"The Dogfather Series"--from author Roxanne St. Claire--Daniel Kilcannon is known as “The Dogfather” for his renowned skills as a veterinarian, his tremendous love of dogs, and his ultimate life's goal to see his six grown children all settled into their happily ever afters! Review included for your enjoyment.

Sit...Stay...Beg

Garrett Kilcannon, a former dot com super-success who now devotes his life to rescuing dogs and finding them homes, prefers to keep his secrets buried as deep as a dog hides his bone. So when he learns his father has invited a journalist to Waterford Farm to write and produce an in-depth profile on him, he doesn’t care that she’s a childhood friend or drop dead gorgeous. He has zero tolerance for the media…until he sees a different side when she gets through the walls of a rescue dog who’s refused to eat during her short stay at Waterford. Unwillingly charmed and undeniably attracted, Garrett agrees to the interview that could break down a few of his emotional walls, too.

Garrett might not want to share the story of his colorful former life, but Jessie Curtis has the skills to peel back the layers of this sexy, complicated, caring man. In the process, she not only discovers his secrets, she finds herself falling for a man who touches her heart in a way she never thought possible. Her entire career is riding on this one explosive interview, but can she bear to repay Garrett’s trust by selling his secrets? Or can a woman who gave up on happiness a long time ago learn to believe that all it takes to rescue a lost heart is the love of a good man?

MY REVIEW: "Sit...Stay...Beg" is Book #1 in "The Dogfather Series" from author Roxanne St. Claire. Animal Welfare and Literacy are two of the causes closest to my heart. I was an only child who communicated with animals better than I did with people (still true), so reading a heartwarming contemporary romance about rescue dogs, a big, loving & complicated family, and a healing-hearts romance is a very enjoyable experience. Garrett Kilcannon built a successful business, sold it, and returned to his family homeplace, Waterford, to rehab and train rescue dogs. He intends to keep the secrets he brought with him deep and buried, but Fate has other plans. His father, Daniel, a highly-respected veterinarian also known as "The Dogfather", has given permission for a journalist to visit Waterford to do a feature story on Garrett. However, it's not just any journalist who's coming--it's Jessie Curtis, a childhood friend of his sister. Coming back to Waterford--a place where she spent many happy hours as a child--should be a good thing for Jessie, but her whole professional future is riding on how well her feature interview with Garrett turns out. A rescue dog named Lola--a beautiful spirit--will break down barriers between Garrett and Jessie with the special magic that only dogs have--but will these two humans be able to face the truths about themselves and about each other? When all secrets and doubts are made clear, will there be room for the love of a lifetime and a happy future? I very much look forward to reading the complete "Dogfather Series" from talented storyteller Roxanne St. Claire.


ROXANNE ST. CLAIRE



The Dogfather Series

Daniel Kilcannon is known as “The Dogfather” for a reason. It’s not just his renowned skills as a veterinarian, his tremendous love of dogs, or the fact that he has turned his homestead in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains into a world class dog training and rescue facility. Ask his six grown children who run Waterford Farm for him, and they’ll tell you that their father’s nickname is due to his uncanny ability to pull a few strings to get what he wants. And what he wants is for his four sons and two daughters to find the kind of life-changing love he had with his dearly departed wife, Annie. This old dog has a few new tricks…and he’ll use them all to see his pack all settled into their happily ever afters!  

Every book cover in this popular series was shot at Alaqua Animal Refuge in the author’s home state of Florida using only rescue dogs (and local guys) on the covers. A portion of book sales is donated to Alaqua to save animals and help them find forever homes.

Book 2

New Leash on Life

Book 3

Leader of the Pack

Book 3.5

Santa Paws is Coming to Town

Book 4

Bad to the Bone

Book 5

Ruff Around the Edges

Book 6

Double Dog Dare

Book 7

Bark! The Herald Angels Sing

Book 8

Old Dog New Tricks



 

AUTHOR ROXANNE ST. CLAIRE SAYS:

"I don’t know about you, but when I check out an author's bio, it’s usually because I’ve read a book I liked and wondered about the person behind it. Let's skip the formal bio and I'll give you the inside scoop on who Roxanne St. Claire really is.

First of all, call me Rocki. Everyone does. Evidently, when my mother brought me home from the hospital I seemed too scrawny and small to pull off “Roxanne” (she’d read Cyrano de Bergerac while pregnant or I would have been Judy) so they called me Rocki.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, the youngest of five (overachievers, every one), and fell in love with words and stories the summer I read Gone With The Wind. That year, for my twelfth birthday, my parents gave me a typewriter (with italic font – it was the coolest thing) and from that day on, I’ve had my fingers on a keyboard, pounding out love stories for fun. My AP English teacher taught me the two most important lessons an aspiring author ever needs: 1) verbs are the key to life and 2) a writer should get a real job. After attending UCLA and graduating with a degree in communications, I tried acting and television broadcasting. Oh, they aren’t real jobs? I learned that the hard way. I changed my last name from Zink to St. Claire because a news producer told me Roxanne Zink had too many harsh consonants for a TV personality – apparently Katie Couric didn’t get the memo. I got some fun gigs, and even met Tom Hanks when I did a guest appearance on Bosom Buddies. I liked on camera work, but wasn’t too crazy about starvation, so I moved to Boston and got that “real” job. In fact, I placed my foot on the bottom rung of the corporate ladder and didn’t look down until I’d climbed all the way up to the level of Senior Vice President at the world’s largest public relations firm. On the way up, I met the man of my dreams in an elevator. Two years later – in the same elevator! – he asked me to marry him and I wisely said yes.

I stayed in PR, moved to Miami, had a few babies, lost my home in a hurricane, built another one a few hours north and all along, I kept writing my “stories” for fun. One night, I read a particularly fabulous romance novel that changed my life for good. That night, I decided I wanted to make someone else feel as whole and happy as that author made me feel. (Everyone asks! It was Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.) With two small children and one big “real” job, writing my first novel wasn’t easy, but I did finish a manuscript that managed to get the attention of a literary agent. She told me to do one thing and one thing fast: write another book. (The first one is usually a “learner” book, honestly.) That second manuscript sold to Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books and was released in 2003 as Tropical Getaway. Since then, I’ve written almost thirty more, in multiple genres, and long ago replaced the corporate ladder with the roller coaster of publishing as a full-time novelist. Finally, writing is my real job.

Today, I live in a small beach community in Florida with my husband and two dogs. Our kids are off to college and law school, which means my nest is empty! I spend my time writing, working with the kids at my church, enjoying my husband's gourmet cooking, and hanging with my many writer friends. Of course, I love to read. I’m still crazy about words and stories and hope to write at least a hundred books in my lifetime. And, yes, verbs are the key to life. My favorites? Love. Work. Believe."

http://www.roxannestclaire.com/