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Your Hero Pet Winners: TRICK OR TREAT Thriller #9

by | Oct 3, 2025 | Books, Cat Behavior & Care, Contest, Dog Training & Care | 0 comments

Today, Friday October 3, I sent my latest thriller TRICK OR TREAT to my editor. Yay! Once again, the book takes place in Texas. But the characters (and readers) come from all over the world. So, it’s fitting that my editor lives in Canada.

Oh, and my cover designer lives in England–he just sent me the draft, and I’m over the moon! I hope you’ll love it!

As with past books, I invited my newsletter subscribers to nominate hero pets to appear in the upcoming TRICK OR TREAT thriller. Boy, did y’all come through! Here are what these amazing characters add to the story, and the winners that YOU voted for! Following the theme, the hero pets come from Texas, from Ohio, and from Mexico! Without further ado, here are your hero pets.

HERO HORSE

Lia’s horse from her youth–as you remember, her grandparents raise horses. Congratulations to SEBASTIAN, nominated by Shari Lovelace! “Sebastian is a therapy pony that has helped my granddaughter through some issues and is a wonderful, gentle and a caring pony. He seems to actually care for my granddaughter and follows her and helps bring her out of her shell. Although not a horse, I think he’d be a wonderful character to protect & take care of his owner. she does ride him, bareback, so he can feel her close to him for bonding!” In the story, Sebastian helps defend Lia when she’s attacked and carries her to help when Lia’s injured. Also–it’s fiction, so in the story, I fudge a bit on Sebastian’s size. After all, small doesn’t mean they aren’t also brave and courageous! (See all the horse nominees here!)

HERO DOG

Congratulations to KAI nominated by Carol Viescas! “Our mixed breed Kai was found out in the desert by our vet techs. One of the techs fostered her until we adopted her. Kai, possibly a husky/shepherd and terrier mix, is 40 pounds of love, very protective but she does like to dig in the backyard.” In the story, Kai was abandoned at Lia’s boarding kennel and temporarily stays with Lia’s grandparents. Kai loves to dig out of the fenced back yard and tries to protect Lia (and others) when attacked. (See all the dog hero nominations here!)

HERO CAT

Con-CATS-ulations to gray and white longhair hero cat Pippo, nominated by Ulrike Stein. “Pippo is an 8-year-old male cat, dumped in a cardboard box with only five weeks of age. He is a food thief and therefore has learned to open bread boxes to chew on the bread, cabinets to take out treat bags, drawers just to look inside. He has dared to put his nose in the dog’s dish and has lifted the cover of pans on the stove, to put his paw in the warm food. Ah, and if I am not quick enough, his paw will be inside my coffee mug! Sometimes it is practical because he does the dishes with his tongue and leaves the plates absolutely clean. He jumps on my face while I’m asleep since a kitten, I still have a scar over my nose between my eyes. In April he tried to reach the upper cupboard in the kitchen, missed it, hit his face and broke his upper canine tooth.” In the story, Pippo is an escape artist, able to open lever doors, likes hiding in knapsacks, and climbing high levels. He belongs to Lia, but also is loved by her Grammy. At one point, Pippo helps protect September when she’s attacked (as well as others). (See all the cat hero nominees here!)

What’s TRICK OR TREAT About?

THE GHOSTS ARE REAL…

Past injustice haunts the present. To uproot the rot and banish the ghosts, a canine hero must protect his family before a killer destroys their future.

Exhausted from dealing with fallout from her birth father’s crime connections, September Day focuses on healing her soul. She relies on the support of chosen family, friends, and her service dog Shadow and cat Macy.

But when she agrees to track her friend Lia’s missing cat September also discovers a murder victim. And a traumatized child with secrets. Guarding her wellbeing, she keeps her distance and turns over the case to the police.

When the killer strikes again, and Lia named as a suspect, she’s terrified the deaths have something to do with her family’s vicious legacy. Determined to stop the killer from terrorizing more family and friends, September depends on Shadow to keep them all safe.

Can September and Shadow brave the burning truth before everything she loves turns to ash?

Preorders Coming Soon!

Now that I have breathing room, this next week I plan to set up preorders for the Ebooks both at my direct sales store, Amazon, and other platforms. I can’t set up preorders for print copies at Amazon et al, sorry, but may manage to finagle something via my direct sales store. Stay tuned.

Once I get edits back (on or about October 24) the book goes to my beta readers. I’ll begin recording the audiobook version and also set up options for folks to apply for ARCs (in exchange for posting an honest review).

I’ll let y’all know release date soon, too! Ooooh, so much to do, so little time… *vbg*

I love hearing from you, so please share comments and questions. Do you have an ASK AMY question you’d like answered? Do you have a new kitten and need answers? Stay up to date on all the latest just subscribe the blog, “like” me on Facebook, and sign up for Pet Peeves newsletter.

Stay up to date with the latest book giveaways and appearances related to my September Day pet-centric THRILLERS WITH BITE!  Amy Shojai, CABC is a certified cat & dog behavior consultant, a consultant to the pet industry, and the award-winning author of 35+ pet-centric books and Thrillers with Bite! Oh, and she loves bling!

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