Animal Magnetism Series, Book 1

December 13, 2010
Shalvis kicks off a new contemporary series with this entertaining smalltown tale. Lilah Young has given up on finding Mr. Right in Sunshine, Idaho. Fortunately, when she rear-ends a truck, its owner turns out to be handsome out-of-towner Brady Miller. Lilah, a junk-food–loving animal enthusiast, is focused on her work at an animal kennel. Brady is a pilot-for-hire and photographer who's just in town to help out his foster brothers. Brady and Lilah give in to their chemistry while telling each other their relationship is finite, but soon their passion deepens. There's plenty of sizzle but not much action, and there's never really any doubt that Lilah and Brady will overcome their hangups. Nonetheless, it's an entertaining read and a good choice for readers who like cooing over cute animals as well as a cute romance.

Animal lovers and fans of author Rita Mae Brown will enjoy this book, which looks at the author's life and her love of animals, as well as the lessons she learned from them. It starts with a pet cat and the earliest dogs she knew and goes from there, with special emphasis on foxes. The theme probably is best captured in her line: "There's no such thing as a dumb dog, but God knows there are continents filled with dumb humans." Karen White offers an amiable and effective reading, adding just a hint of a northern Virginia accent on occasion. She hasn't narrated any of Brown's Mrs. Murphy mysteries, so there's no mixing up her voice with that of narrator Kate Forbes. R.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine