Skye Mitchell has bought a small hotel, the Lakeview, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, and moved her daughter, Cody, there from Holyoke. It wasn't planned that way, but events so develop that they make the move almost immediately after Randy Mitchell, Cody's father and Skye's ex-husband, is shot dead in a back alley.

It's six months later, and the Lakeview has turned out to be a money pit. A money pit with real potential, but a money pit. Skye is barely making ends meet while repairs and upgrades proceed slowly. And Cody, previously an open and loving girl, has become cold and withdrawn and increasingly hostile. Is it just an especially awful case of teenager-hood? No. In fact, Cody is keeping a terrible secret she has no idea how to cope with, and doesn't dare share with her mother.

Then on a cold, rainy, awful night for driving, Adam March, a fundraiser for nonprofit organizations, arrives in the Lakeview's reception area. He had planned to continue on to the Holiday Inn, where he had reservations, but the driving on the curving country roads in the storm is just too bad to make it worth the risk. The Lakeview has entirely too many empty rooms, but Adam has his dog Chance with him, a pit bull he describes as his "therapy dog." We'll come back to that description later. Now, no decent hotelier who can't be fired by someone higher up would refuse shelter to a person traveling with a well-behaved, quiet dog in a frightening storm like the one Adam arrives in, but Skye tries. She really, really tries. But it's obviously an inhumane thing to do, and Adam is happy to accept the worst room in the nearly-empty hotel, and pay a $50 "cleaning fee" surcharge for it. Skye folds, because she needs the business.

You can probably tell I didn't start out liking Skye, although we are clearly supposed to. I did warm up to some over the course of the story, though.

The story is told in four voices: Skye, Cody, Adam, and Chance. Skye and Chance's sections are in first person; Cody and Adam's are in third person.

Adam is there to help get a fundraising plan started for the Art Center, the one good thing Cody has found in this area. She has no friends, all the kids in her class have been friends since first grade, and where she spends an awful lot of time working in the hotel as chambermaid and general dogsbody. But at the Art Center, the artists tolerate her and she's able, a little bit, to develop her art. Adam is a grieving widower, his wife dead only three months at the start of this book.

Over the next several months, Adam becomes a regular guest at the Lakeview, and gradually learns that Cody is spending far more time at the Art Center than her mother is aware of, and trading chores and posing for art lessons from the head of the center, Mosley Finch. Chance keeps his main focus on his own human, Adam, as is only appropriate, but he senses Cody's sadness and tries to comfort her, too. At school, Cody makes a sort-of friend called "Black Molly" (because she dresses in all black, all the time), who turns out to be bad news. Yet a kid who is being bullied by everyone that matters in school doesn't easily turn away even a poor choice of friend, especially when she doesn't feel she can open up to her mother. (Cody's high school experiences remind me all too much of my own in junior high. However, my parents were imperfect, they were a lot more available than Skye often is, and I didn't have a traumatic secret to keep. That may be what protected me from potential "friends" such as Molly.)

And then one day at the Art Center, Adam asks Cody to take Chance out for a potty break. Outside, Chance hears a dog in great distress. He runs off in that direction, and Cody follows.

They find a crack house, with an older boy unconscious from OD'ing, and a dog chained to the wall. Cody does the sensible thing, calling both 911 and Adam.

Everyone in this book has problems, and they all struggle with them. Chance and the dog in the crack house are both dogs who were previously fought. Adam and Mingo, the boy who overdosed, but survived due to Cody and Chance's timely arrival, each rescued their dogs, and really ought to recognize their kindred spirits faster than they do. I like the character development, yes, even Skye, who does learn, and it's an involving and in the end satisfying story.

I said we'd talk about that description of Chance as a "therapy dog." That's the description most often used, though Adam sometimes refers to him as a service dog, and we're told that Chance has a service dog vest that he wears when Adam will be taking him to places where it's needed to avoid unnecessary hassles. "Therapy dog" and "service dog" don't mean the same thing. A therapy dog and its handler help other people. Often they visit hospitals, nursing homes, old age centers. Some participate in school or library programs for children with reading difficulties. Some are trained to participate in Animal Assisted Therapy with professional therapists to help their patients. Some are "comfort dogs" who are brought to people under stress, such as after a traumatic event.

Therapy dogs are wonderful dogs.

Therapy dogs are not service dogs, and don't have the public access rights of service dogs.

Service dogs are trained to help their handler, their person, cope with a variety of otherwise-disabling or dangerous problems. Guide dogs and mobility assistance dogs are service dogs. Dogs who alert to low or high blood sugar in diabetics are service dogs, as are hearing assistance dogs for the deaf. The dogs trained to assist returned combat veterans with PTSD are service dogs. Without going through every permutation of medical service dog, the kind most relevant here are the dogs trained to help people with significant emotional and psychiatric problems.

We're both told and shown over the course of this book that Chance helps Adam manage his rage and reactivity, so that he can function reasonably in public. He couldn't do his job without Chance to help keep him balanced and functional, and Chance needs to be with him to do that.

Chance is a service dog. Federal law, specifically the ADA, guarantees the right of a disabled person to bring their service dog with them essentially everywhere. I've had my service dog with me in the hospital during hospital stays.

When Adam arrives at the Lakeview Hotel and Skye tried to deny him a room based on her No Pets policy, had Adam spoken up clearly and more precisely, saying that Chance was his service dog, she might have realized that the ADA meant she couldn't refuse him a room based on the dog. In a perfect world, I'd have recommended that he put Chance's service dog vest on, even though it's not legally required, because it tends to make life easier. It's all about clear communication, often. The fact that Wilson has Adam mostly refer to Chance as a therapy dog and never has him explain Chance's importance to his ability to function normally, really makes me wonder if she knows any of this.

It's perhaps also important to note that a service dog must behave appropriately. You can't be told to remove your service dog from the premises because someone else objects to the dog, but you can be required to remove your service dog if it behaves inappropriately. If it barks excessively, or harasses other people, or pees or poops in a place where it's not allowed. My first stop on getting out of the car with my service dog is a spot where she can potty before we go into any business--even Petco or Petsmart, which are equipped to cope with potty mistakes and won't freak and throw us out. It's just proper behavior, for any dog whom you bring in anywhere. If your dog can't handle this, your dog is not yet adequately trained to be a service dog.

At no point do we see chance doing anything inappropriate for a service dog.

Anyway, I did really enjoy this book, and you may enjoy it even more than I did, if the distinctions between therapy dogs and service dogs seem like minor details to you. (Which, admittedly, they probably do, if you aren't dependent on a service dog to be able to function normally!

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

Two Good Dogs is the newest book by Susan Wilson (author of One Good Dog). Skye Mitchell and her fourteen-year-old daughter, Cody have moved to the Berkshire Hills. Skye has purchased the LakeView Motel and is hoping this is a new start for the two of them. Cody’s personality has taken a three hundred and sixty degree turn since the death of her father, Randy six months earlier (not that he was every around much). She is no longer the happy sunny girl. Cody is rebellious, sullen, and keeps to herself. Calls from the high school principal have become a regular occurrence. Skye does not know what is wrong with Cody, and Cody refuses to talk to with her mother. The LakeView Motel is not quite what Skye expected. It needs many repairs, and Skye does not have the money to get them completed (income is low at this time). One night there is a heavy rainstorm and Adam March cannot continue on to his destination. He sees the sign for the LakeView Motel and pulls in. Skye is happy for a guest (the guest’s money), but Adam has a buddy with him that she does not want to allow in her motel. Adam travels with his dog, Chance. Chance is a pit bull rescue that is a certified therapy dog. Skye reluctantly allows Adam to stay for the night (and charges him an extra fee for the dog). Chance can tell that Cody has a lot of anger in her and needs comforting. It turns out that Cody has a secret that she cannot share. She is afraid and will not let anyone get close to her. Cody is interested in art and spends time at the local Artists Cooperative in North Adams. It turns out that Adam is in the area to do some work for the Artists Cooperative. Adam’s one night at the LakeView Motel turns into a regular occurrence (Adam is grieving the loss of his wife). Adam works to convince Skye to make changes to the motel (make it pet friendly), and they slowly get to know each other. These three people and Chance are on a journey. Another troubled soul will soon join them. The road will be bumpy and twisty, but, hopefully, they will all make it to the end.

Two Good Dogs is told from different point-of-views. It is told in the third person for Cody and Adam. In the first person for Skye and Chance. As the story plays out, it changes from one person to the next. I found this confusing. One minute we are hearing from Cody and then it changes. You have to read a little bit and then you finally figure out which person it has changed to. I wish the author had just told the story from a third person perspective (instead of each character). I found Chance’s sections to be a little too sophisticated for a dog (if they had been more humorous, it would have helped lighten this story). The dog cannot understand human speak, but he has very mature thoughts. I know my dog, Doozy has one main thought—food. His main concern is how to con more treats out of me (or find a way to steal them). The pace of the book is leisurely (a nice way to say slow) and the segments choppy. I give Two Good Dogs 2.5 out of 5 stars. I did not like Cody. She dominates the story (of course) with her teenage rebellious acts, because she will not share her secret. I felt the author shoved in as many awful teenage acts as she could into the store. It made the book very unpalatable. Two Good Dogs contains foul language, drugs, thieving and inappropriate situations (an art teacher with an underage, underdressed model). The ending was abrupt and the epilogue unsatisfactory. There was one odd sentence. Cody does not put on perfume that she does not own (stole or borrowed from a guest) because her mother “has a nose like a hound”. But Cody can smoke pot and her mother does not notice? This is an oxymoron. Two Good Dogs had very little mystery or suspense in it. I wish the author had played up this angle more and less on the teenage drama. ( )

Two Good Dogs by Susan Wilson

Two good dogs – and they were definitely sweeties – is an interesting tale.

Fourteen year old Cody Mitchell is a mess. She has seen a murder and been threatened. She has cut herself off and become a loner who is badly treated at school. She is an artist. She is filled with anger, fear and teenage angst. She is on the outs with her mom for a number of reasons including the fact that her mom has moved her away from all that she knew. She is not very likable but I do understand her.

Skye Mitchell is Cody’s mom. Her dream is to own a bed and breakfast so she bought one BUT owning it is a lot of work, requires budgeting and then add in a daughter with problems and her life is not the greatest.

Adam March is a grieving widow and rescuer of dogs and sometimes people. He is on the road a lot and happens to stop at Skye’s B&B. Over a period of time he begins to visit more and finds solace in the Berkshires.

Mingo Ayala is a troubled young man who has had a hard life. I enjoyed his story and wouldn’t mind reading more about how he eventually turns out.

The story includes a lot of heavy topics: bullying, loss, rescue, abuse, fear, second chances, lies, bad choices, making amends, etc.

This book is hard for me to rate with stars. Why? Because I liked the story, for the most part, but I did not like the style it was written in. I had trouble knowing whose point of view I was reading till I had read into the paragraph a bit and the point of view changed often. I wanted to know more about Adam and his background – what he did that was so horrible and cost him so much. I wanted to know more about Skye before she bought the B&B and also wondered how she could be so clueless. I felt sorry for Cody BUT also felt the choices she made were hard to understand at times. In some ways I wished for an epilogue to let me know how everyone is doing a few years down the road.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC. This is my honest review.

Story: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 3 or less stars
Overall: 4 Stars ( )

When Randy Mitchell, a small-time drug dealer, was gunned down, no one knew his 14-year-old daughter, Cody Mitchell, witnessed the shooting -- no one except the gunman himself, who threatened both Cody's and her mother's life if Cody ever revealed the gunman's identity. Cody is terrified and isn't talking. It is perhaps for the best that her mother has moved them from Holyoke to a tiny rural town. Cody's mother, Skye Mitchell, has put money down on a rundown hotel and dreams of running it as a proper tourist destination one day. In the meantime, the LakeView Hotel is a money sink.

Cody is miserable. She's withdrawn from her mother after witnessing the murder, and she puts up with relentless teasing at school. The only person who will associate with Cody at school is the outcast Goth "Black Molly". Worse, Black Molly is pressuring Cody to steal prescription pills from the rooms of hotel guests, which would effectively turn Cody into a drug dealer like her dead father. Cody falls into a pit of late homework, detentions, and meetings with the school counselor.

Outside of school, Cody likes to spend as much time as possible at the Artists' Collaborative in North Adams. It often involves lying to her mother and doing some shady modeling for one of the artists at the collaborative. She also does chores at the collaborative in exchange for art lessons. Art is the one strength Cody feels she has, and she'd do anything to keep her lessons.

One late night, Adam March, a recent widower, stops by the LakeView Hotel with his therapy dog, Chance. Chance is a pitbull rescued from a life of dog-fighting. Despite her no-pets policy, Adam convinces Skye to let him stay at the hotel with Chance. Adam has work helping the Artists' Collaborative fund-raise. As time goes by, Adam finds himself feeling more and more at home each time he stays at the LakeView, and Skye finds herself looking forward to his visits.

One night, at a fund-raising event at the Artists' Collaborative, Cody, who is helping out, agrees to take Adam's dog Chance out for a walk. Chance leads Cody to a crackhouse and a gruesome scene, where another pitbull is tied up and howling, his owner, Mingo Ayala, overdosed on drugs. Adam acts decisively and rescues the second dog, whom he names Lucky.

In a series of events, Lucky ends up staying with Skye and Cody at the LakeView Hotel. Skye starts to waver and begins to think she should make the hotel dog-friendly. In the end, it is the presence of the two dogs, Chance and Lucky (or Dawg, as Mingo calls him) who end up averting certain catastrophe.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. Maybe it was the proofreading errors that got to me. I also did not like the way the story was narrated. I didn't like that it was all in third person except for Skye's point of view, which was narrated in first person for no reason that I could see. I also did not like that the dog Chance narrated part of the story. Who can read the mind of a dog? Not only that but Chance's narration was filled with large and flowly vocabulary, which is odd on a dog's part. It was difficult to read.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

When I requested this book, I figured any book about dogs had to be good. I am a real dog lover. However, this book, though good in many ways, just dragged for me. I realize the author had to drag it out a bit because figuring out what is going on with Skye’s daughter Cody would take time to illustrate (unless you want to just outright ID the problem). This book gave it time—almost too much. I also did not really like Cody as portrayed in the book.

Skye has bought a dilapidated bed & breakfast in the Berkshires, in a last-ditch effort to fulfill her dream of owning an inn and to provide a safe environment for her young daughter Cody. Unfortunately, though Skye had experience working in hotels and inns, owning and running an inn is a bit more difficult and complicated, and she is having some problems, mostly financial, getting things going. Cody also seems more withdrawn and falls in with the wrong crowd. Then, Adam March arrives with his rescued dog Chance, who bonds with Cody almost from the start. What Skye does not realize is that Cody has a secret she is keeping, a secret that may just destroy her and her family, if it does not destroy her first. Nevertheless, as Adam and Skye begin a tentative relationship, and, as Cody and Chance grow to trust one another, an outside force, who can destroy everything they had, emerges and begins closing in on the newly established family-type unit.

I enjoyed reading about the Berkshires, as I originally came from that area. The descriptions of the scenes were spot on. I also enjoyed watching the budding relationship between Adam and Skye. As I said, I did not take to Cody well, but I like the way the author used Chance to bring out her best and to help her through this difficult time. There was some mystery with the inclusion of the outside person who threatened everything, but the book moved too slowly to hold my interest. I enjoyed reading the “personification thoughts” of Chance most, as they provided good insight about what was going on. The characters were fairly well done and interesting. The plot just needed some oomph to get it going. Not sure whether I will read more by the author. Since I really enjoy dog related stories, I probably will. However, this one will probably never be my favorite. I received this from NetGalley to read and review. ( )