Kathryn Cathleen O’Hara, Katie, has come to stay with her Aunt Phoebe after her disastrous breakup with her fiancé and from the day she arrives, weird things happen. First when she takes her aunt’s dog Precious Percy Wellington III, a Corgi, to the veterinarian, a very handsome Dr. Winters mistakes her for a homeless woman and tries to give her money. Then her aunt lights so many candles and incense in the house that when Katie gets back she is sure there is a fire and calls the fire department. Hunky fireman Mike Marino arrives to find that it is a false alarm but Katie has injured her foot on the refrigerator trying to get her aunt out of the house so Mike has to carry Katie upstairs where she promptly throws up all down his back. All of this happens in the first chapter of the story, which tells of the first day Katie arrives in Kansas. Now she is starting a new, lower-paying job because of her ex-fiancé’s betrayal and is determined to do well even if the sons of the owner are very attractive. But someone else is just as determined to make sure Katie fails and they are playing rough. Can Katie figure out what is going on before she gets seriously hurt? And could one of the many new men she has met be Mr. Right? Katie hopes not because she doesn’t have time for Mr. Right at the moment.

Gone to the Dogs by Marianne Stephens is a hilarious romantic suspense. Bad karma seems to have it in for Katie and with so many things going wrong at the same time you can’t help but laugh at the silly situations she faces. I really enjoyed Katie’s spirit, independent nature, and stubborn refusal to give in. When you figure out which of the men has Katie’s interest, you will be rooting for him too. Then there is the suspense aspect of the story, someone is trying to sabotage Katie’s job and harm her. Incidents keep happening every few pages and the attempts to harm Katie escalate as the story continues. Ms. Stephens does a good job building the suspense all the way to the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and loved the twist at the end of the story! If you want humor with your romantic suspense, you’ll enjoy this book!

Reviewed by: Stephanie B.