Kayla was sixteen when her parents were murdered. Her older brother fled from the scene of the crime and was considered the prime suspect. Kayla believes him to be innocent and has been searching for him for ten years now and trying to prove his innocence. She receives an occasional letter in the mail from him, but there is never any indication of where he could be. Her relationship with the love of her life, Dane, has suffered immensely from her ten year obsession with trying to find her brother, who obviously doesn’t want to be found. Dane is tired of coming in second place with Kayla, and he puts an end to their relationship.

Despondent and alone, one day while Kayla is at the post office, she sees a strange dog that seems to be beckoning her to follow him. She follows the dog, Cutter, who happens to lead her to Quinn and Hayley who are part of the Foxworth Foundation. The Foxworth Foundation specializes in “lost cause” cases, and they, along with Cutter the dog, persuade Kayla to let them take on her case of finding her brother and finding her parents’ murderer. Dane is also persuaded to give this a try in the hopes that the Foxworth Foundation (which has a great success rate in their cases) will finally be able to put an end to Kayla’s obsession and save their relationship.

This is book #2 in the Cutter’s Code series. (Book #1 featured Quinn and Hayley’s story and introduced the mysterious dog, Cutter.) I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I loved reading about more adventures with Cutter. Cutter is different than most dogs; he is very perceptive, knows things and can pick up on things that others can’t, and seems to have almost magical qualities about him. He mystifies everyone that meets him. I absolutely loved him. Kayla and Dane were very likable characters who were obviously meant to be together. And it was great to have Quinn and Hayley play big roles in this book, as well. A truly wonderful read. ( )

Mmm. Not terrible, but not great - Cutter is magic, of course. The Foxworth Foundation lends a hand, rather to the bewilderment of the recipients. Kayla is rather too obsessed - well, that's the point of the story, that's the obstacle to her love with Dane. And Dane has been patient long enough - though he keeps coming back, giving her just one more chance. The solution to the mystery was rather sordid - I knew it was the one no one expected, but the whole story is ugly. I didn't really connect with anyone here - Quinn and Hayley are a bit distant, as secondary characters, Kayla and Dane are too obsessed (with their respective foci) to be really interesting. Not a favorite, though I'll keep an eye out for more Cutter stories. ( )

This is second Cutter's code book. Cutter steals the story again. This is the third Cutter's Code story that I have read. It's my least favorite story of the three. It is still a good story but not as good as the other two. I just did not connect with Kayla and the others. Also had some love scenes that I skipped over.

Kayla when she was sixteen her parents were robbed and murdered in their own home. The police think her brother did it. She has spent the past 10 years looking for her brother after he took off after the murder. She gets postcards every once in awhile saying he was okay and was innocent. She has also been in love with Dane for that long of time.

Dane lived next door to Kayla since she moved in when she was 14. They were both smart and became good friends. After her parents were killed they even got closer. They were almost always living together. He just broke off their relationship. He could not handle being second to her brother anymore. She always chooses Chad over him. He still loves her though.

Cutter brings her to Quinn at the post office after she received another post card. Hayley and Quinn tell her that they can help what ever the problem is. They promise to help her find her brother, but warn her she might not like what they find about her parents murders.

Dane is afraid they might be after her money to look for chad. He checks them out and tells Hayley that he will be there for one more try if she will give up after this and try and work better to be their for each other. Dane does not like Hayley's brother and now he thinks he did kill them.

Lots of emotional problems between Hayley and Dane. Some suspense, lots of drama. Cutter steals the show again. (he is a dog who is smart, and knows who needs his help.)

I bought this on amazon because I really liked the two other Cutter's code books that I have read. I will look for more Cutter Code's books in the future.
Publisher: Harlequin (February 19, 2013) 288 pages ( )

Cutter, the dog from Operation Midnight, is back. Now he has brought a new person needing help to the Foxworth Foundation. Kayla's parents were murdered ten years ago, and her older brother was suspected of doing it. He ran rather than sticking around, but periodically sends Kayla a note saying he didn't do it. She has spent those ten years trying to find him and prove him innocent. For all of those ten years she has been supported by the man she's loved since she was sixteen even though he thinks she's wrong. When he has enough of coming in second to her search he breaks things off.

I loved both Kayla and Dane. Kayla has always loved her brother, but has had a blind spot regarding his character. She could never see when he was being manipulative. Meanwhile Dane had a very good idea of what Chad was capable of. Kayla was so obsessed with her search for Chad that she took Dane and his love for granted. At the start of the book Dane had already pulled the plug on their relationship and Kayla was dealing with those feelings of loss. I loved the way that Cutter brought her together with Quinn and Hayley and how their involvement gave Kayla the hope she needed. Even though they aren't together anymore Kayla still loves Dane and nothing is going to change that. She also begins to realize how unfair she has been to Dane and that perhaps she has really lost him for good. It is especially hard for her when he stays around to help protect her but she sees that he has buried his emotions to the point of being impersonal with her. There were several places where her pain brought me to tears. The love she and Dane had was so strong that neither could really let go.

Dane was so patient that it wasn't surprising he had lasted this long. But even his love was having a hard time dealing with Kayla's obsession. Dane knew very well what Chad was like but could never make Kayla see it. Even though he had broken off his relationship with her, he couldn't stop looking out for her. I loved the way he researched the Foxworth Foundation when he found out they were going to help Kayla. He also couldn't stop himself from getting involved in her protection even though his brain told him to walk away. I really felt bad for him with the way he had loved her for so long but still felt like it wasn't enough.

The romance between Kayla and Dane was long standing but in trouble because of her brother. While the passion between them was evident, it was the emotional torture that was the main part of the story between them. As a romance, you know there will be a happy ending, but the journey there was not an easy one. As good as that aspect of the story was, the dog absolutely stole the show. I loved the way everyone would wonder whether he was more than just a dog. The were some really fun places when Cutter would definitely make his preferences known and the people involved would go along with him. I also loved how he seemed to know who needed him most.

The suspense part of the story was also good. It moved along at a good pace. The mental parts were great and the action gave enough danger to keep the heart rate up. The resolution was well done. I had started to suspect the truth by that time and was glad to see the way it worked out. ( )