REVIEW: A New Leash On Love by Debbie Burns

In A New Leash On Love by Debbie Burns, Craig Williams has to take his daughter’s new puppy to a shelter to surrender because his apartment doesn’t accept dogs and his ex-wife can’t handle the puppy. When he drops it off, he meets shelter worker Megan Anderson. Megan, not having a good day, takes it out on Craig.

“Do you know what pisses me off?” he asked, leaning closer. So close that his breath–minty fresh–brushed against her nostrils.
He didn’t wait for her answer. “It’s bleeding heart romantics like you who can’t possibly bend to see something from someone else’s side, not even for a second. It wasn’t easy for me to bring that damned dog here. It’s going to break my daughter’s heart to lose him. and that heart of hers has already been crushed to pieces.”
He backed off an inch or two and ran his fingers through his hair, spraying raindrops. “And you…you can’t even bring yourself to understand that circumstances change. Things happen we don’t plan for.”

When Craig’s ex changes her mind, he discovers it’s too late to get the puppy back. Megan feels bad so she encourages his teenage daughter, Sophie, to join the volunteer program at the shelter. Craig comes along with her. Megan has a big heart and wants to help all animals, but once she learns of the tragedy that broke Craig’s family apart, she wants to help them, too.

Sophie notices the chemistry between Craig and Megan before they do, and she’s ok with it. She’s even hopeful her father will get together with Megan.

Her dad laughed. It was a deep, happy chuckle Sophie hadn’t heard in forever and made her think of the lesson they’d just had in science on magnets. Maybe her dad would make the same connection she’d made after all. Only by the way he kept looking at Megan, Sophie figured it would be with Megan and not the shelter.

Craig’s son, Reese, went into his own world when his twin died. Megan and the animals draw him out and help Craig and Reese reconnect, as well as to start to heal.

A New Leash On Love is about healing, learning to move on, and learning to love again after tragedy. It’s also about the ability of animals to play a role in the healing process. I really enjoyed this book and recommend giving it a read.

Book Info:

Publication: July 4, 2017 | Sourcebooks Casablanca | Rescue Me #1

When Craig Williams draws the short straw and has to take his daughter’s adorable new puppy to a shelter after the holidays, it’s just another painful episode in the fall-out of a miserable divorce. He needs to pick up the pieces of his life, and, after a fiery confrontation with Megan Anderson, the young woman running the shelter, he wants to put the whole episode behind him. However, when he keeps finding new ways to reconnect with her, he realizes Megan’s compassionate and caring nature just might be the perfect salve for his broken heart.