Customer Reviews

Lonely Hearts (It's a Dog's Life)

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"Lonely Hearts" is a lovely, emotionally touching, wise and beautiful book--with a great dog in it too. At first, rubber stamp artist Sylvie Taylor seems like a sweet-natured ditz, falling onto the mailman from her roof (she was in search of keys.) But she's a breath of creative fresh air to staid Ray Novino. Sylvie decides to befriend Ray, although she resolves not to love him. She knows that when you lose a lover, you've lost a friend, too. Ray hasn't had too many friends, and he resists becoming Sylvie's--superficially they're opposites--but it's clear they're both similar at heart: nice people whose sorrows make them wary of hurting others. Good friends--and the great dog-- give them a shove toward love, and they find the courage to see--and vanquish--their dragons. Simple truths, compassion, and a real flair for bringing dogs--and people--to life make this sweet romance a wonderful, touching read. I look forward to more work from Annie Kimberlin.

As a pet lover, I enjoy reading books where the animal is a central character, not just a prop. And Jean-Luc the standard Poodle really is a character! After all, if it weren't for his zest for life, the humans Silvie and Ray never would have met. While weaving a humorous, engaging love story for the humans (and, by the way, sneaking in some insight on the little-known art of rubber stamping), Annie Kimberlin also conveys the joys and frustrations of living with an exhuberant pet with a mind of his own.

This modern-day takeoff on screwball comedies has a woman who runs her home-based rubber stamp company "falling" for her mail carrier -- right off her roof and onto the man in blue. It's a delightful romp of getting-to-know-you, as Sylvie Taylor and her admittedly messy -- and artsy -- lifestyle meet the precise world of her curious mail carrier, Ray Novino. She's looking to share her life with someone other than Jean-Luc, her poodle. Ray isn't sure. At first. Barriers fall under the glow of friendship, however, and the future looks bright for this twosome united through correspondence.