Cold Shot by Dani Pettrey should come with a warning label.  Warning!  Unless you want to be up all night, you should start this book early in the day!  True to her website motto of “up all night suspense,” this book (and the subsequent books in the series) certainly bumped sleep lower on my list of priorities.  I read the first three books in the Chesapeake Valor series in under a week which certainly qualifies me for some sort of reading medal because I typically do not read just one book in a week, let alone 3!  

Griffin McCray, a park ranger at Gettysburg, is trying to live a low profile life while forgetting a case that went bad during his days with the Baltimore Police Department.  But then a body that is obviously not Civil War-era turns up and the charming forensic anthropologist Finley Scott discovers evidence that points towards an expert sniper.  Suddenly, Griffin’s life is brimming with friends from his past and an investigation that puts both his and Finley’s lives in danger.  

This book doesn’t just have suspense (which it has in spades).  I was just as intrigued by the romance, faith, and family storylines.  Griffin has distanced himself from the men he had called brothers since childhood.  When they reappear in his life there’s tension and unresolved issues.  He has built up walls around himself that have isolated him.  Finley, battling her own nightmares, begins to scale those very walls bringing healing to both of them.  Griffin may have earned the nickname “Ranger Grumpy” with Finley, but watching the two of them find healing and each other is an absolutely delightful story!  So get a full night’s sleep tonight and start the book in the morning!