ABOUT A DOG – Jenn McKinlay
A Bluff Point Romance , Book 1
Berkley Sensation
ISBN:   978-0-399-58471-8
June 2017
Contemporary Romance

The Present in Bluff Point, Maine

Four weeks before the wedding, the bride and her three best friends meet in Boston for a girl's weekend and to try on the bridesmaid dresses. At this point I would have named the book a romantic comedy, but as it went along, more and more serious elements were introduced. For instance, it has been seven years since Mackenzie Harris fled Maine after being left at the altar by the man she was to marry. She spent those years in Chicago working as a corporate accountant. Now she's come back to be maid of honor for her very best friend, Emma Tolliver, who doesn't know what she did just before leaving. Mac cried in the arms of—and did the deed with—Emma's brother Gavin, five years younger at twenty. She's not sure how she will face him. Or ever tell Emma. But Emma partners Mac and Gavin hoping she can help cheer him up after losing his last girlfriend.

Emma and Brad, her fiancé, are very much in love. And while Mac helps Emma prepare for the wedding ceremony, venue, guests list and all else that goes on, she takes time to hang with the wedding party: the happy couple, bridesmaids Carly and Jillian, and groomsmen Zachary, Sam, and Gavin . . . none of whom are married. All have distinct personalities.

Mac has a boyfriend in Chicago who suggested a time out while he was in London on business. Another thing she keeps to herself so as not to bring a disturbing element into the mix.

Meanwhile, Mac finds a young dog by a dumpster. She seems to have been thrown out with the trash. Mac takes the pup to Gavin, who just happens to be a veterinarian. Even though Mac tries to find the owners, she and Gavin become more and more attached to the pup whom Mac names Tulip. . . . Conflict enters the picture when a man shows up to claim her.

Two fun characters are Mac's twin spinster aunts who have decided to not waste what years they have left. Be moved and amused by this story ABOUT A DOG and about friendship, relationships gone wrong, and ones that go right!

We can look forward to at least one more story set in Bluff Point, BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE, out soon. It's about the irrepressible Carly, who is moving back to town along with a couple of inherited pets.

Jane Bowers