Dog helps reconnect owner in ‘Stay’

What woman doesn’t long for a companion who is loyal, always at her beck and call, is willing to snuggle up close at any given moment, and rewards her with lots and lots of kisses? What if that companion is a little hairy and walks on four legs?

Yep, I’m talking about a dog!

In author Allie Larkin’s debut, “Stay,” her character Savannah “Van” Leone is desperate for a little companionship and she finds true love thanks in part to her decision to get a dog.

To say Van was having a bad few days would be stretching it.

After watching her best friend Janie marry the man who had been Van’s former college boyfriend, a man Van herself thought would be her future husband, Van finds herself a little depressed. After drowning her sorrows in a few rounds of grape Kool-Aid and vodka, (never a good idea) and watching a “Rin Tin Tin” marathon, Van decides she needs someone in her life she can totally depend on for absolute love and friendship. So she buys a dog, a German shepherd puppy.

On the Internet.

From Slovakia.

Sight unseen.

Did I mention that grape Kool-Aid and vodka is not a good idea?

When she arrives at the airport to pick up her new pooch, Van is shocked to see her “puppy” is a nearly full-grown, long-haired, fine-looking black German shepherd, who only responds to commands in Slovak. But it's love at first sight, and Van and the dog she names Joe begin their life together as master and hound.

Life seems good. Joe is lovable and cute, but the first time he goes on a running spree through her condo, an alarmed Van hauls him to the nearest vet to find out if her canine is normal. Kind and good-looking veterinarian Alex Brandt comes to her rescue, assuring her all is well. The sparks fly between Alex and Van, but soon bits and pieces of Van’s past begin to threaten the fledgling relationship. Van finds herself not only making adjustments in her life with her new pet, she does some house-cleaning with her past in order to try and hang on to Alex, the best thing that has come along for Van in a long time.

Larkin has created a charming, light-hearted tale of how a funny pooch named Joe could bring true love into his owner’s life. In this well-crafted story, the reader will find moments of giggling competing with moments of emotional tears as Larkin tells the story of Van Leone’s disarrayed but funny life.

Dog lovers and lovers of good books will find “Stay” to absolutely be one of those books you put in your keeper pile to revisit again and again. It’s just that dog-gone good.