Book Title: THE GOOD BOY
Character Name: Rory, The Golden Retriever (currently accidentally human)
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
Well, I was a good-looking puppy, I know that much. I do remember there being a lot of us, and that mum was warm and kind. But then after that I went to live a not very nice man and that was bad but THEN I was rescued by Genie and she is my best friend and looks after me really well even though I do sometimes accidentally steal one of her shoes, chew and then bury it. Accidentally.
What is your greatest talent?
Scourge of Squirrels/Pigeons/Post People. Listen, the world is a very dangerous place. You’ve got squirrels, with their creepy little hands, always up to no good, and pigeons, just walking around like they own the place and then total random humans coming up to the house and put things in the letter box? I mean that could be anything! Best to tear it to shreds to be safe. I guard Genie against all of these threats all the time, also wind, passers-by, big clouds and bad singing. I also try and guard her from next door’s murder cat as best I can, but that cat is scary as hell and wants to kill me.
Significant other
Significant other what? Oh, wait do you mean like in a doing it kissy kissy sort of way? No, I don’t go in for that sort of thing. Not interested in romance, I don’t know why. I’d rather have a nice cheese slice and a David Attenborough documentary. But actually, having watched Genie get herself all confused and anxious about her true feelings for her (second) best friend Miles, who she obviously wants to do it with, but refuses to admit it, I’m quite glad that sort of thing is not my cup of tea. Ew.
Biggest challenge in relationships?
I don’t have challenges in relationships, I like everyone except cats, pigeons, squirrels and post-people. But I do see how humans get this wrong all the time. So, I’d say the biggest challenge for a human when it comes to relationships is believing that things do work out, other people can be good and to trust a bit more in your own self-worth. I, for example, am completely adorable and I have no doubts about it.
Where do you live?
I live by the sea, in Scarborough in North Yorkshire, UK. It is quite cold a lot of the time, but sometimes the sun comes out and I swim in the sea and make Genie chase me round the beach. The best thing about Scarborough is the lady in the chip shop who gives me a sausage whenever I go past. The worst thing is the squirrels, pigeons, post people and cats. Oh, and there are MASSIVE seagulls, but as long as you don’t look them directly in the eye, they leave you alone.
Do you have any enemies?
Have you not been paying attention about the squirrels, pigeons and post people? Actually, to be fair my main enemy is Matilda the cat who lives next door. This is a bit of a problem because she is Genie’s (second) best friend, Miles’ cat and he really loves her for some reason. However, Matilda is evil and wants to kill me. I know this because she comes and sits on the fence between our houses and LOOKS AT ME. I bark at her, but Matildia is not scared of me. Miles says I should respect her because she is old, but secretly I do not respect her at all.
How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?
I am on the sofa, and I love the sofa because I can see out of the front window, into the kitchen and to check for Genie’s whereabout at all time, also its very comfy for a snooze. My best thing about being on the sofa is having a snuggle with my favorite toy Diego, the squeaky pigeon. Yes, he is a pigeon, but I have to admit that once I got to know him, I was able to look past it to appreciate his finer qualities. Like he has a lovely smell that makes Genie gag and try and put him in the washing machine, (NEVER!) and if Genie is not sharing her dinner with me I can squeak him on repeat until she does.
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
Diego is like a son to me. But also, I think of Genie as my responsibility, which is not exactly like a pet or a child but not that different either. I have to make sure she gets up early, takes plenty of walks, doesn’t eat too much cheese by herself, doesn’t ever feel lonely and always has someone to talk to. Now I can talk back, and I’m delivering some truth bombs, let me tell you. She is house trained though.
What do you do for a living?
Be adorable.
Greatest disappointment?
Bathtime. Genie makes me take a bath up to two times a year.
Greatest source of joy?
Genie, then David Attenborough, then cheese and while I am human, chocolate. Oh and er… togetherness and humans and friendship and opposable thumbs.
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
It’s really not as hard to have fun as you humans make out. All you need to do is go to a big field, or the beach, meet your friends and run around. That’s it. Job done. Genie did take me to a very loud place called a nightclub and I did DANCING and that was fun too, but the best bit was the fast food on the way home.
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
Squirrels still roam the earth. Sorry.
What keeps you awake at night?
Literally nothing, well that was before I go accidentally turned into a human and now it’s EVERYTHING. Being a human is rubbish, it’s all the thinking and the feeling and all the knowing things and the worrying about stuff. I do not know how you people ever sleep at all.
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
I very much need Genie and Miles to stop having repressed sexual tension (Ew) and figure out a way to turn me back into a dog before I’m stuck this way forever, never sleep again and HAVE TO GET A JOB!
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have? For yourself or for someone important to you?
Thanks to Genie, I have everything, and I really want her to have everything she deserves too. The trouble is Genie doesn’t think she deserves to be happy. She doesn’t see how much her family cares about her, or that Miles is in love with her. I tried telling her that he looks at her the way I look at cheese, but Genie is very good at blocking out things that might make her happy in case they go wrong.
Why don’t you have it? What is in the way?
Squirrels, pigeons, cats and post people but also Genie gets in her own way most of the time. My job is to try and get her to be a bit more dog so she can be a happier human.
A delightful and hilarious romance with a magical twist, about a young woman who finds her quiet world completely upended when her dog is transformed into a human man.
On the eve of Genie’s thirtieth birthday, her grandmother gives her an unexpected gift. For women in their bloodline, they can grant another family member’s wish at midnight. Genie laughs it off, and, after an evening fending off invasive questions about her nonexistent love life, returns home to her empty house and her golden retriever, Rory. As she hugs him and gets ready for bed, she wishes to herself that he were human—that would solve all her problems!
The next morning she wakes to a naked man sleeping in the dog bed.
Human Rory has big Golden Retriever Energy—like a dumb, adoring Hemsworth. But he doesn’t like being a human. He doesn’t like wearing clothes or human manners, and he would never manage a human job.
Genie needs to help turn Rory back. She enlists the aid of Miles, her oldest friend and boy next door, to track down a way to reverse her wish. The quest brings them closer than they’ve ever been before—perhaps Rory will be the key to granting her heart’s desire after all.
Romance Comedy | Romance Paranormal [Avon, On Sale: July 8, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9780063416888 / eISBN: 9780063416895]
Stella Hayward is a pseudonym for Rowan Coleman, the internationally bestselling and award-winning author and screenwriter of sixteen novels, including The Memory Book, The Summer of Impossible Things, and The Girl at the Window. A lifelong Bronte fan, under the Bronte inspired pen name Bella Ellis, Rowan also writes the Bronte Mysteries—a carefully researched series of novels that imagine that before they were famous the Bronte Sisters were amateur detectives.
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