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Bad to the Bone (The Dogfather) [2018, PDF/EPUB, ENG]

by Roxanne St. Claire

(1,532 ratings)
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Book Five in a Complete Series (all stand-alone titles) for Romance Readers Who Love Dogs!

Trace Bancroft has been in prison for fourteen years paying for a mistake that cost a man his life. Now released, Trace heads back to Bitter Bark with his mutt, Meatball, and runs into Daniel Kilcannon, who offers to provide some medical care for the dog. Trace knows that would mean seeing Molly Kilcannon, a girl who shared one crazy night with him before his life took a turn for the worse. But when Meatball's illness intensifies, Trace has no choice. He has to face Molly again, and pray she'll save his dog, no matter what their history. 

When Trace Bancroft arrives at Waterford Farm with a critically ill dog, Molly Kilcannon's entire world is rocked to the core. Firmly believing Trace died in a bar fight years ago, Molly never told anyone that the bad boy of Bitter Bark was the father of Prudence Kilcannon, her very good thirteen-year-old daughter. But Molly has promised to tell Pru the truth about her conception, and now that truth is a living, breathing, ex-con whose very existence could change everything, including a precious mother-daughter relationship. 

It doesn't take long for Molly to realize there's more to this sexy man than his dark past and tattooed arms. And while the realization that he's a father is the best thing to ever happen to him, Trace doubts anything could make him worthy of Pru or her spirited veterinarian mother. As they nurse Meatball back to health and grow ever closer, Trace and Molly have to decide when and how to tell Pru the truth. But will the secret that binds their hearts be the very thing that breaks them apart?

The Dogfather Series

Every love story in this complete nine-book series begins and ends with a dog. And a little help from The Dogfather.

**Every cover features a rescue dog and 'local hero' from Alaqua Animal Refuge in Florida, and a portion of book sales has been donated to this amazing shelter!**

Daniel Kilcannon is known as 'The Dogfather' for a reason. It's not just his renowned skills as a veterinarian, his tremendous love of dogs, or the fact that he has turned his homestead in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains into a world-class canine training and rescue facility. Ask his six grown children who run Waterford Farm for him, and they'll tell you that their father's nickname is due to his uncanny ability to pull a few strings to get what he wants. And what he wants is for his four sons and two daughters to find the kind of life-changing love he had with his dearly departed wife, Annie. This old dog has a few new tricks...and he'll use them all to see his pack all settled into their happily ever afters!

THE COMPLETE DOGFATHER SERIES

Sit...Stay...Beg - Book One

New Leash on Life - Book Two

Leader of the Pack - Book Three

Santa Paws is Coming to Town - Book Four (holiday novella)

Bad to the Bone - Book Five

Ruff Around the Edges - Book Six

Double Dog Dare - Book Seven 

Bark! The Herald Angels Sing - Book Eight

Old Dog New Tricks - Book Nine


About the Author

Published since 2003, Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty romance and suspense novels. In addition to being a ten-time nominee and a one-time winner of the prestigious RITATM Award for the best in romance writing, Roxanne's novels have won the National Reader's Choice Award four times and have been translated into dozens of languages. A recent empty-nester, Roxanne lives in Florida with her husband and two dogs.

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Book details


  • Retail price : from $8.99
  • Author : Roxanne St. Claire
  • Publisher : South Street Publishing
  • Published : 01-19-2018
  • Language : English
  • Pages : 364
  • ISBN-10 : 099810938X
  • ISBN-13 : 978-0998109381
  • Reader Reviews : 1,532 (4.7)
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About the Author


Roxanne St. Claire


Published since 2003, Roxanne St. Claire is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of nearly fifty romance and suspense novels. She has written several popular series, including The Dogfather, Barefoot Bay, the Guardian Angelinos, and the Bullet Catchers.

In addition to being an ten-time nominee and one-time winner of the prestigious RITA™ Award for the best in romance writing, Roxanne’s novels have won the National Reader’s Choice Award for best romantic suspense four times, as well as the Maggie, the Daphne du Maurier Award, the HOLT Medallion, Booksellers Best, Book Buyers Best, the Award of Excellence, and many others.

A recent empty-nester, she lives in Florida with her husband and two dogs. When not writing, Roxanne can be found...nevermind. She's rarely not writing. Find out more or sign up for her newsletter at roxannestclaire.com.

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Reader Reviews

J
Kathy Whalen
Heart-tugging
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 01-31-2018
Lots of emotion in this four-cornered love story with a sick dog, a man who can't catch a break, a single mom whose past threatens the relationship she's built with her daughter, and the daughter, who can bring them all together or blow the whole thing apart. St Claire is brilliant at creating complex family drama and this book has lots to say about the importance of family in raising good children. I loved Pru. She was a full-fledged character and, without detracting from the romance at all, her story drove the plot. There were lots of tears and plenty of laughs with the entire Killcannon clan coming to life in a way that makes you want to hang out with them. And dogs! The dogs in all St Claire's books really act like real dogs, and each one has its own character and its own way of interacting with the people around it. A good romance book is always made better by the addition of a dog or two.
So what was wrong? As another reviewer mentioned, the final scenes with the EVIL family seem artificial and contrived. There is no believable motivation for their excessively mean actions. I was not cheering, as some readers were, but cringing. Up to that point the book felt nuanced and our hero and heroine were working out an adult way to resolve a complex problem. The bizarre actions of the Anti-kilcannons came out of the blue, and felt like a throwback to the bad old days of Harlequin, where you had to have those cardboard baddies to act as foil to your good guys. That said, once they were dispatched, the ending felt right. I liked the final rehabilitation of Trace's mom, just the sort of touch that makes these books so good. St Claire is a skilful writer and even with my disappointment with her denouement, this book is still a great read. I recommend the whole series (and her excellent Facebook group as well!)..
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PJ Ausdenmore
This One is a Keeper
Reviewed in the United States on 01-27-2018
Molly Kilcannon is a veterinarian and a single mom who puts everyone before herself and has been keeping a closely guarded secret for the past 14 years. Pru Kilcannon is a 13-year-old general in the making who sees the world in black and white, never strays from the straight and narrow, and is increasingly insistent that she be told who fathered her. Trace is a good-hearted man who has spent 14 years paying for a mistake. He now has a second chance for happiness and love but how likely is that when he's spent a lifetime thinking he isn't worthy of either?

I've been reading Roxanne St. Claire's books for years and have thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of them but, even in a sea of keepers, this one is special. Bad to the Bone has all the feels and I eagerly indulged in each one (keep the tissues handy). It's hard to remember a group of characters who have touched me as deeply as Molly, Trace, Pru, and Meatball (yes, in St. Claire's Dogfather books, the canine characters are just as important as the humans). They're so vividly and realistically drawn that by the time I was a third of the way into the book they had ceased to be characters on the page. In my mind and my heart, these were real people who had captured my attention and my heart. I was invested in them and in their journey to forgiveness, acceptance, happiness, and love.

St. Claire did not give Trace and Molly an easy journey and that made this book all the better for me. My heart broke for what Trace had been through, for the love he had never known. He was a perfectly balanced blend of bad boy, protective father, and vulnerable, tender-hearted man. I've liked Molly throughout the Dogfather series but even more after reading her story. I love her honesty and determination to do the right thing, even when she's still so angry with Trace. What can I say about Pru? She almost steals the book. This was as much her journey as it was her parents' and I so enjoyed watching her relationship with both Trace and Molly evolve as well as her individual growth as a person.

Many tissues were used in the reading of this book and probably will continue to be during re-reads. This is a story I'll be returning to time and again. I highly recommend Roxanne St. Claire's BAD TO THE BONE..
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J
Veronica
Never Judge a Book by It's Cover!!!
Reviewed in Australia on 09-01-2018
Just when l think Roxanne St Claire can't get any better, she does it Again!!!
I have FALLEN in LOVE with the Dogfather series from the first page.. and Trace was in love with Molly even when she was tutoring him in school, he just didn't know how to voice it as he'd never been shown any. But now he's back having learnt many life lessons but also coming to realise that fatherhood and Loving the right woman are still possibilities.
I Love this story of Molly, Trace and Pru and the WHOLE Kilcannon clan and HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO HAS A HEART!!!.
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