Friday, June 3, 2016

Dear Abby - Meet Stevie (A Rescued Pet Spotlight)

Dear Friends,

I hope you've had a good week!  It has been a nice quiet one here after fireworks in the neighborhood last weekend.  I like a quiet week.  They are my favorite kind.  Not much news to report, but that is okay with me.

I have a great friend visiting the blog today, and I know you will enjoy meeting her too.  Stevie is a beautiful and sweet doxie.  Her mother and my momma have known each other for a long time through an online dachshund community.  Stevie has a GREAT home!



Abby:  What is your background and how did you end up in rescue?


Stevie:  My name is Stevie May Allen, and I am a piebald miniature dachshund. I love my forever mother and dachshund sisters, Tookie and Trixie.

I took a long and difficult journey to reach my current wonderful life. I was rescued in Joplin, MO, along with my two puppies more than five years ago. Someone had tried to hurt me, and I lost my left eye. The nice people at Almost Home Dachshund Rescue brought my puppies and me across country to my foster mother, Sue Romano, in Kentucky. She is friends with my human mother, Jennifer Allen, and Sue knew Jennifer would love me for what I am and not be upset for what I'm not. I also was heartworm positive when I arrived at Sue's home, so the great people with Almost Home took care of my health challenges before I moved permanently to my new home. 

Abby:  How were your first days at your new home? 

Stevie:  My first days in my new home were difficult because I wanted to run around and explore everything, but I had to stay quiet in a crate for several weeks because I had just finished my heartworm treatment. I was really, really curious and even escaped out the front door on several occasions -- not to run away, but to explore all the wonderful, new smells and sights. It was really funny watching my mother scream and run up and down the sidewalk as she chased me.

I immediately became inseparable with Talley, who passed away less than a year later, but I was able to help her and be with her during her final months. A few months later, another rescue dachshund, Trixie, came to live with us, and she and I love to go out on the deck together and bark at everything that moves. Tookie, on the other hand, is the Greta Garbo of the dachshund world and just prefers to stay quietly under a pile of blankets on the couch most of the time. She thinks Trixie and I are so silly for our antics out on the deck. 

Abby:  What are a few of your favorite things? 

Stevie:  My favorite things are snuggling with my mother in bed at night or on the couch as well as enjoying some time every day (when it's warm and dry) out on our little deck. Every day when my mother leaves for work, she tells me that I'm in charge. I take my job very seriously. 

Abby:  Do you have any tips for people who want to adopt a rescue pet? 

Stevie:  I think everyone should reach out and adopt a rescue. It is wonderful to have a new home and family, and I promise that every rescue just wants to give love and to be loved.

That's pretty much my story. I am happy, healthy and full of life and love. I think rescuers are the best people in the world.

Thank you so much, Stevie, for visiting today.  I loved learning more about your story.  It's wonderful that you are in charge when your mother goes out ... I know you do a great job with that duty!

Friends, if you would like to leave a comment for Stevie, you can do so in the comments below.  Please also let me know if you have a "Dear Abby" question or a rescued pet who would like to be featured.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Abby xoxoxo




Book Review and Giveaway - Through the Shadows by Karen Barnett

Book Synopsis:

As San Francisco rises from the ashes, an age-old battle looms between corruption and the promise of new beginnings.

The devastating earthquake is just two years past, but the city of San Francisco is still trying to recover. Destruction of this magnitude is not so easy to overcome---and neither are the past regrets shadowing Elizabeth King's hopeful future.

Hoping to right her wrongs, Elizabeth dedicates herself to helping girls rescued from slavery in Chinatown brothels, even if it means putting her own life at risk to sneak through the gloomy alleys and rooftops where dangers lurk.

Putting her life on the line for a worthy cause is admirable. But opening her heart is even more terrifying. So when Elizabeth meets attorney, Charles McKinley---a man who dreams of reforming San Francisco's crooked politics---Elizabeth begins to doubt: Can she maintain her pretense and hide her past? Or will her secret jeopardize both their futures?

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1qqMTsB
 
My Review:
 
Through the Shadows is the third book in Karen Barnett's Golden Gate Chronicles.  It is set primarily in San Francisco in 1908, a couple of years after the earthquake, as the city was rebuilt.
 
This novel, like the previous books in the series, features the King family.  Elizabeth King is a former budding concert pianist who cut her career short after a complicated and unhappy relationship.  She finds herself in San Francisco, working at a Mission that helps save very young girls from brothels in Chinatown.
 
Her life and work also connect her to Charles McKinley, an idealistic young attorney who wants to make a difference in the lives of the community.
 
This is a sensitively told story dealing with issues that are very relevant today, like immigration and choosing love over fear.
 
Elizabeth and Charles are warm, sympathetic characters, and there are other great supporting characters like Donaldina (head of the Mission) and George (a friend from Chinatown) that readers will care a lot about, too.  It is wonderful to catch up with the rest of the King family (including Ruby's dachshund Otto!) in this book.
 
There is a strong Christian message of choosing to trust God's grace and accept his love for all people.
 
The historical details of San Francisco in the early 1900's are fascinating, and sure to interest fans of historical fiction.  I enjoyed this book, and recommend it to other readers.
 
Author Bio:
 
Karen Barnett is the author of Beyond the Ashes, Out of the Ruins, and Mistaken. Named the 2013 Writer of Promise by Oregon Christian Writers, Karen lives in Albany, Oregon, with her husband and two kids. When she's not writing novels, she loves speaking at women's events, libraries, and book clubs.

 
 
Giveaway:
 
The author is hosting a giveaway here:  Through the Shadows giveaway.
 
I received a copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for an honest review.