Jackie BouchardRecensioni

What the Dog Ate is a tender, sweet story with a lot of heart and a lot of humor. Many of us will identify with Maggie Baxter. She is so busy following each step of her life plan, playing by the rules of course, that she doesn’t even realize when things change and her husband now apparently finds her boring. I laughed out loud when I learned what the dog really did eat, but I also cried at Maggie’s heartbreak and got mad on her behalf at the injustice of it all. Maggie is at such a loss, she had her next steps practically in concrete, and has absolutely no idea where to go from here. Not back, but how to go forward? Maggie is brave and sometimes goofy and makes a lot of mistakes but she keeps putting one foot in front of the other. Kona is a delight. What’s better than the no-questions-asked, all-encompassing love of a dog? The characters surrounding Maggie are annoying and supportive and loving and infuriating – just like all family and friends.

I received an audiobook of What the Dog Ate from the author. Reader Aisling Gray does a wonderful job. Well-paced, sharp and clear, with all the right voices and inflections. I was not required to provide a review for What the Dog Ate but I loved listening to it and recommend it without hesitation.

Jane’s husband just died, and she lost her precious dog shortly thereafter, but she is keeping something secret from those nearest to her – she’s more broken up about the pooch!

Maybe she would have told her closest friends but she’s not living in her hometown of San Diego. Instead she’s still in Philadelphia where she lived with her husband but never really settled. Even though everyone says one shouldn’t make any sudden changes when recently widowed, Jane feels this is exactly the right time for her to make the move home.

But life has other plans for her. Her aunt and uncle need her.

The thought of helping to look after a B & B, and its customers, makes Jane shudder (she’s really not a people person!). However it will help fill in the time while she looks for a new job and being there for family is important to her. So she heads off to Prescott, Arizona, meeting a stray dog in a rest stop on the way. She can’t leave her there all alone but can’t bear to let another dog get into her heart so takes her to a nearby rescue. What will become of the beautiful pup?

This is Jane’s story: a time of changes, self-analysis and new adventures while dealing with a huge range of mixed emotions at her recent losses. It’s a story about the past, the present and the future and all the planned, and unplanned, things that happen along the way.

As the reader I found this book highly entertaining, engaging and funny. The characters are well written and described, some more likeable than others but all people I’d love to meet. Even though Jane’s situation at times is quite a sad one, it is most definitely not a tragedy and there are plenty of comic moments all the way through. Jane’s lists, the “signs” and the titling of the chapters in the book are nice additional features that I really enjoyed.

This is definitely a book that dog lovers will connect with. Anyone who’s had a pet can appreciate what Jane feels and goes through. So who rescues who? Read and find out – Maybe!

I just finished reading House Trained by Jackie Bouchard. Alexandra “Alex” Halstad is an interior designer married to Barry. They live in Santa Barbara, California. Barry has been saving for a car (he does not believe in debt), but Alex has been borrowing the money to keep her business afloat (without telling Barry). She has also racked up a load of debt on her credit cards (without telling her husband). Barry and Alex do not have children and they never wanted them. They are very content with the just their dog, Marie. Then Barry comes home one day after being away on a business trip to tell his wife important news. It turns out that Barry has an eighteen year old daughter that he never knew about. Her name is Marie (just like their dog). Marie did not know that her father was alive. Her mother, Jade told Marie that her father was deceased. When Marie was looking for schools, she discovered that her father was very much alive (and nearby).

Marie comes over for dinner to meet Alex and spend more time with Barry. Marie shows up with a fifteen month old daughter named Ruthie. Marie (the daughter, not the dog) wants to spend the summer before college with Barry. She wants to get to know her father. Without her mother’s support (and she is not giving it), Marie cannot afford to live by herself. Marie asks if she can live with Barry and Alex. Alex is less than thrilled. She has a beautiful home and can just imagine what a child will do to it. Barry, though, wants her to stay. Alex reluctantly agrees (she has no idea what is in store for her this summer). Things are about to change for Barry and Alex. They are in for a life changing summer.

House Trained was a good book (if you can get past the first chapter). I was not sure I would enjoy the story (the first couple of pages had me wondering), but I was drawn in. I was curious to see how everything would turn out for Marie, Ruthie, Alex, and Barry. House Trained was an interesting story and well-written. I liked the characters and the storyline. House Trained shows that you never know what life has in store for you and a person is never too old to change or adapt. I give House Trained 4.25 out of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of House Trained from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alex, and interior designer, and Barry, a senior member of the university research library staff at the nearby university, are childless by choice and living the life they want with their labradoodle, Marie (named after Marie Curie, Barry’s favorite scientist). In comes Barry’s college age daughter, whom her never knew he had, from a relationship years ago and her 15-month old daughter. The daughter, Wren, and her daughter, Ruthie, manage to convince Alex and Barry to let her and Ruthie live with them for the summer until her friend arrives for college and they can move into their apartment. Once that happens, everything goes quickly into a tailspin, as everything--the house, their jobs, etc.--must be adjusted to this new living arrangement. In the first place, both Barry and Alex need to adjust to the fact that Wren and Ruthie exist and have arrived, no small feat. After they move in, things become a little bit difficult for Alex and Barry, who are not used to having a long-term guest with a baby in tow. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a fantastic read. Of course, I love dogs, so that helped. The characters are all well developed and realistic. However, there are two real stars among them: Ruthie, the baby, and Marie, the dog. I loved cute-as-a-button Ruthie, but, for me, Marie, the labradoodle, stole the show. This book is equally as fabulous as the other one I have read by the same author, Rescue Me, Maybe. In fact, I have difficulty deciding which I prefer. The antics of the dogs in both books are endearing. The plots, storyline and endings are both fantastic. This author has quickly become one of my favorites. Her style, her writing, her plots, her characters, but mostly her dogs, pulled me in from the start. This is a must-read for any dog lover or for anyone looking for a real feel-good story to sit back with your favorite beverage, to enjoy over a lazy afternoon or weekend. I am sure you will love it as much as I did. I only hope there will be more books like this one or the other to come. After reading this one, I think it can easily become a series starring the labradoodle Marie. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

Jane is having a tough time. In a few short weeks, she has lost her husband and dog to cancer, and she feels guilty because she misses her dog more than her husband. Just before his cancer diagnosis, Jane was ready to ask her husband for a divorce, after years of unsuccessful attempt to rekindle the early days of their marriage. Once Ryan received the diagnosis, Jane could hardly desert him, so she stayed on to nurse him and support him through his unsuccessful battle with cancer. Her beagle had been with her for years, and his diagnosis was far more unsettling for Jane. Now, after all this is past, Jane is planning to move back to her former home, San Diego. Then, her mother volunteers her to stop enroute to San Diego in Prescott, AZ to take over her mother’s sister’s B&B while her sister and her husband take a cross country trip for surgery for Jane’s Aunt. Jane has misgivings at first, but figures she can stop, stay at the inn and look for a new job in San Diego during the time her aunt and uncle are away. At a rest stop close to the B&B, Jane picks up a stray, obviously abandoned, dog. When the dog is not adopted from the shelter where they put her, Jane’s aunt and uncle adopt the dog and leave Maybe with Jane while they are away.

This is a fantastic dog story, a story showing how one dog can really make a big difference in one’s life. Maybe quickly and easily worms her way into Jane’s and everyone else’s hearts. The story is really her story. I do not want to go into too many specifics, but Maybe ends up undergoing some of the same treatments Jane’s earlier dog did, for the same reasons and emerges like a real trooper. In addition to Jane and Maybe, the story is filled with other endearing characters: Selene, who works at the B&B and who has some interesting secrets/dreams that come to light, Kai, their friendly next-door neighbor fix-it man who likewise has secrets of his own, Jane’s mother, who means well but drives Jane crazy with her hoovering, Jane’s in-laws, who each have attitudes and/or characteristics that would either endear or drive one to insanity, and the quirky guests, who stay at the inn and who make for interesting and sometimes humorous interludes in the story. The book definitely shows just what adopting a stray and letting him/her work his/her way into your life and hear can do. Maybe was and is the perfect dog, gorgeous, resilient, loyal, loving, accepting of all things and anyone, etc. I quickly fell for her as the book progressed, for Maybe is the one character who manages to bring Jane out of her funk after the two deaths, manages to smooth over and bridge any gaps/problems between Jane and her in-laws, manages to show everyone that all it takes is love, loyalty, devotion and easy acceptance of life. I cannot give this book more than five stars, but I would if I could. I have not read anything else by the author but will after reading this one. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves dogs or a real, fee-good story. Maybe will worm her way into your heart, as she did with me. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

A really entertaining book with fun, well-formed characters. Be warned, Kona almost steals the show. The start of the story is nothing short of inspired and it kept me guessing as to the ending. A great read for dog lovers.