Fiction Friday: Stay

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When Savanah "Van" Leone watches her best friend marry the man she has been in love with since she met him her first day of college, she feels even more lost than when her mom died. A loss which still fills Van with hurt and sadness, as well as tumultuous feelings for her best friend's mom who also happened to be Van's mother's employer. Growing up in the carriage house of the family her mother worked for as a maid meant sharing her mom and creating some blurry lines between the families. 

As a way to escape the heartbreak of watching her only love marry someone else, Van tries to drown her sorrows with vodka and reruns of Rin-Tin-Tin. Before she even knows what she is doing, she has ordered a German Shepherd pup via the internet. Joe, is not exactly the puppy Van thought she was getting, but instead is a huge energetic lug who only knows Slovak commands. 

In the process of trying to keep the beast from destroying her house (that she is now being kicked out of thanks to the pretentious homeowners association) or dying, Van discovers that she just might love this furry walking disaster after all. With Joe's help, Van discovers some pretty amazing new friends, and how to re-navigate life without those she may have lost.

There were so many parts of this story I loved! I love how big a mess of things Van seems to have made of her life. I love how unsure she is, how vulnerable, and needy. We've all been there at some point, and we have made choices that hurt, even if they were right. I love that the process of Van giving herself permission to love herself and fulfill her own needs is neither easy nor a clear unobstructed path. And of course, being a huge dog person, I totally get the mayhem, laughs, and unconditional love these wonderful creatures bring into our lives.

My only complaint about this book is the recurring swearing. The story could absolutely maintain it's full integrity and emotional depth without the swear words. For the most part though, they were fairly easy to skim over, but even still it marred some of my free enjoyment of the read.

Rating: RD - Reader Discretion advised due the prevalence of bad language in some parts, and once implied sexual encounter.

AWBB Points: ! ! !  3/5 (Would have been higher if not for the bad language)

I recieved this book through a free little library exchange and chose to review it on my own. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

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