Kathleen O'Brien: Do you love dogs?

In FOR THEIR BABY, the book I just finished writing for Harlequin Superromance, my heroine, Kitty Hemmings, is trying to cope with the world-changing consequences of her one-night stand with a gorgeous stranger. She’s going to have a baby. As she gets to know David Gerard, the strait-laced lawyer who is the father, she’s relieved to discover that he’s honorable, kind and prepared to share the responsibility of their child.

Whew. He could have been anything—a gambler, a married man, a murderer. But then she learns something about him that just might be equally bad.

David doesn’t like dogs.

Did that sentence make you raise your eyebrows just a little? A hero who doesn’t like dogs? Okay, maybe that’s not on a par with bigamists and murderers, but it’s a real problem. If you’re like me, that’s darned near a deal-breaker.

Seriously. I don’t think I could fall in love with a guy who didn’t like dogs. Dogs have been a part of my life as long as I have conscious memories. I never knew my father’s Irish wolfhound, Mr. Dooley, which he had when he was a younger man, but I knew the stories. That dog was bigger than my father, smart as a whip, and practically a member of the family.

Then there was Rooney, the Irish Setter we owned when I was in kindergarten. And then Snowy Obie, and Friendsy, and Honey, my sister’s blonde cocker spaniel. Honey ate the front off my brand-new, double-breasted London Fog raincoat. I was a teenager, and that coat was super Mod, so I cried a million tears over that coat. But, as you can see from the picture, I loved the silly mutt anyhow.

My own children have never, ever lived in a house without a pet. We started out with Popo, who was His Highness’s dog before we married. His Highness was so good to that dog that somehow I knew my own heart, and my children-to-be, would be safe with him, too. Then we had Mackey and Mischief, the two Shelties who shepherded my kids down the hall to bed every night.

And now there’s Lily. Ah, Lily, the spoiled Bichon who runs this house. She and His Highness are special friends, reminding me every day how right I was to pick him.

How about you? Do you think Kitty should run, now that she’s learned about David and dogs? Could you fall in love with a man who didn’t like dogs? Or…at least a kitten or two? :)