Reviewed by Annika

TITLE: Finders Keepers

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

NARRATOR: Joel Leslie

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

RELEASE DATE: July 30, 2019

LENGTH: 6 hours, 30 minutes

BLURB:

Needing a change of scene, Griffin Burke moves from Brisbane to Coolum Beach to start a new job. The beautiful white sand, aqua-colored ocean, blue skies, and summer breezes are everything he longs for. What he finds is a mud-covered dog, lost and hungry, with a name tag and a phone number.

Dane Hughes is stuck in Surfers Paradise at a week-long work conference when he gets a phone call from his distraught mother. His dog, his fur baby, Wicket, has run away. Unable to leave and feeling helpless and miserable, he gets a text from a guy. “I think I found your dog…”

Griffin and Dane start talking, and Griffin agrees to look after Wicket until Dane can collect him. With a few days left before his new job starts, Griffin takes Wicket on some coastal adventures and sends Dane photos of their fun, and so the start of something new and kind of wonderful begins.

Griffin might have moved to Coolum in search of a new life, but what he finds is so much more. What he gets to keep just might take some four-legged help.

REVIEW:

Finders Keepers is the epitome of a cutesy and fluffy book. Though It doesn’t feel shallow or simple. It’s straightforward without any added drama. It’s also really perfect from beginning to end.

Finders Keepers is a love story through and through. The love between a man and his dog. The love between two men and the love they have for the new shared dog. The friendship with Griffin’s seventy-something landlady and her lover K, and I have to say I’m a huge fan of those two, hilarious doesn’t begin to cover it.

If there is a better (or at least cuter) meet cute than the one between Dane and Griffin you have to look pretty hard. I mean the perfect man finds and rescues your perfect runaway furbaby, and spoils said furbaby rotten. Things don’t get better than that. Ever since that first phone call where Griffin tells Dane he found Wicket safe and sound, well dirty and tired but safe, there was this instant connection between them, the men and their dog. Because let’s face it Wicket just found himself another human to wrap around his little paw. And I dare any listener not to become equally huge fans of his. Dane ad Griffin made sense, they had this innate understanding of each other. They were inevitable. I think that’s one of the reasons why their relationship didn’t have this insta-love vibe, because it wasn’t. They were just meant to be.

Just like Joel Leslie was meant to narrate this wonderful book. As always he did a fantastic job bringing this story and these characters to life. He does a wonderful Aussie accent and is able to keep it up though out. I love a good Aussie accent so it’s always a treat listening to his narrations.

Leslie is a great voice actor. I genuinely felt Danes distress when Wicket was missing, his desperation to go out searching for his furbaby and best friend. I wanted to be out there looking, and I’m not only across the world, but feeling the need to look for a missing dog – a fictional missing dog. But that’s the draw of Wicket – among other things J

I loved how Leslie portrayed Bernice and K. It was spot on. These two surfer hippies that loved their special brownies were just awesome. I could see them sitting there in the backyard, smoking pot and asking our two guys some fairly intimate questions. They were a wonderful addition to the story. I loved every single moment spent with them. They were colorful and fun – and Leslie gave them voices, life and sass.

Finders Keepers is a cutesy story about two men falling in love over a runaway dog, some special brownies and surfer hipsters. It’s a must read for all dog lovers and anyone looking for a fun summer read. It’s a book that will warmth your heart and soul.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible

Amazon