3 Heads & a Tail

by Vickie Johnstone

3 Heads & a Tail is a quirky comedy about two guys, a girl and a streetwise Labrador who swears too much. When nature lover Josie moves into a house share with two pals, dreamer Ben and model man David, she sees it as a short stop and doesn't bank on an attraction developing with one of them. Meanwhile, Ben’s dog, Glen, has the hots for Miss Posh, the beautiful golden Labrador in the park. When dog meets dog it’s puppy love, but a complication leads to Glen taking matters into his own paws, leading to a situation that puts him in danger. In this comedy of errors, romance and walkies, it's anyone's guess who is going to win the girl/dog and live happily ever "A humorous love story of a different kind, mostly seen through the eyes of Glen, the tail owner, and written with unusual wittiness and ability." (Annarita Guarnieri)"Oh my gosh this is a funny book. I hate to harp on the topic of how the dog made the story, but I think he did." (Ey Wade)"Laugh out loud funny." (Donna Brown)"Glen has now replaced Buck as my favorite doggie character in a novel. Ms. Johnstone's characters are all wonderfully developed and she does an amazing job giving doggie voice to Glen and Mimi." (PDX Author)Hi, I live in London where I work as a layout sub-editor. I love reading, writing, films, the sea, art, animals, nature, rock music, Milky Bar and travelling. I have written and self-published 17 books. This book was written for NaNoWriMo 2011. Happy reading!

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 26, 2012

About the author

Hi, I live in London. I love reading, writing, films, the sea, art, animals, nature and travelling. Since 2011, I have self-published 17 books.

Books self-published in 2011:

Kaleidoscope (March) - 119 poems;
Travelling Light - a free book of 38 poems;
Kiwi in Cat City (April);
Kiwi and the Missing Magic (June); and
Kiwi and the Living Nightmare (October).

The Kiwi Series is written for readers aged 9 up. They follow the adventures of a magical cat called Kiwi and her two human friends, Amy and James. The books contain wonderful illustrations by Nikki McBroom.

Books published in 2012:

Day of the Living Pizza - a free comedy horror for ages 13 up (May);
Life's Rhythms - 316 haiku (June);
3 Heads and a Tail - a romantic comedy with walkies, written for NaNoWriMo (June);
Kiwi and the Serpent of the Isle (August);
Day of the Pesky Shadow - book 2 in the Smarts & Dewdrop Mysteries series (October);
Kiwi in the Realm of Ra (November); and
Kiwi's Christmas Tail (December).

Books published in 2013:
The Sea Inside (Cerulean Songs, book 1); and
I Dream of Zombies (book 1).

Books published in 2014:
Haven (book 2, I Dream of Zombies).

Books published in 2015:
Mind-spinning Rainbows.

Books published in 2021:
A Poem a Day.

Good luck with your writing and happy reading :)

Vickie Johnstone

Blog: http://vickiejohnstone.blogspot.com
Twitter: @vickiejohnstone

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorVickieJ...
http://www.facebook.com/KiwiinCatCity
http://www.facebook.com/KaleidoscopeP...

Kiwi Series trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLjmVg...

Reviews

[Brenda Perlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun, light and cheery tale. For me, it was a nice little escape. This sweet story is unique because it entertains a dogs point of view. This is a great fantasy come true. How much I would love to know what my dogs are thinking. I enjoyed the light hearted message served with true life emotions.


"She pulled the duvet over her head and buried her face into the pillow. She really had to invest in some earplugs -
super-strength.
Closing her eyes, she tried to return to the dream, but she couldn't. Smiling, she decided to think about Johnny Depp... naked, in the shower, his body glistening with water. Sod's law was that by the time she got to the interesting bit, she would drop off to sleep. One, two, he was taking off his shirt...
Wee-eee-ooo-eee, the bass suddenly screamed in a high pitched wail. Johnny Depp jumped in fright and vanished from her imagination. Ppff! He was gone. That was it. She wasn't going to listen to that racket all morning...."

[David Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wondered what our pets are thinking? Vickie Johnstone attempts to get into the mind of a dog, Glen, in this highly amusing comedy romance. The story focuses on Josie who moves into a house with two new friends – Ben and David. It isn’t long before we have an awkward love triangle with model David and the more reserved Ben both taking a liking to Josie but which one will she choose? Then there is the small matter of Ben’s dog, Glen, who falls in love with Miss Posh, a golden Labrador he sees at the local park. Will love find a way for someone?

Johnstone wrote this book as part of NaNoWriMo and it’s a good example of why this annual event is such a worthwhile one for writers. Josie has come out of one relationship and is somewhat lost to begin with. The attentions of both Ben and David are unexpected but they are very different people. David is both a model and a musician who keeps in good shape and thinks he is God’s gift to women, while Ben is the nice guy who looks destined to lose out to his house mate. Then there is Glen who has the best moments in the book. Johnstone devotes some sections of the book to Glen’s thoughts and these range from incredulity that Josie would consider David over Ben to excitement about the park and, of course, dog treats. Glen also falls in love with a dog at the park and is determined to be with her.

This is a delightful and funny read throughout. David is the guy the readers will love to hate while Ben is the one that we will all want Josie to be with and not just because he owns one very cool dog. Whether she ends up with either house mate or no one at all is not for me to say. The story takes a fascinating turn in its second half with Glen being the star of the show. His thoughts are wonderfully conveyed and you may never look at your dog the same again after reading this.

3 Heads & a Tail is a warm, funny and entertaining read from start to finish. It has a great bunch of characters, some sharp dialogue and one very special dog tying all the characters together. What more could one ask for?

[Donna Brown]

I’ve read Vickie’s work before and loved it and having had a very heavy week I really wanted something I knew was going to be a fun read. Vickie described it as silly but I didn’t find it silly at all. I found it funny, oh so funny, entertaining and a great read.

Josie moves into a house with nice guy Ben, pretty poser David, plus the star of the book – and by far the funniest character of all – the dog, Glen. It’s a testament to Vickie’s great writing that despite having a husband called David (who I love to pieces), I never thought of him when I came across the name ‘David’ in this book. I only thought of the character she presented so skilfully.

Anyway, as you can probably imagine there’s a little to-ing and fro-ing about who is the right guy for Josie and that’s great – I love a good rom com. However, the hilarity of the book lies in the additional stories, including poor Glen being pimped out but meeting his own doggy love.

I like funny books. I like books that make me go ‘Aaaahhhhh!’ and ‘Squeeeeeee!’ Mr B likes them less. I’m sure it must be very hard to be a serious fantasy writer when your wife keeps reading one liners and laughing like a hyena. What can I say? The book is laugh out loud funny and deserves to be celebrated.

Thank you to Vickie Johnstone for providing a perfect read. A wonderful tonic to a difficult week, a must add for anyone who loves dogs, fun, romance or… um… naked cowboys. This is a book with something for everyone!

This review was originally published on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave. I received a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Gregory Lamb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until reading this humorous tale about relationships between characters that tend towards being shy, my favorite animal character was "Buck" featured in Jack London's "Call of the Wild." Vickie Johnstone's story is a different kind of novel that also features a dog as one of the main characters. The story begins shortly after Josie, the protagonist moves into a flat with two male housemates, rather make that three if you include Glen, the golden labrador retriever.

Without spoiling the fun by describing how the relationships unfold, I'll just say that Glen has now replaced Buck as my favorite doggie character in a novel. Ms. Johnstone's characters are all wonderfully developed and she does an amazing job giving doggie voice to Glen and Mimi.

For readers unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), "3 Heads" is a product of a one month sprint at writing a full length novel. The story is packed with humor and has a wonderfully developed climax and conclusion. For a light hearted "feel good" read and a good laugh, you won't want to miss this one.

[Greta Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book that features a dog as a main character has to be good. Right? Well, most of the time… some of the time?
This book, “3 Heads and a Tail” meets my idea of a good book. It is very humorous and a fun light read. Vickie Johnstone is one of my favorite authors and I always look forward to reading her work.
It is written for readers over 16 but anyone wanting to be entertained will enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.

[Kay Van Slyke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, fast read. I enjoyed all the characters and as another reviewer pointed out it was nice to see the change in David's character. Loved the dogs point of view. I did have a little problem with some of the British colloquialisms but that didn't detract from the story.

[Eric Townsend · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Heads & a Tail is exactly what the title and cover would suggest, a funny and cute romantic story that is filled with heartfelt sentiments and some doggy perspective. I’m not sure that it has an intended age group audience, but it could be enjoyed by anyone from YA to adult. It isn’t overly steamy but tends to be more on the “aww” side of romance.

The only major complaint I had was repetitious writing. A lot of phrases were repeated, often without much of a gap between them. I won’t list a bunch of examples, but suffice it to say a thesaurus or just changes of wording would have been lovely at times. The characters could have been brought so much more to life it they just had slightly altered dialogue, kind of like in a movie where the actors are great but the material they are working with is too rough to let their talent fully shine through.

The characters were done quite well. The main character, Josie was a bit of a space case at times, but she seemed realistic. She didn’t always make the best decisions yet she owned up to that and took her lumps when she knew she deserved them. Ben is devoted, caring, and though he doesn’t have the highest self-esteem, he still tries to get Josie to notice he likes her, in his own way. The standout for the humans oddly enough is the pretty boy David. Johnstone really fleshes out his persona well, he’s one of the most convincing asshats I’ve seen in a while, quirky sense of humor or no, he’s not a character that is easily liked which is definitely by design.

Of course, the fun part about 3 Heads & a Tail is the dog’s perspective. Johnstone does a great job creating a convincing personality that if you didn’t know better, or wasn’t filled with so many “voofs”, might be that of a human. Glen is often hilarious, and even devious, but being a dog is more easily convinced to do things than your standard character. He has his own set of views on how the world works with insight that only a dog could have. Overall a very enjoyable second main perspective.

The plot, while predictable for the most part, was entertaining. Love triangles, failed attempts at love, drunken nights and many a chase combine for quite the thrill ride, and cheesy romance fest. There are enough twists and turns along the way to keep the reader interested and I breezed through the book with ease. If you want a light funny read, and don’t mind the repetitious dialogue I mentioned earlier then this is a good pick.

Rating: 3/5

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comedy romance starring a dog that swears too much.
When nature lover Josie moves into a house share with two pals, dreamer Ben and model man David, she sees it as a short stop and doesn't bank on an attraction developing with one of them. Meanwhile, Ben's dog, Glen, has the hots for Miss Posh, the beautiful golden Lab in the park. When dog meets dog it's puppy love, but a complication leads to Glen taking matters into his own paws. In this comedy of errors, romance and walkies, it's anyone's guess who is going to get the girl/dog and live happily ever after.
The beginning was pretty good. The middle was kinda okay, but the end was great. Lots of surprises. 4 stars.