Atticus is a funny, sweet, feel-good story. It wasn’t perfect, but I did enjoy getting to know these characters, and seeing where life would take them. ~ Java Girl, Guilty Pleasures
Blurb:
This is a love story between…
A woman and a man
A woman and her family
A woman and her friends
A woman and a very special dog that led her to her happily ever after.
Through the haze of vodka and self-loathing, Hazel Roundtree saw the poor creature lying in a ditch.
One brown eye. One blue.
Covered in mud and crying from pain, the puppy was desperately trying to free itself from a hopeless situation.
She almost kept walking by. She had her own problems and besides… no one had ever stopped to help her.
Who we’re ultimately meant to be is a journey without end, but there’s always a defined start…
Hazel had no idea the dog would be her beginning, her second chance, the miracle she never saw coming. She named him Atticus. He grew up to be a very bad—and completely awesome—dog. He took Hazel on a life-changing journey filled with mischievous adventure to find her happily ever after. In the end, Hazel grew up to be completely awesome, too.
It took me a bit to warm up to Hazel, a 32 year-old woman with a history of making bad choices. But, I did warm up to her, eventually liking her tremendously. Her journey from a bartender in a dive bar, sleeping on her best friend’s couch, to an independent, self-sufficient woman strong enough to recognize her old patterns of behavior and actually work on improving her life was eventful, funny, sad, and entertaining. And it all started when she found a puppy, Atticus. Atticus is a Bernese Mountain Dog (I had to google it—they’re gorgeous…and HUGE!) Some chapters are from his POV, a device I found a little silly at first, but grew to enjoy. Atticus has a great sense of humor. I loved the secondary characters, Oley and Bernard, who become important in Hazel’s life. Their impact on each other is heart-warming, sweet, and, for the most part, the most realistic aspect of the story.
My biggest issue with Atticus is how everything magically falls into place for Hazel. Past mistakes are too easily overcome, including damaged family relationships. Atticus isn’t billed as a romance, and it definitely isn’t one, but the easy solutions to problems wasn’t what I expected, either. It felt like a fairy tale where the handsome prince comes along to solve all the fair maiden’s problems, except the prince in this case is a dog. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the story, but it was all a little too easy and pat for me to truly love it. If you’re looking for a feel-good story with a charming canine co-star, Atticus is a good choice.
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