Dog Friendly by Victoria Schade – a Review

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Description:
A burned-out veterinarian takes a much-needed beach vacation, where a charming surfer makes waves in her love life, and a unique foster pup renews her passion for her work.

Exhausted veterinarian Morgan Pearce is feeling overworked and under-thanked, so when two favorite clients ask her to watch their special needs senior dog in their Nantucket home, she jumps at the chance for a summer break. She hopes her time on the island will be a reset from the stress of her everyday life, but her chill vacation vibe takes a hit when she gets roped into fostering a challenging, anxious dog and helping plan the local rescue group’s glittery annual fundraiser.

Her trip starts to feel more like a vacation when Morgan begins falling for Nathan Keating, an irresistible entrepreneur who thinks every problem can be solved on a surfboard. Just as the summer is shaping up to be the magical refresh she needs, thanks to a fling that feels like the beginning of something real and Hudson, the foster dog who reminds her how much she loves her job, a visit from her estranged brother and the discovery of who Nathan really is changes everything. Morgan finds herself at a crossroads, trying to determine if mistakes from the past must define the future, or if she should forgive, forget, and grab hold of a chance to finally rescue herself.

Review:

Dog Friendly by Victoria Schade is a cute fun romance, with adorable dogs.  Morgan Pearce, our heroine, is a veterinarian, who is overworked and somewhat burned out, and when she faints on the job, she knows she needs to take a break.  I was surprised to learn that many Veterinarians have a high rate of suicide, due to the stress and pressor that takes a mental toll. 

Morgan loves dogs, and when one of her customers offer her a chance to spend a few months at Nantucket, while they are away, to watch over their dog, Bernadette; she accepts. Other then the people offered her the chance to get a good vacation, Morgan hides that she is a veterinarian, and claims only to babysitting the dog.  Bernadette was a sweet lovable dog, which was easy for Morgan. But she is asked to foster a challenging and anxious dog, as well as help with the local rescue group’s annual fundraiser. Morgan is happy and content in beautiful Nantucket, allowing herself to relax and enjoy the friends she has met, as well as both dogs she is taking care of; and now she finds herself meeting hot hunk.

Nathan Keating, our hero, has been pushing his new flavored drinks, which he hopes will escalate into a successful business; he is also very friendly with everyone in town.   is the gorgeous guy who is friendly to all. He meets Morgan, and in a short time a slow build romance begins, with them spending a lot of time together, as well as him training Morgan how to surf. 

What follows is a lighthearted, fun, enjoyable story, which also deals with stress, burnout & mental health. This book does give us a look at the harshness of the veterinary profession.  I really liked Morgan and Nathan, and hoped they could get past some personal issues to stay together.  I will say I absolutely loved the dogs, especially Bernadette and Hudson, who Morgan slowly trained her to overcome his fears.  

Dog Friendly was a very good story line, with a great couple, wonderful fun dogs, and so very well written by Victoria Schade.  This was a charming read, that kept me unable to put the book down.  I suggest you read Dog Friendly.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher