You had me at woof

Literally speaking though, The Terrorist had me at lick. And that love story led to my stopping to ohh, and ahhh and look at that cute face! to every Boston Terrorist, I mean Terrier, that I see.  So, naturally, when I saw the cover of You had me at Woof, by Julie Klam, I had to own it.  And because I've been a very good girl this year, the Jolly Red Fat Guy gave it to me for Christmas.

And last Saturday, as I was reformatting my old lap top for 13, and moving all her crap off the laptop she used to share with 11, and reformatting that computer so they were both fresh and like brand new, I read You had me at Woof.  And it only made me cry twice. Well, three times if you count that first time, where, without warning of any kind, in the first sentence of a new chapter, The Love Of Julie's LIFE, Otto, dies. Period.  No explanation. No warning. No leading gently into the badness.  Just 34 pages of coming to love Otto myself, only to get slammed in the face with his death. Absent any kind of warning.

But I'm not bitter. 

And I kept reading.  And I'm glad I did.  Because Julie and I, we could be pals. She's kinda funny, those parts of her that come through the book, and she's sarcastic sometimes too and mostly, the thing that endears her to me is that she loves those little smooshed up faces and bulgy eyes as much as I do. And, as if the similarities between us were not already freaking me out a little (like how her Boston slept under the covers with her too; and shared her dinner; and sat in his own chair when they went out; and pretty much owned her like mine owns me) she grew up with ENGLISH MASTIFFS!

I know!  It's like fate.  Or not. Could be coincidence.  I mean, what are the odds that I have three English Mastiffs, as they are my first doggie breed love, and she grew up with them?  And what are the odds that she has a Boston and I have a Boston?  And she lives in New York and I wanted to live in New York once?  And she is a writer and I want to be a writer? And she fosters Boston's and I would but then I know I'd want to keep every one so I can't, but I like to think that if I won the lottery I would totally own property and take every stray dog that needed a good home; I could go on but I don't want to appear stalkerish.  Eww. Creepy.

Anyway, this book was a quick and easy read and I finished it in one day. Which could be a sign of my amazing reading skills or a sign of boredom and how long it really takes to reformat a computer and bring it current with updates and stuff or even a sign that I have a slew of other books to read.  Either way, I liked the book. I could relate to Julie and her family.  I loved her husband Paul and her daughter and I understand exactly what she meant when she said there are some dogs who connect with you on a different plane than other dogs, even though you love those other dogs too.

This book is about a girl and her dog(s).  And how she learned to love; share; feel; hurt; grow and a myriad of other emotions until she grew into the person she was always meant to be.  It is the journey of a girl who never thought she'd find true love into a woman who found more love than her heart knew how to handle and who learned along the way how to manage all of it and grow in the process.  

I really liked this book, even though it made me cry and hold my own Boston a little closer to me that day (and night) because it also reminded me there are bad people who do bad things to helpless animals and those people really piss me off. It also reaffirmed that there are good people in the world and I send a big fat hug and hearty THANK YOU to each and every one of them.

I bought this book for my own personal enjoyment.  This review was not compensated or solicited in any way.

(photo from Amazon.com)