Customer Reviews

Gone to the Dogs

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3 star:		(1)
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Lydia Keane, former hot babe, now reincarnated into the form of a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, is not a happy dog. Given a chance to right previous wrongs, Lydia, now known as Piggy, is on her third owner, Nell Jordan. Nell is proving to be boring with a capital B, until she becomes guardian to a huge sum of money that Piggy has inherited from a recently deceased cranky old coot who Piggy visited in her new job as a therapy dog. Who would've guessed that the elderly Frank Cramer was sitting on a fortune? Certainly neither Nell or Piggy, the latter frustrated to the extreme because she isn't capable of getting her hands...er...paws, on all of that lovely money. Instant fame ensues, with both Nell and Piggy looked upon as nefarious gold-diggers in the eyes of Frank's estranged daughter, and others.

Enter heroic Dan Travis, the handsome, sexy photographer who rescues both Nell and Piggy from their crashed car. Piggy is at once suspicious of this hunky do-gooder. Who on earth would be interested in plain-Jane, dull Nell, she wonders? When Dan becomes a regular visitor of Nell's, following her around claiming he's also a journalist who wants an exclusive on the unusual inheritance story, Piggy gets her fur up. And does she ever. Trying to ferret out Dan's true intentions, Piggy is far from willing to let him hone his radar onto the now rich Nell. What ensues is a hysterical story of Dog vs. Man.

Ms. Carmichael writes flawless characterization from human to dog, with an excellent flair for humor. The reincarnation element adds a welcome twist to what is already an enthralling storyline. Secondary characters are as in-depth and intregal as the main. A sub-plot involving Dan's mother and her long-lost love adds an unexpected and poignant side to this intriguing tale.

Emily Carmichael is a wonderful writer! I missed the first in this series about Lydia/Piggy called FINDING MR. RIGHT, but plan on getting it, soon! I'm sure it will go right next to my other keepers of hers, which include A DIAMOND IN THE RUFF (the second story), and now, GONE TO THE DOGS.

For a great read to break up the winter doldrums, I highly recommend GONE TO THE DOGS. Don't miss it!

Beautiful Lynda Keene was selfish and nasty until she was murdered while making "whoopee" with her best friend's husband. Lynda awakened to find herself condemned by Stanley the bean-counter to work undercover on earth doing good deeds. However, Lynda finds that she does not return as a perfect 10, but ironically as an obese Corgi, looking more like a "basketball with legs".

Now living in Cottonwood, Arizona, her current owner writer Nell Jordan places Miss Piggy as everyone calls her on a strict diet forcing the starving canine to seek crumbs. The two females visit medical facilities and nursing homes to provide comfort to the patients and residents. When senior citizen Frank Cramer dies, he bequests a fortune to that 36-24-34 soul, Miss Piggy, whom stayed with him until his last breath. Private investigator Dan Travis goes undercover as a photographer investigating Nell at the request of his agitated mother over her dad's estate going to the dog. Miss Piggy does not trust this gigolo romancing her pet human, but those feelings conflict with her prime directive of performing good deeds through matchmaking.

When Miss Piggy wags her tail, the story line is clever, insightful, and fun as a not so repentant Lynda acts good, bad, but definitely no longer sexy. The story line has a bit of suspense with a wannabe dognapper, but that takes away from the charming prime theme of Piggy matchmaking yet also preventing a match as the dog struggles with FINDING MR. RIGHT for Nell. The animal therapy scenes are educational and augment a strong romance with a funny bone that sends fans to the dogs.

Harriet Klausner

Par for the course - I've once again discovered a new author by reading the last of a trilogy! This is the third book by Emily Carmichael featuring the incorrigible Welsh corgi Miss Piggy, AKA the late Lydia Keane who, on her death, was sent back to earth in the body of a dog to atone for her sins. Prior Piggy books are FINDING MR RIGHT and DIAMOND IN THE RUFF.

In this adventure, Piggy finds herself in Arizona living with freelance journalist Nell Jordan. Nell is a kind soul who has turned Piggy into a therapy dog (if you can believe it!), visiting hospitals, nursing homes and the like. When one of their patients dies (the gruff, curmudgeonly Frank Cramer) both Piggy and Nell are stunned to discover that Frank left his 12 million-dollar fortune to Piggy! (with Nell as her guardian). While Piggy is thrilled, Nell is stunned and now must be wary of leeches and hangers-on interested only in the money. But is her new love interest, photographer Dan Travis one of them? Piggy for one is very suspicious of "Studly Dan"!

And perhaps Piggy has reason to be suspicious, for Dan is not really a photographer he's a former LA cop, now a private detective hired by Frank's daughter. She is convinced Nell is a conniving bimbo who charmed Frank out of his millions. While he's got a job to do, Dan finds himself captivated by the sweet and sexy Nell. Dan has other secrets he's keeping that I won't reveal here and Piggy decides to make it her mission to sabotage his romantic efforts with Nell (her efforts are hysterical!). As the days pass, it looks like Nell is definitely falling for the "studmuffin" so it looks like Piggy's going to have to kick it up a notch. She uncovers Dan's most damning secret and brings it to Nell's attention (ever seen a dog type?!) and it finally looks like Piggy's matchbusting (matchmaking in reverse) is finally working when a tearful Nell kicks him out of her life. Problem is Dan has come to have very real feelings for Nell. He has always doubted that Nell is capable of deception, but he does uncover a secret from her past that makes him wonder. Will they ever clear the air and be able to trust one another?

This was a really fun book that had me chuckling with regularity. It may be too cute for some, but I got a kick out of Piggy, her ingenuity and her disdain for just about all of the humans she comes into contact with (she has some of the best lines in the book!). But she does have a heart and she proves it more than once. I haven't enjoyed getting into the mind of a dog so much since meeting Hairy from Susan Donovan's TAKE A CHANCE ON ME!. I think I will have to investigate Piggy's first two adventures and will likely also read two upcoming books surrounding Nell's friends and fellow therapy volunteers Mckenna and her cat Nefertiti (in THE CAT'S MEOW, Fall '04), and Jane with her border collie Idaho (TBD).

This author also writes historicals set in the American West in the mid to late 1800's that may also be worth checking out. Highly recommended.

Emily Carmichael's series with Ms. Piggy are laugh out loud funny and enjoyable reads. She is very talented. I recommend them especially to those who love animals.

From the back cover:

This little Piggy should've stayed home...

Once a drop-dead bombshell, now stuck in the body of a corpulent corgi named Piggy, the late, great, gorgeous Lydia Keane is serving her penance for being a very bad girl while on earth. As a reluctant cupid, her mission is to bring lonely hearts together. But when her hopelessly clueless owner comes into some money--and suddenly meets Mr. Right--Piggy smells something funny...

In their spare time, freelance writer Nell Jordan and Piggy--now a certified therapy dog--make the rounds of northern Arizona's medical centers to bring some light into the lives of those in need. Nell has a heart of gold, though she lives in a style to which the formerly pampered Piggy is definitely not accustomed. But all that changes when a nursing home resident dies, leaving Piggy his fortune. Soon they're rolling in dough--and just as soon, a handsome, sexy photographer is sniffing around Nell. Piggy's been around the block--and there's no way this studmuffin is getting his hands on the Piggy Bank. Because why else would he want a plain Jane like Nell? Love is in the air--and it's up to Piggy to keep Nell's head out of the clouds...

And my review:

I'd read and enjoyed Diamond in the Ruff, another of Emily Carmichael's books starring Piggy, the dog who's actually the reincarnation of Lydia Keane, a woman being punished for her bad behaviour during her human life on earth. I thought it was delightful, so I eagerly snapped up GONE TO THE DOGS.

First off, I have to say that Piggy is hilarious! I think my favorite parts of the book were the sections written in Piggy's voice. Her cynical "I hate being a dog" attitude was so funny. However, Piggy was such a strong character that sometimes I felt that she overshadowed Nell, the heroine of the romance.

I also didn't feel like I got to know the hero as much as I would have liked. His character was roughly sketched, but not fully fleshed out. I would have liked to have got to know him better, because I never felt like I knew him enough to cheer for Nell to be with him. Not that he was a bad guy, or anything, he was just kind of there.

One other complaint I had was that I felt that there were too many subplots. The romance was often left on the back burner, and then when the author did get around to the relationship, it was rushed. I felt that she tried to do too much in one book. If some of the extra subplots had been thinned out, I think this would have been a more enjoyable read.

In the end, it was Piggy and her antics that kept me reading. And while she was enjoyable, I bought this book because I wanted to read a romance, not about the adventures of a human trapped in a dog's body. All in all, a cute read, but not a book I'll be keeping to read over and over again.