Title: Dog Crazy
Author: Meg Donohue
Published: March 2015, William Morrow & Company
Format: ARC Paperback, 288 pages
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
The USA Today
bestselling author of How to Eat a Cupcake and All the Summer Girls
returns with an unforgettably poignant and funny tale of love and loss,
confronting our fears, and moving on . . . with the help of a poodle, a
mutt, and a Basset retriever named Seymour.As a pet bereavement
counselor, Maggie Brennan uses a combination of empathy, insight, and
humor to help patients cope with the anguish of losing their beloved
four-legged friends. Though she has a gift for guiding others through
difficult situations, Maggie has major troubles of her own that threaten
the success of her counseling practice and her volunteer work with a
dog rescue organization.Everything changes when a distraught
woman shows up at Maggie’s office and claims that her dog has been
stolen. Searching the streets of San Francisco for the missing pooch,
Maggie finds herself entangled in a mystery that forces her to finally
face her biggest fear-and to open her heart to new love.Packed
with deep emotion and charming surprises, Dog Crazy is a bighearted and
entertaining story that skillfully captures the bonds of love, the pain
of separation, and the power of our dogs to heal us.
My thoughts: This is the first book I’ve read by Meg Donohue and I have to say I am a new fan! Of course, it didn’t help that that the cover has those adorable chocolate and black labs on it – I happen to have two chocolate labs and am a huge dog lover. This book just called me – both the cover and the title – and I flew through the pages!
A short read, I found myself immediately immersed in Maggie’s life. While I have never experienced the loss of a pet personally, I could empathize with her as she struggles to deal with the death of her beloved dog Toby shortly after moving across the country. Much like Maggie, I don’t have kids, so my dogs are kids. While she is a pet bereavement counselor, there to help her patients deal with the loss of their own beloved pets, it turns out it’s her that needs some help overcoming her grief.
The characters in this book are just charming. I absolutely loved Anya and the friendship she forges with Maggie is just what they both need. The other characters all round out the story and of course, the dogs all play an integral part in the book, too. Seymour, Toby and Giselle all won the affections of my heart.
This is certainly a quick read, but don’t be fooled by the length. It’s jam packed with emotion. I laughed, I cried, I cheered and felt my heartstrings tugged, loving every minute of it. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time and one that will certainly be staying on my bookshelf. Perhaps it will even be a comfort read for that time when something happens to my furbabies. Either way, it’s a keeper! And I will also be running to pick up Meg Donohue’s other books, both of which I happen to have sitting on my shelf!
About the author: Meg Donohue is the author of How to Eat a Cupcake. She has an
MFA in creative writing from Columbia University and a BA in comparative
literature from Dartmouth College. Born and raised in Philadelphia, she
now lives in San Francisco with her husband, their two young daughters,
and their dog.
Authors Links:
To see who else is participating in Meg Donohue’s Dog Crazy tour, click here.
Adding it to my list!
Oh this does sound delightful. I probably would have shied away since it is not very long but you make me think it is complete!
This sounds good and like you I love the chocolate lab pups on the cover! I still get teary eyed when I think about my beloved Sheltie who died when I was 19 (I'm 34 now) so I can definitely relate to the anguish of losing a pet. I'm glad to hear you were pulled in from the beginning. Adding to my TBR!
I saw the cover of this somewhere else and thought it looked interesting. Now I know it comes recommended.
Can't wait to read this one! I love the cover! I read All The Summer Girls by the author and really liked it. Definitely recommend that one!
Thanks for being a part of the tour! I hope that you enjoy Meg's other books just as much as this one.