REVIEW: Puppy Love for the Veterinarian by Amy Woods
A New Leash On Love
When June Leavy finds two puppies abandoned outside during a storm, she immediately feels a bond with the adorable animals. Swindled out of her life savings by her no-good ex, she, too, was left with nothing but heartache and struggles of her own. But when she arrives at the local veterinary clinic, June is met by dangerously handsome Dr. Ethan Singh, whose sexy smile threatens to disarm her hard-won emotional strength.
Back in Peach Leaf, Texas, to recover from an ugly breakup, Ethan gently tends to the puppies and their charming caretaker. But as the storm rages, so does the electric attraction between Ethan and June. Is this real, or a cruel phantom of lost love? Stranded alone at the clinic, only one thing is certain: they’ve got all night to figure it out…
Dear Ms. Woods,
Okay, I’ve publicly said I’m trying not to get suckered into reading a book just because there’s a cute dog/puppy on the cover but here – TWO puppies! Really Harlequin? That’s not fair. I’m supposed to resist double cuteness? Sigh … of course I caved.
June and Ethan are immediately presented to us as caring, dependable people. June won’t let down her older employer and leave work before everything is taken care of thus sending her right out into a west Texas blizzard. Ethan is at his father’s veterinary clinic after telling the usual night tech to stay home and this is after he agrees to cover his father’s month long vacation. They’re also nursing wounded hearts after both have been emotionally backhanded by ones they thought loved them.
Yes, it’s the abandoned young puppies which June finds and then ends up slogging through the snow drifts to get to the clinic which get them together. It’s the blizzard that keeps them that way. Okay, so June and the pups have reached safety out of the storm and the pups have been examined and fed. Well, not much else to do in this scene except have Ethan and June fall into long moments of mentally cataloging how cute the other is.
As the snow continues to pile up, happy bunnies and unicorns gambol in the vet clinic. So much so that Ethan is already thinking of how much he’d like to show June the beauties of Colorado and June is daydreaming about kisses. From the way Ethan moons about June, he must really throw himself into relationships. June’s confusion and hesitation finally register and Ethan asks if they can just enjoy what they’re feeling knowing that he’s leaving in a few weeks and her life is there. That makes sense and is totally a romance trope “no, promises, no strings attached with the reverse outcome waiting to happen.” That gets followed by the “One time sex to get them out of our systems” which of course fails spectacularly. We know we love it.
There are lots of reminders about the man who broke June’s heart and stole her money and the heartless bitch who toyed with Ethan than carelessly tossed him aside. Lest we forget this occurs about every chapter. Light mention is made of the differences they have in education and money but not much and it’s skimmed over fairly quickly. But Ethan’s family and June’s mother are wonderfully welcoming plus the puppies are bringing them together as Ethan checks on them. They’re not quite plot moppet pups but I would have enjoyed seeing more of them.
Ethan and June are so obviously attracted to each other from the get-go that the conflict of the story is each of them getting over their busted hearts. Which doesn’t take long – oh, about 2 weeks – though they do wait a year for the wedding. So googly-eyed in lurve almost from the start, two cute puppies, totally on board families and internal conflicts which are resolved into forever very soon. It’s nice and sweet but fairly bland. C+
~Jayne
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Thanks for the review. So funny. I laughed out loud a few times. I would’ve been sucked in by that cover too! I mean, I clicked on the review because-puppies. Sounds like one of those romances you want to read when you *don’t* want the angst and just want mellow and cute. This would fit the bill. I get in that non-angst reading mood occasionally, not often mind you (I adore OTT), but once in awhile.,,:)
@Michele Mills: This is a great angst-free zone romance and – puppies! Two of ’em. I was kind of hoping that June would walk down the aisle with them on leashes at the wedding but no go on that.
Hard no for me. As a veterinarian it is hard for me to cope with a book description like this that is all puppies and kittens, and not vomit, diarrhea, euthanasia and burn out from long hours and on call. Vets have 4x the suicide risk of the general population. Some of the identifiable risk factors are those mentioned above plus access to drugs. To be fair, sometimes I do get to snuggle kittens, and I meet some of the greatest people in the world as clients but for once in fiction I’d like to see even a somewhat realistic representation of the profession.
@Bronte: Well, I would never have thought this a positive but one of the puppies does puke a little due to the fact that they were probably eating garbage and are unused to the good puppy food that Ethan initially feeds them in the clinic. And he puts out puppy pads for them since it’s so cold and he doesn’t want to take them out to relieve themselves. I’d have to go back and check but there might even be a teensy bit of diarrhea as well.
I love my vets. They’re fabulous.