Review and Guest Post: Searching for Someday by Jennifer Probst

Title: Searching for Someday
Author: Jennifer Probst
Format: ARC
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publish Date: November 26, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the publisher; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a fiction fan.
• You're a romance fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Kate has given up on love—at least for herself. She is both blessed and cursed with the ability to sense a romantic connection between two people—a gift that her family passed down for generations. When Kate launches her own matchmaking company, Kinnection, with her two best friends in a cozy New York town, she has to put aside her own romantic disasters to make her business a success.

But when a furious man stalks into her office and accuses her business of being a scam, Kate is given the ultimate challenge to prove herself. Slade puts himself in her hands and asks Kate to find him love. Enraged at his arrogance but stubbornly eager to prove herself, Kate agrees, dedicating herself to the journey of finding him love...only to find herself falling for him along the way."

My Two Cents:

Romance with a little bit of magic thrown in for good measure? Sign me up! "Searching for Someday" is the story of Kate, a woman with the magical ability to find the perfect match for just about anyone except for herself. It seems crazy to her that the owner of a matchmaking business would not be able to find love for herself. And then she meets Slade.

This was a fun and cute book with a steamy love story! Slade comes to Kate's matchmaking service because of his sister. When the book starts out, he is prickly as anything and doesn't really want to get close to Kate; however, fate has something a little bit different in mind. I loved Kate throughout the book and while Slade wasn't my favorite in the beginning of the book, he definitely had grown on me a lot by the end of the book. Slade and Kate fall for each other hard and neither of them wants to admit how hard that they've fallen. Their love affair is hot, hot, hot.

I also have to mention that I loved the addition of Robert, the dog. I'm a huge fan of animals. Kate's treatment of Robert, who is disabled, really warmed my heart as an animal lover. This factor definitely won me over.

I'm excited that on Goodreads it says that this book is the first in a new series from Jennifer Probst. I know that I will be looking forward to the next book in the series.

Guest Post:

The Power of Doggy Love in Romance

Let’s talk about Robert.

Who? you ask.

Robert is the paraplegic pit bull in my new book Searching for Someday. My heroine, Kate, rescues him from the side of a road. He’s had a hard life, got thrown out of a moving car, hit twice, and lost his back legs. But Kate sees something in his eyes – a spark that grabs her and pulls, and she knows his life is precious, and she wants him to have another shot.

The vet saves him. Kate adopts him. And one of the greatest love stories begins...

I love writing about animals – especially dogs. These furry creatures bring something special to life, and always to my characters.  When I was writing the book, Robert kept popping up until he became a secondary hero. He also manages to soften and change my human hero, Slade, so readers forgave him when he began acting up and making the wrong decisions in love.

Dogs bring out another layer. They soothe, soften, make us our better selves. They remind us to take a breath, slow down, and be happy with simple pleasures. A walk. A good meal. A delicious nap. Affection. A smile.

There’s another theme that beats from this story which I learned from my own local pet shelter, Pets Alive.

Disabled doesn’t mean disposable.

We all deserve a shot—both humans and canines. Through Robert, both Kate and Slade are reminded of this over and over.

And so was I.

This true story is relayed in this following link if you’d like to check it out. Robert has come a long way, and is now quite happy, with a wonderful home and his very own Facebook page called Rockin Robert!

http://petsalive.com/blog/2012/03/01/rescuing-robert/

Do you love reading stories with animals? What are your favorites? Come share!