The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs
Heartwarming, funny and charming with lots of dogs. 

Dr. Cyrus Mills returns to his small hometown in Vermont to takeover the Bedside Manor for Sick Animals, a veterinary clinic that his father had run.  Cyrus has been estranged from his father for the past fourteen years, estranged enough to change his name to his mother's maiden name; however his father willed him the practice and home.  A practice that is in financial ruin, the exact thing that Cyrus does not need.  He has lost his veterinary llicense in South Carolina due to a misunderstanding and needs money to get his license back and now save his father's practice. 

I don't think I could dislike a book like this, not with a dog named Frieda Fuzzypaws.  It was an easy read with sections broken up by the day of the week, since Cyrus has one week to earn the money to pay the bank in order to keep the veterinary practice open.  Every day Cyrus is faced with a new issue on top of raising money, a very much alive dog that he was supposed to have euthanized, blackmail, and coming to terms with the failed relationship with his father, to name a few.  With whimsical characters, both human and animal alike, I was be enchanted by The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs.

Dog Gone, Back Soon
This installment picks up several day after The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs.  Dr. Cyrus Mills has sorted out his veterinary license and is now running a slightly more successful practice at Bedside Manor.  So successful, in fact, that their competitor, Healthy Paws is threatening them.  Cyrus now has a whole new set of issues to deal with, including Healthy Paws, the woman he's trying to date's mysterious new male friend, a Healthy Paws veterinarian that he was set up with on a blind date and, of course, all the new cases at the veterinary office.  That includes a very sick cow, an obese cat, a taxidermy dog and a very real service dog whose owner has died. 

This is another funny, heartwarming and fast-paced read with Dr. Cyrus Mills.  My favorite character in this installment was again a dog, Stash- short for Mustache.  Stash is a dog who lives to serve and has a wonderful bag of tricks.  I always enjoy reading about how Dr. Mills solves the veterinary cases and there are a few really interesting ones in here. There's also another batch of wildly entertaining human characters, which Dr. Mills ends up solving some of their issues, also. 


This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

A heartwarming story of love, loss, family secrets and best of all, books!
" We didn't have much, but we always had books...And because of her, we learned of entire worlds that existed beyond the
June Andersen is a high-power, no-nonsense, vice-president of a bank in New York City who specializes in shutting down small, family owned businesses who have fallen behind on payments.  She's great at her job and loves living in New York away from her family drama in Seattle; however, her job and lifestyle are probably giving her anxiety attacks.  This all changes when June learns that her beloved Aunt Ruby has passed away and left her the enchanting and financially destitute children's bookstore, Bluebird Books.  June returns to her Aunt's home to find a mystery waiting for her.  Aunt Ruby has left a scavenger hunt of letters written between herself and famous children's novelist, Margaret Wise Brown.  The letters will unravel secrets behind the bookstore and June's family.

I adored this book.  It is definitely a feel-good story and an easy read, but there's more.  Through the letters written between June's Aunt Ruby and Margaret Wise Brown we not only get to know these two wonderful characters, but June is led on a scavenger hunt through the bookstore where we get to relive some children's classics and June's character is thrown for a loop on the mysteries of the connections of the store and her own family.  I loved that this story was mostly set in a bookstore, and I had absolutely no trouble picturing it, especially with all of the Goodnight Moon references.  Other than the highly intriguing mystery of the bookstore and Margaret Wise Brown's connection, Sarah Jio has placed an emphasis on family, grief and letting go of past mistakes.  All of this was done in a way that was not to complex and was very believable.