A Late Christmas Vacation!

 

TITLE: The Dogs of Venice

AUTHOR: Steven Rowley

PUBLISHER: G.P. Punam's Sons

PUBLISHING DATE: October 14, 2025

PAGES: 80   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: A heartbroken Paul takes a solo trip to Venice while his ex-husband moves out of their joint place back home. While on the trip Paul looks for a connection and meaning.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a short novella I grabbed around the holidays because of course, DOGS!  I didn't get to it until January but still wanted to share my thoughts because I feel it needs more notice.

Paul is going through a divorce and although he has a history of not doing anything alone, he decides to go through with the vacation he and his husband had planned for the holidays. While in Venice, Paul notices a stray but confident dog and he spends the majority of his time seeking the dog out because he wants to be more independent-just like the dog appears.  Along the way Paul breaks out of his comfort zone and starts doing more and more on his own, realizing he too can be more dog-like if he wants.

Paul was a nice character to read about and honestly, I think this read is best described by the word "nice."  The fact that it is on the shorter side lends itself to a solid tale that doesn't get weighed down by unnecessary side plots or details.  I loved that I was able to read it all in one sitting as well.  

The dog doesn't play a big part in the story, but he is a major influence so I think animal lovers would still be quite interested.  I know this author has a few other books which have recently been quite popular so I think readers of those should seek this one out as well. And even though it takes place during the holidays, it isn't really a holiday story so it could be read at any time. My rating is only reflective because I wanted more dogs (of course I did), especially with "Dog" on the title. 

MY RATING: 4 PAWS