Olivia Lowell is 34 years old, single, and a dog photographer. She took over her father's business when he retired. Dennis Lowell also deeded their house to Olivia. One day a lawyer drops in on her, and presents her with a letter stating that her mother had not died in childbirth but in fact just recently. Her mother Adrian Ames, a.k.a Alison Matthews, had been head of a mail-order company and left Olivia her millions. She wrote her daughter a letter revealing her past crime, a bank robbery, and asked Olivia to make amends. Meanwhile, the richest dog in America, a yorkie named Cecil gets dropped in her lap. The dog's designated care-taker, Jeff Bannerman, a lawyer does not want anything to do with Cecil. As Olivia and Jeff fall in love, he becomes more of a dog person. They develop a scheme to save Cecil from a "long-lost" cousin of his former owner. Meanwhile, her father once content in retirement and in love, needs to borrow money to pay for his charter boat. Olivia discovers Lea's true character now that she has inherited Alison's, a.k.a. Adrian's estate. Any dog-lover will enjoy this quirky story with a touch of romance. However, the many impracticable storylines just did not come together smoothly for me.

"Fool Me Once," is a fun-loving yet anxious and suspenseful novel. In the story, Olivia Lowell slowly unveils the real truth of how her mother and her three friends robbed a bank without being caught. Olivia's mother left her this fortune; along with the fortune Olivia found herself hating her mother for abandoning her all those years ago. Olivia's hatred grows deeper throughout the novel until her lawyer finally makes her realize that she just needs to let go of it and move on with own life. Fern Michaels does an excellent job in showing how much havoc Olivia's mother had created for Olivia. Despite all the chaos that was brought about in Olivia's life, she was able to get through it all and be at peace with herself. Olivia's biggest problem in the novel was her internal conflict of always wanting and trying her best to do what is right. Fern Michaels portrays how Olivia was able to overcome her troubled life through companionship; her father being her biggest supporter along with the fellowship of her Yorkies. The author effectively ties in some romance into Olivia's life, and she ends up falling deeply in love with her lawyer. Fern Michaels creates such excitement in the novel that as a reader it is hard to put the book down. The author shows that no matter how much chaos that occurred in Olivia's life, she was ultimately able to rise above it all with her companions by her side. The author does a good job of keeping the reader captivated without confusing him/her throughout all the suspense.