I loved this book. It brought back sweet memories of a couple of stories about guide dogs that I read in middle school. 

The main character, Emily is a computer programmer who loses her eyesight early in the novel. After enduring the shock and depression of this loss, she determinedly works to regain her independence. 

Every few chapters, the reader gets a peak into the mind of Garth, a dog who is being prepared to become a guide. He isn’t sure what being a guide means, but he thinks it must be a noble endeavor. Garth is determined to pass all the tests to fulfill his destiny. This is a unique approach, and Garth’s “thoughts“ seem realistic. 
The characters in the novel experience realistic internal and interpersonal conflict. The plot was well-paced and kept me engaged. 

I was disappointed that the audiobook was only a little over seven hours. I found myself rationing my listening time to make it last longer. I look forward to the next book in the series. 

Narrator Julia Whalen made a great book even more enjoyable. Fred Berman was perfect as the voice of Garth. 

I received a complementary copy of this audiobook from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book.  The writing was interesting, with narration alternating between the main character (Emily Main) and a Guide Dog in training (Garth).  While I was quite sure how the book would end, I really enjoyed the journey with both of them.  I have heard of Guide Dogs, and have actually known some people who have helped raise them.  While the process was not completely covered in the book,  I enjoyed learning a little more about it.  I loved all of the characters, especially Druv and Zoey, who played such a large part in Emily’s success.  I was sorry when the book ended, and I would definitely like to see a sequel!

Guiding Emily: A Tale of Love, Loss, and Courage  by Barbara Hinske, narrated by Fred Berman and Julia Whelan  

I'm so glad I had the audiobook for Guiding Emily. Julia Whelan has become one of my favorite female narrators but the star of this story, for me, was Fred Berman's narration of the black lab, Garth. Fred has a very distinctive voice and I remember his narrated part in Daisy and the Six. I could listen to him narrate Garth's days and nights for days on end...his part in the book makes me smile whenever I think about it. 

We meet Emily as she is getting married to her British fiancée. An accident happens and Emily is blind. It's so hard reading the hardships she has to go through, after surgery to treat her detached retinas, the hope for recovery of her eyesight that doesn't come, the depression that follows, and the betrayal that comes after this momentous life change. After complete denial that her blindness is going to be permanent, Emily goes through the grieving process but she is strong and she has support from her mother, co-workers, and an amazing eight year old "best friend". 

Mixed throughout Emily's story we have Garth, starting with his time with his siblings and the other pups that have been bred for some type of service. Then Garth goes to the home where he'll be raised until he's old enough to go to guide dog school. Finally Garth makes it to guide dog school, and graduates! As hard as things are for Emily, I can't count the time tears came to my eyes during Garth's narration. His foster family loves him so much, he loves them and he has the traits he needs to be chosen as a guide dog. Later he meets Emily and I just felt so sappy but happy for Garth, his proud foster family, and Emily...the perfect person for him. 

I don't think any of these things are spoilers, this is where the book is heading (with major drama on Emily's side and one big drama on Garth's side). I love being in Garth's head and Berman's narration is just so wonderful for this excited, tenacious dog, bred and born to do just this very job. This story makes me want to know more about services for the blind and about guide dogs. 

Thank you to Podium Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a women's fiction book. This book switches between Emily's story of her loss her eye sight and Garth (a black lab) journey to become a guide dog. Emily knows her retinas could detach if she has a fall, and while she is on her honeymoon there is an accident that causes her retinas to detach. After, her retina detach she has to learn to live with the fact she has loss her eye sight. I have to say I hated the husband character, but I kindof feel that it is written to not like the husband character. Emily's character was really well-written and really shows how hard it is to overcome the loss of your eye sight. I have to say I really loved the characters told from Garth's point of view. There is also an Autistic character in this book, and I loved how that character is written. This is a heart warming story that shows you that love can be found from a tragic loss. I listen to the audiobook of this book, and I have to say I really enjoyed the narrator. I loved this audiobook. I was kindly provided an e-audiobook of this book by the publisher (Podium Audio) or author (Barbara Hinske) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I received an audio ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Emily Main's world is shattered when a freak accident on her honeymoon leaves her blind.  Treatments to regain her sight are unsuccessful, and she has to learn how to re-order her life.  Meanwhile, Garth is a black lab puppy who is being trained to fulfill his destiny:  becoming a guide dog.

This book switches between Emily's point of view and Garth's.  The story is heartwarming, though also sad at times.  I loved the times we got to see Garth's perspective on becoming a guide dog.  His joy of life radiated throughout the story.  Some of my favorites characters in this book were the side characters.  I could see this book becoming a Hallmark movie.  The story is rather predictable, but that's part of what makes you enjoy it!  The narrators on the audiobook did a fabulous job.

You know how sometimes, no matter how predictable a story is, you still love the book. This could either be because you were in the perfect mood for that genre or because the book has one topic that you always enjoy, no matter what. For me, this book came in the latter category, and the topic is dogs. I love dogs, and I'm a sucker for books centred around dogs. No wonder then that I loved this book! (Conditions apply, of course. Can't read anything on dog abuse.😞)

Guiding Emily is narrated from two perspectives: 
1. Third person narrative focusing on Emily Main, a high-flying professional whose life turns upside down after an accident renders her blind. 
2. First person narrative by Garth, the puppy 🐶 who is being reared as a guide dog. 

Emily's narrative is pretty good. It is very realistic in terms of how it depicts her anger, her frustration, and her struggles with the change in her circumstances. I loved how her troubles were shown honestly without any attempt to whitewash the disability or beatify/vilify the disabled. I could actually feel Emily and her pain. After all, isn't blindness one of the worst fears of an avid reader? (Btw, I have a new respect for audiobooks now because of this.)

What I didn't enjoy in this narrative was the attitude of her husband Connor, who seems to be an outright jerk. I didn't even get their attraction to each other. Ever have dealt with a character whose mere appearance on the pages causes you to go "Grrrrr...." like a dog? That was me whenever Connor came on the scene. I can understand why his character is made a part of this book, but I would have loved the book a lot more without him. (The deducted 0.5 star is entirely due to Connor.)

Needless to say, my favourite chapters are all the ones narrated from Garth's pov. He is so adorable! 😍😍 His awareness seems to be lopsided: he knew stuff like stucco and West Coast but was ignorant of tomatoes and guides.🤷🏻‍♀️ But hey, it's a dog! I had a huge grin on my face during all the Garth chapters. His description of Emily for instance was how she had "Golden Retriever curls" and how she seemed to be the "pick of her litter"! How can you not smile at that thought! 😍😍

I was lucky enough to get the audiobook of Guiding Emily from NetGalley. And let me tell you, the narrators bring the book to life! The way they enact the various characters is brilliant. Especially Fred Berman who brings Garth alive with his performance! 

Author Barbara Hinske was inspired to write this book after her visit to The Foundation for Blind Children and is donating half of the book proceeds to the Foundation. Respect! 

If you love dogs, you'll love Guiding Emily. A 4.5 ⭐ read for me. 
🐶❤️