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Dogs Don’t Break Hearts
A teen recovering from an emotionally manipulative relationship finds healing through volunteering at a pet rescue—where a special dog and a kind new crush help him learn to trust and love again.
- GenresM M RomanceRomanceQueer
114 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 20, 2025
About the author
'Nathan Burgoine
50 books466 followers'Nathan Burgoine grew up a reader and studied literature in university while making a living as a bookseller. His first published short story was "Heart" in the collection Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction. Since then, he has had dozens of short stories published, and despite being "the tall queer guy who writes mosly shorter queer fictions" novels have happened between the novellas and short stories.
A cat lover, 'Nathan managed to fall in love and marry Daniel, who is a confirmed dog person. Their ongoing "cat or dog?" détente ended with the rescue and adoption of huskies. They live in Ottawa, Canada, where socialized health care and gay marriage have yet to cause the sky to cave in.
You can find 'Nathan on the web at nathanburgoine.com.
A cat lover, 'Nathan managed to fall in love and marry Daniel, who is a confirmed dog person. Their ongoing "cat or dog?" détente ended with the rescue and adoption of huskies. They live in Ottawa, Canada, where socialized health care and gay marriage have yet to cause the sky to cave in.
You can find 'Nathan on the web at nathanburgoine.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
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March 26, 2025Update, March 25th, 2025: So, the paperback and hardcover versions of the book are delayed thanks to world events, but I’m told the Kobo ebook version did download to e-readers today as planned for the release date, so hey! Sort of happy book birthday! The most fun part of today was telling all the neighbours I bumped into walking their dogs about their doggy cameos in the book, as I named and described every dog in the book after a pupper Max and I meet on our daily walks.
Hello! Author here, being all author-like.
Apparently this is officially on the release schedule now, so I can start talking about it. “Dogs Don’t Break Hearts” is my second Hi-Lo YA book—Hi-Lo means high-interest, low-complexity, for reluctant readers, ESL readers, or those with reading disabilities—and pretty much happened because after writing Stuck With You, I was excited to write another.
Where “Stuck With You” was more-or-less a rom-com, this one goes somewhere harder, and is about a boy, Beck, who is stuck in a different way: his relationship imploded, and the result of that is something I wanted to explore about the queer community: how, especially in places like high school or smaller towns, it can be really small. And losing access to your friend group/people like you can feel completely devastating.
But also, it’s about how important it is to speak up for yourself (especially when it's difficult), to try new things, how easy it is to doubt yourself, and how sometimes helping others—or, say, a dog or two—can be a great path forward when you’re not sure what might be good for yourself.
Also there’s an adorable brown husky named Coffee.
Hello! Author here, being all author-like.
Apparently this is officially on the release schedule now, so I can start talking about it. “Dogs Don’t Break Hearts” is my second Hi-Lo YA book—Hi-Lo means high-interest, low-complexity, for reluctant readers, ESL readers, or those with reading disabilities—and pretty much happened because after writing Stuck With You, I was excited to write another.
Where “Stuck With You” was more-or-less a rom-com, this one goes somewhere harder, and is about a boy, Beck, who is stuck in a different way: his relationship imploded, and the result of that is something I wanted to explore about the queer community: how, especially in places like high school or smaller towns, it can be really small. And losing access to your friend group/people like you can feel completely devastating.
But also, it’s about how important it is to speak up for yourself (especially when it's difficult), to try new things, how easy it is to doubt yourself, and how sometimes helping others—or, say, a dog or two—can be a great path forward when you’re not sure what might be good for yourself.
Also there’s an adorable brown husky named Coffee.
December 11, 2024
An impactful story about taking accountability, the perils of letting others control your narrative and, most importantly, the healing power of dogs. Dogs may not break hearts, but this book mended mine.
August 30, 2025
“Dogs Don’t Break Hearts” is ‘Nathan Burgoine’s second YA book under Lorimer’s “Real Love” imprint since his fun “Stuck With You” two years ago.
Like the earlier book, it is a “Hi/Lo,” a “high interest, low reading complexity book” meant for young readers who do not have a high reading level for one reason or another. And like the earlier book, none of it comes off as talking down to any reader.
Timothy Beck (“Beck” to his friends, all six of them) is an out, Gay High School kid in Ottawa, Canada who is in need of volunteer hours. Beck has broken up with Mason, a fellow member of the school’s GSA group who didn’t even acknowledge they were boyfriends. Not wanting to be around his ex, Beck grabs a note from the volunteer board about “Rescues In Motion,” a local dog rescue organization. Everything is going fine until Beck runs into Oliver who is dating Mason and is also volunteering at Rescues In Motion.
Sparks do not immediately fly as the two of them make the best of having to be together. As this is a romance book, part of the fun is seeing how the two of them eventually get together. And if that seems a bit contrived, Beck and Oliver’s actions come off as very humanly real.
As well as Burgoine handles the human characters it is in the depiction of the dogs where Burgoine’s skill really shines through. From pretty little Cinnamon, to sad-faced Sampson a Black Lab with a rough past to Coffee the adorable brown husky who plays an instrumental role in Beck and Oliver’s story. Every bark, every tail-wag, every heartrending canine glance is played with flawless precision. There is never a moment when the dogs do not seem anything but real, breathing, living beings.
And again, Burgoine handles the bits about some of the dog’s difficult earlier lives perfectly, without detail and it works. Readers feel sympathy and compassion for them as does Beck.
Adding to the fun are Burgoine’s chapter titles, cast as a series of picture posts Beck has been doing online. (“Today’s Gay Agenda: Volunteer.” “Today’s Gay Agenda: Walk Through A Door.” “Today’s Gay Agenda: Don’t Get Parasites.”)
Making the human characters more real is Beck’s acknowledgment that he shares blame for cutting off with his small friend group at school because of Mason. And the last few chapters where Oliver and Beck finally officially do get together are heart-tugging.
And while a reader should not judge a book by its cover, this delightful cover by Tyler Cleroux totally conveys the happiness of both Beck and Coffee.
“Dogs Don’t Break Hearts” is a fun, breezy charming read well-recommended for anybody. Especially dog lovers.
SPOILER ALERT: All the dogs survive through the end of the book.
---end---
Like the earlier book, it is a “Hi/Lo,” a “high interest, low reading complexity book” meant for young readers who do not have a high reading level for one reason or another. And like the earlier book, none of it comes off as talking down to any reader.
Timothy Beck (“Beck” to his friends, all six of them) is an out, Gay High School kid in Ottawa, Canada who is in need of volunteer hours. Beck has broken up with Mason, a fellow member of the school’s GSA group who didn’t even acknowledge they were boyfriends. Not wanting to be around his ex, Beck grabs a note from the volunteer board about “Rescues In Motion,” a local dog rescue organization. Everything is going fine until Beck runs into Oliver who is dating Mason and is also volunteering at Rescues In Motion.
Sparks do not immediately fly as the two of them make the best of having to be together. As this is a romance book, part of the fun is seeing how the two of them eventually get together. And if that seems a bit contrived, Beck and Oliver’s actions come off as very humanly real.
As well as Burgoine handles the human characters it is in the depiction of the dogs where Burgoine’s skill really shines through. From pretty little Cinnamon, to sad-faced Sampson a Black Lab with a rough past to Coffee the adorable brown husky who plays an instrumental role in Beck and Oliver’s story. Every bark, every tail-wag, every heartrending canine glance is played with flawless precision. There is never a moment when the dogs do not seem anything but real, breathing, living beings.
And again, Burgoine handles the bits about some of the dog’s difficult earlier lives perfectly, without detail and it works. Readers feel sympathy and compassion for them as does Beck.
Adding to the fun are Burgoine’s chapter titles, cast as a series of picture posts Beck has been doing online. (“Today’s Gay Agenda: Volunteer.” “Today’s Gay Agenda: Walk Through A Door.” “Today’s Gay Agenda: Don’t Get Parasites.”)
Making the human characters more real is Beck’s acknowledgment that he shares blame for cutting off with his small friend group at school because of Mason. And the last few chapters where Oliver and Beck finally officially do get together are heart-tugging.
And while a reader should not judge a book by its cover, this delightful cover by Tyler Cleroux totally conveys the happiness of both Beck and Coffee.
“Dogs Don’t Break Hearts” is a fun, breezy charming read well-recommended for anybody. Especially dog lovers.
SPOILER ALERT: All the dogs survive through the end of the book.
---end---
June 15, 2025
A really good story about recovering from a break up. Not just a break up, because Beck thought he had a boyfriend, but that guy's a gaslighter and he took in all of Beck's friends, and is now taking them away.
Also a story about dogs and rescues.
Who was it who said if you really love a book, you want it to be longer? That.
A great novella all around!
Also a story about dogs and rescues.
Who was it who said if you really love a book, you want it to be longer? That.
A great novella all around!
May 24, 2025
Very fun--sweet, clever, kind without being simple. I've 'outgrown' a lot of YA, but this one worked just fine for me. It's expensive for a novella, but this author delivers.
June 29, 2025
Dog lovers will fall for this gentle romance.
November 17, 2025
A novella for teen readers. It's a bit sweet, but also deals with relatable issues like gaslighting and unreliable friendships.
2.5 rounded up
2.5 rounded up
May 15, 2026
A quick vignette with strong themes. I would have loved to have had this fleshed out with a hundred or so more pages.
January 6, 2026
This was a really sweet hi-lo reader, that also manages to cover more difficult topics in a way that is accessible and easily understandable for a younger audience.
Beck has recently broken up with his boyfriend Mason, sort of. According to Beck, Mason was his boyfriend, but according to Mason, he wasn't. This was the start of Mason being awful and gaslighting Beck, to the point that Beck shuts himself away from his entire friend group (which is also Mason's friend group). The way that the book deals with gaslighting was really great, and I think really important, especially for a younger audience. Maybe a young reader who is going through something similar will read this and realize that it's not actually their fault.
Beck is in grade 12 and needs to volunteer in order to graduate, and the plan had been for the GSA to volunteer together, however, Beck doesn't want to be anywhere near Mason (rightly!), so he decides to volunteer at a dog rescue organization instead. Which is where he meets Oliver, Mason's "actual" boyfriend. This is obviously super awkward, but Burgoine does such a great job of writing those two characters. Plus, everything is helped by an amazing brown husky named Coffee.
While maybe dogs don't break hearts, they definitely left me with some tears in my eyes. This was a great, short read that I absolutely recommend.
Beck has recently broken up with his boyfriend Mason, sort of. According to Beck, Mason was his boyfriend, but according to Mason, he wasn't. This was the start of Mason being awful and gaslighting Beck, to the point that Beck shuts himself away from his entire friend group (which is also Mason's friend group). The way that the book deals with gaslighting was really great, and I think really important, especially for a younger audience. Maybe a young reader who is going through something similar will read this and realize that it's not actually their fault.
Beck is in grade 12 and needs to volunteer in order to graduate, and the plan had been for the GSA to volunteer together, however, Beck doesn't want to be anywhere near Mason (rightly!), so he decides to volunteer at a dog rescue organization instead. Which is where he meets Oliver, Mason's "actual" boyfriend. This is obviously super awkward, but Burgoine does such a great job of writing those two characters. Plus, everything is helped by an amazing brown husky named Coffee.
While maybe dogs don't break hearts, they definitely left me with some tears in my eyes. This was a great, short read that I absolutely recommend.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews