A New Leash on Life

by Suzie Carr

When a hurricane blows through town and threatens the future of Olivia Clark's animal shelter, she publicizes her desperate plea for help to the masses. Aid comes from a surprising source: Chloe Homestead, Olivia's ex-girlfriend from thirteen years ago and the only girl Olivia has ever loved.

Chloe, a self-made millionaire, offers to finance and manage the shelter’s repairs and operations, a gesture Olivia is in no position to refuse. Working intimately together to provide loving care to homeless animals, Olivia struggles to keep her composure in Chloe’s fun and flirty presence. As Olivia's walls start to crumble, the past catches up to them. Chloe has a dark secret, a secret that she’s been carrying around for thirteen years.

Will Chloe's secret threaten the future of the shelter and the relationship she has worked so hard to restore?

Genres: Lesbian, Romance, Lesbian Romance, LGBT, Audiobook, Lesbian Fiction

252 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 2012

About the author

Suzie Carr is a contemporary novelist, podcaster on the Lesbian Talk Show, avid blogger, and Director of Membership for the Golden Crown Literary Society. When she's not writing, conducting hands-on research, exercising, or blending a green smoothie concoction, she's likely engaged in the sweet memory of her beloved boxers, Sunshine and Bumblebee, enjoying a few giggles over their funny antics and embracing their loving spirit as they undeniably watch over her from the Rainbow Bridge.

Whether it's writing fiction books about love and life, inspiring new authors, advocating for LGBT equality and animal welfare or blogging about community awareness, positive living, taking action and inspiration, Suzie remains passionate in her beliefs!

Suzie's love for the written word started back when she was a child. She enjoyed visiting the library every Saturday to spend hours reading. Books quickly became a constant companion to her and remained as such throughout her childhood.

Soon after graduating from Rhode Island College, Suzie wrote her first novel, The Fiche Room, a coming-of-age novel about two women falling in love. Over the years The Fiche Room grew from its humble e-book origins to an Amazon Kindle best seller receiving glowing reviews. Her upcoming novel, The Pet Boutique, revisits with Emma, Haley, and Goldie from The Fiche Room as they join a new cast of characters in their cameo roles.

With twelve bestsellers on Amazon Kindle, Suzie continues to enjoy writing about the beauty of love and life.

Suzie Carr believes strongly in giving back to the community. She donates a portion of book sale proceeds to the Hearts United for Animals.

Reviews

[F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sapped the joy right out of my day....

I didn’t like the characters. The reason for needing a second chance was - in my view - a reason to be dumped for good. And even as a lifelong animal lover, adopter never shopper, donater to animal rescues I found the whole thing about the animal shelter joyless and sort of preachy.

I prefer romance where the romancers spend time together, and the whole attraction that fuels endless love isn’t based on .... ..... looked cute as a teenager....?

I’m sorry this is a grumpy review. I refer you to its opening sentence for a reason why.

[Farah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second book by Ms.Carr, I disliked her leading character in the first book.. Faith Miller, I'll always remember you.


This book had the second chance romance trope, the phrase absence makes the heart grows fonder was applicable to the hs.

Chloe and Olivia were best friends and more since highschool but after one unexpected event, they were separated for 13 years. Both suffered but only one of them knew the reason why while the other was left wondering and nursing a broken heart for that period of time.

Another person played a short yet important role in
Chloe and Olivia's situation and that person was revealed in the early part of the story...but you'll probably figure who it was before.

This story was loaded with inner monologues, I didn't really mind when it was about the operation of the animal shelter/animals but I wanted Chloe and Olivia to communicate more..hence the three stars rating.


One of the hs was a bisexual and that didn't sit well with the other h..
I would like to share this quote by Doctor Jess Baker from Visiting Hours by Tagan Shepard.

"What's the difference? Is it somehow supposed to be worst if my girl cheats on me with a guy? How is it better with a woman. It's still cheating, still hurts like hell."

Recommended? Proceed with caution.

[Les Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t get enough of these novels featuring lesbians who work in animal shelters. Just! Can’t! Get! Enough! Almost immediately after reading Rescued Heart, I came across A New Leash on Life by Suzie Carr. You can tell almost immediately that this author is a die-hard animal-lover. If I was working for the HR department at ASPCA, you’d bet I’d be dialing her number. It’s heart-warming and gratifying to read and review well-written works of fiction that are not only great stories, but that also help bring awareness to its readers on current issues and causes in our world. One of the messages from this novel is clear: all animals deserve a whole lot of love and a happy home.

With novels, if there’s too much detail, readers get aggravated and/or bored and want to chuck the book before they’re done. If there’s too little detail, the story seems superficial and rushed. Suzie Carr has a well-balanced approach to her writing, so you won’t find any long-winded narration (like.. ahem, Charles Dickens) in her novels. She provides just the right amount of detail to keep readers engaged in the plot-line and the characters.

There’s plenty of angst and a closet full of skeletons just waiting to pop out and spook the shit out of the characters. I won’t give anything away, but lets just say that Chloe was (and is) in quite the predicament and as the reader, you will eventually be able to understand why she made certain choices and sacrifices in her past. There’s a lot to be revealed and you’ll be eagerly anticipating what will happen once the blindfolds are off.

What I enjoyed about this novel is how beautifully human the main characters were portrayed as being, and how imperfectly perfect they are as they make their way back towards each other. Their situation is less than ideal (to say the least), but in the end, life has a mysterious way of fitting it all together. They are, to each other, exactly what they need from another and you’ll be rooting for them all the way.

[Ty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is easily one of the worst books I've ever read. The writing is terrible. It's littered with excessive adjectives, cliches, and overwrought metaphors. The story lacks fluidity because the author frequently drops in previously unknown information from the past lives of the characters in order to support something currently happening in the plot. The best written stories, in my opinion, are ones where we are shown, not told, what is happening. That is absolutely not the case here. We are told everything, and there is little room left to experience the story, or interpret the characters for yourself.

On top of all of that, this is incredibly biphobic. I couldn't actually believe how the bisexual characters were described. I felt like I was being punked.

I know we all kind of grade LGBT writing (or storytelling of any kind) on a curve because there's so little of it that we have to appreciate what we get. But we should still have standards! And this one falls far below what we deserve.

[Christie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Annoying.... that is the best word to sum up this story. The veterinary medical information was wrong. I know this is a romance story but the amount of time spent explaining the veterinary treatments and such, made it a larger focus of the story than it needed to be, on top of that the information was not accurate. Then there were the pages and pages about Reiki. It took me 10 days to finish this story when normally I would have finished a story this length in one evenings read but I would get too annoyed or bored to finish more than a chapter at a time.

[AnnMaree Of Oz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very angsty, drama ridden book. Felt like a soap opera and went on a lot.

The love interest Chloe came off as the worst kind of bisexual, a flaky one that cheated and hedged her bets and who never knew what she wanted and would constantly justify her shitty behaviour under the guise of trauma.
(Also how ignorant and negligent were the adults in all these kids lives, to let her home situation be so shit that she lived with a friend without even their own parents knowing???)

She still pined away 13 years later and made matters worse for herself by not communicating and being honest.
(And essentially cheated again, she was literally with another dude when she was cosying up with her former love interest. Who she justified by cheating on the first time, because she felt pitied by her. When nothing else had changed about their relationship dynamic since, so my question was why do you want this relationship now? And I never got that answer.)

I love bisexual characters, but hate when the are subjected to this bizarre flippant personality of trauma and mistrust. Gross!!!

Exhausting novel even when I skimmed a lot of it!!!

[Female Person · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really shocked by those other reviews. This book is really horrible. It reads like a long drawn out summary & it had the most ridiculous metaphors. Actually it was packed with poorly written & unnecessary metaphors. It was just....absolutely horrible.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had potential but never came through. The concept intrigued me and I was hopeful but the reality was just disappointing. It wasn't the worst book I've read but it wasn't my kind of writing

[Dide · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is idealistic and its POVs make it somewhat undistinguishing. That said this is one of the few f&f books that passionately and consciously weaves animal care into its story and for that I very much appreciate it.
I do feel Jason's character got a way with selfish and totally cold actions and that just furthermore makes this book a tad more unrealistic.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the animal shelter and enjoyed the use of the animals as characters in the book. I really liked Olivia, the main character and owner of the shelter, who had kind of withdrawn from life and thrown herself into taking care of animals after a bad relationship breakup and the later death of her parents. The shelter is badly damaged in a storm which is not described and is in financial difficulty.

I was a little less keen on Chloe, who was Olivia's first love and the ongoing love interest in this story. Chloe disappeared out of Olivia's life after she found out she was pregnant, and the story kind of skips around the years while Chloe has the baby and raises her without really adding anything about the character. Chloe is from a poor family, invests in real estate and becomes a millionaire (okay, sure) and is then able to donate a lot of money to the animal shelter. I never really got a handle on her, other than she was confused about relationships, and wanted to do the best she could by her daughter and elderly aunt, but I never really understood her feelings for Olivia or what she really wanted to do.

So Olivia and Chloe are drawn back together, but it's never an entirely satisfying story. There's lots of discussion and flowery writing about how they can't stay away from each other. I never really felt much about their relationship and why they'd be good for each other. Olivia's kind of a control freak, but never ~too much~ of a control freak. Chloe's kind of a flake who has trouble being honest in a relationship, but it's never really addressed. It's a pleasant enough story, but there isn't much depth to it.

It really did need an editor. On some occasions there were several conflicting metaphors in the same paragraph, which got confusing and wearing, and there were a few times I thought the writer had gone off on a tangent and needed to reread and rewrite.

Example:

"Chloe's eyes danced wildly and mine joined in, whipping this way and that, weaving up and down, tangling into a primal beat that revived old memories and sparked new ones."


I am not a medical doctor but I'm pretty sure eyes shouldn't tangle to a primal beat. I can't help thinking the writer meant something completely different to what was written.

Overall, though, it was easy to read and light. The dogs were cute and the characters were enjoyable, if vaguely drawn. I liked it fine.

[J.L. Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first thought that comes to mind after reading Suzie Carr’s A New Leash on Life is not the storyline in and of itself. It is the author’s writing style. As I read Suzie Carr’s work, I couldn’t contain the smile that continually crept upon my face. I thought to myself that this must be my time for reading lighthearted, whimsically written fiction as opposed to some of the darker subjects that I’ve become accustomed to reading.

Maybe I needed a break from some of the subjects that I’ve read in the past or maybe I needed a change of venue. Regardless, A New Leash on Life was a light enough story that centered around two of my favorite topics…love and animals. It didn’t matter that the main characters were of the same sex. I enjoyed the story because of the emotional investment made in the authors main characters. At times, Suzanne Carr played her readership like a finely tuned, emotional instrument; and in this instance, I can truly say that I didn’t mind being played.

The relationship between Olivia Clark and Chloe Homestead read like poetry. Ms. Carr’s writing style is lyrical in its descriptive, and that’s one of the reasons why her story was so enjoyable. In the same vein, the story moved slowly…perhaps too slowly at times. But that was okay because her characters were so well-developed. I would have preferred to see a bit more drama. This is not to say that the author didn’t capture the imagination of her target audience. Indeed, if she wanted to write a highly charged story, she could very easily have done that because I believe that Ms. Carr has the skill set to do so.

LGBT fiction is not for everyone…and that’s okay too because it isn’t meant to be. To me, well-written fiction is well-written fiction. And this is as well-written as it gets. I look forward to reading more from Suzanne Carr and I wish her the very best in all of her future endeavors.

[Judy Stacklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from the goodreads giveaways. This was a wonderful story about love in all it's different forms. When it's love, it doesn't care about gender. that line was from the story and it is very true. She is a writer who weaves the characters into the reader's hearts.

[Cathy Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really trying to like this author and the way she writes. The book was hard to get through, the writing was bogged down with a lot of unnecessary words.

I did enjoy the main characters but the author put them through hell and back. Not enough romance and too much angst.

[Bib · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have a pet, but I found the touching parts of book revolving what Oliver has done for the abandoned pets. I had a great time reading the book.

[Christy Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book from an amazing author. Thanks for making me feel wealth of emotions. I love your books. They should come with a warning though: highly addictive and hard to put down.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Heavy-handed, boring and poorly written. So much repetition, and sudden things introduced with no real detail.

[Laure · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the same novel you can find almost all what I love the most in that world :
° beautiful and strong women who struggle hard for what it fascinates them and never give up no matter what
° Deep and true Love which wins after plenty of difficulties and obstacles
° No-kill animal shelters
° Philanthropy
° Family (and all its complexity)
° Faith in Life and even Reiki …

As a volunteer (for birds for now but I worked with dogs before as a foster family and trainer), I had no other choice than loving this novel.

I want to salute Suzie Carr’s big heart and her engagement in causes which touch her. At least 2 of them are the same as mine and all of this make me appreciate even more the woman herself and her work ‘cause I’m touched right in the heart.
I suggest you to read this fiction and, if you are inspired, you can leave a review about it …

[Marty Preslar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly sad story

I enjoyed the novel, but even with the ending being happy, the overall balance was rather on the sad side. Some consistency issues, but nothing major. Enough to take me out of the story at one point, though, and wonder if I was miss-remembering. I think the biggest thing that keeps me from loving the book is Olivia. She seems too smart to be as emotionally immature as she is, but I suppose that is part of the point. Her emotional development was arrested at the point when Chloe left...

[Rowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

This is a lovely book about two women who fell in love as teenagers and one took off without explanation, only to turn up later in life. Set in an animal rescue there is cute animals, romance, drama and a happy ending. Loved it.

[Terry Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veterinarian, Olivia Clark, owns and runs a no kill animal shelter. After a hurricane causes substantial damage, Olivia is at a loss to know how to fund the repairs. Although she does everything in her power, including public appeals, the whole town is hurting from the devastation the hurricane brought and no one has much to spare.

At last there is hope. Chloe Homestead is Olivia’s ex girlfriend from thirteen years previously. Chloe is now a millionaire. She’s also the only girl Olivia has ever loved. When Chloe offers to help financially, Olivia at first balks at the idea. But she’s in no position to refuse. The animals have to come first.

As Olivia and Chloe begin to work together to re-build the shelter, Olivia finds herself once again under Chloe’s spell. Unfortunately, Chloe is hiding a deep dark secret. A secret she has hidden for thirteen years. If the secret comes out, it could threaten the existence of the shelter and put paid to any chances of any future relationship Olivia and Chloe may have.

I’ve often looked at Suzie Carr’s books and never bought them before. My reason being the DRM on them. I’m pleased to say that Suzie is now offering some of her books DRM free. I’ve sorely been missing out on good books if this book is anything to go by. I loved it. I may be a little biased as I love animals and they play a huge part in this story. But putting the animals aside, I totally enjoyed the whole book.

Both Olivia and Chloe are so different. Well formed and multi-faceted characters, they dance around one another throughout the book. The book goes between the past and the present so that the reader gets to know how their lives previously shaped them into the people they became. The secondary characters are equally as well written and I include the animals in with them as well, as they are essential to the progression of the story.

There is a lot crammed into this book. It is not a simple romance with animals. The story starts out on a slow and meandering path and gradually builds up in it’s intensity. It certainly evoked many emotions in me. Mainly due to Chloe. I have to say, I wasn’t endeared to her at all for most of the book. Although she isn’t my favorite character, I did warm to her in the end.

The story is told throughout in the first person. Suzie Carr has done this very well.

Although this is the first book I’ve read of Suzie’s, it won’t be my last. I hope to read them all if they become available DRM free.

[Wendy Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Olivia works very hard as a vet who manages a no kill animal shelter. She love her job and she loves the animals. But the shelter is threatened when a hurricane sweeps through the town and Olivia finds out who the mystery donor is. She doesn't have the funds to make the repairs the shelter needs let alone keep it running.

Chloe, Olivia's ex, moved away 13 years ago due to a big secret. After trying to reconnect with Olivia and being turned down Chloe decides to focus her life on her daughter and her happiness and she makes her fortune by investing some money in a good investment. Though she never really stopped loving Olivia.

When Chloe sees and ad being run on TV after the hurricane about the shelter needing funding she decides this is the way she can try to mend things between Olivia and herself.

Will Olivia ever come to forgive Chloe for the mistakes she made all those years ago? Will she ever be able to reveal her secret to Olivia? Will the shelter survive?

Suzie has written a delightful, heartfelt novel where the reader can get fully immersed in the story. The characters have depth and come to life as the story evolves and I felt myself turning page after page wanting to find out if Chloe and Olivia finally realised their connection and fell in love all over again.

The sub characters didn't lack in feeling and emotion and they wove in and out of the main plot with ease, adding to the story another level of these women's lives that felt important to the storyline. I especially like how the animals played such a huge part in the story and I really felt a connection to them and by the end of the book I wanted to take them all home, especially General.

A classic story of teenage love, the struggles of growing up and dealing with all the different curveballs that life can throw your way. I loved this book and if you haven't read it yet, do yourself a favour and get it today. Thank you Suzie Carr, 5 stars for this great novel.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hurricane devastates Olivia Clark’s animal shelter. Chloe Homestead comes to Olivia’s aid. Chloe was Olivia’s ex-girlfriend. Olivia can’t refuse Chloe's help if she wants to save her shelter and she ends up working closely with Chloe with the rebuild plans and care of the animals.

A New Leash on Life is a lesbian love story and even though this is not my typical read, I found the animal shelter aspect and the rebuilding of this shelter heart warming. A good beach read :D 4 stars.

This copy of A New Leash on Life was given to me by Goodreads First Reads and Suzie Carr in exchange for an honest review.

[Jenni Fregin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where does one begin with this book? WOW! So I felt for Olivia the whole time. Chloe did her wrong doings in life did some stuff to make her life better but then Olivia needed help. Chloe just about throws Olivia off the deep end making her unhappy and ever so happy. Just so many new plot stickers and amazing writing in this book. Yes, this book is one I would recommend to anyone! This book is a 5 in my book!

As of this posting Suzie was having a sale on this book via Amazon! So check it out to see if it is still going strong!

Thank you Suzie for an amazing book! I look forward to the rest of your books in the near future!

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet and easy to read story, a summary-like writing style that sometimes leaves you wanting a little more.
I loved the building of the story - their teenage years - as it hooked me from the beggining. However, the plot semed to lose its interest as it went along, and i wished that the womens feelings as they were reuniting would be a little more addressed. It felt too easy (despite the final moment of angst) for me.
But all in all I enjoyed reading it and its nice for an uncomplicated, breezy read.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost half through and keeping my interest which is always a good thing!

Ok done! So it a lesbian love story and I guess I did not realize that when I got it as the underlining animal shelter story was of interest to me! It is ok though love is love and the story seemed honest and the characters were believeable! And the animal shelter is saved!!! A very nice story and happy to have brought it to read!

[Kate Ennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this one hit close to home and had me in tears several times. I love Suzie's books, because they are always very well written and very fulfilling.

[Danielle Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as a first reads book and all I can say is that it was very surprising

[Lesbian Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always like Susie's books. I have not read a single one I don't like. She develops very likable, yet very human and flawed characters.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story

First reads winner

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you know anything about veterinary medicine, shelter medicine, or animal shelters in general, don't read this.