Out of the Blue

  In this blog post, I reviewed Colette Makray’s Out of the Blue. This inspirational fiction novella is heart-warming that pulls at your heart strings. It all started when Tess Beckett, a young widow, runs a pet-friendly lodge in the Northern Wilderness. While mourning the loss of her husband Tom, a dog appeared in her life that was named “Tom” . She named him Blue before he was gone in the instant. Then she met K-9 Police Officer Brandon Bishop and his old dog Toto. They needed a break from the scrutiny of Toto’s ability when they didn’t find a girl during their last case together. And socialite Joanne Lawrence and her son Gavin was there with his dog Derby. She’s too busy to watch over him until he goes missing in the woods. Then Blue returns to her aide and bonds with her, when he later joins Brandon and Toto and the others to go looking for him and find him safely from harm. In the end, everyone deserved a much deserved happy ending, though for some, it might be bittersweet.

This was a sweet inspirational fiction and tailor-made for dog lovers. I loved how each dog bonded with their owners: how Derby protected Gavin from harm, how Toto found Gavin and had sought final redemption, and how Tess claimed Blue for her own. Dogs are a central family member who we would love and cherish forever with a unshakeable bond.  We all see them as heroes and become their closest friend. I loved the Beckett Lodge set near the Canadian Wilderness and near a lake. It was picturesque to set a sweet tender-hearted story from the interior and to the exterior.  The dual themes of the story is having a friendship with a dog and never stop believing in miracles.

I really liked this novella since it was a quick read and a moving story. I had a few nitpicks in the story: there weren’t any chapter break/scenes breaks between unnumbered chapters on the pages, just white spaces to change POVs. Those weren’t numbered.  Plus there were too short. The characters needed to be fleshed out a bit more with deep POV, instead of using passive/filter words to make it stronger. A little bit of description couldn’t hurt to picture these characters with their dogs. And I’ve found some glaring minor errors that could’ve been fixed with a proofread and a spellcheck before it went to print. This  sweet inspirational romance would make you cry and let out a sigh. I rated this book, three out of five stars, because it ended way too soon, along with the above mentioned errors on my nitpicks. If you love dog-centric novels with a hint of inspiration, some drama and non-stop action, and a dose of heart-warming moments, Out of the Blue is the way you’re going to need a Kleenex for.