Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Dog Days of December
AUTHOR: Kim Fielding
PUBLISHER: Tin Box Press
LENGTH: 57 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 29, 2022
BLURB:
Alone in a new town, psychology professor Shawn Daly has resigned himself to a quiet, solitary Christmas. Then he nearly runs over a stray dog. She’s not seriously injured—but it turns out she has other plans for Shawn’s winter break. And that cute guy down the block with the friendly Newfoundland dog? Turns out he’s a big part of those plans.
Dogs may bring shedding fur and a heap of responsibilities. But they may also be just the right thing to give the holidays—and a love life—some sparkle.
REVIEW:
Shawn has moved to the midwest to take a tenure track position at a university. One morning as he’s headed to the gym during winter break, he hits a stray dog. He takes her to the vet and it’s clear she doesn’t have a family, so he takes her home. He names her Anna and they get along splendidly. He’s been lonely since his move and it’s nice to have another body in his house.
As he’s taking Anna for a walk, she pulls him along and they ended up running into – quite literally – another man and his Newfie, Lola. Turns out Austin is with the university as well. They end up back at Austin’s and while there is a spark, Shawn really is hoping for a friend and he doesn’t want to screw that up with anything else. he backs off, but he still thinks of Austin.
It seems that Anna and Lola have other ideas though. Shawn and Austin end up spending more time together and with their dogs. With Christmas comes a change in their relationship thanks to perhaps a little bit of divine intervention 😉
Oh my gosh, this was ADORABLE!! We even get the doggie POV in this 🙂 I loved Anna and Shawn and Austin and Lola. This was such a lovely warm cheery story! The holiday theme was sweet here and I really adore these mature characters dealing with sort of the midlife situations that many folks do. Also there is so much that is shared in the story that we feel like we know both guys without an infodump. The organic way that their relationship develops is completely natural and believable. Plus there is a happy ending for the pets as well! High recommended for lovers of pets, short stories, mature characters and real life with happy endings.
RATING: 
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