Elle Keaton’s writing continues to blow me away. Real Hazard is her latest book set on the fictional Piedras Island. It can be read as a standalone – I don’t think you’ll fee lost if you haven’t read any others – but you might get more enjoyment out of it if you read the other books in the series. Many of Elle Keaton’s series are interconnected but you don’t need to have read any of the others to enjoy the West Coast Forensics series.

Real Hazard doesn’t have quite as much suspense as some of the other stories in the series but it has a lot of heart. Foster is an EMT; he’s lived on Piedras Island all his life. After his much younger sister was injured in the same car crash that killed their parents, he became her guardian. Now that she’s getting ready to head off to college Foster is reluctant to let her go. He has a few good friends and has only recently begun to envy them for their romantic relationships.

Dutch left his life in the Velvet Devils motorcycle club so that he could give his daughter a better life than he had growing up. He works hard as a cook at the local fancy resort and does everything he can to give his daughter the kind of life she deserves. Hazel is a super precocious kid who is wise beyond her 8 and two-thirds years.

When Foster takes his turn to run Safety Day at Hazel’s school, she says, out loud, that he’s pretty. After the demonstration, much to her father’s embarrassment, she invites Foster to a tea party. After that Foster and Dutch just seem to click and become friends. Dutch doesn’t quite understand the feelings he’s started to have for Dutch. He knows that Dutch is gay, but he’s always thought himself to be totally straight.

I loved everything about this book. I loved the slow-burn romance between Dutch and Foster. I loved all of the great moments with the dogs in the story. I even enjoyed the bad thing when it happened because I just knew that everything would turn out OK. I really feel like this was a pretty low angst story, especially considering Dutch’s past. There were a few tense moments but for me, there were many more moments that really touched my heart and got my emotions involved (tears LOL). This is one of the sweetest books I’ve read in the connected world of the Piedras Island stories. The epilogue, set one year later, was perfect and sweet and wonderful.

I’m really looking forward to reading Cody’s story coming this fall.

Reviews for Elle Keaton

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Before he could form a reply, a whirlwind in the form of a barely four-foot-tall girl raced from the auditorium onto the stage. Messy dark-blond hair escaped ties someone had wrapped around her uneven braids. Maybe she did her own hair? Foster remembered when Becca had insisted she would brush and braid her hair. There were a couple years of hilarious school pictures tucked in a photo album at home.

“Daddy says I have to apologize for saying my thoughts out loud. He says there are thoughts that sometimes should stay in my head.” She stopped in front of him. Her hands were curled into fists on her hips, and her eyes blazed as if she dared him to agree with her father.

“Hazel,” both Larch and the dad said in tandem.

Hazel turned her glare to the two adults trying to actively oppress her and then back to Foster.

Foster had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. This must be the student who’d called him pretty. “It’s okay. I accept your apology.” He glanced over at the dad. Hazel resembled her father, but where Hazel had a head full of hair, the dad had none. But, Foster thought, the guy was lucky: he had a nicely shaped head, so being bald worked for him.

“You are pretty, though.” Obviously, Hazel was one of those who liked to have the last word. “And I don’t know why I have to apologize for being nice.”

West Coast Forensics Series

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