Hallmark Book Club Pick!
A Dog Called Valentine a Hallmark Book Club Featured Title!
A Hallmark Book Club Featured Title
Larissa Wohl, host of numerous Hallmark Channel Specials and resident “Pet Rescue Expert,” also runs the Hallmark Book Club. This month, she’s chosen my book!
Larissa has been hosting the club for more than a year, and always picks stories focused on the human-animal bond.
Past Hallmark Book Club titles include:
Who Rescued Who by Victoria Schade
The Wonder of Lost Causes: A Novel by Nick Trout,
Atticus: A Woman’s Journey with the World’s Worst Behaved Dog by Sawyer Bennett
Join me and Larissa at the February meeting!
On Thursday, February 24/2022 at 5 pm PT I’ll be chatting with Larissa about A Dog Called Valentine via Zoom. Will you join us? I’d LOVE to see some familiar faces there.
If you’d like to pop in (you don’t need to join the club) email Larissa at [email protected] for the Zoom link and she’ll save you a spot. You can also email me at [email protected] and I’ll get you set up.
I can’t wait to see you! It’s going to be such fun!
A Dog Called Valentine
Today’s Teaser: A Dog Called Valentine
The dog lay in the back of the chain-link run, his head on his paws, his eyes deep and soulful. And hopeless. He was bigger than she expected. Dirtier. Stinkier. Sadder.
“Oh, my,” Lily said. “What’s his name?”
“Valentine,” Ariel replied. “He was a flea-market puppy, purchased last year as a Valentine’s Day gift by a guy for his girlfriend. She dumped them both by spring, and Valentine’s been bouncing around since then.”
Lily raised her eyebrows. “He looks a bit like Marley, from the movie. Can’t we call him that instead?”
“Sorry,” Ariel said, not sounding sorry at all. “Every new owner has tried to change his name. It’s the only one he knows. I think everyone expects him to be like the movie dog. Then they get him home and find out how energetic he is. He doesn’t listen, they say. He destroys their furniture. They can’t walk him. He runs away. He jumps on the kids.”
Lily’s heart ached. “And with each new home, he gets worse.”
“Underneath that dirty, matted coat is an adorable personality just waiting to be released by the right person.”
Lily and the dog surveyed each other. The tilt of his head and his half-cocked ears suggested that Ariel was right. It’s just that there was so much of him. And so much mud.
Lily bit the inside of her cheek. He needed so much. Would she be equal to the task? “Keep in mind, I’m no Cesar Millan. I’m more… See Spot Run.”
“You’ll be fine,” Ariel assured her. “A little basic obedience. You know, sit, down, off, heel, maybe a couple of tricks. Oh, and get him used to grooming. He enjoys rolling in stuff. A bath and a good brushing and he’ll be gorgeous.”
Not likely. But he had that heart-tugging quality in spades. “You haven’t had much luck, have you, boy?” she murmured. “No one’s ever even gotten to know you.”
She knew what it was like to strike out, over and over again. And be overlooked.
Copyright c 2019 by Roxanne Snopek
Fall in Love with Valentine!
Want to curl up with a read that will warm you inside and out? A DOG CALLED VALENTINE is just the book!
When an unwanted Valentine’s Day present is dumped at the shelter, volunteer Lily decides to foster the poor dog herself. A little attention is all he needs to blossom into a loving pet, ready for his forever home. Plus, helping an unloved animal will distract her from her own love life. Win, win. Right? Wrong. Valentine needs more than a makeover if he’s going to be adopted. He destroys her home, hates to be groomed and when he behaves better for a perfect stranger than he does her, Lily swallows her pride and begs that perfect stranger for help
After losing his canine partner in a horrific moment that upended his future, sexy and stoic Shane turns to remodeling his grandmother’s home. No more law enforcement career, no more dogs, no more risks. But it’s hard to ignore the misunderstood mutt at the park and his well-intentioned, but clueless, handler. Shane reluctantly agrees to give her a few tips and tricks, but that’s all. He won’t care. He won’t get invested. And once Valentine finds his new home, life can go back to normal.
But there’s a new normal in town and, suddenly, Valentine’s Day will never be the same.
Available in digital and paperback at Amazon: A Dog Called Valentine