3.5 stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Jennifer’s dog Boomer has been diagnosed with a rare heart condition, leaving him with only one month, at best, to live. Jennifer decides to take a month off work and drive Route 66 with Boomer to spend as much time with him as possible before she has to say goodbye.

This book is the perfect book for dog lovers and packed with doggie dilemmas and a little romance for any romantics. It’s hard not to love Boomer who is a happy go lucky dog hit with a terrible illness in the prime of his life. The whole book is tinged with a bit of sadness as unfortunately, the reader is only too aware of how the book will end and it’s a bit of a horrible wait despite all the bittersweet moments. But I loved seeing Boomer enjoy life - judging a dog show, bouncing into a pit full of dog toys and devouring a steak dinner or two.

I didn’t mind the relationship between Nathan and Jennifer but I was surprised that I didn’t like it more. I think maybe it was because the two characters remained themselves throughout and didn’t totally soften up - Jennifer is a woman in control and tends to be a bit stony at times and while she did mellow a bit around Nathan, it wasn’t completely. While Nathan on the other hand is a cynical journalist with a bit of a chip on his shoulder and showing a bitterness he’s probably too young to have about a lot of things in life. I felt at times Nathan did some things and said some things that were pretty out of line and Jennifer seemed to forgive too easily.

Despite those misgivings, overall I really loved the book and will read more doggie reads from Sue Pethick.