Date: February 9th 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 299
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
Meredith Mancuso is depressed. Ever since the death of her fiancé, she has shrunk from the world. Even with her successful writing career, she's not motivated to work. When her sister, Monica, begs for a favor, Meredith wants nothing more than to say no. But she’s ultimately roped into pet-sitting an orphaned Yorkshire terrier named Prozac.
Blessed with spiritual wisdom and a high IQ, Prozac is an active pet therapy dog. To heal broken-hearted Meredith, he rallies his fan club at Evergreen Gardens, an independent living facility, where he visits each week.
The Thing Is by Kathleen Gerard is told from two points of view. Firstly we have Meredith, a rather depressed but up to now successful author, she lost her significant other in a freak accident, and since then life has gone downhill.
Prozac - a dog is the other narrator. He has lived many lives, being reincarnated each time. He himself has his sights on becoming the dog in the stage show Annie, but this assignment is not the one. Perhaps if the mission he has been sent on this time is successful then maybe next time...! Prozac is wise but also just a dog, so he does what is innate to dogs. He also has a bit of a naughty side to him and loves to wind up those human people every so often. And when he lands with Meredith, well she is an open target.
Meredith is more or less forced into visiting Evergreen Gardens taking Prozac, the dog she has reluctantly ended up minding with her. There we meet a variety of characters, all of whom play their part and along the way some healing happens for Meredith and them. There is a bit of blackmail, a bit of drama, a bit of romance along the way.
This book feels like a mixture of genres to me, there is a definite 'chick lit' tone to it, ( not one of my favourite genres), some part women's fiction, some part romance. So I am calling it romantic comedy as I don't like the term chick lit. There is some wisdom dished out along the way and on the whole it is a fun story.
