Head Over Paws by Debbie Burns

Love can lead to your forever home

Olivia Graham isn't in a position to have a dog of her own, but her new position as a volunteer rescue driver for the local animal shelter will keep her close to her four-legged friends. When she's called to transport dogs and cats that have been misplaced by flooding, she doesn't hesitate to help, but her aging car isn't as reliable as she is...

She's picked up by veterinarian Gabe Wentworth, former EMT and firefighter, who's also heading to the rescue site. After a bad breakup, Gabe's embraced the hermit life. When he meets Olivia, he can't deny their irresistible mutual attraction, and his first thought is to run the other direction. But the more he learns about the woman who would risk everything to save vulnerable animals, the more he realizes what he might be willing to risk...

Book 5
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary –☆☆☆☆
Olivia Graham has signed up to be a volunteer rescue driver, and on her first attempt to help rescue animals displaced by a flood, her car breaks down. She is waiting for someone to pick her up when a sexy man drives up.

Gabe Wentworth is a veterinarian and a volunteer at an animal shelter. When he leaves the shelter, he gets a call to help a stranded rescue driver. When he pulls up and sees the redheaded beauty, he is immediately attracted to her. Feelings he hasn't felt in years are brought to the surface.

Gabe and Olivia go on a wild ride from rescuing a dog trapped in a pen with rising river water, to her losing her phone, and then finding they work near each other. They try to make a relationship work but with the school year coming to a close, Olivia might be leaving the city to find another job.

What will happen if she has to take a job elsewhere? Can they continue a relationship seeing each other on the weekends? Will they continue to volunteer at the shelter?

This is a great story that is filled with fun, a sexy man, and fun-loving dogs and cats. This a first for me from this author and I want to read the rest of this series. If you love stories with fun, dogs, and a love to last, then you need to read this one.


Avid Reader – ☆☆☆
M/F Romance

Olivia is wanting to give back in some way and, despite loving her job as a teacher, she feels adrift. When she is asked to help drive rescued dogs from a flooded area, she jumps at the chance. However, she runs into some trouble on her way to get the dogs.

Gabe knows that he is a good vet. But with a history that has left him slightly bitter, he keeps his head down and just wants to help as many animals as he can. Yun is his best friend from school and even though she keeps him sane, she also drives him insane sometimes. It's at her insistence that he drive down to do all he can for the animals that are being displaced by a massive flood.

While Gabe is wary of helping a stranger, he sees that Olivia does need it and he can't bring himself to just strand her. This is where the romance kind of misses the target for me. They have some good chemistry here and there, but for the most part, Gabe is still hung up on his issues and Olivia is worried about where she will be next year.

They both love animals, dogs especially, but that just isn't enough to keep them in the romance department. I felt that their relationship was very young adult. It didn't really have a grownup feeling to it, and they were fairly involved in their own insecurities for the majority of the story. While I did like the dog's perspective, I wished there had been more of that and less of Gabe and Olivia's dancing around.

Overall, this was just an okay read for me. It was quick and fun, but lacked in the development of the relationship aspect. That's not to say that there was no development, it just missed the mark for me on moving their relationship forward.

Also Available in the Rescue Me Series

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Sit, Stay, Love post.

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our My Forever Home post.

Book 4
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Love at First Bark post.

Debbie lives in St. Louis with her family, two phenomenal rescue dogs, and a somewhat tetchy Maine coon cat who everyone loves anyway. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, and daydreaming, which, of course, always leads to new story ideas.

Debbie’s writing commendations include a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews for A New Leash on Love, as well as first-place awards for short stories, flash fiction, and longer selections.

Connect with Debbie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Head Over Paws (Rescue Me #5) by Debbie Burns to read and review.

Love at First Bark by Debbie Burns

Animal portrait painter Mia Chambers and architect Ben Thomas have volunteered at the High Grove Animal Shelter for years, and they share a complicated history. Ben has secretly loved Mia all this time, but she was married to his best friend. Now she's newly widowed, with a young son, and Ben doesn't know how to tell her what's in his heart. All he can do is stay close, help her as much as she'll let him, and watch for the right moment to bare his soul.

When a dozen adorable border collies get dumped in St. Louis' biggest park, everyone at the shelter mobilizes for a large-scale rescue. Rushing to the park to round up the frisky collies, Ben and Mia unexpectedly plunge into a new phase of their entangled lives. Who knew that opening their hearts and homes—to animals in need and to each other—would lead to so many upheavals... and new beginnings...?

Book 4
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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars

I love all the dogs in this book! This a slow-burn, second chance romance. When we first meet them, Mia and Ben are likeable characters with a decade of baggage hanging heavily between them. As godfather to Mia’s son, Ben is a constant in her life after her husband’s death, but Mia doesn’t realise how long Ben has had feelings for her.

Parts of this story are quite dark. Mia’s marriage was complicated and she’s struggling as a widow with a young son. Ben struggles with the morality of his feelings for Mia. Fortunately, the dogs in the book bring joy and the potential for fresh starts. This is a very slow and angsty read. Even when Ben and Mia start to explore their feelings, Mia’s mother-in-law complicates things further.

For me, the relationships in this story feel more real than most romance novels. I read this while on holiday and it was quite a bit heavier than I’d expected from the title and cover. I liked the characters and I think I might have enjoyed the story more if I’d read it in a different time and place. I’m never a huge fan of kids in romance and this felt a little bit too much like a Hallmark family film at times. There isn’t much heat in the book and little opportunity for any chemistry between Mia and Ben to develop.

Also Available in the Rescue Me Series

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Sit, Stay, Love post.

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our My Forever Home post.

Debbie lives in St. Louis with her family, two phenomenal rescue dogs, and a somewhat tetchy Maine coon cat who everyone loves anyway. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, and daydreaming, which, of course, always leads to new story ideas.

Debbie’s writing commendations include a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews for A New Leash on Love, as well as first-place awards for short stories, flash fiction, and longer selections.

Connect with Debbie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Love at First Bark (Rescue Me #4) by Debbie Burns to read and review.

My Forever Home by Debbie Burns

Love comes to the rescue

Vet school drop-out Tess Grasso dreams of having her own pet therapy business, but she meets one disastrous obstacle after another. There's no denying she has a way with animals, so in the meantime she puts her skills to use at a local no-kill shelter. Between helping her furry companions and a budding relationship with fellow dog lover Mason Redding, Tess begins to find fresh confidence...

What Tess doesn't know is that Mason is recovering from an accident, hoping to get back to his pro-baseball career. He's afraid the truth will ruin everything-and he's right. But in the midst of hurt and betrayal, a free-spirited stray Husky enters their lives, and teaches them a few things about faith, love and forgiveness.

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Romance

Tess is amazing with animals. She wanted to be a vet but realized that she wanted more than to just fix broken or sick animals. When she realizes that she is floundering, she heads back to her grandma's house to figure out what her next steps are. Tess was the accidental child and she knew it. But once she came to grips with it, she realized that she had a lot of love, just not directly from her parents. When she realizes that she can truly help animals, she sets out to start a business. But she is finding it much more difficult than she anticipated. When she is worrying about her new business, she sees a stranger in a park trying to catch a dog, she knows that she can help. That stranger was Mason.

Mason is a baseball player who is also known for taking some unnecessary risks. While recovering from a car crash, he is helping his neighbor with his dog and is having difficulty with getting the dog to stay on the leash. Mason also has noticed a stray dog that is wanting to trust but isn't sure how. Mason is instantly taken with Tess' ability to handle animals.

These two have a slow burn relationship. I like how we were able to see the mind behind John Ronald too. I thought that it lent a lot to the story to see his past as well. This is a sweet story about finding love, holding on to it, and letting yourself find happiness. I really enjoyed the secondary characters too.

Also Available in the Rescue Me Series

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Sit, Stay, Love post.

Debbie lives in St. Louis with her family, two phenomenal rescue dogs, and a somewhat tetchy Maine coon cat who everyone loves anyway. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, and daydreaming, which, of course, always leads to new story ideas.

Debbie’s writing commendations include a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews for A New Leash on Love, as well as first-place awards for short stories, flash fiction, and longer selections.

Connect with Debbie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of My Forever Home (Rescue Me #3) by Debbie Burns to read and review.

Sit, Stay, Love by Debbie Burns

These dogs aren't the only ones in need of rescue

For devoted no-kill shelter worker Kelsey Sutton, rehabbing a group of rescue dogs is a welcome challenge. Working with a sexy ex-military dog handler who needs some TLC himself? That's a different story.

Kurt Crawford keeps his heart locked away from everyone. Well, everyone except the dogs who need his help... and always have his back. But as Kurt gets to know the compassionate, beautiful woman he's been assigned to work with, he can't help but feel a little puppy love...

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars
M/F Romance
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger warnings.

Kurt and Kelsey are a couple who would seemingly not have very much in common. Kelsey is a very soft-hearted woman who would die for any of the animals in her shelter. She gives everything that she has to them and with that devotion, she also makes an incredible friend. When she is asked to head up a rehabilitation program for a dog fighting ring, she doesn't hesitate.

Kurt is just coming home from being deployed. He has been a dog handler his entire career and lost many friends. With each loss, a little part of himself was lost too. When he comes home and is asked to help rehabilitate some fighting dogs and get them ready to be adopted, he balks at first. He came home to lose himself in work but wanted to stay away from the dogs.

Kurt and Kelsey's relationship was very slow burn. They took their time and despite the communicating hang-ups that Kurt has, it seems that Kelsey is very intuitive. However, the love story was not very fluid and seemed at times to drag on for a while. Also, the book was a lot about the dogs and less about the romance. I think that my final issue is that it seemed to end very abruptly.

But, in saying all of that, if you're a dog lover, you're going to love the personalities of all of the animals involved. The kindness that each character displays for them is truly admirable. I wonder if Kurt's longtime friend, Tess, will get her own story next?

Debbie lives in St. Louis with her family, two phenomenal rescue dogs, and a somewhat tetchy Maine coon cat who everyone loves anyway. Her hobbies include hiking, gardening, and daydreaming, which, of course, always leads to new story ideas.

Debbie’s writing commendations include a starred review from Publishers Weekly and a Top Pick from RT Book Reviews for A New Leash on Love, as well as first-place awards for short stories, flash fiction, and longer selections.

Connect with Debbie

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Sit, Stay, Love (Rescue Me #2) by Debbie Burns to read and review.