Lorelei's Lit Lair Recommends... Ruff Around The Edges by Roxanne St. Claire

Ruff Around The Edges 

The Dogfather is a contemporary romance series from New York Times bestselling author Roxanne St. Claire celebrating what she loves most: hot guys, great dogs, big families...and true love. And a portion of the proceeds from every book in the series will be donated to the Alaqua Animal Refuge in the author's home state of Florida!

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U.S Army Night Stalker Major Aidan Kilcannon leaves Afghanistan after his best friend, Charlie, is killed in action. Aidan's only consolation is the knowledge that he's now solely responsible for Charlie's dog, Ruff, a rambunctious boxer they'd found in a bombed-out hospital in Kabul. With the help of Aidan's father, the Dogfather himself, they transport Ruff back to the States. He arrives shortly after Aidan, and both dog and man are suffering from loss, trauma, and sudden change. Aidan is certain his only hope is the comfort and love he gets from Ruff, and that this dog will help him adjust to the staggeringly difficult transition from battlefield to Bitter Bark. 

But the day Ruff arrives, Daniel Kilcannon informs his son that Rebecca Spencer, Charlie's younger sister, has a hard and fast claim on Ruff and she intends to honor her brother's wishes. Aidan has to relinquish the dog to her, no matter how impossible that is. 

Beck Spencer is in Bitter Bark temporarily to help the only living relatives she has left. After losing her parents as a child, and her brother six months ago, she, too, hopes that Ruff will offer the solace and companionship she needs. But when Ruff finally shows up at her door, the man holding the leash is obviously determined to talk her out of keeping the dog. In fact, Aidan uses every persuasive power he has to convince Beck to give up Ruff...and he's as wild and unpredictable as the dog they both want. Everything gets complicated by Ruff, who has his own idea of who should be his master, making it impossible for Beck to win him over. But she'll do anything to succeed, even work closely with maddeningly sexy and relentlessly determined Aidan Kilcannon, who has some skills she desperately needs to save her uncle's local pizza business. 

With an uneasy truce, a restless dog, and an attraction that bubbles like one of Slice of Heaven's award-winning pizzas, Aidan and Beck soon realize they can help each other heal. But as they fall deeply in love and discover the true meaning of family and home, they'll have to face the pains of their past if they have any chance of a future. 

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  Eileen's Thoughts

WOW!! How could one not love Ruff Around the Edges by Roxanne St. Claire, book five in her Dogfather series, despite tugging at my heartstrings. Aidan Kicannon is the youngest and most sensitive of the boys in this family. After losing his best friend, Charlie, while deployed, he leaves the Army to return home, along with Ruff, Charlie’s dog. Returning to Waterford Farm is difficult for Aidan. He is a lost soul, not feeling as if he fit in with his family, missing his mom at every turn, and truly not sure what he wanted to do other than fly. Upon Ruff’s arrival Aidan learns that Charlie also promised the dog to his sister Rebecca, or Beck as she is known. Beck has loss her parents as a preteen and now her brother; she needed Ruff to help deal with her aloneness. She left her photography business and returned to Bitter Bark after her uncle suffered a stroke and to help her aunt run their Pizza Parlor. Aidan steps in to help them out in the restaurant in order to spend time with Ruff and Beck. The more time they spend together, the greater their attraction grows. Beck is afraid of loving anyone after all those she loved has died. It takes time apart, a sad dog, a horrific fire and the warmth of the Kilcannon family before Beck finds peace and love for Aidan. After all, Beck helped Aidan discover his place in the family dog rescue and training business, flying dogs in and out as needed. These two were amazing together, a great addition to the Kilcannon family and business.

I truly loved reading this book. Ms. St. Claire is a talented story teller, being able to top each of her previous releases with another don’t put down story. This amazing story gives Aidan and Beck a chance at love and closure with their past losses. It was difficult to put down Ruff Around the Edges making me forget the world around me. I was drawn me into this book as Ms. St. Claire put my emotions on a rollercoaster with all its twists, turns, highs, and lows. This book is a standalone but includes characters from the previous books in this series. I highly recommend this book to other readers and am looking forward to the next entry in this series.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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About 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. Just 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 to see his pack all settled into their happily ever afters!

SIT...STAY...BEG (Book 1) 

NEW LEASH ON LIFE (Book 2) 

LEADER OF THE PACK (Book 3) 

SANTA PAWS IS COMING TO TOWN (Book 4 - A Holiday Novella) 

BAD TO THE BONE (Book 5) 

RUFF AROUND THE EDGES (Book 6) 

DOUBLE DOG DARE (Book 7 - summer 2018) 

OLD DOG NEW TRICKS (Book 8 - fall 2018)

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Meet Roxanne St. Claire

More books by Roxanne St. Claire

Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty novels of suspense and romance, including the popular Barefoot Bay series, plus multiple stand alone books.

In addition to being an eight-time nominee and one-time winner of the RITA ™ Award, Roxanne’s novels have won the National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense four times, as well as the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, the Maggie, Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, the Award of Excellence, and many others. Her books have been translated into dozens of languages and one has been optioned for film.

Roxanne lives in Florida with her husband and two mostly adorable dogs, and still tries to run the lives of her college-aged daughter and 20-something son.  She can be reached via her website, www.roxannestclaire.com or on her Facebook Reader page, www.facebook.com/roxannestclaire and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/roxannestclaire.

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Reviewer: Eileen is a retired high school teacher who has loved reading all of her life and goes everywhere with a book. She enjoys reading Contemporary Romance, Historical Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Suspense, Women’s Literature, YA, NA, Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Cozy Mysteries. She likes strong heroines, hot heroes and a story that draws her in, not letting go until the last page is turned. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, pup, and near her four adult children.

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