SUBMERGED by Dani Pettrey

Dani Pettrey is a new author for me but I must say she ranks herself right up there with the best of the best with this Alaskan Courage Series.  Submerged takes you under the water in the first few pages and throughout the book keeps you holding your breath to see what will happen next; both under the water and on land.  This is an inspirational, romantic, suspense and hits all three descriptions dead on.  The characters in this story have a deep and abiding faith which gets them through some tough times.  The romance is definately there and the adventures and suspense keep you turning the pages.  I put this story down and immediately picked up book two, "Shattered",  to start reading it.

The story begins with a plane crash into the waters off the Tariuk Island in Alaska.  Cole McKenna is an underwater rescue person and he finds himself diving soon after to see if there is any chance of finding someone alive.  Cole and his family own "Last Frontier Adventures" in the samll town of Yancy, Alaska.  You get to meet his siblings and will be eager to read more about them in hopefully many more stories in this series.  What Cole finds is one lady still alive; Agnes Grey.  But by the time she reaches the hospital, she has died.  Agnes has a neice, Baily Craig, who lived in Yancy during her teenage years and made some wrong decisions and led a life she regrests and is ashamed of, so she has never returned to the town.  Now she must go back and take care of her aunt's holdings in Alaska, which is the Russian-American Trading Post. 

The suspense and intrigue is throughout this story.  Why did the plane go down?  Who has been sneaking into the Trading Post?  Other divers are showing up dead.  Is it all related?  And who might be next?  Then there is the obvious attraction that Cole and Bailey still have for one another.  But can Cole really forgive and forget Bailey's past?  And can Bailey truly realize that she is a new creation in Christ and her past has been forgiven.  A great story of love and forgiveness.  Great job Dani Pettrey!

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (February 1, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0764209833
ISBN-13: 978-0764209833