Nora Hernandez, owner of Simply Eat restaurant and friend of the entire Lone Star Veterinary Clinic staff, finds her relationship with Lane Bishop, a research veterinarian, suffering due to his lack of time for her. But when a tornado hits her town, a fire breaks out in the new building she recently purchased, and his father falls and breaks his leg, they find themselves thankfully brought together more.
As they work together to figure out who caused the fire, they also attempt to figure out who owns a rescued working military dog found on the loose.
Will they solve the mysteries occurring around town? And will they be able to patch back together their weakened relationship?
As always, Y’Barbo, along with her series co-writer Janice Thompson, creates a delightfully fun whodunnit with a lovely cast of characters. Past Lone Star characters aren’t as prevalent, but are still included in the storyline, especially in regard to identifying “Pal” and his owners. She also includes several great themes, like prioritizing those we love and we are never too broken to be fixed.
Told with an almost Mitford-like tone, readers of small town stories, cozy mysteries and animal stories will love “New Leash on Life,” which is due out Sept. 30. You could read this as a standalone, but I’d recommend checking out the rest of the series too.
Five stars out of five.
Barbour Fiction provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.
“New Leash on Life” (Gone to the Dogs, #6) by Kathleen Y’Barbo