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Pages: 100
Goes Well With: Chicken fajitas and a cup of steaming coffee in the kitchen
In Redeeming Daisy, veterinarian Pike Martin has to give the news that nobody ever wants to hear, and he has to give it to the girl who broke his brother’s heart. Daisy doesn’t want to believe the news that it’s time to part with her beloved pet—and neither did I. But the story promises flowers of hope blooming behind the pain, and that kept me reading.
I was lucky enough to have family and friends with me when my dog died. Daisy feels like she’s forfeited both, and Elway, the golden lab, will soon break her heart, removing her only source of unconditional love. But it’s okay; if you love animals and people, you’ll love this book.
Pike’s brother Kenn’s heart is mended now, and another brother, Hooper, advises kindness to Daisy. After all, she’s not just losing her dog; her spouse walked out on her not so long ago. So maybe those odd emotions that Pike feels when Daisy leans against him might be respectable after all.
While Pike needs desperately to be needed, Daisy needs someone to make her feel forgiven. Her father tells her, “Sorry’s a big word. Seems you ought to spread it around.” And Kenn’s isn’t the only broken heart in need of her apologies.
Author Tanya Hanson has an ear for dialogue. Daisy’s father comes across as loving and kind, his comments well-meaning rather than hurtful. Pike and his siblings throw delightful conversation around like laughter chasing horses in the wind. Readers will wish that Daisy could laugh, but her meetings with Pike are as fraught with mixed messages as their history would suggest, and somehow neither can quite say anything right—not even in church at Mountain Cove’s singles’ night, not even when the Bible reading is so especially apt—until… Well, you’ll just have to read it.
The author has a nice way with description, too, bringing countryside to life, with aspen daisies, bridges and creeks, apple trees, and a horse feeling his oats “from mane to hoof.” She creates a delightful community with depth and history, as well as people both kind and cruel. And when Daisy is redeemed, it’s clear that there will be more stories to come in the world of Mountain Cove.
Redeeming Daisy is a pleasing lunch-time read, with home-cooked food, a wagon train, and restaurant menus learned from the Cooking Channel, all combined into something comfortable and kind.
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