LUCKY ENOUGH is the eighth book in Claire Cook’s engaging and humorous series, Must Love Dogs. This is the perfect opportunity to escape from reality and jump into the life of Sarah Hurlihy as she navigates her occasionally fraught relationship with John, their ever-growing menagerie of pets, and her often crazy extended Irish family. When you factor in her job as a preschool teacher with some very precocious children and their suburban parents, you get lots of humor as well as many touching moments.

"Reading about Sarah and John...provides us with the chuckles, warm feelings and thought-provoking dilemmas that we expect from Claire Cook's novels. As always, all the ingredients in this Cook book add up to a delicious reading experience."

Sarah and John live in the large family house in which she grew up, located in the quiet, coastal (fictional) town of Marshbury, Massachusetts. Their house is home to many, including single, pregnant Polly, who works at Sarah's preschool as an assistant teacher; Sarah's brother, who resides in the trailer perpetually parked outside the house; and the dogs and cats they've rescued in previous novels. Pebbles and her kittens are actually based on a real incident when Cook and her husband rescued a feral mama cat and her kittens from their front steps. Pet lovers will understand the time and responsibility involved as they watch Sarah and John walk the dogs, feed the cats and have the latter sterilized --- amusing antics included.

But this story really revolves around St. Patrick's Day. In this part of the Irish Riviera where the Hurlihys live, it's a huge holiday. In fact, as Cook writes, "it's pretty much mandatory to be a little bit Irish for the whole month of March." Sarah's father, whose capers and malapropisms never fail to elicit a smile, is running for St. Patrick's Day mayor, and their large corner property is enveloped in green signs announcing his candidacy.

At Sarah's school, the young students are assigned the project of making a leprechaun trap. We see how hard the teachers work (and play) in order to provide an enriching experience for the children. When two kids do something funny, Cook offers another student's response: "Pandora rolled her eyes at them, demonstrating both kindergarten readiness and that she'd make a great teenager one day." She describes a preschool activity as a perfect STEM project, and then brilliantly explains to readers who might not understand that acronym what it is and why it’s important for students.

Cook cleverly inserts a reference to the movie version of the original book, MUST LOVE DOGS, when John shares this: "For a while, I felt like maybe I should build wooden boats. By hand. The real way." Sarah's first person narrative enables us to know her feelings, and she's the kind of person we would want as a friend. She's funny, supportive, kind, empathetic and loving, not to mention a lot of fun to be with. That is, except when she's obsessed with getting pregnant and having a baby --- which is a large part of the plot.

But don't make the mistake of thinking that this book is just about laughs and a bit of romance. There's plenty that's extraordinarily thoughtful as well, and elements of the story are quite touching. Animal lovers and rescuers will be proud of Sarah and John's determination to do the right thing by their cats and prevent them from bringing more into the world. Those same people will howl with laughter as Cook expertly reveals the extent of Sarah and John's naiveté as they think that putting post-surgical mama cat in the bathtub will keep her safe because she will stay there with the bedding and litter box. Uh, no.

As she searches for love and a comfortable place in her unique family, we find Sarah and her life to be entirely relatable. We understand her desire to be loved, and we can empathize with her concern that her life (like our own) isn't quite going according to plan. And the ending is perfectly lovely, with a sentiment to which all readers can aspire. It's inspirational and reflective of the manner in which Cook has created her characters, all of whom are flawed, and have doubts and problems. Still, we adore them in spite of --- or perhaps because of --- those very foibles.

Reading about Sarah and John, along with Sarah’s family and their antics, provides us with the chuckles, warm feelings and thought-provoking dilemmas that we expect from Claire Cook's novels. As always, all the ingredients in this Cook book add up to a delicious reading experience.