Thank you so much to everyone who preordered the book! All proceeds from preorders and first day sales will go to Odd Paws cat rescue!

Here's a fantastic first-day review that made me all warm and squishy inside:

"Okay, RL Merrill made me cry (in the very best way) with this one. Small town, grumpy-sunshine tropes, with main characters that are well developed.

Luther is a Marine veteran with disabilities, mourning his canine colleague which died in the attack that left him disabled. He lives with Violet, who shared a foster home with him back in the day, and with whom he’s formed a family of choice. Together they are co-parenting foster daughter Mila, who’s 8 years old with a traumatic past.

Luther meets Doug – a former Air Force, current cybersecurity consultant, when they have neighboring booths at a weekend market. Luther is selling his art, Doug is selling merch to benefit Goth Dog Rescue. (See Merrill’s Pinups and Puppies for a fuller story on that – without a spoiler I can say that Doug is the cousin of a main character in that story!)

Their meet-cute is more of a meet-needy, in that Luther literally falls trying to get into his own van and Doug catches him. There’s an attraction there, though, so while Mila attends day camp they have day dates to get to know one another better.

There’s a lot here about chosen family, and the difficulties involved in foster care. I loved the interactions between Mila and the adult characters, who are all invested in helping her have a happier life that she has had. And OMG, the ending… that’s when I cried. Go read it, enjoy the fact that it’s not focused on Christmas, and support your local dog rescue organization.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review." ~ Lori on Goodreads

Thanks to Lori and thanks to all of you! Have a wonderful holiday season however you celebrate, and happy reading