Where the Dogs Go

Calling all dog lovers!

I have been so lucky with my dog that I haven't had to experience one of my beloved pets crossing the rainbow bridge, but that is what this book is about.

I was nervous to start this book because it's written through a dogs point of view, because the last one I read (Downward Dog) didn't capture a dogs voice the way I wanted it to. But this one did! Lucky, who we soon learn to love as Monk, is thrown into this world by his birth momma with one other brother. But for some reason, only Lucky has to go away to be adopted. He is fearful to be on his own so soon; he wanted to stay with his mom and brother, not sit in a cage with taunting pug Walter and wait to be adopted.

But that's how he met her.

His Luv.

His one true human love.

He had never experienced love the way he got to with Beth. She picked him out, took him home, and gave him a life that he wasn't ready to give up. He got to stay through happiness, sadness, relationships, and babies. He had the life every dog dreams of having..

 Until one day, he realized he needed to sleep cuddled up to his Luv. He needed to be near her, but he wasn't sure why.

That night, he had a very vivid dream where his birth momma was in Luv's house telling him to come along, he had something new to experience...Eternity.

Eternity was great! He got to become a part of the Group of Six, pups who lived together and worked to make a life for themselves in Eternity. Thanks to Monk, the little group of six become rather famous. He had finally found another home, a home without his Luv. But he thought of her every day, painted pictures of her, told everyone about her, but still cried himself to sleep because he would never see his Luv again.

 Now that he was situated in his new life, his dear friend Mollie went missing.

He couldn't imagine she would leave without saying goodbye....

But soon he knew, that wasn't the case.

Can't say much more without ruining the book but it is fantastic!

If you love dogs and worry about life without them, this book is definitely the book for you.

It pulls together love and loss.

It makes you realize that the universe has a plan.

You just have to trust it.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Dog Ear Publishing for sending me an advanced copy!

Scrappy Little Nobody

I LOVE THIS BOOK.

Anna Kendrick may be most relatable celebrity in the world.

She knows how to be confident, how to be herself, how to poke fun at herself.

But most importantly, she knows how to throw a solo party in her sweatpants with netflix and take out. I mean really, what could get more relatable than that? 

Obviously, we should be friends. 

So Anna, if you stumble upon this, holla at me!

 

Really, this book was fantastic.

There were adventures, life lessons, and pictures.

I found myself laughing out loud, in public, more often than not while I was reading this.

All of her stories were perfectly placed and described so well it was almost like I was on set with her throughout the whole thing.

 

She found herself in sticky situations, especially in her 20s.

But lets be real, we've all been there and we're glad it's over 

(even if I'm only 22 I'm ready for this to end). 

My point is, Anna Kendrick is probably one of my favorite celebs and reading her book just made me realize it even more. I mean, she was on Broadway at age 12 for crying out loud! Who wouldn't want to know her?! Not to mention avoiding people is one of my favorite activities and cynicism is almost second nature (again, Anna, lets be friends).

 

So go get this book!

The Book of (Holiday) Awesome

Holidays got you down?

Need a pick-me-up?

Grab the Book of (Holiday) Awesome and flip to whatever holiday has gotten you frazzled.

I read The Book of Awesome and The Book of (Even More) Awesome many years ago, but just now got my hands on a copy of this one and I LOVE IT.

The Book of (Holiday) Awesome includes:

Post Thanksgiving naps

Real bearded Santas

Drinking with Grandma

  Halloween candy trading

It hits on all the important traditions and all the holidays you love.

It really is a pick-me-up to remember the greatest part of the holidays.

Maybe it's spending time with family or chilling by yourself, I promise you'll relate to something in this book and that will be

AWESOME!

Looking for other awesome books?

The Book of Awesome

The Book of (Even More) Awesome

Our Book of Awesome

The Dog Lover Unit

Love dogs?

Support the police?

Combine the two and you get The Dog Lover Unit.

This book was so good!

The Dog Lover Unit revolves around our K9 Police Force.

Rachel Rose traveled around the world for five years to learn about police dogs and the units they are apart of. She got up close and personal with these dogs; I'm talking she put on the bite suits and let them attack her, just to know exactly how it feels to be on the opposing side.

She learned about the officer/dog relationship and how intense their training was. She spent time getting to know these officers and their dogs and saw the grueling days they spent training. 

Most police K9's begin their training as puppies. They going through training courses with their handlers and are evaluated on how tough they are. By the time these dogs get matched to their officers, they are ready to hit the ground running, whether it be tracking a suspect, sniffing for drugs, or even searching for bombs, they are ready.

The police dog handlers have to trust and understand their dog because their dog is more or less their partner. They have to be willing to understand the risks that come with tracking a suspect with their dog. They have to understand that sometimes their dogs get hurt. Sometimes their dog is wrong (very rarely), but it happens. But not surprisingly, these officers are willing to lay their lives on the time to protect their dog, their partner, their child. 

Many of these officers go through months of training to join a K9 force and be matched with a pup. Many of those officers only serve with one dog and then move on to a different force. The bond between dog and officer is so strong, honestly it may be stronger than a regular pup/parent relationship. 

I also found myself incredibly happy to hear that some of the police forces are beginning to steer away from police dog breeds and instead have began adopting end of the line dogs that are on the verge of euthanasia. They have began adopting these dogs and training them to do the impossible. It was so heartwarming to see the success stories of these neglected and forgotten pups.

I want to send a huge thank you to NetGalley for sending me a copy of The Dog Lover Unit!

Looking for other books on service dogs?
Try:
Have Dog, Will Travel

Book Blast! A Mother's Lie

Thanks to PICT Book Tours for another exclusive first look into A Mother's Lie by Jo Crow!

Chapter One

Dense red clay was pushing between the teeth. Pond mist drifted across the manicured lawns, wisping through the dark eye sockets. Parts of the cranium were shaded a vile yellow-brown where the decomposing leaves clung to its surface like bile expressed from a liver. The jawbone was separated from the skull, its curved row of teeth pointing skyward to greet the rising sun.

Two feet away, closer to the oak tree, other bones were piled haphazardly: a pelvis, high iliac crests and subpubic angle. A femur, caked with dirt, jammed into his empty skull. Sunlight decorated the brittle bones in long, lazy strips and darkened hairline fractures till they blended with the shed behind them.

It was peaceful here, mostly. The pond no longer bubbled, its aerator decayed by time; weed-clogged flowerbeds no longer bloomed- hands that once worked the land long ago dismissed. For blanketed the area, as if drawn by silence. Once, a started shriek woke the morning doves and set them all into flight.

It was the first time in ten years the mammoth magnificence of the Blue Ridge Mountains had scrutinized these bones; the first song in a decade that morning doves chorused to them from their high perch.

A clatter split apart the dawn; the skull toppled over as it was struck with another bone.

In a clearing, tucked safely behind the McNair estate, someone was whistling as they worked at the earth. The notes were disjointed and haphazard, like they were an afterthought. The pierced the stillness and, overhead, one of the morning doves spooked and took flight, rusling leaves as it rose through the mist.

A shovel struck the wet ground, digging up clay and mulch, tossing it onto the growing mound to their left. The whistling stopped, mid note, and a contemplative hum to its place.

Light glinted on the silvery band in the exposed clay- the digger pocketed it- the shovel struck the ground again, this time, it clinked as it hit something solid. 

Bone.

A hand dusted off decayed vegetative matter and wrested the bone from its tomb. Launching it into the air, it flew in a smooth arc, and crashed into the skull like a bowling pin, scattering the remains across the grass. With a grunt of satisfaction, the digger rose and started to refill the hole from the clay mound.

When it was filled and smoothed, and the sod was replaced over the disrupted ground, the digger lifted a shovel and strolled into the woods, one hand tucked in a pocket as they whistled a cheery tune lost to the morning fog.

***

For two days the bones rested on the grass by the shed, until they were placed carefully into forensic evidence bags in a flurry of urgent activity: flashing police cameras, and gawking, small-town rookie officers who'd never seen their like before.

***

Silence blanketed the McNair estate once more, and the looking, distant mountains stood watch over a town that had seen too little so long ago, and now knew too much.

I also have chapter two of A Mother's Lie if anyone would like to read it, shoot me a message and I'll send it your way!

Exclusive! The Body in the Casket

So, I've teamed up with PICT Book Tours to provide excerpts and other book news to all of you!

Here's is an exclusive first look of The Body in the Casket by Katherine Hall Page!

Chapter One

"Have Faith in Your Kitchen," Faith Fairchild said, answering the phone at her catering firm. She'd been busy piping choux pastry for eclairs onto a baking sheet.

"Mrs. Fairchild?"

"Yes? This is Faith Fairchild. How may I help you?"

"Please hold for Max Dane." The voice had a plummy, slightly British tone, reminiscent of Jeeves, or Downtown Abbey's Carson. The only Max Dane Faith had heard of had been a fampous Broadway musical producer, but she was pretty sure he'd died years ago. This must be another Max Dane.

She was put through quickly and a new voice said, "Hi. I know this is short notice, but I am very much hoping you are available to handle a house party I'm throwing for about a dozen guests at the end of the month. A Friday to Sunday. Not just dinner, but all the meals."

Faith had never catered anything like this. A Friday to Sunday sounded like something out of a ritish pre- World War II country house novel- kippers for breakfast, Fortnum & Mason type hampers for the shoot, tea and scones, drinks and nibbles, then saddle of lamb or some other large haunch of meat for dinner with vintage clarets followed by port and Stilton- for the men only. She was intrigued. 

"The first thing I need to know is where you live, Mr. Dane. Also, is this a firm date? We've had a mild winter so far, but January may still deliver a wallop like last year."

A Manhattan native, Faith's marriage more than 20 years ago to the Reverend Thomas Fairchild meant a radical change of address- from the Big Apple to the orchards of Aleford, a small suburb west of Boston. Faith had never become used to boiled dinners, First Parish's rock hard pews and most of all, New England weather. By the end of the previous February there has been 75 inches of snow on the ground and you couldn't see through the historic parsonage's ground floor windows or open the front door. Teenage son Ben struggled valiantly to keep the back door clear, daily hewing the path to the garage. the resulting tunnel resembled a clip from Nanook of the North. 

"I'm afraid the date is firm. The thirtieth is my birthday. A milestone one, my seventieth." Unlike his butler or whoever had called Faith to the phone, Max Dane's voice indicted he'd started life in one of the five boroughs. Faith was guessing the Bronx. He sounded a bit sheepish when he said "my birthday," as if throwing a party for himself was out of character. "And I live in Havencrest. It's not far from Aleford, but I'd want you to be available at the house the whole time. Live in."

Leaving her family for three days was not something Faith did often, especially since Sunday was a workday for Tom and all too occasionally Saturday was as he "polished" his sermon. (His term, which she had noticed over the years, could mean writing the whole thing.)

Ben and Amy, two years younger, seemed old enough to be on their own, but Faith had found contrary to expectations, kids needed parents around more in adolescence than when they were toddlers. Every day brought the equivalent of scraped knees and they weren't the kind of hurts that could be soothed by Pat The Bunny and a chocolate chip cookie. She needed more time to think about taking the job. "I'm not sure I can leave my family..." was interrupted. "I quite understand that this would be difficult," Dane said and then he named a figure so far above anything she had ever been offered that she actually covered her mouth to keep from gasping out loud.

"Look," he continued. "Why don't you come by and we'll talk in person? You can see the place and decide then. I don't use it myself but the kitchen is well equipped- the rest of the house too. I'll email directions and you can shoot me some times that work. This week if possible. I want to send out the invited right away."

Well, it wouldn't hurt to talk, Faith thought. And she did like seeing other people's houses. She agreed, but before she hung up curiosity won out and she asked, "Are you related to the Max Dane who produced all those wonderful Broadway musicals?"

"Very closely. As in one and the same. See you soon."

Faith put the phone down and turned to Pix Miller, her closest friend and part-time Have Faith employee.

"That was someone wanting Have Faith to cater a weekend long birthday celebration- for an astonishing amount of money." She named the figure in a breathless whisper.

I have a few more pages of the first chapter if anyone would like to read them please just shoot me a comment and I'll send it your way. :)