The joys and loves that working at a dogs’ home can bring…

Synopsis

Life could not be busier for Ginny and the team at Wagging Tails.

The annual dog show is looming, a crucial event when it comes to fundraising and ensuring the volunteers can continue the brilliant work they do.

But their trusted newspaper reporter, who always includes them in his weekly column, is retiring, only to be replaced with a city-slicker named Darryl. And Darryl, as Ginny soon learns, has no interest in articles he deems ‘below him’.

Not one to take no as an answer, Ginny becomes determined to get him to meet the dogs themselves. One look at their cute faces and they’ll worm their way into his heart.

But what Ginny doesn’t anticipate is that Darryl might be more open-hearted than he seems. And inviting him to the dogs’ home might be the best decision she ever made – even if she doesn’t realise it at first!

My review

Ginny couldn’t be luckier to be working at the Wagging Tails Dogs’ Home. She loves what they are doing for the dogs, but also each dog has stolen a piece of her tender heart.
But working at a dogs’ home isn’t easy, as they rely on the goodwill to raise money, as they want to keep up the good work.
To have more awareness around their annual dog show, Ginny wants the help of their trusted newspaper reporter, who always mentions The Wagging Tails in his weekly column.
However, not only has the reporter retired, he has now been replaced by Darryl. And Darryl has no interest at all in writing an article about The Wagging Tails or the dogs.
Ginny is determined to make Darryl fall in love with not only the dogs but also the place so that he may write an article that does justice to all the work.
But Darryl is not that cold – hearted as he initially seems, and Ginny gets to learn a whole different side of him… 

I am a cat – person, and I am not ashamed of it. But being a cat – person doesn’t mean that I don’t like dogs. On the contrary, I love dogs too, it’s just that I love cats a little bit more.
So having a soft spot for animals in general, I just HAD to read this story. And I didn’t regret it at all! 

First of all, I admired Ginny and everyone else at The Wagging Tails. I truly believe that you can see a lot of someone’s character by the way they treat animals. And it’s obvious that everyone at the dogs’ home has a generous and loving heart! 

But that is only one of the things I truly liked about Ginny. She truly cares about the poor dogs, and she gives each and one of them all the love and necessary attention. But she does so much more… Because no matter how much she dislikes Darryl at the start of the book, she knows she needs his help to raise more awareness.
So if that means that she has to go over and over again to his office, she just does that. If that is not determination! 

Ginny shows her determination and her strength, but she obviously also has that vulnerability over her. She has been burnt by love before, and because of that, she has become a bit wary of men. With what her ex has done however, can you truly blame her? 

Yet again, even when she meets up with her ex again, instead of showing any kind of weakness, she shows her strength, even if that means to fake a bit until she makes it! 

Darryl was a hard nut to crack… he absolutely doesn’t make a great impression, and it takes a while to see his true colours. To despise him is a rather big word, but I didn’t like it, especially when we get to see those first articles he has written. 

But I was never so happy to have to change my opinion of him. Because his reluctance of writing about the dogs’ home, and also other articles, are justified in a way. Yet it doesn’t forgive it all, as his writing has an effect on those who we have started to love.
Seeing him turn apparently overnight was a strange course, but the more we got to know Darryl, the more I started to truly like him and understand him.
And seeing him fall in love with Luna was one of the sweetest moments! 

And understand him did also Ginny, and seeing how things are growing between them was just marvellous!
Ginny deserves to be loved by a man like Darryl, and Darryl deserves to be loved by a woman like Ginny. 

So when doubts start to raise, especially on Ginny’s side (again with her background I could somehow comprehend her), it was a bit frustrating. Why should our past be able to hold us back from a wonderful thing? But that is also a process that Ginny has to go through, to learn to trust again. And how can she not do that with someone as lovely as Darryl? 

For the greatest part of this book, I was completely in love with everything that happened, everyone that appeared, humans and animals.
There are obviously a few characters that I rather wanted to leave the story sooner than later, but that is also part of the growth especially Ginny is making. 

In this story we get to meet lovely characters, with a great heart. We get to see dogs that just steal your heart from the first moment. And we see the importance of dogs’ homes and how every help they can get, is welcomed.
But we also get to see that we have to learn to move forward, to allow happiness again in our lives. And that even when we make choices out of love, because we think it’s the right thing to do, perhaps it’s not up to us to make that choice…  

A book that for sure makes you feel all the lovey – dovey feelings, but also makes you think about how *you* can also make a difference for institutions with a great heart and passion!