Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog

Lisa Scottoline is a crime fiction writer who writes legal mysteries. Imagine my surprise when I discovered her latest book Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman. I did not know that Scottoline also wrote a column for the Philadelphia Inquirer. These essays are chick lit for the older gal. And they are full of fun.

You will laugh at her stories of her family - she refers to them as the Flying Scottolines. She has a elderly mother who resists getting an emergency cell phone and refrains from using her hearing aid. Her gay brother who fights with their mother - long distance (the fun bit is that he lives with his mother.) And a daughter who is leaving the nest after graduation. And then there are the animal members of the family - the dogs, cats, pony and chickens. (The stories about the arrival of the chickens is pretty funny.)

And then there are her observations on getting older and suckered into expensive face cream, can one really find decent jeans, and the concept that her car has finally become her house. (I can relate to that one!) She's even figured out how to eat a drive thru salad in the car. As she says "it wasn't pretty."

She writes a bit about her books - and being on a book tour - but mostly these stories are about family life and the wackiness of 21st century America, when having multiple divorces doesn't raise an eyebrow. (She calls her ex's - Thing One and Thing Two!)

Try it - it is a very funny and fast read. Great for a bit of light hearted reading before bedtime. I think I will look for more of her columns online! A very good read.

The Perfect Match

In the book, The Perfect Match, Kimberly Cates introduces us to some very interesting characters. Rowena has ended up as the family failure in a family of overachievers. Her odd talent seems to be matching pets with future owners. She comes to a little town in Illinois to open up a pet store. Cash is a deputy who is busy juggling a full work load with raising two little girls by himself. One daughter is physically challenged, the other is trying to find her place in the family. They meet when Rowena has this Newfoundland dog that she needs to find a home for.

This book is for people who love unusual relationship in their romance novels, who like characters that take time to get to know each other, and lovers who have responsibilities and everyday duties - who can't drop everything to be "in love." (Oh, I guess one could call them "normal?") And people who love animals - will like this heart warming story. (Okay, that sounds overly goopy - but it is true.)

A really nice story about people who you start to care about, and the kids are a stitch too. I'm curious to see what Cates' other books are like. A fun read.

Janet Evanovich's Hot Stuff

Janet Evanovich is a busy woman. Not only is she writing her mystery series, she is co-authoring several other books as well. Hot Stuff is a book she co-wrote with Leanne Banks. And as usual there are some great characters.

So what you do when your roommate, Marty, is a cross-dressing lounge singer with a lot of out of town shows? Well, you water his plants and you wonder why scary people keep coming around asking when he will be back. But then he has a 120 pound dog delivered to the building as a guard dog. Who has time to take care of this Beast? Cate, the bartender/college student is getting a little bit weirded out. Especially when the cute guy at the bar who was trying to pick her up, keeps asking questions about Marty. The cute guy happens to be an ex-cop. He's on a job for his private investigation firm, but he still realizes that Cate is a keeper - even if she isn't aware of it yet. She's too busy for a relationship and trying to get rid of the last guy her family set her up with.

This one is light and fluffy but has a lot of funny scenes and quirky characters that just make you laugh. And the dog is a piece of work himself. A fun fast read.