Mini-Read Review is a feature created here on In Libris Veritas in order to showcase the reviews for short stories and novellas which so often get over looked. Today I have Leashed by Zoe Dawson and

Leashed

Source: Purchased on Amazon
Publisher: Blue Moon Creative
Series: Going to the Dogs #1
Edition: Ebook, 85 pages
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Purchase: Amazon *
*I receive a small monetary kickback from Amazon purchases
Rating: 2/5

First book in the Going to the Dog series and is a short novella at 26,000 words.

Jack has some ‘splainin’ to do!

That’s right! Callie Lassiter’s normally well-behaved Great Dane Jack has run off and done the wild thing with the neighbor’s dog. It must be puppy love! It’s doubly embarrassing since she’s a professional dog trainer. Of course, the neighbor would have to be hot, hot nightclub owner bad boy Owen McKay, just the kind of man Callie is determined to avoid.

Owen’s comfortable with his playboy status and the hype in the media. But the ground moves beneath his feet when he gets an eyeful of the girl next door. The Dog Whisperer never looked this good! How can he convince this wholesome honey that his player days are behind him? Maybe Jill, his Great Dane can help him with this dilemma now that she’s pregnant and Callie’s dog is to blame.

Is this bad boy a bad bet?

Leashed is a super short and rather cute romance novella, with a interesting canine related angle. Callie is a dog trainer with a pureblood Great Dane named Jack, and her neighbor is a gorgeous club owner who also happens to own a pureblood Great Dane named…get this, Jill. Yeah, plot convenience at its finest. It does make it really cute and a bit cheesy though. The romance of course is sped up to fit the book’s page limit but I had a bit of a problem with it, while I believed the chemistry was there I didn’t really like when the characters decided to talk. It a bit a stilted at times and the flirting was a tad awkward.  I liked that it found a cute way to include the dogs into the story and I did learn a few things about dog breeding I didn’t know, however I also felt that it was almost too detailed on everything. From champion dog names to posture and everything else. While it was done in a realistic way it felt a bit generic and at times it was like a info overload, which might work better in a longer story  but in something so short it just felt weird. I’m not sure I’ll pick up the next one but overall I thought this was a cute book with a touch of steamy romance and loveable dogs.

Apply Liberally

Source: Purchased on Amazon
Publisher: Lauren Grimley
Series: –
Edition: Ebook, 14 pages
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Purchase: Amazon*
*I receive a small monetary kickback from Amazon purchases
Rating: 4/5

Lissa had decided when she left the stale air of her classroom that afternoon that she was not going to wallow. She would not give Tom, Mr. I’m-just-not-ready-to-commit-right-now, the satisfaction of devastating her summer the way he had destroyed her confidence and sanity the previous four months. No, she decided she would bask in the freedom of her single status. Or at least drown her sorrows in a pitcher of Margaritas, a torrid romance novel, and a package or two of Oreos enjoyed on the nearest vacant stretch of beach.

That’s when it started raining.

Still, a single woman on a mission can not be deterred. And who doesn’t need a little sunscreen even in a thunderstorm?

I grabbed this one simply because I enjoyed Lauren Grimley’s writing for Unforeseen, her vampire novel, and since it was a super short read I didn’t really have to think about it. Apply Liberally is a cute tid-bit of a story that shows Lissa’s attempt to get out of the slump her recent break up has caused, and while it’s only 14 page it did provide a nice little break from my other books. It was nice to sit down for a few minutes and read something that could make me smile.