📘 The Dogs of Christmas
by W. Bruce Cameron
Genre Fiction ◦ Christmas
Format & Source Print ◦ Library
Publication Forge ◦ 2013
Dates Read December 2 – 6, 2013
Rating ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
📝 My Review
I am a total sucker for anything dog or Christmas related, so I just about died when I saw this book. While I thought it was cute and heartwarming, I wasn’t blown away.
Josh Michaels is a heartbroken man, living alone in the mountains of Colorado. When his neighbor abandons her pregnant dog, Lucy, at Josh’s place, he is not happy at all. He has never owned a dog, has no interest in owning a dog, and is panic-stricken about what he will do with her and her puppies. When he calls the local animal shelter about the situation, he meets Kerri, a spunky animal lover who sparks something in his heart again. While she prepares him and the pups for their adoption, in the annual “Dogs of Christmas” event, he realizes that not only has he fallen for Kerri, but he has also fallen for his new dog family. The thought of saying goodbye to them is heartbreaking but he knows he might lose Kerri if he refuses. He never expected to love again, or have his life changed by a litter of puppies, but life throws curveballs all the time. Now, Josh has to figure out what to do before the time comes for the puppies to leave.
I loved all the puppy antics and how accurate the whole “falling for a dog” aspect was. I was a total cat person until I fell in love with my dog, Dakota, at the local animal shelter and took him home. Now my heart melts for dogs all the time, and to see the same thing happen to Josh was both touching and relatable. It was nice to see the dogs warm Josh’s heart after an ex-girlfriend left him sad and lonely. The dogs gave him a new purpose in life.
While I enjoyed this quick, cute read, I didn’t love it as much as I had expected to. For some reason, I really didn’t enjoy the character of Josh. I loved what he was doing and thought he had a good heart, BUT, I thought he was a really flat character with no personality. I know his heart had been broken, but he just fell completely flat to me.
If you love dogs and Christmas, I think you’ll enjoy this one too. I just wish Josh had been a stronger character with more pizzazz and personality.
“That's the lesson of the dogs, that it's important to both live in the moment and then go on to the next wonderful thing.”
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