Off Leash by Jenna Anderson

I have a read a handful of short stories and my general consensus is…meh. I usually struggle to get invested in the character, or when I am intrigued by the story, it ends abruptly and I feel cheated. I tend to stay away from them as a personal preference, but when my friend Jenna Anderson asked me to read and review her short story Off Leash,  I didn’t want to turn her down. And actually, I’m glad I didn’t! Sure this was a short story, about 27,000 words, but I really enjoyed reading it. The main character is Candice Gunderson, who is driving through Indiana with her dog Phoebe. They are on their way to a dog breeder to introduce Phoebe to another purebred and hopefully make a beautiful liter of award winning puppies. But the situation takes a wrong turn after Candice is lost – without a GPS or a phone. They finally find a farm where they can possibly get some help, but the stop proves to be more trouble than useful. At least there is a cute farmer around…

I was hooked on the story from the beginning, and really didn’t feel cheated at all. I got to know Candice and her quirks and the fact that she really wanted to prove her independence, and I enjoyed the romantic connection between her and the farmer, Bull. Some of the scenes between Phoebe and Bull’s dog, Jack, were pretty hysterical, and there was enough some great suspense in there when the dogs go missing. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. I thought Anderson did a great job with this short story, and I would definitely recommend this quick read.