A Dog Called Ducky

Book excerpt: Ducky, the adorable Yorkie with 2.3M TikTok followers and legions more fans on Instagram and YouTube, makes the leap to fiction with this heartwarming and romantic novel—the second in The Dog Agency Novels—with strong messages of inclusion, anti-bullying, and self-love. For fans of Melinda Metz, Victoria Schade, and Annie England Noblin. One hot fall day, schoolteacher Layla Sanford arrives at her cozy home to find she has two guests. One is a tiny, adorable Yorkie in a cable-knit sweater and a fuzzy yellow ducky hat. The other is Layla’s best friend Christine, Ducky’s beloved person and momager. Ducky, after all, is no regular dog. He’s a TikTok star with millions of followers, making up in personality and photogenic appeal what he lacks in size. Layla agrees to watch Ducky while Christine is called away for work and is quickly charmed by the miniature mutt. Ducky instinctively seems to know how to cheer people up, whether it’s by picking out the perfect canine costume or gravitating to Lucas, a shy, lonely new student in Christine’s class. Layla isn’t the only person concerned about Lucas. Garrett, Layla’s handsome colleague, is also worried about the little boy. But it’s Ducky who comes to the rescue, becoming Lucas’s unlikely protector and a class mascot, beloved by all the students—and the whole town. So when the school lunch program is cut and the community is threatened by rumors of a plant closure, Ducky might just be the hero the town never knew they needed. The Yorkie’s loving personality brings Layla and Garrett together—and inspires them to find ways to bring more joy to their small town, spreading Ducky’s message of self-love and acceptance as only a loyal, funny, feisty little dog can do . . .