Book Review: Red Rover (Team Red Series) Book 1 by T. Hammond

Red Rover (Team Red Series) Book 1

By Tina Hammond

Publisher: Tina Hammond

Published: Apr. 6, 2013

ASIN: B00BQEUEFA

Amazon Synopsis:

Heart pounding, she woke abruptly. It is still dark. Her mind cleared- it is always dark now. Within a heartbeat, an accident changed Teresa’s life, took her sight, and left her scarred.

Red is a typical German shepherd, well, except for the whole talking-in-Teresa’s-head thing. He’s sassy and opinionated, and pretty handsome, even if he does say so himself.

And if a smart-aleck dog isn’t enough, Sebastian and his friend David came to town and 

both have set their sights on Teresa. Neither of the sexy ex-Navy men are above using military tactics to secure their target- and so begins the Siege of Teresa March.

And when you quit drooling over the two gorgeous men, don’t forget to consider the implications of a talking dog… the police department certainly has.

Book Links

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My Thoughts:

This is a delightful, funny novel with a serious side about a young woman, Teresa who is blinded in an accident. She gets a German Shepherd, Red, who becomes her dog guide and discovers that he can talk to her. The dog is sassy and smart with a wonderful sense of humour.

As Teresa recovers from the accident and regains her independence and confidence, two men enter her life, her best friend’s brother Bas, and his military buddy David. Each tries to sweep her off her feet in the romance department. I really enjoyed the way Ms. Hammond involved Red in the development of this relationship even though what the dog did was not realistic in that what he did was not what an actual dog guide would do as it goes against its training. However, it is very much in the character of a dog to do what Red did in the story and I thought it was perfect.

As a dog owner myself, I often imagine what my dogs must be thinking, and I totally loved Ms. Hammond’s writing of the things that Red might have been saying to Teresa. I thoroughly loved Red’s character and that he would readily repeat whatever he heard – just like a child.

I also liked that Teresa and Red are able to contribute to the community by assisting the police by using Red’s unique ability to communicate to Teresa about what he is able to detect from the evidence that he smells.

I truly appreciated Ms. Hammond’s efforts to create a PG13 version of her Adult Themed Team Red Series books. I think she has done an excellent job in writing a version for those of us who love talking animals and mild romance and for this reader who loves strong characters with disabilities and service animals. I give this book 5 stars out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the author T. Hammond who provided a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author:

T. Hammond lives in Deer Park, WA with her goofy, neurotic, long-coat German shepherd, Dexter; he's noble and brave, until someone turns on the microwave, then she has 100lbs of quivering dog trying to hide behind her chair or bury his head under a pillow (Little known fact: a 100lb German Shepherd CAN fit under a coffee table).

T. writes two concurrent versions of the Team Red series for both the Adult and New Adult audiences. Blind Seduction, Color Blind, and Blind Faith (release Dec 2013) are part of the Blind series - featuring adult-themed erotic romance combined with a humorous paranormal storyline. The Red series featuring Red Rover, Red Zone, and Seeing Red (Release Dec 2013) is a funny paranormal romance series with a lighter PG/New Adult type storyline. While both series contain the same character names and a lot of shared dialogue, the Red series is stripped of sexual content and language.

T feels that writing is not a calling so much as it is a compulsion. No one is more surprised than she is when characters take over the plot and dialog, and (re)direct stories in directions she had not (consciously) intended. She is fully convinced that the writer is the tool a story uses to tell its tale. 

T. has a Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Management from Whitworth University, and a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and before becoming a writer she was a bookkeeper, technical/manual writer, Call Center Manager and the owner of a freshwater aquarium store, Guppy Tales.

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