Girl's Best Friend Blog Tour - House Trained

TITLE: House Trained
AUTHOR: Jackie Bouchard
PUBLISHER: Lake Union Publishing
PUBLISHING DATE: October 20, 2015

FROM GOODREADS: Alex Halstad, a childless-by-choice interior designer and dog mom, is a true perfectionist. But her orderly life turns chaotic when the teenage daughter her husband, Barry, never knew he had shows up on their doorstep...with a baby girl of her own in tow. While Alex’s dog enthusiastically welcomes the new arrivals, Alex struggles with the loss of her steady routine. She desperately needs peace and quiet to get her business back on track before Barry finds out she’s spent most of their savings. Meanwhile, the arrival of the girls stirs up old insecurities, and Alex can’t help but worry that Barry’s ex will make an entrance too. With her tidy life a distant memory, will Alex be able to learn from her dog the true meaning of love and acceptance?

MY THOUGHTS: After loving Rescue Me, Maybe, I couldn't wait to read this new release. All I can say is it did not disappoint. I quickly felt a connection to Alex. She is in love with husband and has never felt the need to have children in her life. A lot of the book focuses on Alex having to justify to friends, family and even herself why this decision is perfectly acceptable. I saw another review which felt that perhaps this was harped on too much throughout the book, but coming from someone who has never really had a maternal instinct and a desire to procreate, it is something you do have to explain a lot and to a lot of people who really have no business in the decision. So Alex chooses to have 4-legged children - YEA FOR PETS!

Alex has to deal with a lot in this book - a struggling business, a household crisis, a new step-daughter neither she nor her husband knew about, and even further, a step-grand-daughter. While Alex struggles, she manages this with her own flair. Alex would not be able to manage any of this without her beloved rescue dog, Marie. Marie openly accepts all the changes in the family and teaches Alex a few things along the way. So many books try to incorporate how important humans are when it comes to saving dogs, but this one also stresses how dogs can save humans and bring families together. Also, Bouchard works some humor into her story which is a welcome thing with such heavy subject matter.

I have always loved Lucy Dillon's books and how she weaves animals into her engrossing tales. I finally have another author who does this extremely well and who has shot straight up to my auto-buy list right beside Dillon. Go get this book....NOW!

RATING: 5 PAWS

BOOKER T's THOUGHTS:  Another book with another great pup.  I really enjoyed learning about Marie and seeing how she helped Alex adjust to life with new family members.  I also thought it was amazing how Marie was able to help baby Roo learn how to behave and eat certain foods.  That's one smart dog.  Marie is a rescue pet, and I can tell Jackie has a soft spot for rescues (she has commented on my blog several times so I feel I can call her by her first name).  Even though I am not a rescue pup, Mom and Dad do a fundraiser once a year and raise funds for out local humane society - they say I need to give to less fortunate dogs who haven't yet found their fur-ever homes and they are right!

Like I said, I liked Marie and she sounds really cute.  However, my heart still belongs to Maybe, the dog in Jackie's other book, so I think I may try to set Marie up with my brother Cassius.  He really isn't that bad, but don't tell him I admitted that!