Books for Christian Girls: "New Leash on Life" by Kathleen Y'Barbo

About this book:

  “How Is a Missing Military Working Dog Related to Two Local Fires?
   Air Force veteran Dr. Lane Bishop and Nora Hernandez’s romance has cooled. He is busy working as a researcher at the vet school, and she’s busy with her restaurant and opening an antique shop. What Lane hasn’t told her is his PTSD, which manifests mostly with nightmares, makes him believe he’s damaged goods. But that is about to change when he meets a stray pup that acts a lot like a military working dog.
    When a tornado hits Brenham, there is damage in the downtown area and a fire is ignited in Nora’s new store. A Belgian Malinois dog is seen at the fire and later Lane sees him at a wedding venue where an explosion occurs. Not long after, a second explosion rocks Brenham and sends Nora and Lane on a hunt for the person responsible. Will the pair find the guilty party before more damage is done to the city’s landmarks? And will Lane find the words to tell Nora how much he loves her before it’s too late?”

Series: The final book (#6) in the “Gone to the Dogs Mystery” series. Can be read as stand-alones, but would be most enjoyed if read in order. Reviews of Book #1 Here!, Book #2 Here!, Book #3 Here!, and Book #4 Here!, and Book #5 Here!

Spiritual Content- 2 Chronicles 12:9-10 at the beginning; Prayers & Thanking God; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, worship, & pastors; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A few mentions of Saint Anthony; A couple mentions of thanking & praising the Lord; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of a godsend;  A mention of a Christian university.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: two forms of ‘dumb’, two ‘oh my gosh’s, five ‘stupid’s, seven forms of ‘idiot’; Sarcasm; Pain & Injuries; Lane has PTSD and nightmares from his time in the military & talks to a therapist via email (once, though it’s implied they have talked before and during the book; very light in terms of details or on-page mentions); Nora & Cassidy sneak into a building they’ve been told not to go into (by their boyfriends and the police, *Spoiler* but realize why they shouldn’t be there and Nora admits she went in the building to a police officer *End of Spoiler*); Many mentions of tornadoes, damages, a fire, & explosives; Many mentions of possible explosives or drug making, a crime scene, criminals, arrests, & jail/prison; Mentions of PTSD, military-related nightmares, deaths, injuries, shootings, bombs, & military men and dogs going AWOL; Mentions of injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & stitches; Mentions of stolen items, stolen dogs, thefts, & thieves; Mentions of tattoos; A few mentions of the death of a spouse and parent & grief (for a wife and a mother); A few mentions of the death of beloved pets; A couple mentions of a possible burglary; A couple mentions of threats; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A mention of scams; A mention of a divorce; A mention of a dog fight;
             *Note: Mentions of brand names (Crock-Pot, Blue Bell Ice Cream, Whataburger, Dr. Pepper, HEB, Yeti cooler, Kate Spade, Adidas, & Harley Davidson); Mentions of singers & songs (George Strait, Buddy Holly, Bob Wills, Marilyn Monroe, Dolly Parton, & Toby Mac); A few mentions of car brands; A few mentions of TV shows (Inspector Gadget, Murder She Wrote, The Bachelor); A few mentions of FaceTime; A mention of a designer (Vera Wang); A mention of a painter (Vincent van Gogh); A mention of a fast food chain (Dairy Queen); A mention of Girl Scouts.

Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, a fingers/hand kiss, two cheek kisses, two top-of-the-head kisses, an almost kiss, five not-detailed kisses, and two barely-above-not-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Hand holding, & Smelling (up to semi-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); a ‘babe’, a ‘baby’, and a ‘hunky’; Many mentions of dating, dates, girlfriends/boyfriends, exes, & break-ups; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of kisses & kissing; A mention of a guy who used to flirt with everyone’s girlfriends; A mention of a chaperone; Love, being in love, trying to fall out of love, & the emotions.

-Nora Hernandez,
-Lane Bishop
                                1^st person P.O.V. switches between them
                                                        259 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

I’m so sad that this series is over! It’s been my most anticipated book releases for the last couple of years and they all have received at least a four-star rating from me. I’ve loved all the characters, the Texas charm, and, of course, the dogs! It’s been a really good series and I’m sad it’s over now.

When I had first seen this book online, I couldn’t remember seeing about this main couple in any of the prior books, but Goodreads had an old description, so that was throwing me! Nora is actually Cassidy’s chef friend we met in a prior book, so we see all mentions (if not have actual conversations with) all of the characters from the other books in the series. This book was a bit different from the rest, though, because we get Lane’s point of view. I’m glad we did because just from Nora’s perspective, I could see why she was frustrated with him, but because of his point of view, I understood more of where he was coming from. All in all, a good read with a mystery that kept me guessing with all the possible suspects!

See y’all on Friday with a new review!