The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

Better than People
By Roan Parish
Carina Press, 2020
Four stars

Being a dog person automatically lowered my defenses for this one--a sort of tweaked romance set in the small Wyoming town of Garnet Hill. Simon Burke is a young local man who lives with his recently widowed grandmother. A skilled graphic designer, Simon is all but a prisoner of his crippling social anxiety. He’s on the lookout for a job as a dog-walker, because his grandmother is allergic to animals.

As it happens, Jack Matheson finds himself desperately in need of help with dog-walking. Jack has four dogs (and three cats). He loves his pack, but a recent accident has him not only house-bound, but hobbled. Desperately stricken with cabin fever and the frustration of not being self-sufficient, he looks online for someone gullible enough to take on his slightly cracked menagerie.

Well, you can imagine how this will turn out. We read these books for a reason, right?

Roan Parrish is a master at this sort of story, delving deeply into the quirky souls of both Jack and Simon, and crafting a narrative that helps us embrace their gentle, pet-powered alliance that grows (inevitably) into friendship and beyond.

Both Jack and Simon have their unpleasant side. There’s impatience, anger, and a little selfishness-but those negatives are borne of betrayal and cruelty. What these two men need is kindness, and unfiltered trust. Honestly, only dogs and cats can provide this, which is something that dog and cat lovers experience all the time (including this reviewer).

A special treat in this book is getting to know the dogs and cats, who are quietly hilarious in that peculiar way anyone who loves animals will understand immediately.

This is the first of a series, and I suspect the next books will be worth the reading.