Scent of Hope by Susan May Warren

Scent of Hope
by Susan May Warren

ISBN-13: 9780800746063
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: June 2, 2026

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Sheriff's daughter Harley Tatum hates injustice, as it hits particularly close to home. Her trauma-riddled past made her vow never to return to Copper Mountain, where she lost her family and was abandoned by the man she loved. But when she receives a call that the drug dealer responsible for so much of her pain is at large, she decides to return to Alaska for one final chance at justice.

The last person Jericho Bowie expected to see in Copper Mountain is the woman he abandoned years ago. When Harley needs his heroic avalanche dog, Orlando, to track down a drug lord, Jericho realizes he has a chance to redeem his mistakes. As they navigate the treacherous Alaskan mountains, tentative feelings grow yet again, but their mission quickly turns defensive as the hunted becomes the hunter.


My Review:
Scent of Hope is a Christian romantic suspense. Jericho and Harley both lost their parents when a plane flown by his father went down in bad weather. Jericho left for the military, and Harley left to become a detective. After her brother died from an overdose of drugs supplied by a family involved in distributing drugs, she's determined to stop them from harming more people. They reconnected when the sheriff asked each to join him in tracking these men down. Jericho has been running a SAR dog training school. He and his scent-tracking dog were struggling after an avalanche training session turned tragic.

Jericho and Harley cared for each other and were best friends since they were kids. Yet they had so much painful history and bad interaction patterns in their relationship that they just kept replaying the hurtful beliefs that had come to define them. They also both felt that obtaining justice and keeping the people they loved safe depended on their abilities, and they already knew that didn't always work out. They learned to trust God and gain a new heart that allowed their relationship to start anew, too.

The main characters were complex, realistic people, and I cared about what happened to them. The suspense was created by relationship tensions, bad weather, and bad guys trying to kill them. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this suspenseful novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.