Lisa A Fullam

Nice trio of holiday stories!

Revisado: 12-17-23

Very well suited for the holidays!! These stories were also a nice way to be introduced to other novel series by the author.

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Schlocky and Stereotypical

Revisado: 04-14-20

I bought this expecting a K-9 themed mystery--don't be fooled. It's a silly romance with next to no actual writing about the work of the dog team. Max is an FBI officer, perfect in every way except he's never met the woman of his dreams. Katerina, 10 years younger, and nearly killed in an explosion, catches his eye because--because it's that kind of book. Katerina is a devout Christian, and of course Max rediscovers his faith too, because--because it's that kind of book. No one thinks it a poor idea for an FBI agent to become romantically involved with someone who is initially a suspect in a major crime. No one thinks that it's a poor idea for Katerina, recently dumped by her criminal husband, to leap into a relationship with this man about whom she knows nothing at all except that he saved her life. Transference, anyone? He falls in love with her because, well, she's so brave and cute and vulnerable while he saves her life. Transference, anyone? And poor Opal, the valiant bomb-sniffing boxer, is an afterthought in this book, barely mentioned, unrealistically portrayed when she is mentioned, and incidental to the plot. So if you're looking for anything about actual K-9 work, or for a good mystery, or for characters of any depth, or anything other than a trite romance that's REALLY a poor idea for the characters involved, this is so not the book for you.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Don't miss this GREAT, SMART, FUN series.

Revisado: 03-07-20

In "A Pedigree to Die For," we meet single mom Melanie Travis, raising her son Davey on a teacher's salary. Her Aunt Peg, a force in the unique world of dog showing, has recently been widowed. In addition to the murder of her husband, Aunt Peg's favorite poodle Beau has gone missing. Melanie is drawn into this weird and wonderful doggy world at Peg's demand. This is a wonderful series. Not only does Berenson get every nuance of the dog show world correct--which is hard to do!--but the characters are marvelous. Aunt Peg is a perfect combination of patrician New England with the practicality of a true dog fancier. Melanie is nosy, direct, loving, and down-to-earth, the family is varied and quirky. If you love dogs and want to learn more about them, especially poodles, this is a fun way to go. And if you love mysteries with great characters, you'll be happy here, too. But don't stop with this book--part of the charm of this series is following the family over time. And a word for Jessica Almasy's performance--the read of Melanie is perfect for this character. Aunt Peg is marvelous! And all the characters are distinctively read in ways that click with their personalities as written. A splendid performance all around--far better than many I've heard.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Lots of promise, but...

Revisado: 09-25-19

There's a lot of promise in this first book. Kate's a great protagonist, sensible, curious, etc. Love the setting, and it's a fairly diverse and interesting cast of characters. What kept distracting me were little problems: an inappropriate veterinary intervention here and there, (surely you wouldn't hospitalize an animal--which costs a LOT of money--when all it really needs is blood tests!!) and drug names mis-pronounced by the reader, And the breed Bichon Frise is pronounced “Be-shahn Freezay”). Pure-bred dogs can be identified by DNA, not just microchips--it is now possible to register pups from one litter sired by different males with DNA testing--I bet Kate might have thought of this. Kate's dog-show friends might have informed her how much breeders would care that the stud records might be fraudulent--and would want them fixed. All-breed dog shows do not start in the evening. Unless she meant grand championship points, dogs don't earn points in interbreed competition, (though a dog who won its breed might win more points in the group or best in show.) How dogs are moved and examined in shows was described incorrectly. Also, I was sad that one of the more interesting characters in this novel will probably not be returning. Basically, I hope the author takes time to dot i's and cross t's--get a veterinarian to do a quick read, and if there are show dogs involved, a show person. The reader needs a dictionary of technical terms.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas