the story to life .

This audiobook is a solid five stars. It deals with a clever mystery, a little romance, family, and a fascinating rescue dog. I enjoy the flow of the narration.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy.

I just reviewed Vanishing Hour by Laura Griffin. #VanishingHour #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Laura Griffin returns with her newest romantic mystery novel, Vanishing Hour. After the passing of her father, lawyer Ava Burch, has started working with his dog, Huck, as a search and rescue (SAR) team in rural Texas. On their first missing person mission in the area they discovery a mysterious campsite tied to an old cold cases involving missing women in the area. With the help of local sheriff deputy, Grant Wycoff, she begins to investigate the link between the missing women and this small town.

I really struggled with this novel as there was not much mystery or romance in the story and I ultimately disliked the main characters. Grant hates that Ava keeps inserting herself into his old case and yet seemingly refuses to follow up on any leads that could actually solve the case. Ava is the biggest miss for me. She is a lawyer by trade but spends all her time playing a armature Nancy Drew. There is no evidence given that she actually knows anything about being a SAR dog handler beyond the fact that her dad trained them. By the way, what SAR dog doesn't have rattlesnake training in the rural dessert? The plot is thin with tidbits that never get flushed out, like why Ava's relationship with her dad was so strained. The ending was awkward and didn't have much build up.
I like Laura Griffin's other works and the writing style of this one but it was a miss for me. I had the audio version read by Julia Atwood who did an okay job. She did not offer much voice inflections so I struggled at times when a new character was speaking without warning.

Julia Atwood narrates Laura Griffin’s romantic suspense audiobook Vanishing Hour—my first read by her. Native rural Texan and Corporate lawyer Ava Burch moved to the small town of Cuervo to trade in the big city and daily grind for the dry, rugged wilderness near Big Bend National Park. Her late father, who raised search-and-rescue dogs when she was a child, trained her dog Huck, with whom she volunteers for search and rescue. On a volunteer search-and-rescue mission, Ava and Huck discover an abandoned campsite, which feels off to her. So, she carefully documents and photographs it and offers the info to the Sherriff.

Deputy Sheriff Grant Wycoff’s first impression of Ava is that she’s a city slicker that’s out of place working search-and-rescue in Cuervo. But he rethinks it, especially when she tells him of her discovery of an abandoned campsite on the trail, which reminds Grant of the unsolved case of a young woman who went missing two years ago. Grant investigates the campsite with Ava’s help. Not long after, another woman disappears under peculiar circumstances. Ava and Grant battle Texas’ brutal heat, work against the clock, and try to fight their smoldering chemistry to solve the mystery of the missing women.

Atwood’s narration complements Griffin’s writing style, the novel’s suspenseful tone, and the small-town Texas setting. I love Atwood’s voice. Her calming, gentle, and natural-sounding Texas/southern accent drew me into the novel and kept me listening to the audiobook nonstop. Atwood’s voices/narration for Ava and Grant perfectly fits their characters. Her narration provides distinct voices using intonation, dialects, pacing, emotion, and tone to differentiate between the characters and capture their personalities, moods, and quirks. I love Atwood’s narration/voices for Ava and Grant. Ava’s voice is sweet and light with enthusiasm for life and her work—SAR (search and rescue) and practicing law—and overflowing with love for Huck, humor, and emotion. I like the huskiness and concise, guarded, and curious tone she uses for Grant, which often gives away his intense nature and dedication to his job. Her narration of the novel’s men and women is equally terrific. Atwood effortlessly shifts through the novel’s varying tones from dark, chilling, and suspenseful to funny, lighthearted, sexy, and steamy, to angsty and emotionally intense. Brilliantly expressing the characters’ frustration, stress, concern, fear, and desire/passion for each other, Atwood’s reading style brings Griffin’s words to life with emotion while preserving Griffin’s procedural/thriller narrative style.

Griffin’s vivid and detailed descriptions, brilliantly plotted and suspenseful narrative, complex and wonderfully developed and evolved characters, and lively character interactions and dialogue make for a compelling, suspenseful romance. She excellently develops the suspense and mystery elements of Vanishing Hour. The action/suspense scenes are tautly written, exciting, and well-executed. It’s an intense novel with more than a few nail-biting moments that had me wondering not only who the villain(s) is but also just how bad things were going to get for Ava, Huck, and Grant while trying to find the missing women and stop the villain(s). I find Griffin’s search and rescue scenes and sequences fascinating because they feel authentic and well-researched.

Focusing primarily on the suspense and mystery elements, Vanishing Hour is not high steam/heat, but the romance is superb. Griffin establishes Ava and Grant’s smoldering attraction early on, transitioning their relationship to friends, then lovers with humor, banter, and sexually charged and steamy/intimate conversations and interactions. I love how intensely Grant finds himself drawn to Ava, despite himself. Once he acknowledges his attraction, he goes all in on pursuing Ava. Although she is just as attracted to Grant, Ava hesitates to become involved with a lawman because of past relationships and family/childhood baggage.

Ava’s relationship with Huck is so sweet, and he’s adorable, funny, and very good at SAR. Griffin explores a side story with secondary characters, Ava’s law partner, Jenna, and Connor, Grant’s co-worker with the Sherriff’s department, that I hope will be further developed and explored in a separate book. Both characters are intriguing. Jenna, a single mom, is dealing with complicated family issues while raising her daughter. Connor seems to have a reputation for dating a lot but not getting serious with anyone.

A deftly plotted suspense/mystery with a sweet, sexy romance, Vanishing Hour is a captivating read highly recommended for romantic suspense, small-town mystery, and romantic thriller fans. Griffin explores themes of sexism, working in male-dominated fields, grief, emotional trauma, and balancing single parenthood with caring for elderly parents with health issues.

CW: grief, dementia/caring for elderly/ill parents

Advanced review copy provided by Dreamscape Audio via Netgalley for review.

This was such a good mix of romance and suspense, which is so rare to find. THat combined with the push and pull of the big city girl and country boy made this a great escapist read.

Thank you to NetGallery and Laura Griffin, Julia Atwood (Narrator), Dreamscape Media, LLC for this complimentary copy audio book.
This novel kept my interest from beginning to end. A delicious mystery that was compelling and kept me listening! So many twists and turns without giving away the “who done it”!. Ava and Grant, compelling main characters, each had personal demons to deal with, while navigating through the search and rescues and solve the mystery of the missing girls. I shouldn’t leave out the third main character, Huck, Ava’s search and rescue dog inherited from her father. If not for Huck, the case would have gone unsolved!
Great read which I highly recommend.

Interesting story from this prolific author. It was an entertaining 5 star read! Adventure, mystery and romance all in one . I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration.

When I read the summary of a search and rescue dog story I knew this one would be something I’d enjoy. It was well researched and educated me on how searches work and how talented these dogs are.

Ava Burch, a volunteer for search and rescue missions and her lab, Huck, are helping out in the small town she has recently moved to and while searching for a missing boy, Ava finds an abandoned campsite. A search of it finds one boot and a car key.

Ava reports this and shows some pictures she has taken of the site to the local sheriff. He is unimpressed but his Deputy , Grant, agrees with Ava, something is not right. Even though Ava is an attorney, she jumps into investigating.

Romance blooms between Grant and Ava , although it’s an on and off relationship. Huck is a joy to read about. He is so brilliant with search and rescue but still loves to chew up shoes and get in trouble.

I could have an appreciated a less beautiful protagonist in Ava. I love to see a few flaws to make the characters a bit more like every day people.

Great story, pacing and descriptions. I enjoyed that the book had a bit less violence than many I’ve read recently. I thought it was a series. It was not but would make a good starting book to read more Ava and Grant mysteries !

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

Ava was living a busy life in a big city as a corporate attorney. She’s ready for a change and heads back home after the passing of her dad. He raised search and rescue dogs and she’s now the proud dog mom of Huck, a truly talented pup. While out on a search rescue mission Ava and Huck come upon an abandoned campsite that just doesn’t sit right with her so she documents the scene and continues on the search. She shows the photos to Grant he basically brushes her off. Thankfully Ava does not suffer fools and won’t let go. And so begins the journey of figuring out who was the owner of the abandoned items, what happened to them, is it connected to other missing people in the area and so many more questions. First, she must make it clear to Grant, the investigator that she is more than the “fancy dressing, city slicker who drives a totally inappropriate car for their neck of the woods” and is on to something important. Great storyline, character development and of course a seriously impressive amazing dog. A really interesting and compelling listen.

I want to thank the publishers, and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook ARC.

This book is a 5 out 5 stars for me and I can't wait to tell you why!!!

I'm not going to focus on the overview because you can read that above but I am still going to tell you how great this book is.

I absolutely loved the writing style in this book. It was clear that we were following Ava in this book, but there were also other chapters where we got a glimpse of other characters perspective, and it happened so seamlessly it was beautiful. Being able to get information from all the characters, as the read made this book even more enjoyable, because not all the characters had this information, which if we were only following Ava would have made it really boring.

This book isn't going to shock you at the end, but I will say that at the being you are able to make your own guesses, and then you start finding out what Ava is learning and it makes things pretty clear. If you are look for a shocking twist, this isn't for you.

I also found it really easy to connect with the characters. I feel like in a different life I would love to be like Ava. A kick but lawyer, that has a dog that can help with search and rescue! YES PLEASE! Huck is such a good dog, and I would happily take him home any day.

I also thought that the romance between Ava and Grant was done really well. There was a clear attraction, and the hesitation from Ava was very warranted but not drawn out a ton. It was also a subplot which was nice. There was a lot more then just their romance. It was suggestive, but super steamy.

Overall by the end of this book, I felt like I was Ava, and this was my life which I feel like makes for a great book. This book made me laugh, cry a little, and it made me fearful. I would highly recommend.

Content Warning:
Murder, Missing people and children, death of a parent, Alzheimer (talked about), Infertility (talked about)

After moving from Houston to another small town to open a law practice with her college roommate, Ava has little free time. She fills her days with law work and her search and rescue dog she inherited from her father after he died. While out on a search and rescue call, she discovers a suspicious abandoned camp. Ava soon finds herself looking into a string of disappearances of young woman in a national park. She is first mistaken for a city slicker with little experience, but she and her dog quickly prove everyone wrong.
This book is very well written. The plot was intriguing with everything from family drama, to cults, to romance. I’d highly recommend!
*** Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Vanishing Hour

I found my first Laura Griffin book in a Walgreens after a long night in the ER with my kiddo. Ever since, I am always excited to read her books! When I was given the opportunity to listen to Vanishing Hour from Netgalley, I was so excited!

Ava Burch moves from the big city, to a small town in Texas. She is not only a lawyer, but together with her sweet dog, Huck, she volunteers to work search and rescue in rural Texas town. When she discovers an abandoned tent on a rescue mission, she starts asking questions and investigating.

Deputy Grant Wycoff looks into Ava’s findings, and opens up a few missing girls cold cases. He is intrigued by Ava and her city life vibes, and can’t seem to stay away from her. While trying to work his investigation Grant can’t help but be annoyed that Ava is still looking into the missing girls. Ava is drawing too much attention to herself with her curious mind, and Grant is worried about her safety.

I really enjoyed Vanishing Hour. It was a really easy listen that made me want to add it to my collection of Laura Griffin books. If you want a good mystery with some suspense and a love story thrown in there, this book is for you!

I will be posting my review on Instagram on 11/9/2022.

4.5 review

After her father passed, Ava Burch adopted his search and rescue dog Huck, and left her big city corporate law job in Houston. She headed west to the small town of Cuervo near Big Bend National park to work in a small firm with a long time friend.

With the slower pace of life, Ava is able to work her day job, and also help with search and rescue operations nearby. When on one of those ops Huck discovers an abandoned campsite, Ava’s analytical lawyer brain turns on and she finds the state of the campsite suspicious. The campsite is dusty as if it’s been undisturbed for years. She quickly researches and finds out a string of young women have gone missing in the area recently and gets to work digging to figure out why.

Local investigator Grant Wycoff is intrigued by the big city newcomer in their small town, but despite his attraction to her, her meddling is irritating him. Ever the professional, he continues to work his cases to find out who is targeting the young women in the county. He works particularly hard to try to keep one young woman in particular safe.

Vanishing Hour was a fun and fast mystery read. Ava and Grant were great main characters that had an obvious attraction to each other without distracting too much from the main plot line. I do wish there was a little more follow through with the sheriff—he was the somewhat bad guy who never seemed to get his due.

Laura Griffin did a great job, the west Texas landscape came alive reminding readers of both its beauty and its danger. Julia Atwood did a fantastic job of narrating the audiobook. Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and of course Laura Griffin for the advanced copy of the book. Vanishing Hour is out now. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this romantic suspense story. The characters were very likable and I like how the story unfolded. Thank you to Netflix and the publisher for the arc. I also loved the setting in the book.