I’m a sucker for a light novel. In this house, we read constantly. It’s our after-work habit to take our books and herd out to the patio and read until the light fades (ugh – it’s becoming earlier and earlier). Even Newt joins us on her harness.
In between “work-ish” reading, I love to devour a quick page turner. And The Dog Park by Laura Caldwell totally fit the bill!
The novel features recently-divorced Jessica and Sebastian, who have agreed on joint custody of their goldendoodle, Baxter. Settling in to a prickly normalcy, things get crazy for the two when Baxter is captured on camera rescuing a child and the video goes viral.
According to her rep, “Laura is an award-winning author and the proud parent of goldendoodle, Shafer, who changed not only her life, but her career. When her publisher encouraged her to write about what she was truly passionate about, the answer was clear, and THE DOG PARK was born.”
Interestingly, the author’s story parallels her character Jessica’s. As she deals with the media fallout of Baxter’s viral video, she starts to pursue a new direction in her career through a Baxter-inspired passion project. Though Baxter is the spark for the story, the plot follows Jessica’s trajectory: trying to figure out a new normal post-divorce, building her business, and reconciling her past to her future.
It’s a really cute book that you can easily knock out in a weekend! And, thanks to the generosity of Laura Caldwell’s publisher, one of YOU will win a copy of the novel!
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I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to review this darling novel AND to be able to give a copy away to one of you!
Happy reading, everyone!
Kathy says
09•05•14 at 10:46 amWish I could find a publishers like Laura’s!!
deb long says
09•05•14 at 11:17 amWE love to read at our house also, mom reads all the time. she really enjoys books with dogs in it.
stella rose
Heather says
09•05•14 at 11:18 amI love a good novel or memoir about dogs!!!!
Tenacious Little Terrier says
09•05•14 at 1:00 pmI recently read What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs which is about training a search and rescue dog which I enjoyed.
slimdoggy says
09•05•14 at 3:49 pmSounds like a good summer read…or ‘just after summer’ read. Thanks.
Linda romer says
09•05•14 at 9:26 pmRight now I am reading Stones Data by Jacob Whaler.
Kathy says
09•05•14 at 10:14 pmCurrently reading Desperate by Daniel Palmer. Was a present from a friend 🙂
Sofia says
09•06•14 at 5:32 amMy household has inherited my mom-in-laws books, her collection is quite interesting, historical fiction, some very technical war books, anything on England and the royal family and some very trashy novels, none of which really interest me or fall into light reading. My daughter has started reading a book from her grandmas collection, An Irish Country Doctor, my m.i.l love that series, my son has started reading The Monuments Men, she loved that one too. When going through her books I saw a few history books that interested me but I’m not in the mood for a heavy book and I don’t want a main character to die so as long as no fictional animals were killed in the writing of this book, I might have to pick it up.
Jodi says
09•06•14 at 7:12 amThe book I’m working on currently has a dog in it (of course!) I’d love to see how someone else incorporates the dog, I want my book to be a lot about dog!
What am I reading? Well I currently starting book five of the Harry Potter series, these are my ‘go to’ books. I read just before going to sleep and since I already know what’s going to happen, there’s no chance of me getting too keyed up to sleep. I also have “Sea of Greed” going and am using it as a reference book for the book I’m writing.
Jose A. Yates says
09•06•14 at 1:33 pmnot bad to try this out, thanks for sharing 😀
Erin says
09•06•14 at 10:38 pmI’m in the middle of Developing Handling Skills for Awesome Agility Teams
Erik says
09•06•14 at 11:55 pmI’ve had “The Wisdom of Psychopaths,” and “Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction,” in my reading queue for months but somehow always find lighter floating to the top.
Jan K says
09•07•14 at 8:23 amThis sounds like such a great book! Unfortunately, I’m behind on my reading and already have a couple books waiting, so I won’t enter for this one. But I will add it to my reading list….I hope for more reading time in the winter.
Ruth Cox says
09•08•14 at 8:53 amRight now I am in the middle of reading (for pleasure) Cornelius the Orphan by Douglas Quinn, a historical novel. And as a reviewer of children’s books, I am reading another book by Quinn, The Pink Lady, 3rd in his Summer McPhee of Ocracoke Island adventure series.
Becky says
09•08•14 at 4:56 pmI’ve been reading Julie Kramer’s mystery series about Riley Spartz, a TV reporter, because there is always a dog (or two) in them. Lots of fun.
Lindsay says
09•09•14 at 1:41 pmI’m re-reading A Dog Year by Jon Katz right now. I would love to win a copy of this book! Thanks for the opportunity.
Kaitlin says
09•11•14 at 3:07 pm2 of my favorites – books and dogs – would love to win! And it’s a dog named Baxter like one of mine. Thanks!!
KimT says
09•11•14 at 3:38 pmRight now I’m reading The Bachelor Farmers, by Brenda Sorrels, a book I’ve had sitting on the side waiting to be read. You’re absolutely right, this is the perfect time of year for curling up with a good book! (And one about dogs makes it even better!!)