Review: The Dog Year by Ann Wertz Garvin

Title: The Dog Year
Author: Ann Wertz Garvin
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Berkley
Publish Date: June 3, 2014
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Dr. Lucy Peterman was not built for a messy life. A well-respected surgeon whose patients rely on her warmth, compassion, and fierce support, Lucy has always worked hard and trusted in the system. She’s not the sort of person who ends up in a twelve-step program after being caught stealing supplies from her hospital.

But that was Lucy before the accident—before her husband and unborn baby were ripped away from her in an instant, before her future felt like a broken promise. Caught red-handed in a senseless act that kept her demons at bay, she’s faced with a choice: get some help or lose her medical license.

Now she’s reluctantly sharing her deepest fears with a bunch of strangers, avoiding her loneliness by befriending a troubled girl, pinning her hopes on her husband’s last gift, and getting involved with a rugged cop from her past. It’s only when she is adopted by a stray mutt and moves her group to the dog park that she begins to truly bond with the ragtag dog-loving addicts—and discovers that a chaotic, unplanned life might be the sweetest of all . . ."

My Two Cents:

In "The Dog Year," it's been a really bad year for Lucy. She lost her beloved husband and her unborn child in one fell swoop. She feels like she is barely just getting by and that's if your definition is pretty loose. Lucy has gone back to her old ways of stealing. Sure, she is only stealing random medical equipment from the hospital that she works at but it's a little bit of a problem. It will take a lot of humor, a village, and one little dog.  Told with a lot of humor, this book explores how you come back from a terrible fall.

This book was a great mix of bitter and sweet that kept me moving through the book quickly. I actually ate this book up in one sitting, always a good sign. I loved the main character, Lucy. She is smart but all of the hurt that she is going through is making her make some not so smart decisions. You can tell that Lucy is definitely one of those people who does not deal well with change (I am one of those too). I really felt for Lucy's plight. She's gone through so much and even though she is hurting, she still manages to keep her sense of humor. I loved some of the secondary characters too, especially Little Dog. Little Dog saves Lucy in a lot of ways. She brings a lot of warmth to this book.

I really liked how this book was written. Lucy is going through a lot of pretty serious stuff but Garvin definitely injects a lot of humor into the book that had me laughing out loud! I really enjoyed this book and would love to read more from this author in the future!

Book Promo:

The author has created a super cute book promo. Take a look!