Talk to the Paw

Series: MacGyver, Book 1

By: Melinda Metz / Narrated By: Elise Arsenault

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

A bit predictable, but this has it’s charms… Plus it has a Cat! Need I say more…?

Enter our real hero, the cat burglar MacGyver!

He’s a cat, so I was instantly smitten with the story…

Mac can smell the taint of Loneliness a mile off, and while he very much loves his human, Jamie, he sighs heavily that she’s just like a dog: An animal who needs to be part of a pack for happiness. He and Jamie get along just fine, but he’s ready for that Loneliness smell to be gone from her life. What to do? What to do?

She’s just moved from small-town Pennsylvania to big-city LA, and in this new neighborhood, Storybook Court, he sniffs out Loneliness EVERYwhere. First it’s off to that unfortunately dog-owning David’s house, where the widower of three years is DEFinitely giving off said odors. And the only way to bring the two together is by bringing items to Jamie’s house, items that reek of David’s scent, so that Jamie might recognize the kindred spirit. And so begins Mac’s life of crime, wherein he seeks not only to bring Jamie and David together, but many residents of Storybook Court together.

There’s Ruby, the Christmas loving good-hearted neighbor who always wanted kids but just never met the right person, and now it’s too late. Why, she’d go just right with the latchkey girls down the way. And there’s the older latchkey girl who is dating the Wrong Boy. Why, she’d go just right with that boy who’s just finished an awkward growth spurt and needs someone to talk to. All this, sooooo many items to steal and deposit throughout the Court, gets the residents in trouble as Storybook Court’s self-appointed sheriff tries to discover WHO the thief is, and he’s gunning for Jamie, even when it comes to light that Mac’s the culprit. Nope, surely Jamie and Ruby are to blame, and they must have nefarious purposes.

The story follows all these characters, but it’s Jamie and David who are the main heroine and Hero—Jamie as she wanders further into her Year of Me (She’s been left an inheritance after her mother’s long illness and unfortunate death)—where she tries new things all in an effort to sorta find something, some occupation, she might be passionate about (Cuz teaching didn’t cut it). And David is followed as he dips his toe in the water of the modern dating scene (And he has notable and unmitigated failures after putting his profile on a dating website). The two commiserate over their dating failures, and they return items that Mac has pilfered, and they tentatively wander into a bit of a Friends with Benefits thing.

I didn’t find this irritating, tho’ it is an old and tired trope of Contemporary Romances, one of avenues writers take when they wanna be lazy about plotting. As a matter of fact, Melinda Metz takes a few old tropes, so the book is fairly predictable.

But that a cat is the main hero is a definite plus in my book, and he has his reasons for acting the way he does which cat owners will appreciate. Then too, this story is based upon true events of a cat in Portland, Oregon, so huzzah for resourceful cats!

The narration is rather generic—Elise Arsenault has those chipper tones that I’ve come to associate with feel-good stories. It’s not a stellar performance, but she brings a conniving cat’s mind to life, especially when he’s baiting David’s dog into unfortunate actions. Definitely chuckle-worthy.

I wouldn’t say this is a great romance, but the fairly generic Jamie/David story is nicely rounded out by the other characters seeking love and peace and fulfillment. Then too Jamie’s given more substance by her trying new things instead of relying on standard activities she enjoys—and who can’t benefit from going outside the bounds of the tried and true.

I’d been eyeing Talk to the Paw for a long time, especially as there are now, as of this writing in 2020, two sequels to it out. I got the second of the series via a Kobo sale, but it’s just been sitting there gathering digital dust. So with the end of the Audible Escape package, I HAD to make NOW the time to listen to it. I’m glad I did, tho’ I didn’t find it earthshaking.

Still, one down, soon onto the next. Dunno what-all Mac is gonna get up to, as this was no cliffhanger. There were plenty of Happily Ever Afters.

But I guess, there’s ALWAYS room for more!