Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets” as Want to Read:
St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets
by
If you love Susan Mallery and Jill Shalvis, you won’t want to miss this new novel of second chances, dogs, and knitting, from the author of Pupcakes and Sit! Stay! Speak!
Laid off, cheated on, mugged: what else can go wrong in Maeve Stephens’ life? So when she learns her birth mother has left her a house, a vintage VW Beetle, and a marauding cat, in the small town of Timbe ...more
Laid off, cheated on, mugged: what else can go wrong in Maeve Stephens’ life? So when she learns her birth mother has left her a house, a vintage VW Beetle, and a marauding cat, in the small town of Timbe ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
January 14th 2020
by William Morrow Paperbacks
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets

Favorite Quotes:
Your kids ought to be on a birth control commercial or something… I’m pretty sure their high-pitched shrieks would be enough for anybody to beg for the pill.
I made a big production of rummaging around in my purse before Holly sighed and handed over her platinum card… “Well, it wasn’t like that dude was going to accept the hairy Tic Tacs in the bottom of that gross purse of yours...”
The man standing before wasn’t ugly or anything-he was just... odd looking. With his curly red hai ...more
Your kids ought to be on a birth control commercial or something… I’m pretty sure their high-pitched shrieks would be enough for anybody to beg for the pill.
I made a big production of rummaging around in my purse before Holly sighed and handed over her platinum card… “Well, it wasn’t like that dude was going to accept the hairy Tic Tacs in the bottom of that gross purse of yours...”
The man standing before wasn’t ugly or anything-he was just... odd looking. With his curly red hai ...more

This book isn't really about what you'd think from the title or cover. It's about a woman named Maeve who finally learns her origin story when her birth mother dies. There is a tiny bit of romance, a tiny bit of danger, and a tiny bit about pets. But the St Francis Society is pretty minor.
I had an early copy of this from the publisher through NetGalley; it comes out January 14, 2020. ...more
I had an early copy of this from the publisher through NetGalley; it comes out January 14, 2020. ...more

After a string of bad luck sends Maeve home to live with her parents, she gets a phone call from a stranger telling her that her birth mother has passed away. Although she never knew her birth mother, with some relictantance, she attends the funeral in Timber Creek, Washington and soon learns that everything her birth mother had was left to her. After some consideration, realizing that she doesn’t have much to go back home to, Maeve decides to stay in this small town where her birth mother grew
...more

I really loved this one. I love all of this author's books. This one wasn't as pet- or dog-centric as some of her other books (like Pupcakes, for example) but still it was so good. I love the way this author is able to weave tougher topics into her stories while keeping the lighthearted and heartwarming and feel-good. There is a very lite romance in here but the biggest thing about this story is the group of strong women that befriend the main character Maeve.
...more

3.75
Maeve Stephens is 36, out of a job and just learned on television, like million of viewers, that her famous baseball player boyfriend is cheating on her. And guess what else? She's been insulted by a mugger while he stole her money. Talk about the perfect setting for a crossroads revision of her life. It just needs one more detail to qualify...
Maeve knows that she was adopted when she was just a baby, she even tried to contact her birth mother but her letters came back unread. So it comes as ...more
Maeve Stephens is 36, out of a job and just learned on television, like million of viewers, that her famous baseball player boyfriend is cheating on her. And guess what else? She's been insulted by a mugger while he stole her money. Talk about the perfect setting for a crossroads revision of her life. It just needs one more detail to qualify...
Maeve knows that she was adopted when she was just a baby, she even tried to contact her birth mother but her letters came back unread. So it comes as ...more

Immediate connections to characters are a huge thing for me when it comes to reading. If I can’t connect to a character, then ninety nine percent of the time I won’t like it. I’m happy to say that’s not the case here. I immediately connected to Mae as she navigated throw some tough changes in her life. She’s reeling from a very public humiliation and her birth mother just passed away.
“Maybe I wasn’t looking at my visit to Timber Creek the right way. Maybe it was an opportunity. Maybe I was bein ...more
“Maybe I wasn’t looking at my visit to Timber Creek the right way. Maybe it was an opportunity. Maybe I was bein ...more

I can't write a fair review because I dnfed it. The protagonist, Maeve, didn't seem to know she was 36 years old... She behaved like she still was 16. I don't have the energy to read about one more adult woman who is so immature that my 16 old son looks like an adult, in comparison.
...more

When St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets begins, Maeve Stephens has hit rock bottom. She has broken up with her cheating boyfriend, been laid off from her job, and mugged. Surprise word comes that her birth mother, whom she has never met, passed away. At the funeral, Maeve finds that her birth mother, Annabelle, left her house, vintage VW, and all her belongings to her. Maeve stays in the small Washington state town where Annabelle lived to try to sort things out, and slowly her life changes. S
...more

This is the cutest book cover ever and the book is just as delightful as the cover. Its the story of Maeve and her beginnings along with the secrets of her birth mother and her adoption.
You get to learn about Maeve in the present and her mother in the year before her birth.
Its a beautiful little story about how a bad day becomes a better life. It was a really bad day. She loses her job, her boyfriend is cheating on her and a video of him kissing another woman is all over the internet, oh and she ...more
You get to learn about Maeve in the present and her mother in the year before her birth.
Its a beautiful little story about how a bad day becomes a better life. It was a really bad day. She loses her job, her boyfriend is cheating on her and a video of him kissing another woman is all over the internet, oh and she ...more

Maeve is having a bad day professionally and personally that leads to unexpected revelations and opportunities. She's a mess and so is her life until fallout from her past offers her some perspective. Variations on themes about parents, babies - human and fur - and hard choices made under duress are offered in the context of a small town that's full of endearing and quirky characters.
...more
...more

When someone feels lost, it seems as if everyone else in the world has a perfect life. It takes Maeve Stephens thirty-six years to discover she's not alone in Annie England Noblin's latest novel, St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets.
Maeve tells her own story. She doesn't think it can get any worse. In one day, the thirty-six-year-old sports reporter loses her job because the newspaper where she works goes bankrupt. She and the rest of the world see her boyfriend from the Seattle Mariners cheatin ...more
Maeve tells her own story. She doesn't think it can get any worse. In one day, the thirty-six-year-old sports reporter loses her job because the newspaper where she works goes bankrupt. She and the rest of the world see her boyfriend from the Seattle Mariners cheatin ...more

I really liked the story line and the character development. The town of Timber Creek, the setting for most of the story, and the townspeople seems a character on its own. This book was able to present a lot of social issues within the context of Maeve and Annabelle’s relationship/s without becoming to heavy handed. Although there were a lot of hanging plot lines that I hope the final draft can address fully. I’m hoping there will be more written about the St. Francis Society and the town of Tim
...more

Bianca contributed this review to Really Into This
Check out all of our reviews at https://reallyintothis.com
Happy Reading, friends!
Special thanks to TLC Book Tours & William Morrow for providing our copy of St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets by Annie England Noblin in exchange for an honest & fair review.
Maeve is Seattle-based sportswriter with a Major League Baseball boyfriend. But when her career and relationship come screeching to a halt, the future seems bleak. When Maeve gets a phone cal ...more
Check out all of our reviews at https://reallyintothis.com
Happy Reading, friends!
Special thanks to TLC Book Tours & William Morrow for providing our copy of St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets by Annie England Noblin in exchange for an honest & fair review.
Maeve is Seattle-based sportswriter with a Major League Baseball boyfriend. But when her career and relationship come screeching to a halt, the future seems bleak. When Maeve gets a phone cal ...more

The book is okay, not great, but okay. The author did not seem to have an inspired grasp on her characters. Maeve is 36 years old; even though she has had a good life, she seems to lack maturity and seems to handle her emotions and feelings the way a teenage girl would, with very little grace and awareness of how other people around her feel. The first third was not bad, the middle seemed a bit contrived and the last part seemed to introduce an additional plot that had not been alluded to in the
...more

I'd probably go 2.5 stars. This was a quick, no brainpower required read. I'd have liked more knitting, more wayward pets, and less goopy romance. Why do writers think that all single men need to be broody and drop-dead gorgeous??!!! Give it a rest. There was no need for the poorly thought out love interest in this book. I found it off-putting. The only completely fleshed out plot line was the one about an adopted child dealing with feelings toward birth mother.
If you get this book from the lib ...more
If you get this book from the lib ...more

reaaaaaly thought there would be more animals with that cover and title but the society is more about knitting for pets than actually interacting with pets. plus some other stuff that i will not say for spoiler-y reasons. the characters and plot and romance were all fine, nothing amazing really. it was good. would be a nice summer beach read.
thanks to the publisher for an ARC, this is my honest review.
thanks to the publisher for an ARC, this is my honest review.

Originally published at Reading Reality
This isn’t quite the book I was expecting from the blurb. It was much better than that.
On the surface, this looked like a story about second chances. And it is. But not all of those second chances belong to Maeve, the main character of this story. And some of those second chances are in the past and not the present. Or they are an unexpected and unknown present, in the other sense of the word. The present that doesn’t look like a present, the gift that Anna ...more
This isn’t quite the book I was expecting from the blurb. It was much better than that.
On the surface, this looked like a story about second chances. And it is. But not all of those second chances belong to Maeve, the main character of this story. And some of those second chances are in the past and not the present. Or they are an unexpected and unknown present, in the other sense of the word. The present that doesn’t look like a present, the gift that Anna ...more

After reading several dark books and surviving through the last four years of Trump cultism and senators who sold their party out to follow a completely immoral man, and having avoided the Covid19 pandemic for nearly a year, I wanted a book that was light and fluffy and feel-good. This is certainly it.
Saint Vincent Society for Wayward Pets really It’s just an unfolding of events from the past that play into the future. The mystery doesn’t even come up until the very end, even though suspicion i ...more
Saint Vincent Society for Wayward Pets really It’s just an unfolding of events from the past that play into the future. The mystery doesn’t even come up until the very end, even though suspicion i ...more

I don’t pre-order a lot of books but this author is one whose books I do. I learned when I read Pupcakes how enjoyable her books are. Then I read The Sisters Hemingway and loved it too. So, this book deserved a pre-order. And of course, here I am having finished the book in less than 24 hours. I got pulled in and I didn’t want to put it down.
Mauve was raised by a loving family. She’s had a good life. But she’s 36 and it doesn’t really feel like she knows exactly what she wants yet. She finds out ...more
Mauve was raised by a loving family. She’s had a good life. But she’s 36 and it doesn’t really feel like she knows exactly what she wants yet. She finds out ...more

A feel good story about a woman’s search for herself after she discovers her birth mother has died. Sprinkled with humor and romance, a small town brings meaning to Maeve’s life when Her life is at a standstill.
It seems as everything is going wrong in Maeve’s life when she discovers that her birth mother who she has never met has died. She is invited to the funeral by her mother’s best friend and travels to the small town of Timber Creek , Washington. Maeve is determined to find out why her moth ...more
It seems as everything is going wrong in Maeve’s life when she discovers that her birth mother who she has never met has died. She is invited to the funeral by her mother’s best friend and travels to the small town of Timber Creek , Washington. Maeve is determined to find out why her moth ...more

I did not know what to expect when I chose this book. At first it was a bit slow to get the story rolling. I had a picture in my head of the main character ,but by the end of the book I realized she was totally different..
The cover of the book gave the impression that animals were a big part of the book. Again I was incorrect. The human animal connection did not enter in til the later chapters.
The main character was well developed and had many unresolved issues. She was very likable and human. ...more
The cover of the book gave the impression that animals were a big part of the book. Again I was incorrect. The human animal connection did not enter in til the later chapters.
The main character was well developed and had many unresolved issues. She was very likable and human. ...more

Jan 23, 2020
Annarella
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
edelweiss,
women-fiction
I fell in love with the cover and I liked this story even if I was expecting more pets.
It's a heartwarming and poignant story, engrossing and enjoyable.
You cannot help loving the characters and rooting for them.
The plot is well crafted and it kept me hooked, the setting is lovely and I appreciated the style of writing.
It was a good read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine ...more
It's a heartwarming and poignant story, engrossing and enjoyable.
You cannot help loving the characters and rooting for them.
The plot is well crafted and it kept me hooked, the setting is lovely and I appreciated the style of writing.
It was a good read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine ...more

From the title, I expected animals but none appeared until almost 1/3 of the way through. It ended up being an entertaining read which I finished in 2 days. It was predictable, full of irreverent humor amidst some harsh circumstances but all tied up with a happy ending. A diverting read for this unsettling time.

This book reminded me of a Debbie Macomber book. I rushed to reach each chapter and enjoyed the backstory of Annabelle. I will agree with other reviewers about the title not really matching the overall story, but it shouldn't stop anyone from reading this gem.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
News & Interviews
Looking for a fictional meet-cute in the new year? We've got some steamy novels for you to snuggle up with, including Casey McQuiston's...
34 likes · 7 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »