Book Review: Dixon's Place

 

Blurb:

When Bill and Meghan Corradini, an affluent and self-described spoiled young couple, decide they want ducks to adorn the pond they plan to build at their dream home, neither of them can imagine the mayhem, heartbreak and joy that will ensue.

Bill decides to purchase a couple of ducks but when there are just three left, he cannot abandon the third sibling, so all three come home with him and are promptly named after players for his beloved college team, the Oregon Ducks—despite the fact that all are female. He and Meghan set about spoiling and pampering their ducks, lavishing them with love.

Unfortunately, despite precautions, tragedy strikes and it changes Bill and Meghan in a profound way. Bill tells Meghan that he wants to make a difference in the lives of abandoned, abused and neglected animals. They decide to devote their time and resources to doing just that.

Along the way, both mature and their bond is deepened and strengthened as they face numerous emotional trials, most revolving around the animals they rescue and usually end up adopting. Within short order, one animal becomes two and the additions to their household multiply. Their lives are irreversibly changed and enriched.

In caring for these animals, Bill and Meghan discover their purpose in life, serve as examples to their friends and family and realize their deep capacity for love—both for the animals they work with and for each other. Their story is inspiring and never dull. It will resonate with animal lovers everywhere.

 

Review:

 

When the book began, I have to confess that I didn't much care for either Bill or Meghan whose lives seemed to revolve around the acquisition of material things. They didn't seem to like each other very  much either. Their jobs required long hours of work, and on weekends, they killed time and waited for Monday to come.

 

The arrival of their ducks heralded a huge change in their outlook on life. Other living creatures with personalities and needs now depended on them for survival. Their hearts were touched, and they devoted themselves to their ducks.

 

Now that their eyes were opened to the huge number of abused and neglected animals in the US, they didn't stop at ducks. They ended up with bunnies, birds, and dogs, sixteen to be exact, and somewhere along the way they bonded as a family and grew into people to be proud of. Bill even reconnected with the daughter he'd lost contact with. Prepare to be emotional. Things happen to some of their animals. 

 

The book is heartwarming for any animal lover. I don't know why some people are so mean to animals, but they are, and we need a lot more people like Bill and Meghan to step up and make a difference in the lives of animals. I enjoyed the book, and in case you still were wondering, I think I'd like Bill and Meghan quite a lot.

 

Bill will be awarding a $10 Wild Child Publishing GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour so follow and comment often for a better chance to win. See the tour schedule at

 http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/04/virtual-reviewtour-dixons-place-by.html

 

 

 



Beyond the Book: Aww, Look at That Kitty

Hello, and welcome to this issue of Beyond the Book.  Today’s visitor is Rachel Amos Hayes my heroine in The Sentence.  Rachel came today to tell us about her new crusade.  Rachel, take it away.

Gosh, Elaine made me sound important!  LOL.  I’m not terribly important, but I think my new crusade is.  I recently joined an animal rescue organization.  Most people probably don’t see the need for such organizations, but if so, I bet they don’t know how many animals are subjected to horrific abuse and torture each year.  Estimates vary as to how many, but some sources estimate that in the US about half a million per year are victimized. 

Maybe people don’t understand that even animals suffer pain and fear when they’re abused.  I hope that’s the case.  Otherwise, we’re dealing with some cruel human beings. 

My own little cat is a rescue cat.  Someone dumped her from a car and sped away, leaving a small kitten to fend for itself.  My husband Clint saw the kitten and tried to catch her, but she was afraid and ran away.  Over the next week we fed her, and she gradually let us pet her. 

She was real sick which might be the reason her owner threw her away.  We took her to the vet who said she had a cold.  Kittens are very susceptible to colds.  He said to keep her warm and feed her well.  We did that, and she’s now a beautiful, healthy cat.  I took this picture of her sitting in one of my flower pots last year.  I called it potted cat.  And please don't think that black cats are bad luck.  They aren't.  That's just a silly superstition.

If you’d like to help animals, here are some things you can do.

1.      If you see an animal being abused, contact your local law enforcement officials or the humane society.

2.      Adopt a pet from the local animal shelter.  Sometimes they have purebreds, but a mixed breed dog often makes a better pet because they’re sometimes not as sickly as their pedigreed relatives.

3.      Never buy puppies from ‘puppy mills’ or places of that sort.

4.      Volunteer at your local shelter.

5.      Spread awareness wherever you can, maybe on your Facebook page.

Thanks in advance for all you do to help animals.

 

 

Picture: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thunder_(black_cat).jpg

 

Books for Bunnies

Books for Bunnies is an event set up by the blogger over at The Bunny’s Review and coordinated with the help of blogger Alchemy of Scrawl. 

These two ladies have worked tirelessly in getting authors to donate eBooks for the event.   Currently there are over 100 eBooks that have been donated, along with over 30 print books.  Some of the print books are even signed by the author’s themselves.

The event is to help raise money for the House Rabbit Society.  The House Rabbit Society (or HRS) is a 501 non-profit organization to help raise awareness and to rescue rabbits from animal shelters.  Below is a little about the background of the HRS.

House Rabbit Society is a national, nonprofit animal welfare organization based in Richmond, California. Our mission has two parts:

• Through our fostering program, volunteers rescue abandoned rabbits and find permanent adoptive homes for them.
• Through education, we seek to reduce the number of unwanted rabbits — and to improve bunnies' lives — by helping people better understand these often misunderstood companion animals.

In line with our mission, we are against the exploitation of rabbits.

Since HRS was founded in 1988, over 25,000 rabbits have been rescued through our foster homes across the United States. Many of these bunnies had run out of time at animal shelters and were scheduled for euthanasia; others had been deemed "unadoptable" because of age, health, or disposition. Because there is no time limit on our rescued rabbits, HRS foster parents are able to spend time getting to know each individual bunny and can then match him or her with an appropriate home. We neuter/spay all incoming rabbits, obtain any necessary veterinary care, and attend to their social needs.

In caring for so many diverse bunnies, our all-volunteer organization has learned a tremendous amount about their social, behavioral, and medical requirements. By sharing the collected information these rabbits have taught us, we are able to help other people improve their relationships with their rabbits. HRS provides educational materials to veterinarians and humane societies and helps individual rabbit people solve behavior and health problems, primarily through our web site, www.rabbit.org, and our quarterly publication, House Rabbit Journal.

Over the past 20 years, HRS has grown from 300 to more than 8,000 members, with local chapters and educators in over 30 states plus Canada, Italy, Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore. Our web site, www.rabbit.org, is accessed over 100,000 times a day by people in dozens of countries around the world.

We are asking people to donate money to the HRS at this link through Network for Good.   The person that makes a donation will receive either an eBook or print book equal to the amount donated.  There are books ranging in price from 99 cents to $27.00.  There are several print copies of the books that have been autographed by the author. 

The person that donates will receive an email thanking them for donating.  That email needs to be forwarded to books4bunnys@bunnysreview.com.  This will show the amount that has been donated.  Please remember there is not any donation that is too small.  Any amount will be greatly appreciated.   The HRS will use the money to either help pay for vet bills or help in finding a forever home for the hundreds of bunnies in their care.

Please if possible take a moment to donate a couple of dollars to the HRS you never know what bunny’s life you might be saving.

Suzie & The Bunnies - CupCake & Coale

Books for Bunnies Website:  http://booksforbunnies.com

Video for the House Rabbit Society: 

RAFFLECOPTER FOR THE GIVEAWAY:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chance of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/07/special-blog-blast-books-for-bunnies.html