Title: Love at First Bark
Series: Rescue Me Book #4
Stand Alone Title: yes
Author: Debbie Burns
Genre: Romance
Blurb: Animal portrait painter Mia Chambers and architect Ben Thomas have volunteered at the High Grove Animal Shelter for years, and they share a complicated history. Ben has secretly loved Mia all this time, but she was married to his best friend. Now she’s newly widowed, with a young son, and Ben doesn’t know how to tell her what’s in his heart. All he can do is stay close, help her as much as she’ll let him, and watch for the right moment to bare his soul.
When a dozen adorable border collies get dumped in St. Louis’ biggest park, everyone at the shelter mobilizes for a large-scale rescue. Rushing to the park to round up the frisky collies, Ben and Mia unexpectedly plunge into a new phase of their entangled lives. Who knew that opening their hearts and homes—to animals in need and to each other—would lead to so many upheavals…and new beginnings…?
Thoughts: I really love books in which one of the characters has been in love with the other for years. Ben loved Mia long before she got married, long before she became a mother, and had resigned himself to loving her always even though she was married to his best friend. He doesn’t leave the circle of friendship though, staying and becoming godfather to their son. Then he has the tough task of trying to win over her battered heart. Stuff I just LOVE to read! One of my critiques though, is that I just didn’t feel the love and angst quite as much as I felt I should have. The writing was great, but I wanted it to pull me in just a little bit more, to feel what the characters are feeling.
It’s a really sweet romance…with a lot of cuteness overload! Puppies and dogs galore! Who wants to miss out on that! It’s a bit of a slow build chemistry wise for our characters, and at times it seems to drag a bit. All in all, I wanted a bit more intensity, but a great read nevertheless.
Rating: B
