Barbara L. (Barbllm) reviewed on 6/13/2013 + 241 more book reviews

Would you believe a dog can play matchmaker? You might after reading this lovely romance from Lyn Cote. The story starts out with a fundraiser for an animal shelter in a small town in Wisconsin, just outside of Milwaukee.

Dr. Jake McClure is behind the fundraiser and his basset hound, Bummer, takes to two orphaned kittens who are adopted by Mimi and Cindy, the twin nieces of Jeannie Broussard, a single mother working nights as a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home.

The fact that Bummer refuses to be parted for any length of time from the kittens or the twins is played for laughs, and it gets Jake and Jeannie talking about their respective lives. Jeannie finds herself working for Jake soon enough as his office manager when his previous manager goes on maternity leave.

Theres surprising depth to these characters: Jake is a decent, hardworking vet who wants to run a no-kill shelter; Jeannie is a softhearted single mother who puts her girls first; Dan, Jakes abrasive surgeon father, comes for a visit and reveals that hes got a heart problem. Even Brooke Hyde, set up at first as Jeannies rival for Jake, is a divorcee who simply wants to have friends. Brooke remarks at one point that her husband got custody of our friends and many divorced people will relate to that. I related to her on many different levels.

I loved this story. The supporting characters, notably Mike and Ginny, townsfolk who like each other as much as they like Jake and Jeannie, are terrific and real. Mike won my heart with his sense of humor and his honesty in dealing with both Jake and Dan. Highly recommended.

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