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Chihuahua Karma

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Gregor's nightmare was a cockroach. Cherry Paget's is a Chihuahua.

Cherry was young, beautiful and rich-just golden enough to imagine that she had the world by the balls. Death was the furthest thing from her mind. But even a morbid obsession with the afterlife could not have prepared her for what happened.

Chihuahua Karma chronicles the horrendous consequences of Cherry's bad choices. She trades love for a Black American Express card. She dumps veterinarian, Richard Preston, to marry gangster, Larry Finkelstein. And, when a smudge of magenta lipstick confirms that Larry is cheating she washes down a fist-full of Vicoden with a bottle of wine for breakfast. That mistake is the beginning of her problems.

In an inebriated attempt at tanning, Cherry plunges from the terrace of her penthouse to the street below. She escapes extinction only to encounter a more complicated fate. Cherry regains consciousness trapped inside the body of a very tiny dog.

Cherry's diminutive prison is a mini Chi named Sugar. The Lucky Dream Dry Cleaners is her dismal new home. With the unwitting assistance of her former housekeeper, Cherry escapes the dirty clothes and cotton dust. Once again ensconced in Larry's luxurious penthouse, she becomes his girlfriend's prized purse-buddy.

In her diminished state, Cherry finds new perspective. She yearns for Richard. And she forms an unlikely alliance with Don Paco Fernandez, a temperamental ghost with a taste for tequila and pretty ladies. Through Don Paco, Cherry discovers that only she can save an orphaned child from her impending adoption by a sinister couple. The cast of off-beat characters collides, and Cherry meets her destiny at a casino night Christmas party.

Chihuahua Karma could easily share a shelf with humorous fiction like the Devil Wears Prada and the Nanny Diaries. Sugars fans include women who love fashion, passion and small dogs and any reader who enjoys unraveling a quirky plot to its surprising conclusion.

Debby Rice is a writer from Chicago. She has spent time in Mexico City, San Miguel Allende, New Orleans and San Francisco, and her experiences in those cities color her work. Rice blurs the distinctions between fantasy and reality and immerses her readers in a vividly imagined new world.

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 29, 2011

11 people are currently reading
137 people want to read

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Debby Rice

3 books1 follower

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5 stars
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59 (38%)
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
Profile Image for Marti.
210 reviews6 followers
June 20, 2012
Real estate agent Cherry loved veterinarian Richard and he loved her even more. Unfortunately, Cherry loved money and status more than she loved Richard, which led her to sleezeball Larry. Soon enough, Cherry was unhappy and availing herself of the ready supply of drugs and alcohol while Larry pursued his new interest, Charmaine. One day, after too many pills and too much liquor, Cherry fell off the terrace of Larry's penthouse Chicago apartment and found herself in the tiny body of a mini chi. Through a few more than improbably coincidences, "Sugar" the little dog, winds up back in Larry's apartment when he by then was sharing with Charmaine. Sugar (Cherry) learns more than a few of life's lessons and is ultimately more then helpful to Lucille, Larry's daughter from a former and now deceased lover, Veronica. This novel was fairly short, moved at a nice clip, and was a pleasure to read. It would make a nice beach book.
Profile Image for Maria.
446 reviews15 followers
May 6, 2013
I was pleasantly suprized by this book. I kind of take the free books I download from Amazon with a grain of salt. A lot of them aren't very good and you have to be pretty picky to weed out the really awful ones. This one sounded kind of "iffy." About a woman (Cherry) who accidentally dies and her soul gets planted into a mini-chihuahua.

I know, right?

It turns out to be a pretty good story about realizing what one's life has been and choosing to do the right thing. The writing was pretty good, and the characters were fleshed out.

I took one star off because there are a couple of instances of some sex stuff that I wasn't too thrilled with that bit, but the rest of it was pretty good.
Profile Image for Mara.
1 review3 followers
June 23, 2012
Looking for a fun, yet smart read for your summer break? This is the book for you. Fun, creative story with twists that keep you interested and frankly laughing out loud. I was entertained throughout and still remember the story. How many summer books have you read that you can say that about?
Profile Image for Jeannie and Louis Rigod.
1,991 reviews39 followers
August 27, 2016
This book was fast=paced and filled with continuous action .

The story is about Cherry. She is an unhappy 'Trophy' wife. Cherry has a pampered life (looking from the outside in,) however, it is not a life to envy. Cherry's spouse is a louse. Anyways, and this is trying not to give away the details that kept me reading, she has a fatal accident...or was it?

Coming back from death's door, Cherry finds herself as a Mini-Chi, an uncommon and rare tiny Chihuahua. We find Cherry still living in her former neighborhood only with the Dry Cleaner's wife. Why? Well that is the fascination in this book that kept me turning the pages.

This book is filled with excellent characters that are interesting, colorful, scary, and you find yourself routing for Cherry's soul to aid not only her previously neglected ward, but even the new girlfriend of her former husband.

I liked the ending. It was a realistic look at justice. I was just not comfy with the (am I getting older? Yes!) language and sexual content.
11 reviews1 follower
February 25, 2019
Unexpectedly funny story!

Debby Rice spins a believable tale about a broken woman reincarnated as a mini chihuahua. Through the chi’s eyes, she reevaluates her life and gets a second chance! It is an unexpectedly funny, clever story.
53 reviews
October 30, 2020
I truly enjoyed this book. It was easy to follow, kept my attention, had an interesting storyline, and had a feel good ending. Not an intellectual, heavy read but definitely gave you a chance to reflect on what is important in life.
80 reviews
December 27, 2020
So entertaining. Who would expect an adorable Chihuahua to teach us so much about what is important in life? Everyone can find something to love about this book. There is mystery, paranormal, love and life lessons galore. I highly recommend this book.
Profile Image for Swati.
Author 167 books19 followers
Read
November 25, 2011

Cherry Paget has perfect bosoms, hair better than Barbie and lives in a palatial apartment with her gangster husband. Cherry traded love of her ex boyfriend Richard for the black amex of her gangster husband Larry and in return Larry traded 33 years old Cherry for 25 years glamorous girlfriend Charmaine. After being cheated by Larry, Cherry swallows the handful of Vicoden with a bottle of wine for breakfast and jumps from the 40th floor of the building. When cherry wakes up with a heavy head she finds herself trapped in the body of pocket size Chihuahua named sugar. It is a tad big of a shock for her to absorb that now her new house is Lucky Dream dry clears instead of her five star style penthouse. As if it was not enough she once again bumped into her old flame Richard and realizes that she still loves him, enters back in Larry’s flat and become her girlfriend’s purse-buddy and also makes friends with Don Paco Fernandez, a temperamental ghost with a taste for tequila and pretty ladies. The best part of the story is when once again fate of Cherry Paget changes when her soul yet again gets trapped into yet another body in the Christmas party.
8 reviews
June 25, 2022
Wow! I loved this book. Chihuahua Karma by Debby Rice I stayed up until 4 am reading this book. (OK, so I'm a slow reader) It is the perfect antidote to a long, serious day. The author has produced a quick paced and well written book. The concept of reincarnation into a mini-chi is hilarious. The perspective of a privileged, decadent penthouse lifestyle suddenly changed to a view of life lived three inches off the ground is fabulous..... The dialogue is great. The chihuahua's thoughts are exactly what one might think under the circumstances. A darling book. I think it would make a GREAT movie. I can't imagine any one not enjoying this book.
Profile Image for Karice Bolton.
Author 94 books931 followers
March 24, 2012
This was such a fun book to read! I enjoyed how the story was told, and the scenarios were hilarious and touching at the same time! I could just picture everything from the chihuahua's point of view! The humor was great. This was a really uplifting and quirky story that I think would be a perfect read as the spring and summer months roll on in. A really great idea that was executed really well. A nice relaxing read!
Profile Image for Karen.
46 reviews7 followers
January 1, 2014
This was one of the most bizarre stories I've read in some time, and yet, it was also charming in a strange kind of way. Though this was definitely not my type of story and I will not go out of my way to find more like it, I enjoyed reading it and could appreciate the "live life with no regrets" sort of theme the author was going for.
Profile Image for Stacy.
889 reviews1 follower
May 23, 2015
This was cute! It started out kind of dull, but got a lot funnier as it went along.

The premise--young woman trapped in Chihuahua body--may be just too weird to handle. If you like books narrated by an animal (or don't mind shutting your brain down a notch to read this), it is a fun read.
Profile Image for Marjie.
374 reviews
May 29, 2015
Pretty cute

A bit of paranormal but not too much. A story of love and redemption really. There were a few typos, one was a single letter where a whole word was missing, undecipherable.
Profile Image for Katt.
149 reviews7 followers
July 3, 2012
It was a fun book with interesting story lines. Enjoyed the ending
Profile Image for Jaimi S.
13 reviews
October 31, 2012
Not my kind of book. The story just fell flat and was very uneventful.
Profile Image for Vikki Wright.
39 reviews2 followers
July 5, 2013
Grab your favorite beach chair, cold drink, and your sun screen and set aside reality for this bit of fun.
Profile Image for Dawn Williams doucett.
9 reviews
October 19, 2013
Kind of silly but you gotta kinda sympathize with the main character. Not the greatest but good enough to get to the end.
Profile Image for Lissa Davis.
12 reviews
January 10, 2015
Great read

This book was so fun. Cherry describes her dog life so well. And the ending? my, my. Opens it up for Book 2, hint, hint.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

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