Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Must Love Dogs

Must Love Dogs
Must Love Dogs
Author: Claire Cook
Life after divorce for Sarah Hurlihy consists of juggling her job as a preschool teacher and the demands of her interfering family. Then her bossy big sister decides to place a personal ad for her, and the unexpected becomes a daily event. Everybody wants Sarah to put the past behind her and take a bold step towards a fresh start. But when Sarah...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780451217219
ISBN-10: 0451217217
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 304
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 76

3.3 stars, based on 76 ratings
Publisher: NAL Trade
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 33 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
From Library Journal
This utterly charming second novel by Cook (Ready To Fall) is a fun read, perfect for whiling away an afternoon on the beach. Sarah Hurlihy is 40 years old, divorced, and happily teaching preschoolers a multicultural curriculum. But her interfering, overzealous Boston Irish family thinks that she should be dating, and with much love she is pushed into answering a personal ad from a gentleman seeking a lady "who enjoys elegant dining, dancing and the slow bloom of affection"; the clincher is that he's a man who "loves dogs." That man turns out to be the last man on earth any woman would want to date, but Sarah pushes on, slowly falling headlong into the dating game with decidedly mixed results. Meanwhile, Sarah's widowed father has his own dating troubles, brother Michael is deep in marital problems, and sister Carol is having difficulty at home with her temperamental teenage daughter, who turns to her favorite aunt for comfort and body-piercing support. Somehow, they all seem to end up on Sarah's doorstep at the most inopportune moments, keeping the laughs going all the way to the not-quite-storybook-perfect ending. Suitable for all public libraries. Stacy Alesi, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., Boca Raton
hsmom2017 avatar reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
A very funny read. This is a classic story of how family, although caring, can sometimes stick their noses in where they don't belong and how sometimes, it works out for the best. If you like humor, this is a great book to read.
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Love this book! Very entertaining, fell in love with the characters, was sorry when it was over...........
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I read this before it was a movie, the book is so much better.
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 80 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Made into a movie, the book is a good read. Sarah, its herioine, is a down to earth woman whose divorce has left her wondering if there is life after marriage. Determined to find out, she gets back into dating--with her large, Irish family alternately helping and complicating things. Funny, true to life, leaves you wanting more.
Read All 90 Book Reviews of "Must Love Dogs"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

DianaK avatar reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 15 more book reviews
Book Description
Claire Cook's beguilingly original Ready to Fall struck a vibrant chord with its "perky take on midlife angst" (Publishers Weekly). In Must Love Dogs she gives us a contemporary Everywoman in a big rollicking south-of-Boston Irish family-a zany novel with the flavor of Nora Ephron, Susan Isaacs, and Jeanne Ray's Julie and Romeo.

Forty-year-old Sarah Hurlihy, a divorced preschool teacher whose life is her classroom, is about to meet her first date in more than a decade. It was the "Loves Dogs" that hooked her in the personal ad, and now she is scanning her neighborhood café for the man with a yellow rose. And find him she does, but he's the last person on earth she expects to find there . . .
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 88 more book reviews
Cute book. I got a real kick out of reading this book, as I also live in "Marshbury" where this book takes place, and the author has her home.
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 132 more book reviews
Slightly less fluff than the movie, but fun to read
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 128 more book reviews
Really cute, now I have to rent the movie!
reviewed Must Love Dogs on
A humorous look at a barely 40 divorced woman getting back into the dating scene. Between her new dating status and her family, there's never a dull moment. The pages practically turn themselves.
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 52 more book reviews
This is a delight! Laugh your way through this charming romance...and this is an autographed copy.
carlamo avatar reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 269 more book reviews
Fun book - not my usual choice, but I enjoyed reading it. The author has a nice sense of humor.
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 138 more book reviews
Good book
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 4 more book reviews
This book is laugh out loud funny. Wonderful story, excellent writing. I loved this book!
reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 38 more book reviews
I really enjoyed this book and found it very funny. I related to many of the characters and it also reminded me of my prior dating days in between my starter marriage divorce and 2nd marriage when I was looking for Mr. right in all the wrong places.
teacharrgh avatar reviewed Must Love Dogs on + 28 more book reviews
Laugh out loud funny in parts, this book is fun! The movie is a great adaptation, but the book is worth a read.


Genres: