Cats and Dogs in Lollipop

*spoilers for some of Lollipop, so if you haven’t read it, skip the blog!*

I’ve said this a lot in other places, but I’m not sure if I’ve said it here–and now that so many of you have read the book–and loved it!–I thought I should make sure it gets said.

Lollipop is about cats and dogs.

Ezra is a cat–it’s why he bonds so closely with Jake. Clopper he comes to love too, but in true cat fashion, there is a lot of “dog avoidance” before he starts to take over dog duties, and when he does take over, Finn has to give him pointers on how not to be the least important puppy.

But Ezra is uncertain about water, graceful in his element, tends to slink, coil, pad, and curl, is helpless like a kitten in the rain when he’s abandoned, and on the dance floor he turns into a “black-haired, blue-eyed panther”.

If you think about it, Ezra is our first cat in the series.

In Candy Man, Adam was an older alpha dog–and Finn was a playful beta puppy, and so they remain. Finn will always be somewhat of a puppy, and Adam will always be convinced to play more by his happy lover.  In Bitter Taffy Derek is the confident alpha dog in his relationship–and Rico is the beta.  They are both older, not quite so playful, but not quite so striking, either. This could be why Darrin calls them “dumb yuppies” all the time– he doesn’t understand a pair of dogs who are not all about the attention. The only attention Derek an Rico want is from each other, thank you very much!  But see?

All dogs.

Until Ezra. Who is a cat.

Miguel is a dog–and when he sets himself up to be a guard dog and gets all growly, he tends to react a certain way to the men who show interest in Ezra. With one exception, they are all cats.

Cy is described straight out as a jungle cat–big, showy, sleek, and a perfect match for Ezra’s dance-floor panther.  The Target clerk hisses at Miguel, trying to bat him away. The bulky waiter from Fat City plasters his body against the display cabinet (like, say, my cat does to my computer desk, or the back of the couch) and “sashays” disdainfully away from Ezra when Miguel growls.

These are cats, and in a way, Miguel is helpless around them–dogs and cats generally have little to communicate about, and just because Miguel has adopted his cat so thoroughly does not mean he knows what to do about other cats except rumble a little and see if they get the hint.

The waffle guy?  He was a dog. (Oh yes, oh yes that guy was a hound.)

Miguel knew exactly what to do with the waffle guy– he let out a few big woofs and sent him on his way!

And then he turned his attention to his very affectionate kitty cat, and that was fun to write too.

So, yes– there is one more book in the series–tentatively titled Licorice Whip, and most of you have figured out that Robbie is our next MC, and he is one beat puppy.  Now, a lot of speculation has been thrown about as to the other MC,  and some of you guys know me well enough to figure out that I’m all about dynamic here. If Miguel was the big protective dog and Ezra was the kitten who needed protection, who better to match our poor beat puppy with than a sexy, confident…

Can you guess?
DSP

ARe

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