Faux Paws by Roxanne St. Claire

At a personal and career crossroads he never expected, Navy nuclear engineer Theo Santorini faces the fact that his once charmed existence isn’t so charmed anymore. Then, on a cross country trip, he saves a desperate and abused dog, hoping he can turn around both their lives. When he arrives at Waterford Farm in North Carolina with his rescue, Clementine, Theo’s matchmaking grandmother and her best friend immediately launch a plan to help both man and dog. Theo doesn’t hate their idea of getting an assist from a beautiful, enigmatic “pet psychic” while he figures out his next move. But the woman’s preposterous claims that she can read an animal’s mind seriously test an engineer who lives for logic and flees from feelings.

After bolting from the church when she learned the groom waiting at the altar had cheated on her, Ayla Hollis can now add “runaway bride” to her short resume. But this perennial people-pleaser has broken free from her stifling upbringing and is finally ready to begin a new life. She’ll start by openly admitting to the world that she has a gift that might seem bizarre to some, but she can help animals, and in a town that loves dogs, that makes her a local hero. Her first “patient” is an emotionally damaged stray dog held in the strong arms of a handsome, but skeptical, owner. Ayla soon finds it can be much easier to understand an animal’s feelings than those of a man who refuses to believe her abilities are real.

As Theo and Ayla work together to help Clementine heal, they can’t deny one thing is real: their sizzling chemistry that quickly grows to feelings of forever. But before the Dogmothers can claim another successful match, Ayla’s psychic skills thrust her into a perilous spotlight that threatens everything. With their love on the line and a dog’s life in the balance, Ayla’s gift could save them all…but only if Theo will finally risk his heart and believe.