Two Good Dogs

A Novel

By: Susan Wilson

Narrated by: Christina Delaine, Fred Berman, Rick Adamson

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

Susan Wilson, the best-selling author of One Good Dog, delivers another powerful audiobook of loyalty and love.

Single mom Skye Mitchell has sunk her last dime into a dream, owning the venerable, if run-down, LakeView Hotel in the Berkshire Hills. It's here where she believes she'll give her 14-year-old daughter, Cody, a better life. But being an innkeeper is more challenging than she imagined, and Cody still manages to fall in with the wrong crowd. In addition, Cody is keeping an earth-shattering secret that she's terrified to reveal. The once loving, open girl has now become completely withdrawn, and Skye is both desperate and helpless to reach her.

When Adam March and his pit bull, Chance, check in to the hotel, it becomes the first of many visits. Here in these peaceful mountains he finds an unexpected relief from his recent bereavement. He and the beleaguered innkeeper form a tentative friendship. Adam knows the struggles of raising a difficult teenager, and Skye understands loneliness.

And then there is Mingo, a street kid with a pit bull dog of his own. When Cody discovers an overdosed Mingo, Adam takes the boy's dog not just for safekeeping but to foster and then rehome. But the dog isn't the only one who needs saving. A makeshift family begins to form as four lost people learn to trust and rely on each other, with the help of two good dogs.

©2017 Susan Wilson (P)2017 Macmillan Audio

Good, but...

I want to preface the following with the fact that I have been a service dog handler for nearly 15 years and my frustration with this is mostly due to the explosion in misinformation in the last few years regarding public knowledge with service vs therapy vs emotional support animals. I enjoyed the continuation of Adam and Chance's story, and the new characters were interesting too, if a bit predictable. Pretty good voice acting, at least as far as Adam and Chance's narrators went. Like the first one, I thought this book ended rather abruptly.

What I did not enjoy was the perception I worry this book might unintentionally foster out there. The book interchangeably uses service and therapy dogs as terms, when they are very different things. A service dog is a dog trained to perform a specific task or tasks to mitigate a disability, a therapy dog is a dog not trained for a specific person, but is instead socialed to greet groups of people, such as in nursing homes, hospitals, or disaster sites. The innkeeper in this book could not legally have charged Adam any kind of extra fee or denied him service because her inn had more than a certain number (4) of bedrooms (if he was an actual service dog). The book also does not really make it clear which role Chance fills (service or therapy), and that, if he is not an actual service dog, would explain why he did not go certain places. There is so muich misinformation and confusion out there I felt the need to write this review about what some might consider a nitpicky subject. For me, it is a very important one.

I waited forever....worth it !

I waited somewhat patiently for Susan Wilson to write and publish this book. I consistently told all that would listen that "One Good Dog" was my favorite book of all time". This is a significant statement because I consider myself a book addict and a cat person. Wilson did not disappoint me ...I think Chance's story may be complete but I'm not sure...now I have to start waiting again!

cannot put her books down!

loved this book and actually all of her books. her characters are so real you keep reading to see how your friends are doing. don't get me started on the dogs...they are better even than the people. she is a remarkable author and you are missing something if you haven't read all of her books!

A Decent Listen

This is a sequel to One Good Dog which is excellent in story and performance. Like many sequels it’s good but not as good as the first. Chance, the hero in the first story has a minor role by comparison to his first round. Even though it drags in places if you like dogs you may want to listen.

Overly sappy but still fun

Susan Wilson's novel, One Good Dog, is one of my favorite audiobooks. I hoped for the same for this sequel, but it fell short. Unlike her first, I felt the I was constantly being emotionally manipulated in this book. The focus is on a single mother, Skye, running a small rural hotel, and her angry, rebellious novel. Her daughter, Cody, has a secret which is poisoning herself and her relationship with her mother. The conflicts all stem from this, which feels a bit much at times. Adam, from the prior novel, becomes a regular and befriends Skye. In addition, there is a teen recovering from a life of trouble who gets connected with Cody. And there is another dog being rescued from a life of fighting. In spite of being over the top, I found myself still drawn into this novel. I feel almost embarrassed to say that this book did suck me in midway through and I liked it. It is an overly sentimental feel-good story that worked for me.

Great character development of dogs and people

I Really enjoyed getting to know the people and the dogs in this story. If you like stories where you get to hear the dog's thoughts sometimes you will enjoy this one. The dogs thoughts are not overdone as this is a book about people and their life issues. The narrator is excellent. Enjoy!

I always say 2 dogs are better than one!

And it's true here. Perfect sequel to One good Dog which I four-star loved

Narrator has such good accents and no annoying gender changes. The girl's voice is a little annoying at first but as I listened I realized she WAS annoying - a surly early teen, so even that fit. Bravo

PS I only give 5 stars for something I'd want to hear twice, no matter how good the narration

PPS audible should change the sample section to someone other than Cody, as I almost didn't purchase because of her. Not a good example of the entire work.

Wonderful dog story

I really enjoyed the book a real page turner. The narration was perfect and I would definitely recommend this to anybody who loves animals

Excellent Story

Loved the storyline. A real feel good story, and the performance was right on!

Wholesome read

It took a few minutes for the story to grab ah9ld of ke, but when it did, it had mely whole weekend.