Review: It's a Dogs Life by Dale Mayer

Title: It's a Dog's Life
Author: Dale Mayer
Source: Self-Purchased
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella
Release Date: October 24, 2011
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 4
Sexual - 1

It's the first day of Ninna's job in the local animal shelter...and a dog is talking to her.
Not just any dog...a fat, old, smart-alecky Basset Hound who says his name is Mosey.

She can't quit, she needs this job. And then there's the yummy vet who turns out to live across the street from her. He has a house big enough to hold a few animals - including the mouthy Mosey. With all this going on, she doesn't have time to worry about the rash of break-ins and the sense of being watched. She's too busy worrying that she's nuts.

When Ninna agrees to dog sit for the cute vet from work, she sees it as a trial at being a pet owner and a way to build on her budding relationship with the vet. For Mosey, this weekend means time to get to know each other.

For the stalker who's tracking Ninna's movements, it means...opportunity.

 I am a big fan of Dale Mayer's Psychic Visions series, and while this one is definitely something different, her amazing writing style still brings the story to life.  Ninna is a big of a mess.  She's an unusual one that has had a problem with hearing things.  When she starts her new job at the animal clinic she thinks this is going to be a fresh start - until the voices begin again.

This is an incredibly sweet romance.  Ninna and Stuart are brought together by a very unusual force - a Basset Hound named Mosey.  He's a rather particular creature that is quite excited to find out that Ninna can hear him and communicate with him.  He sets off to give her life advice and try to convince her she isn't really crazy.  In fact, when a stalker comes calling, he and his friends are an important part in saving the day - in a very humorous fashion.

The addition of the stalker adds a nice little dash of danger to the story and keeps it from being overly sweet.  Mosey and the other animals add a nice dose of humor and fun as well.  This book was so much fun to read.  The only downside was that I wanted it to keep going!

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Review: Groomed for Murder (Going to the Dogs #2) by Zoe Dawson

Title: Groomed for Murder (Going to the Dogs #2)
Author: Zoe Dawson
Source:Self-Purchased
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Pets
Length: Novella
Release Date: December 28, 2012
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 2
Sexual - 2

Can a dog have a bad hair day?

Brooke Palmer owns Pawlish, an exclusive doggie spa and grooming business in upper Manhattan, but when a client’s champion poodle gets a bad poodle cut and has to undergo therapy to recover, the client sues. The lawyer they send is drop dead gorgeous, but Brooke won't be wooed by a corporate shark in a sharp suit.

Corporate lawyer Drew Hudson has better things to do then take on this ridiculous lawsuit, but since he works for the client’s husband, he has no choice. After meeting the beautiful, sweet-tempered owner, he can’t keep his mind on the silly case. But when the client turns up dog gone dead, Brooke may be a conflict of interest when she’s charged with the murder. All Drew wants to do is prove that this sexy entrepreneur is not dangerous, except to his heart.

This book was a bit of a disappointment for me.  I had a difficult time believing a person like Brooke could exist.  She was one of those overly perfect characters that's just far too good to be true.  Drew was much more believable, and I actually enjoyed his part of the story.  The torn feeling he had between following his work or following his heart and inner moral compass.

Brooke's client that ends up suing her was quite a hoot - until she ends up dead.  Now this event takes awhile to happen so we get to see a few very memorable scenes with the snooty woman that had me chuckling.  I wish there had been more about this whole part of the story.  There seemed to be no real investigation or reason to think Brooke did it - it was just handy to have that happen for the story.

I would have liked to see Roscoe, the bulldog, more involved as well.  When I see a book that invovles pets, I expect them to have more of a role than just the pet that happens to be in a lot of scenes.

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Review: The Girl With the Cat Tattoo (Cool Cats #1) by Theresa Weir

Title: The Girl With the Cat Tattoo (Cool Cats #1)
Author: Theresa Weir
Source: Self-Purchased
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Pets
Length: Novella
Release Date: May 29, 2012
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 5
Sexual - 1

For cat lovers everywhere, this sweet, quirky, and delightful romance is about a
young woman and her matchmaking cat. A little bit of mystery, a whole lot of whimsy.

When a matchmaking cat takes it upon himself to find his young mistress a new mate, he accidentally stirs up memories better left forgotten.

Melody’s husband was murdered by what seemed a random act of violence. Two years later, the killer hasn’t been caught, and Melody is coping in unhealthy ways. During the day she’s a mild-mannered children’s librarian, but at night she’s a party girl, hanging out in bars, drinking with new friends, and often bringing home strange men. Although acquaintances have tried to keep in touch, Melody has cut herself off from most of the people in her old life. Max, her eccentric cat, doesn’t approve of her new friends, he’s tired of the parade of losers, and he finally takes it upon himself to find Melody a new man.

I feel in love with Max after the first line:

"Max had been a cat as long as he could remember, but he was pretty sure he'd been a rock star in one of his previous lives."

That just about sums up Max's personality.  He is an amazing character, and half the book is told from his perspective.  The only thing he loved more than himself was Melody, and he figured she needed a man and he was the perfect person (errr cat) to help her find one.  So off he goes and has quite an adventure, bringing it home to share with Melody.

Melody is a very quirky and unusual person.  She's a children's librarian and is often caught out whilst dressed in costume for that day's story time.  Max is the current love of her life and when he goes off for his wander she gets very upset and worried.  It was awesome to watch the two of them related to each other and at times lovingly completely misunderstand each other as well.

There is more than just a fun cat and a quirky girl in this or it wouldn't be much of a romance.  The romance brings with it just a touch of drama and secrecy that comes very close to ruining the whole thing, but somehow Max jumps in a saves the day again.

As a novella you could fly through this book in one sitting, and I recommend doing it that way because you won't want to put it down.  While Max is definitely the life of the party here, the romance is also beautiful.

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