What the Dog Ate

✍ Scribed by Bouchard, Jackie

• Book ID: 107580777
• Publisher: Createspace
• Year: 2012
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 167 KB
• Category: Fiction

✦ Synopsis

The vet handed Maggie Baxter a plastic specimen bag containing a pair of size-tiny lavender thong panties extracted from her dog; but they were not hers. Or rather, they were hers now since she'd just paid $734 to have Dr. Carter surgically remove them from Kona's gut.

This is how Maggie Baxter, a practical, rule-following accountant, discovers that her husband of seventeen years is cheating on her. All her meticulous life plans are crushed. When he leaves her for the other woman, Maggie and her the-world-is-my-smorgasbord chocolate Lab, Kona, are left to put their lives back together. As Maggie begins to develop a Plan B for her life, she decides to be more like Kona. No, she's not going to sniff crotches and eat everything that isn't nailed down; rather she'll try to approach life with more ball-chasing abandon. Finding herself in situations where she begins to go through her usual over-analysis of the pros and cons, she stops and instead asks herself: What would Kona do? With Kona as her guru, Maggie begins her quest for tail-wagging joy.

"What the Dog Ate" is a funny, tender story of mending a broken heart and finding love and a new life right under your nose, with woman's best friend at your side. If you enjoyed Claire Cook's "Must Love Dogs" or Lolly Winston's "Good Grief," you'll love "What the Dog Ate" and be rooting for Maggie and Kona.

Review

"...belongs on reading lists everywhere. It is good reading at its best!"
- Readers' Favorite

Named one of the best dog books of 2012 by Petside.com. Bouchard "writes in a natural, accessible style and Maggie is a profoundly appealing character that the reader roots for. Yes, it's about a broken heart, but it's also quite funny."

A "perfect beach read"
- Kristin Durham, Kritter's Ramblings

"...well-paced, humorously told and rife with keen observations of the human condition."
- Brian Douglas, Examiner.com

"Great characters and character development, including Kona (the dog); Gritty, real dialogue; Hilarious situations (canine and otherwise); Strong plot"
- Roxanne Hawn, award-winning Champion of My Heart blog

"Run, do not walk, to get this book: It's THAT good."
- Carol Bryant, Fidose of Reality.com

"I would read this book again, because I liked the way it made me feel not just in sections, but all the way through. That is the highest praise I can give a book."
- Tara Fox Hall, Good Book Alert blog

About the Author

Jackie Bouchard (www.jackiebouchard.com) was born in Southern California and lived there until she and a friend got the crazy idea to move to Bermuda. It turned out to be not such a crazy idea after all since she met her husband there. After Bermuda, she and her husband moved to Canada, then to the east coast of the US, and ultimately back to San Diego. Jackie used to be trapped in the hamster wheel of corporate America, but she was bitten by the writing bug and ultimately managed to escape. Jackie loves: reading, writing, and, yes, even 'rithmetic (seriously, algebra rocks), professional cycling, margaritas, dogs in general, her crazy rescue pup specifically, and her hubby. (Not in that order.) Jackie dislikes: writing about herself in the third person and rude people. Her work has been published in "San Diego CityBeat" and the San Diego Writers, Ink's anthology, "A Year in Ink, Vol. 3." "What The Dog Ate" is her first novel. Connect with her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/JackieBouchardWriter) and Twitter (@JackieBouchard). Jackie blogs at http://poochsmooches.blogspot.com/