I suppose you could be both. Or maybe a rabbit person or a horse person...

Hello ,

In the fifteen years Mr. Bloom and I have lived together, he's organized a holiday for us exactly once.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had a week off from work coming up and that it would be really nice to do something outside of the four walls we've been staring at for the last thirteen months.

I knew this would be a Herculean challenge since our province is in lock-down again and we're not supposed to leave our health region. To his credit, Mr. Bloom found an allowable place that had a mid-week vacancy.

I sent this message to my friend Gabbi Grey:

Me: I am leaving for 2.5 days to stay in a cabin with no internet! Just 30 minutes from home, but still it will be a holiday. No dogs. New scenery.

Gabbi: No dogs??? I'd be lost.

Gabbi and I met at a romance writers group years and years ago. I've never met anyone who is more of a dog person than Gabbi. Her adorable ChinPoo, Ally, goes with her everywhere. Seriously, everywhere. She's a certified therapy dog which means she's very well-behaved and has a little jacket that tells people she's an extra special pup.

That photo is of Ally on graduation day. She's ten pounds of pure cuteness.

Mr. Bloom is also very much a dog person. He purposefully booked a get-away spot that allowed dogs. We have two-ish. Chilly (a husky/golden retriever mix) is my man's best friend and Q (a mutt with a lot of lab in him) calls my brother his human (though Q likes to sleep with his head on my pillow, so, like a proper, mean older sister, I insist Q prefers me to my brother!).

The thought of taking the dogs on our mini-vacay did not bring me joy since the second most common reason I don't sleep through the night is because of the clickity-click of nails on our wood floors. I am such a light sleeper that I suspect in a previous life I was the night guard for my family's cave.

I won the negotiation about leaving the dogs at home and Mr. Bloom did admit that it was nice to be able to go for walks in the forest without worrying that the two knuckleheads might find and chase brown bears (because they do that and the bears are coming out of hibernation now) or roll in something dead by the river (another favorite spring treat for the kids).

Now, before you think I'm an animal-hating monster, know that I am as fiercely fond of cats as Gabbi is of her sweet Ally. If you've looked at any of my socials, you'll have met my big old orange tabby. His name was P'tit Tout (T2). He spent his last five years with diabetes which required insulin two to three times a day. My schedule revolved around his blood sugar levels. It was exhausting and I'd do it all over again for him.

P'tit Tout (which is French for 'Little Everything') died last summer. When Mr. Bloom and I met, P'tit Tout was part of the package of accepting me. Now that he's gone, my man has zero interest in getting another cat...

Which leads me to wonder, have you ever read a romance—or maybe lived one yourself—where a dog lover and cat lover have to overcome their furry friend differences to live happily ever after? I need a guidebook!

Two contests to win a free tablet or e-reader

Have you guys heard of BookDoggy? It's a book promotion site that features an amazing range of books. Everything from USA Today bestsellers to hidden gems. Plus, they give away prizes. This month's prize is a Tablet! 

They'll be featuring one of my books next week so if you want a reminder to grab First In while it's free, sign-up for the BookDoggy email and enter the contest while you're at it. Please check them out!  

If you're on BookBub, here's a contest for you. Follow Danika Bloom to find out when I release book four in the Mixed Six-Pack. It's called Rhodes to Love and it features brother Adam who's a single dad getting himself into a fake marriage to maintain custody of his goddaughter.

Hey, dog people—help a fellow dog person out!

Gabbi Grey has a new release that has received 5-stars from reviewers with LoveBytes, which supports authors of gay romance. Her story, If Only For Today, is in the running to be featured on the site as a Book of the Month.

If you're in a clickety-click kind of mood (with fingernails on keyboards, not toenails on floorboards) would you give her book an upvote to help her find more readers who love sweet, gay, contemporary romance?

Free books this week

The books in the top row are from brand new promos that started three days ago, so there will be lots of titles you probably haven't seen yet in those. And I've tracked down books that feature animals, though even if you want nothing to do with vacuuming pet fur, you'll find titles that are interesting, too.

Do you have any stories about pets and love? Have you ever cared for pet with a health condition? Do you and a loved one have conflicting ideas about what kind of fur baby is the best kind of fur baby?

And if you have a way to help me convince Mr. Says-Cats-Are-Too-Much-Trouble that he should rethink his position, please, please share your wise words.

love & furrystuff,

Danika

xo

PS—First In, the first book in The Mixed-Six Pack series will be free for a few days starting on Saturday, April 24. If you haven't read it yet, I hope you'll grab it then. And for you dog lovers, Sophie, the heroine, is caring for her dad's service dog in the story... just sayin'.

And don't forget that if you sign-up for BookDoggy they'll send you a reminder of the sale and you'll have a chance to win a new e-reader!