The main character is Rachel, and her life has fallen apart. She's broken up with her boyfriend of 10 years, quit her job, and lost her apartment. Her aunt has just passed away and has left her an old house as well as a dog rescue business.
Through the dog rescue, Rachel meets the other characters -- Natalie, who is married to Johnny. And Zoe, a divorced mother of two young boys. Megan is the one who keeps the dog rescue running. George is the veterinarian.
Natalie doesn't need a relationship. She and Johnny are extremely happy, but they are having difficulty conceiving a child. They do manage to fall in love with a dog from the rescue though.
Zoe's stupid ex buys a puppy for the boys, and that's how Zoe ends up at the dog rescue, which also becomes a doggie daycare.
Superficially, Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts is a typical "happy ever after book" that seems to be predictable. But,this book has a couple of other things going for it. Of course, there are the dogs, which pretty much steal the show. And, it's funny. No matter how predictable a book is, if I find myself chuckling aloud while driving to work early in the morning before I've had coffee, well -- that says something!
There are enough unexpected twists (that I don't want to talk about) to add some unpredictability too. The stories of all the characters tie together nicely at the end of Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts. The only issue I had was that I wished for more closure for Zoe's story. I didn't get enough to feel comfortable about where she was heading.
The narrator is great. She has a proper British accent, which always makes me start speaking with a fake one. Her voices for the different characters were distinct enough, although I did catch her using the wrong voice a couple of times during the dialog. No biggie. I was very happy that I chose the audio version of Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts.
Though marketed for adults, Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts is perfectly clean, and I think it would have a lot of appeal for teen girls who like contemporary romance (and dogs.)
Published by Penguin, 2011
eBook obtained from the library
448 pages
Rating: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for visiting! I LOVE comments!