My Forever Home

October 1, 2018
The touching third Rescue Me contemporary (after A New Leash on Love) unites two animal lovers from very different walks of life. Tess Grasso is back home in St. Louis after a backpacking tour of Europe. She’s eager to embark on her chosen career as a holistic animal therapist, but progress is slow. On her way home from yet another rejection by a potential client, she’s caught in a driving rainstorm. Nonetheless, she can’t resist retrieving an impish Westie who’s evading a man helplessly holding the dog’s empty leash. Tess has no idea the man is Mason Redding, the St. Louis Red Birds’ famous third baseman and one of the city’s most eligible bachelors. He prefers it that way, since he doesn’t like being chased for his fame. Their instant mutual attraction leads into a tender love story. This isn’t the best in the series, but chapters from a stray husky mix’s point of view improve it and will win the hearts of animal fanciers. Agent: Jessica Watterson, Sandra Dijkstra Literary.

September 15, 2018
In the third book in the Rescue Me series, Burns tells the story of Tess Grasso and Mason Redding. Tess, who was a parental accident, has always felt somewhat inadequate, but a recent trip to Europe has given her the confidence to try to start a pet therapy business while she works at a local shelter. Mason is a noted baseball player recuperating from an auto accident. They meet when he tries to rescue a stray, and the relationship continues when he buys her a laptop to replace the one that was stolen while she was helping him. Tess doesn't know who Mason is, and he doesn't want to tell her until she really gets to know him, which becomes a problem the longer he keeps the truth from her. Eventually they catch the stray, Mason's secret gets out, and Tess gets over her initial feeling of betrayal. This is a sweet romance set against the background of an admirable animal rescue effort, with the added charm of several chapters told from the stray dog's point of view.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)