The beginning of this book nearly undid me. Faithful best friend to Peter is his dog Harry, who has been with Peter through his ex-wife’s infidelity, their divorce, him moving, lonely evenings and every good and bad thing Peter has gone through for the past 14 years. Right in the beginning, it’s the end for poor Harry. I can’t imagine that Sue Brown isn’t an animal person because this was written by someone who knows what it’s like to lose that pet who is so much a part of your life. Add in that our own family dog had died just two weeks before I read this and I was a sobbing, sniffling mess. When Peter takes Harry to the vet, it is Evan instead, a fill in vet. Evan is honest with Peter about Harry’s prognosis, allowing Peter to take Harry home to get his goodbyes from Peter’s children. Oh man, such a sad thing. When Peter makes that decision to let Harry go, cue waterworks because it was so sad. Evan is there at the end and he allows both Harry and Peter dignity. Then there are the moments of randomly reaching down to pet a dog no longer there. To make it worse, Peter now realizes how lonely he is. Evan and Peter strike up a friendship, with things in common and shared interests. Evan would like to take it farther, even though Peter is straight, but no matter what, Peter was cheated on and he will not allow Evan to cheat on his live-in partner, Joey, no matter how much of a jerk Joey is. I didn’t feel Evan was cheating on Joey to that point but he could have and Peter was not going to be the cause of that. Good for him. The writing of this story is very realistic, with the conversations seeming like things people would actually say. I loved that while Peter slowly comes to realize he cares for Evan, he doesn’t immediately jump into bed and everything is wonderful. Peter takes it slowly, both in his head and in his relationship. Even with the death of poor Harry, it isn’t an angsty book. It isn’t a fluffy thing either, sort of in the middle. I do wish it had been longer so that we got more of the relationship development because I really enjoyed how they approached each other and how Peter came to terms with himself. Recommended. This was an okay read, but I didn't connect with either of the characters very well. My only emotional response here was from the death of the dog Harry. And, as the owner of a ten year old lab with arthritis, I think most of that was projection. I actually liked the ex-wife character. She redeemed herself from the classic evil-bitch-syndrome that so many women in m/m fiction suffer from, which made a nice change.
What do You think about Hairy Harry's Car Seat (2013)?
This was a wonderful read, I thoroughly enjoyed this and immediately got caught up in the story.
—jg1808
Absolutely loved this book. Loved how they fell in love. Sue brown got a new big fan...
—Kathy
