Barking Up The Wrong Tree by Jenn McKinlay – Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

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Description:
LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD.

Carly DeCusati returned home to Bluff Point, Maine, with her tail between her legs. But she’s determined to get her life back on track—and that means finding new homes for the elderly golden retriever and overly talkative parrot she inherited before her old life fell apart.

Enter physical therapist and hot one-night stand James Sinclair. James doesn’t care that Carly doesn’t do relationships. He is determined to win her heart, promising to help her with the pets if she’ll just give him the time of day.

Carly agrees to date the irresistible James, and, for the first time in years, she’s dreaming of a happily ever after. But James has secrets, and if he can’t open up to Carly, their future could go to the dogs…

Review:

Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Jenn McKinlay is the 2^nd book in her Bluff Point Romance series.  Barking up the Wrong Tree continues the trend of a sweet cute romance that McKinlay gave us in the first book.   This series not only has cute animals, but a fantastic group of friends.    Carly Decusati, our heroine, has returned home to Bluff Point, Maine, with the help of her friends, to stay temporarily, until she finds a new job.  Carly, much to her displeasure was left to care for a senior dog (Saul) and a parrot (Ike), who loves to curse.  Carly does not do relationships, whether its men or animals. But sometimes things don’t go as planned.

James Sinclair has recently moved to Bluff Point, and when he sees the gorgeous and outgoing Carly, he is determined to get to know her better.  They end up having a one night stand, which James wants more of, but Carly is afraid to become attached…”no relationships”     I actually loved the hot hot James, who was a lot of fun.  He will do everything to win Carly over, even if he has to play just being a friend.  Early on, I kind of was annoyed by Carly, with her stubborn insistence to find homes for the pets and ignore her  growing feelings for James.

Other then Carly’s stubbornness, this was such fun enjoyable book.  James was fantastic in the many ways he would entice Carly, and by the half way point, she was succumbing to her feelings.  When James’s family comes out for a birthday party for his Dad, Carly is forced to help plan the party, which brings her into James life and great family. That was a lot of fun, especially when Carly knows she is falling in love with James.  They both had bad experiences with love that defined the story, and together they will both face their nemesis to get past those issues. 

It was great to see Mac & Gavin again, as well as Carly’s other girlfriends & the guys.  The camaraderie between them all was terrific.  As for the animals, they played a major part of this story.  Saul, the senior dog was quiet, but loving, which slowly wore Carly down.  James’s dog was very sweet, especially with him being handicapped and Ike was a riot throughout.  LOL

What follows is a sweet romance that was slow build, for Carly only, as James knew what he wanted; the two dogs and parrot added a nice element to the story, with much humor;  and a fabulous group of friends that were so much fun.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree was such an enjoyable read, fun, with likeable characters and very well written by Jenn McKinlay.  If you enjoy pure simple small town romances, fantastic secondary characters, humorous and fun camaraderie and two adorable dogs, and a rascal parrot, then should be reading this series. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

Hello, Reading Café, thanks so much for inviting me to visit. Barking Up the Wrong Tree, the second in my romantic comedy series, is out this week so it’s a very exciting time for me!

People frequently ask me what the inspiration for this series was. Quite simply, I am an animal lover – big time. If I am being completely honest, I love most animals more than I love most people. At a party, I am the one in the backyard, throwing the tennis ball for the host’s golden retriever or I’m the person who doesn’t move from her seat because the host’s cat has decided my lap is the place to be, and I can’t dislodge the cat, now can I?

In my own life, I live in a house overrun by pets. Currently, we have two dogs, two cats, and a fish who won’t die. No, I’m serious. Our neighbor gave us to him ten years ago to fish sit while he painted his living room. Kevin (named after the neighbor) is still here, while the neighbor has moved, left the state actually.

When I came up with the Bluff Point series, it was definitely with the intention to indulge in my love of animals, and so far I have had the best time. A puppy is the catalyst for romance in the first book ABOUT A DOG, and a geriatric golden retriever, Saul, a foul-mouthed parrot, Ike, and a disabled basset hound, Hot Wheels, are the champions of BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE. In January, EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, will feature an orange tabby, Chaos, and his bosom buddy a brown standard poodle named Rufus.

In BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE, our heroine inherits her pets and being averse to commitments of all kinds, this is anything but good news for her as you can read in this excerpt.

Excerpt:

     “Let’s just get on with it, dude,” Carly Decusati said.

     She figured Bartholomew Schuster would consider “dude” even more appalling than “Barry”. She was right. Instead of correcting her, however, he simply sighed as if he were being forced to do community service helping the rude and sarcastic.

     He opened his briefcase and pulled out a stack of papers. “It’s fairly straightforward. You sign these documents and the items Mrs. Genaro has bequeathed you become yours.”

     Carly looked at Barry. His face was a mask of benevolent innocence. That’s why she hated lawyers. You could never tell when they were hiding something.

     “She wasn’t rich was she?” she asked. “You’re not holding out on me, are you, Barry?”

     “Uh, no,” he said. “Her assets were minimal.”

     Carly glanced back at her friend Jillian Braedon. “See? Told you so.”

     She signed the papers and then handed Barry his pen.

     “So hit me, what’d she give me?”

     “One moment,” he said. He walked over to the door and stuck his head out into the hallway. “In here, please.”

     Jillian and Carly exchanged an intrigued glance.

     “Maybe it’s a piano,” Carly said. “I’ve always wanted a piano.”

     “What if it’s a leg lamp?”

     “From Fragile, Italy?” Carly asked. Then she started laughing. “Yeah, that’d be my luck.”

     Two burly moving men, wearing brown coveralls, came into the apartment. One was carrying a large glass bowl filled with water and a very round goldfish, aptly named Goldie by Mrs. Genaro. The other one was carrying a large rectangular case with a fierce looking lizard, Spike, Mrs. G’s pet reptile in it. Carly felt herself start to sweat. What exactly had she signed?

     The men set the pets down on the table and left the apartment. They didn’t shut the door, leaving Carly to believe there was more.

     “Oh, no,” Carly said. She looked at Barry as the panic began to fill her insides like water on the rise. “She didn’t.”

     “She did.” Barry looked smug.

     “What?” Jillian asked. “What’s going on?”

     Just then the men returned. One had a pretty golden retriever on a leash, the other carried a large rectangular object, draped with a cloth. The dog, Mrs. Genaro’s companion Saul, tipped his head to the side as if considering Carly. She ignored him, hoping with all of her might that there was a huge misunderstanding happening here.

      The man set the big object down in the middle of the room and stepped back. Carly grabbed a side of the sheet draped over it and gave it a good yank. Sure enough, there he was in all of his green feathered glory Mrs. G’s beloved parrot.

     “Hello, Ike,” Carly said. “Long time no see.”

     “Oh, for fork’s sake,” Ike squawked, except he didn’t say fork.

And this is why I love having animals in the books, you just never know what they’ll do next! Carly plans to unload these inherited pets at her first opportunity but then she meets hot physical therapist James Sinclair, who happens to live in a lighthouse, and all of her carefully laid plans fly the coop so to speak. If you’re looking for some hilarity and hijinks, and a story that will hit you in all the feels, I definitely recommend a visit to Bluff Point.

Happy Reading!
Jenn

Jenn McKinlay’s publisher, Berkley is offering a paper copy of BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE to ONE (1) commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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7. Giveaway is open to  US only.

8. Giveaway runs from September 29,- October 3, 2017

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