What the Dog Ate

By: Jackie Bouchard

Narrated by: Aisling Gray

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

The vet handed Maggie Baxter a plastic specimen bag containing a pair of size-tiny lavender thong panties extracted from her dog; but they were not hers. Or rather, they were hers now since she'd just paid $734 to have Dr. Carter surgically remove them from Kona's gut. 

This is how Maggie Baxter, a practical, rule-following accountant, discovers that her husband of 17 years is cheating on her. All her meticulous life plans are crushed. When he leaves her for the other woman, Maggie and her the-world-is-my-smorgasbord chocolate lab, Kona, are left to put their lives back together. As Maggie begins to develop a Plan B for her life, she decides to be more like Kona. No, she's not going to sniff crotches and eat everything that isn't nailed down; rather she'll try to approach life with more ball-chasing abandon. Finding herself in situations where she begins to go through her usual over-analysis of the pros and cons, she stops and instead asks herself: What would Kona do? With Kona as her guru, Maggie begins her quest for tail-wagging joy. 

What the Dog Ate is a funny, tender story of mending a broken heart and finding love and a new life right under your nose, with woman's best friend at your side. If you enjoyed Claire Cook's Must Love Dogs or Allie Larkin's Stay, you'll love What the Dog Ate and be rooting for Maggie and Kona.

©2012 Jackie Bouchard (P)2018 Jackie Bouchard

Live life like your dog!!!

That may possibly be the greatest piece of advice I have ever received from a book! Need to re-invent yourself? What would your dog do? Need to be more active? What would your dog do? Need to make new friends? What would your dog do? Well.... maybe not that last one, but you get the point. This book follows the journey of a woman who is doing just this! Follow Maggie's journey to re-invent herself by stopping and thinking "What would Kona do?"

The narration was great! This is the first time I have listened to Aisling Gray but it definitely will not be the last. Her work was clear, crisp, and clean throughout the entire book and she made sure to give each character their own sound.

🎧AudiobookObsession

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Amazing story

This is quite an enjoyable read.
if you love dogs and believe in romance... this sure is for you.

I enjoyed it immensely.

Well written and excellent narration

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

AWESOMENESS!

Dogs Rule, can we all agree on that?
They really do :) I have a Black Lab named Chase that's my best buddy in the whole world (well other than my husband lol)
But I've been through a divorce, and loved hearing her tale about starting over and saying WTF.

Very much enjoyed it, well written and narrated, and I'm very glad I found it :)
A gem!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Please take a moment to click the "YES" ("Helpful") button below if you found this review helpful :) Thank you!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Sweet book about finding oneself

A sweet and funny story about growth that speaks to me, especially as a woman that is over 40 years old. It starts with Maggie finding out that Dave, her husband, was cheating on her because her dog, Kona, swallowed another woman’s underwear and had to have medical care to have it removed. Upon realizing this happened, Maggie divorces Dave and goes on a quest to find herself. I love these books about self-growth and realizing what you are worth on your own terms. This was a funny book, filled with humorous but emotional moments that really highlight the importance of being true to yourself. And, not to mention, a key character is a dog. Can anything be better?

I received the audiobook for an honest review and I liked the narrator, Aisling Gray- good pacing, good reflection of the different characters and easy to listen to. I’m happy to have had the opportunity to listen to this book and I liked it so much I borrowed it from KU to supplement the book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Kona knows best!

The author and narrator are both new to me. I am really impressed! Jackie Bouchard has written Maggie's heartbreaking and heart warming story. Along with the help of her dog, friends and family, Maggie must pull herself out of her depression after her husband of 17 years leaves her. This story deals with heartache, depression, finding humor again, friendship, strength of character, self realization, trying to find love again, family support, setting life goals, and the unconditional love of a dog. The author captured my attention from the very beginning. Her story is very realistic and caring.

Aisling Gray is an excellent narrator. She gives the characters very distinct voices and really portrays their emotions. Her words flow smoothly, and she is a pleasure to listen to. I definitely want to listen to more of her narrating. I asked to receive this Audible book and voluntarily wrote this unbiased review. I highly recommend this clean and engaging Audible book by this talented author and talented narrator.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Tender, sweet and marvelous!

What the Dog Ate is a tender, sweet story with a lot of heart and a lot of humor. Many of us will identify with Maggie Baxter. She is so busy following each step of her life plan, playing by the rules of course, that she doesn’t even realize when things change and her husband now apparently finds her boring. I laughed out loud when I learned what the dog really did eat, but I also cried at Maggie’s heartbreak and got mad on her behalf at the injustice of it all. Maggie is at such a loss, she had her next steps practically in concrete, and has absolutely no idea where to go from here. Not back, but how to go forward? Maggie is brave and sometimes goofy and makes a lot of mistakes but she keeps putting one foot in front of the other. Kona is a delight. What’s better than the no-questions-asked, all-encompassing love of a dog? The characters surrounding Maggie are annoying and supportive and loving and infuriating – just like all family and friends.

I received an audiobook of What the Dog Ate from the author. Reader Aisling Gray does a wonderful job. Well-paced, sharp and clear, with all the right voices and inflections. I was not required to provide a review for What the Dog Ate but I loved listening to it and recommend it without hesitation.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

funny romance

this is my 2nd book by this author I'm a new fan for sure.
quirky funny and spot on with puppy love
this book was great I'm 42 so I can relate to late life divorce and the akward stages of re entering dating scene this book had me chuckling along with the fun bits and akward moments.
great book

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

What would Kona do?

Jackie Bouchard and narrator Aisling Gray are both relatively new to me. What a way to find out your husband is cheating on you, having the vet hand you a bag with panties that your dog has swallowed which aren’t yours.
That’s the position Maggie Baxter finds herself in when her husband leaves her for the other woman. Left with her faithful companion Kona, Maggie is left to wonder what to do now. This was a book that had me laughing as Maggie questioned “What would Kona do” on numerous occasions?
This was a funny book, about picking oneself up and moving on and realizing that the love you want may be closer than you think. I loved the narration, it was performed well and really brought the story to life.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Cute, lighthearted story

This is a story of self discovery after divorce. Maggie found out her hubby as having an affair after the dog are a pair of panties that wasnt hers. Maggie reflects on what went wrong and what could she have done differently in their marriage. She decides.to change jobs, work partime until she finds what makes her happy. With help from her friends and her dog Kona, she tries to be more carefree with her decisions. And think like Kona. There are funny dog moments, emotions and love. I recommend this story ..Aisling Gray's narration was good.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Super cute story

I really liked this cute story. It starts out right away with the drama. No lag or buildup. The pace and flow of the book was great and I was really rallying behind Maggie and glad good things happen for her. The narrator was clear and seemed to enjoy this book which helps us enjoy it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Absolutely Loved It!

This is one of those delightfully relatable, remarkably funny, slightly vulnerable stories that keeps the listener hooked from start to finish. From the moment that accountant Maggie Baxter is handed the lavender panties by her veterinarian (the lavender panties that aren't hers) to the last page, the story is filled with interesting characters and rollercoaster adventures. It is a humourous exploration of a woman rediscovering and redefining herself after a divorce. She decides to model her approach to life on her dog (the lavender panties eating dog) which results in some interesting, if not slightly cringeworthy, moments. But it is all good as Maggie coasts through to her well deserved HEA.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

My Thoughts on What the Dog Ate

This book felt like kind of a palette cleanser for me. Normally I read romance that are heavy on the romance and plot and characters. This book was fairly light on the romance but there was enough of it there to satisfy me. The reason I feel like it was light, was because I felt like this book was more about a woman finding happiness in her life in multiple aspects, not just romantic ones. She went through major changes on the relationship front, but she really found herself. Along the way the story was humorous and entertaining. It wasn't the kind I couldn't put down and lost sleep over listening to, but it was one that I easily picked back up in free moments and was ultimately satisfied with what I heard when it was over.

The narrator was a new one for me, but I really liked her. She had humor and personality in her voice that was engaging. I felt she was not only well suited for this role, but I could see myself being comfortable listening to her in other rom-com and chick lit type books as well as hear her in a bit broader range of ages. I think she's well suited for third person type books as well. Over all I just found that I enjoyed listening to her performance and enjoyed this book.

Very enjoyable

This book had me laughing on/off all the way through. Great humour and fantastic characters. Aisling gives these characters likeable personalities. Great job.

What the Dog Ate

Sometimes you believe things happen for a reason, and this is one of those cases. I believe Kona, who loves eating everything, ate those panties on purpose. So Maggie and Kona are bound to start again. I enjoyed this tale of finding yourself after divorce. I love that Maggie chose to start completely over in every aspect of her life. I also love that she found some new and great friends. Her brother actually turned into a great hero for her too. The narration was nice and easy to listen to.

grab life by the (tennis) balls

I loved this story! anything with romance and dogs is always going to be a winner for me , Jackie bouchard writes brilliant stories and Aisling grey narrates them just as brilliantly

a fun laugh out loud story that will make you want to live your life more dog

another enjoyable listen

I enjoyed listening to this story. I like this author and narrator. I don't usually read or listen to books more than once because there are so many books on my TBR list, but I will probably enjoy this one again sometime.I laughed a lot listening to this book. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good laugh out loud romance read.

Awesome Listen!

What the Dog Ate by Jackie Bouchard is full of so many realistic emotions and situations. Kona is a lab after my heart. His person is Maggie, and this is part of their story. I found the imagery in this book to be so well done, I could envision so much. I found this story had some great humor, some parts I wanted to cry, and some full of joy and hope. Aisling Gray performs this book with perfection. I could easily hear who was speaking, and she added to my enjoyment of the book. She brought the characters to life with her performance. This easy listening contemporary story is one I will definitely listen to again. Both author and narrator are fantastic.

Total enjoyment!

Every once in a while, I need a good chick lit book to keep me entertained. When this one popped up, I jumped on it. After all, look at that cover! What a cute dog! Kona is Maggie's dog and her most trusted friend. After her husband, Dave was caught cheating on her in the funniest way possible, Maggie finds herself wallowing in her own pity. But now she is going to pick herself up and get her life back on track. With a group of characters that are both endearing and funny, we get to take Maggie's journey to find her happiness. Bouchard has given us a story with so many great qualities. Maggie has a supportive brother, and some new friends to help her through. She is figuring out what she wants in her life, should she have kids, is her new boyfriend the man for her, should she keep her current career. On her path to self awareness, we get to laugh, cry and most of all love with Maggie.

Narrated by Aisling Gray, the story flows and the time flies by. Gray does a wonderful job with all of the character voices, but most of all, I think she gets the story's essence through the narration. I felt like Maggie is someone I know, and could understand and relate to her. It's a wonderful listen and I highly recommend it.

What the Dog Ate

This is a light-hearted story about love (and the lack of it) which I absolutely adored. Even if it is, at heart, an easy read, this book still tackles difficult subjects and is definitely not all just fluff. As a dog person myself, I really loved that they played such a large role in the story. The characters seemed very real and I'm so happy with the way it worked out! Also, I would quite love to meet Kona, and give him a smoothie!

This book was given to me free of charge in exchange for a review.