This is our June book club read.  I just got the book in my hand today and have to admit that I am skeptical going in.  I hate to say that because I try to keep an open mind on our book choices – and I really am hoping that the book proves me wrong….

Stay tuned…

Twice-divorced Dawn is the product of a fantastically dysfunctional family (Dawn’s sister, Halley, is an overly enthusiastic life coach, her mother is a struggling entrepreneur and her former smalltime rockabilly musician father invests “a lot of time into perfecting… authentic fifties outfits”); her dog, Chuck, begins talking to her after dud radio-DJ boyfriend Paxton dumps her. Though other dogs can also suddenly communicate with Dawn (including Johnny Depp, a friend’s dog), Chuck remains the leading pooch as he plies his master with sage advice and astute observations—”He seemed humpy,” Chuck opines about one suitor; “Who doesn’t like puppies? That’s psychotic,” he muses about Paxton—as she negotiates the standard fare of chick lit (losing her job, getting mixed up with wacky beaus, aiding her friends through their respective crises, finding a place to live). Until, that is, Chuck runs away, forcing Dawn to realize her true love may not be a biped. Off-beat enough to stand out of the pack.

The book gave me a “Janet Evanovich” feel almost from the start.  The quirky too involved family members rang a little too “Stephanie Plumisk” for me and while I am well aware of the great following the Plum series has drawn… I am not one of the fans.

I do have to admit that this book while in parts offensive (Halley dating Scott Peterson hit me as tasteless and insensitive)… there were other times I caught myself laughing out loud with some of the humor.

Overall the book was a skimmer.  I did not find any likable characters – not even the dogs.  The only person I think I liked  was Collin.  The ending tied up a few wildly loose ends but the overall point of the book was missed, at least by me.  I can’t rate this beyond a 2.5.

June 14 (update from our Bookies book club review):  Our book club met last week to review this read.  It is always fun to see if it just me when I find a book “incredible!” or “disappointing!”  In this case, while for the most part we all agreed that this book was not in the running for our Bookies read of the year, the group found it a  slightly below average read.

A couple of the girls rated it extremely low… agreeing that character development was not strong, the book had no real plot… to a few of the girls finding it just a humorous fun read that you don’t take too seriously just enjoy.