Customer Reviews

Norah's Ark: Love Me, Love My Dog #2 (Life, Faith & Getting It Right #14) (Steeple Hill Cafe)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pet store owner Norah Kent loves the Lord and animals; she dreams of one day having a family with Mr. Right, a person who must accept that she is prime caretaker of her beloved elderly Auntie Lou, is owned by Bentley the mutt, and must share her two passions especially her Christian faith.

Three bachelors show interest in Norah. US Navy Commander Connor Trevain seems to care for Norah, but she fears stepping out with him because her best friend Lilly wants him. The townsfolk push Joe Collier, who asks Norah for dates, but she knows he is not the one so has ruled him out. Finally there is police officer Nick Haley, who has three things going for him. Bentley has chosen him though he seems to fear the mutt and she keeps hearing the bells. Still Connor is nice if only Lilly wanted someone else like Nick for instance.

NORAH'S ARK is a pleasant optimistic Christian romance starring an upbeat somewhat innocent (too naive around men) protagonist and a cast of eccentrics starting with her matchmaking canine and a horde of other two legged, four legged, and no legged animals). The fast-paced breezy story line will provide fans of Judy Baer with plenty of entertainment from start to finish as the audience will wonder just who will win the Norah sweepstakes. The novel lives up to its classic second line "HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR IGUANA TODAY?" as a fun filled tale.

Harriet Klausner

A lot of people love animals, but Nora Kent carries it to extremes. She runs a pet store named, what else, Norah's Ark. A lot of people, like Rick Haley, think she overdoes her passion for pets. She has a mynah bird, named Asia Myna, a parrot named Winky, Hoppy, her Flemish Giant rabbit and Bently, a black and white dog, part beagle, part Staffordshire terrior,and a smidgeon of pit bull. Bently is a neurotic mess. he's afraid of everything, except Norah, whom he adores.
In addition to collecting pets, Norah attracts a wide assortment of people too. There's Lilly, who owns the Fashion Diva Shop and who wants Connor, a rich playboy, who is interested in Norah. There's elderly Auntie Lou who owns the antique shop and depends on Norah to watch over her. Joe who wants to marry Norah, and Rick, a mounted policeman with a beautiful horse named Sergeant Thunder.
Norah's Ark is packed full of quirky characters and quirky situations. Judy Baer has a great sense of the ridiculous that will keep you laughing all the way through the book. And Bently will steal every dog lover's heart. A fun, enjoyable story from the first page to the last.

This was a fantastic romance!!! I loved it! It was so much fun!!
If you like animals and romance this book is for you! Don't miss it.

I love Judy Baer's books. Her sense of fun that she instills in her characters is a delight to read. There aren't many books that cause me to laugh out loud, and I often do when reading hers. The perspective from the dog, Bentley's point of view in this book was hilarious. He was one of my favorite characters. I do have two criticisms however, thus the four stars: The first being that Norah kept on going out with Conner after she knew how upset Lilly would be. What kind of true friend does that? Why didn't she just tell him that she wasn't interested? The other was that she would actually choose a dog over a wonderful godly man...and a cute one at that! :)I understand her philosophy of taking care of animals, but they have no soul that can be redeemed, whereas humans do. Was she really going to forgo a loving relationship just so she could keep her dog? That seemed very far fetched to me. I was hoping she would give Bentley away to a good home to show Nick he was of more value than her dog! One of the reviews said it was too preachy. I actually appreciated that it was. Christian writers have the perfect platform to proclaim the gospel. God tells us to do so, and I'm glad when writer's seize the opportunity to share Christ with someone who may come to know Him as a result of reading the gospel in their book.

This is not a bad book. The story is entertaining, but suffers greatly from unlikable characters, particularly the heroine. I think Norah is intended to appear sweetly innocent in the romance department, but she comes off instead as unrealistically dimwitted. She acts like the victim when her friend, Lilly, is angry that she went on not just one, but two dates with the man Lilly is actively pursuing. She thinks everyone should be okay with this just because she's not actually interested in the man. Lilly is justly upset with Norah over the mess, but loses sympathy points when she reacts like an adolescent. Then there's Joe, Norah's friend who she is established on page 2 as never having agreed to date. So when he offers later to step aside and let her date other guys, he looks like a jerk even though Norah manages to take it as a grand romantic gesture.

Several of the characters suggest forcing an older woman into a nursing home against her will almost solely because she "must be at least 80." And when there's theft and vandalism around town, they automatically assume one boy is responsible for everything because he was once seen in the vicinity with another boy. It doesn't occur to a single one of them that the other boy might at least have a share in the blame and we are left to assume this is only because they don't know his name.

Still, there are a lot of fun moments and worthwhile Christian sentiments. The author clearly has talent and I'm hopeful that another book by Ms. Baer would be more enjoyable.

Amanda Hamm, author of Dear Jane Letters

I picked up this book wanting a lighthearted story. Good thing my expectations weren't too high. While I am a Christian, the book, to me, was very overbearing and 'preachy,' which is a personal annoyance of mine. I MUCH prefer a more subtle way of conveying truths than having them spoon-fed to me. After the third chapter, I sat back and had to decide if continuing the book was worth it (I decided it was, and just skimmed the preachy parts).

I also had most of the ending figured out by about a third of the way into the book. Everything except the vandals... which wasn't that big of a deal, because they were important in the story for only about one chapter, and never were a very scary threat.

And by the time I got to the part where she is introducing a male calico cat into the story, I knew that my (low) impressions of her animal knowledge were correct. (While male calicos do exist, they are possible only with an exceedingly rare genetic mutation. If the main character knew anything about animals, perhaps she would, at the very least, comment on this?)

Despite all those things, if you are willing to suspend reality for a little while, don't mind preaching, and are looking for an easy read, it was a cute story and amusing, and probably worth the 3 hours it took me to read. Definitely not my style of book, and not what I expected when I picked it up, but enjoyable nonetheless. However, I won't be picking up anything from this author or this publisher anytime in the near future.

Norah loves pets. Pets love Norah. So it's no surprise she owns a pet store. Pets come before men which mean that Norah doesn't have a boyfriend. That's about to change when the new police officer (who happens to ride a horse) comes to town and Norah catches his eye. It seems also that the guy her best friend is in love with instead wants Norah, and then her best guy friend keeps hinting that he wants more than friendship. But Nick is the guy Norah wants and she thinks that it will be the perfect match except for one small problem. Nick hates dogs, especially Norah's dog. He gives her an ultimatum: dog or him. Norah's choice will have a profound impact on the rest of her life.

I'm a pet lover so of course I enjoyed this book. Reading about a woman who loves pets so much and therefore owns a pet shop would be like me owning a book store. I like the town with their street of shops. It sounds like it'd be a really nice place to visit and spend the day. The townspeople were really interesting to read about as well. Lily is eccentric but I would love to visit her shop. I liked Norah's relationship with her elderly neighbor. The new people in town were interesting to read about as well, since the reader becomes suspicious of the son with the recent vandalism creeping into the town. I liked Nick but I'm really glad that Norah did not give in to Nick's demands. I hate reading books where women are the ones that have to do the sacrificing in order to keep their men. I understand that Nick had some fear about past experiences with dogs, but he did not even try to compromise with Norah and Bentley. I almost was happy when it looked like she was going to choose her dog over him. Pets have a special relationship to people, sometimes they are closer friends than other humans because they are loyal no matter what. They love you for who you are and not because of how you look, pets are nonjudgmental unlike people. This book, in my opinion, was so much better than Million Dollar Dilemma. The characters in this story were more likable, and more convincing in character. Wonderful chick lit read.

Ever since reading it's first reviews, I have been anxious to read Norah's Ark. I must say that I enjoyed it as much as anticipated. While I couldn't empathize with Norah's multifaceted dating life, I did relate to her feeling of loneliness after solving everyone's issues. Baer did an excellent job of making this real.

One thing: what in the world does Bently look like? The descriptions in the book, Nick's over-reaction to his appearance and Norah's belief that he looks harmless have made me curious. Non-dog owner that I am would like to see a dog that fits my imagination better than the one on the cover...

The author writes with humor and insight and manages to tell a wonderful story in an upbeat, moral way that leaves the reader smiling.

i thought that this authors writes like a harlequin novel predictable, very unrealistic, not very real, more like a harlequin with some scriptures thrown in, very unlike real life, you knew the ending before you got half way through, how many real friends date someone you like before you say something, even as friends, how many men are there really like joe, even the christian life, very unrealistic and boring.sorry will not be looking her up as a good christian author.