Home Is Where the Bark Is

Shepherd's winning new contemporary romance, the follow-up to Love Is a Four-Legged Word, features former model Serena Oakley, a woman once photographed covered in chocolate and voted "the gal American men wanted to lick all over." Now owner of Paws-A-While, a doggy day care, her radar goes up when handsome Nick Whalen walks in the door clutching a teacup Yorkie. He's a PI hired to determine if there's a connection between Paws-AWhile and the identity theft of its patrons "parents," and his bow-wearing pup is actually his aunt's pet. Though Nick finds Serena seductively sweet, her skittish behavior arouses his suspicions, and Serena has her own trust issues with men and a past of violent victimization. But when Serena's identity is stolen, she and Nick come clean to one another and the sizzle heats up. Shepherd provides enough in the way of red herrings to keep the reader wondering whodunit, but the book's mystery component takes a definite back seat to the developing romance. Compelling lead characters, the clever if cutesy doggy friendly setting, and a deft hand at light humor mitigate yet another heroine-as-victim. (July)