Dr. Tori Sampson is tired of losing patients in her emergency room to drug overdoses. When a DEA agent is brought in due to accidental exposure, Tori meets Agent Adam Decker. Deck is amazed at how well Tori handles his friend's case even with his distrust of doctors. Tori is skeptical of Deck's plan to help prevent more drug overdoses, but reluctantly agrees to help when she loses another teenage patient. Even though their relationship is contentious, Tori and Deck find common ground and an undeniable attraction as they work together more closely.

The star of Tough Justice is definitely Thor, Deck's K-9 partner. The other characters in the story lack depth, leading to very little emotional content. The plot involving a new drug on the streets in Colorado is interesting and maintains the suspense throughout, but is still fairly predictable. The insta-love relationship between the characters also lacks depth and takes a back seat to the mystery. Overall, Tough Justice has enough story to make it a decent romantic suspense, but adds nothing new to the genre. ( )

This book is out of the normal genres that I read but I'm sure happy that I gave it a chance. This was one 'unputdownable' book. I was only going to read a few chapters and spent the rest of the day reading it.
It's a book full of suspense, romance, drug manufacture and overdoses, friendship and good looking heroic sexy men.

As the book opens, Tori - a doctor in the ER and Deck - a DEA K-9 agent meet in the emergency room. Deck has rushed his partner in after he almost died from being exposed to a new lethal drug during a search warrant. The new drug called Grey Death is the deadliest drug being sold in Denver and there have been numerous ODs since it showed up on the streets. The first impression that Tori and Deck have of each other is very negative. They both have secrets in their past - she doesn't trust DEA and he doesn't trust doctors. When they agree to work together to find the maker of grey death, there's still a lot of animosity between them. Gradually as they become impressed with the dedication that each of them show to their investigation, sparks begin to fly between the two of them. It looks like those sparks aren't going to lead to romance because they can't get over their distrust of each other or get rid of their own personal baggage. After a treacherous drug bust that Deck takes her to, they began to admire each other's dedication. Will they get beyond their secrets or will their pasts and current profession keep them apart?

Both of these main characters were well written. Tori leads a solitary life but is totally dedicated to her work in the ER. Once she meets Deck, she decides to start living outside the box that she's built around herself. Deck is totally dedicated to his work to get drugs off the street and stop the overdoses and deaths from this current killer drug. Along with the two main characters, there is a great character who is also brave and fearless. Deck's DEA job is with K-9 partners. His dog Thor is well trained and saved Deck's life several times during the book. Thor is also a service dog who understands when to give comfort to a person in need and is an important part of the story.

The author has written a thrilling, fast paced suspense novel that is full of twists turns and a lot of scary moments. It was well researched and I just read that she has been a federal agent for over 20 years so she not only writes suspense but also lives it. She is a new author for me and this is the first book of a new series. I am definitely looking forward to future books in this series. ( )

Tough Justice by Tee O’Fallon
K-9 Special Ops #1

Great introduction to a new series – Enjoyed meeting the team and finding out how Tori & Deck get together.

What I liked:
* Adam “Deck” Decker: DEA K-9 officer, leader, team player, has issues with doctors that are brought out in the story, interesting backstory that explains why he is a DEA agent, hates Opioids
* Victoria “Tori” Sampson: Emergency Room Physician, intelligent, guarded, has issues with the DEA that are explored in this story, guarded, dealing with too many opioid overdose deaths in the ER
* Thor: K-9 partner to Deck, affectionate, protective, has canine skills not all dogs acquire
* Getting to meet some of the DEA K-9 team that will show up in future books
* That the topic is relevant
* The mystery of who the drug lord selling gray death is
* Finding out who the drug lord was – though I had an inkling
* Meeting Tori’s sister and father
* The discussion Tori’s father had with Deck when they had a family meal together
* The police procedural and medical aspects of the story
* Contemplating how likely it would be for a civilian physician to be taken along on some of the activities mentioned in this book
* Reading an author’s work that I have enjoyed books by before

What I didn’t like:
* Exactly who and what I was meant not to like – it was easy to hate the bad guys!
* Knowing that the drug crisis exists and that OD’s occur all too often

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled Press, and Inkslinger PR for the ARC – This is my honest review

4-5 Stars ( )

An action-packed and tense thriller. This is a quick read. The plot moves along at a speedy pace. The world-building is done very well. We instantly get a connection to Deck, the DEA agent whose sister died from an overdose at sixteen. Dr Tori's family has had a bad relationship with the DEA ever since her dad went to prison for six months for violating laws to do with his pharmacy practice even though it was for altruistic reasons. Both protagonists meet in the opening scene where Dr Tori is tasked with saving an agent's life.
There is a good mix of action and drama at crime scenes and it highlights some of the dangers that officers and the K-9 units face. I would say that the author planted too many clues as to who the drug lord was and I had it figured out a quarter way through the book.
The romance was a nice secondary story. The two didn't like each other on sight so it was interesting to watch them mellow towards one another.
A great start to the series.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy provided by the publisher. ( )