Okay, so once in a while you can enjoy chicklit. And when the story is interesting, with quirky characters and some funny lines, go ahead and read. But Ann Garvin, as good a writer as she is, can be a sloppy one. And were it not for that it would have been worth 4 stars.So Luscious, Lucy to everyone, is falling apart. Turning to kleptomania as a stress reliever, the reconstructive surgeon is at a tough point. An auto accident took her husband and caused a miscarriage. Lucy and her husband both seem to be in their early 40s, given the time elapsed since med school. Yet her first (and watch for it, second) pregnancy occurred quickly and easily. Sloppy? Then, a young troubled teen, Sara, from her AA meeting falls and breaks a wrist and Lucy does a makeshift bandage. Bad break, no cast? Several days later,Sara is volunteering in a dog shelter.There's no further mention of the wrist and both Sara and Lucy's futures grow rosier quickly and not believably.That said, the plot twist I didn't see coming ended the book on a hopeful note. Three stars isn't bad. I am a dog fanatic and was looking forward to this novel having more to do with dogs than it turned out it did. That being said, it was a most interesting story. A female surgeon is caught stealing supplies from the hospital where she practices. Her husband had died about a year earlier and she is very lonely. She is forced to go to AA meetings in order to get her job back. There she meets some interesting people, including a town policeman who she knew in high school. The dogs in the story really only serve as a way to connect people to others and it definitely isn't a story about dogs. I was really interested in why she stole hospital supplies, how AA meetings work, and in finding out her personal story. I liked this book!
What do You think about The Dog Year (2014)?
wish she had spent more time dealing with the dog relationships than she did
—maxtelford
I enjoyed the start and end of the book but felt theMiddle lacked a bit.
—pelo
I loved this book! I want to read her first book next
—samsi
