Ali Reynolds is finally getting married to her longtime love B. Simpson. They wanted a simple Christmas Eve wedding, but nothing is ever simple with Ali. Even as a motley crew of her friends—Leland Brooks, Sister Anselm, and others—descend on Vegas, the bride-to-be finds herself juggling last-minute wedding plans and a mystery in the form of a stray miniature dachshund.

Ali’s grandson rescues the little dog, but Ali’s not in the market for a new pet right before her honeymoon, and leaves no stone unturned in hunting for the dog’s owner. But what she finds is more than just a shaggy dog story…Bella’s elderly owner has vanished, and her son seems to be behind it. So it’s Ali and B. to the rescue—and still making it to the church on time!

In 2010, in the middle of October, a seven pound bundle of joy and trouble came into our lives, and I’m NOT talking about a new grandchild. Our new arrival was an aging and abandoned long-haired miniature Dachshund whom we named Bella. Bella was a complete stranger when she arrived in our midst, and I’m sure she thought we were uncommonly stupid since we weren’t smart enough to even call her by name. She knew her name. We didn’t. In the course of the last four years, we’ve pieced together bits of her history, and it’s that history that’s woven into my Ali Reynolds novella, A Last Goodbye.

JAJ