Follow-up Friday: a Winner, a Coonhound, a Book

I'm happy to be joining Heart Like a Dog in the follow-up Friday blog hop this week.  This is the blog hop that lets you wrap up your week and leads you right into the weekend.  Hosted by FUF creator, Jodi at Heart Like a Dog and co-hosted this week by Linda at 2 Brown Dawgs.

We have a winner in Rudy's Birthday Giveaway.  Congratulations to Ann C!  Her dog, Lady, will soon be enjoying a Jolly ball.

Rudy and Rosie are sure Lacy will love her Jolly ball!

Adopt Tally, a Coonhound Dog in Virginia
This gorgeous one year old black and tan girl is still looking for her forever home.   Tally is available for adoption from ABTC Rescue.

Ledfoots Pet Bakery Dog Treats Product Review
Sugar, we hope you do visit Ledfoots Pet Bakery!  They offer doggie cakes at their store that are not available to be shipped.  Jessica, the Halloween shapes may not have impressed the dogs, but I thought they were so cute!  Jeffie is positive Rita would enjoy these, Jackie.

Adopt a Shelter Dog - Blog the Change 
I usually choose cruelty related issues for Blog the Change, but decided to go with something a bit more upbeat.  I'm glad I did.  There were so many wonderful comments on my posts, especially from those who share the stories of their own dogs.  One comment really stood out for me and I wished there was some kind of way to "like" it or "plus" it or something, so I'm going to quote it here.  From Kim Clune:

Being part of a rescue that saves sickly breeder dogs from mills while knowing full well that people buying pet store puppies is what fuels this industry, I don't know how people don't consider adoption. It's a beautiful, beautiful act to save the life of the dog you take home, to not fuel the bad breeder industry, and to make space for the next baby in need of help at the shelter or rescue.

Thanks for sharing such a beautiful example of how good it feels to do the right thing! Thanks for blogging the change!

This is also a good reminder to me to go back and finish reading all the terrific blog posts.

National Feral Cat Day - Wordless Wednesday 
Thanks for all the comments, everyone!  Skeeter wants me to tell you to be sure and check out Dog Song Saturday this week.  You'll love the lyrics to The Feral Cat Song!

Rescue Me, Maybe by Jackie Bouchard - Book Review 
When I joined the modern world and purchased a new Kindle a few weeks ago, Jackie's books were my first purchases.  Thoroughly enjoyed both of them.  If you haven't read them, I highly recommend you indulge yourself!

Rescue Me, Maybe sent me on many a head trip, including remembering my own sweet tripawd, Bennie.  There's blog post fodder there...
 

My tripawd Bennie

We're enjoying the crisp, cool fall weather here and the leaves have begun to turn.  Looking forward to getting out and enjoying autumn with the pups this weekend.

Rescue Me Maybe by Jackie Bouchard | Book Review

Book Cover ©Jackie Bouchard   

 When I purchased Rescue Me, Maybe by Jackie Bouchard, I had no clue the book would provide such a sucker punch to me personally.  I thought I was in for a sweet, humorous read.  I got that - plus much more.

In the past 18 months, I've lost 3 dogs.  I've provided care for my mother and lost her, as well.  My husband is now coping with serious illness that impacts every piece of our lives, except, perhaps, the love of our dogs.  

Rescue Me, Maybe by Jackie Bouchard, is a story about loss and new beginnings. In a strange way, it was as though Bouchard took my own recent life events, gently stirred once and told the story. 

Reading Jane's encounter with her in-laws over her husband's ashes felt surreal.  I had an encounter with my mother's brother that was so similar, it felt eeirie.

Rescue Me, Maybe made me laugh.  It made me cry.  And it left me feeling well satisfied, hopeful, and trying to live life more like my own dogs.

All the best book authors are doing book trailers these days!



"Rescue Me Maybe" Book Trailer from Jackie Bouchard on Vimeo.

Here's a little more about the plot straight from the author:

If you lost both your spouse and your dog to cancer within weeks of each other, but you were sadder about the dog, would you tell anyone?

Maybe your closest friends. Unfortunately, Jane Bailey's closest friends are on the other side of the country. That's where Jane plans to go now that she's free to leave Philadelphia, the too cold, beachless, street taco-deficient city her husband dragged her to six years ago. But with no job prospects in her hometown of San Diego, Jane is roped into helping out temporarily at her uncle's southwestern small-town B and B. En route to her new role as innkeeper and breakfast chef, she finds a stray at a rest stop.

With her heart in pieces from the loss of her dog, she's determined not to let this mutt worm its way into her affections. She's also determined to have next-to-no interaction with the B and B's irritating guests, and the even more annoying handyman who lives next door. Can Jane keep her sanity--and her secret that she's not really a grieving widow--while trying to achieve her dream of getting back to the place she thinks is home?

I love the protagonist, Jane.  She's what I like to call an honorable person.  When the husband she was planning on divorcing falls ill with cancer, Jane keeps her mouth shut, sticks it out until the end and even puts up with a very pushy mother-in-law.  

Jane is a loner. Though good at taking care of others, she is loathe to speak up for herself.   

Jane has a kind heart.  No matter that her agenda is to get back home to San Diego as soon as possible, she's easily roped into helping out her aunt and uncle at their Arizona B & B because they really need her.

Jane is a dog lover.  I keenly felt her loss of her boon companion.  I was with her all the way as she figures out her relationship with the dog she rescues at a rest stop.  Having had a tripawd dog, I anguished along with her as she makes health care decisions for Maybe.

Jane thought she was rescuing a dog.  Ha!  As happens more times than we humans like to admit, it was the dog doing the real rescuing.  With rescue dog, Maybe, as her teacher, Jane learns to open herself to new possibilities and create a nurturing life for herself.

What a wonderful read!  Bouchard writes with great compassion combined with humor.  She deals with issues like death and loss with an attention for the ironic details that made me sigh and, yes, laugh out loud.  Along the way, we meet a cast of characters that remain with me even though I long ago finished reading the book.

Rescue Me, Maybe is a warm dog friendly tale that makes real that saying:
Life is what happens while you're busing making plans.

Do yourself a favor and snap up a copy of Rescue Me, Maybe.  It's a great read from a woman who is an authentic dog lover and is available in print or Kindle format from Amazon and for Nook from B&N.   As an added bonus, Bouchard has pledged 10% of 2013 profits to the Morris Animal Foundation.

Photo©Jackie Bouchard

Jackie used to be trapped in the hamster wheel of corporate America, but she was lucky enough to escape and now fully understands the term "struggling writer." Jackie loves: reading, writing, and, yes, even 'rithmetic (seriously, algebra rocks); professional cycling; margaritas; blogging (she never thought she'd say that, but she does); dogs in general, and her crazy rescue pup specifically; and her hubby. (Not in that order.) Jackie dislikes: rude people and writing about herself in the third person. After living in Southern California, then Bermuda, then Canada, then the East coast, Jackie and her husband settled in San Diego. American Jackie, her Canadian hubby, and her Mexican rescue mutt form their own happy little United Nations.  Jackie's debut novel, What The Dog Ate, was followed by Rescue Me, Maybe.

Talking Dogs is the official blog of For Love of a Dog Jewelry.  I purchased Rescue Me, Maybe for myself and received no compensation for this review other than the personal satisfaction of sharing a very good book with my readers.