Raine Stockton Dog Mysteries by Donna Ball, anyone read this series?
Dogs, as they say, will be dogs. But these guys will leave their paw prints all over your heart.
Looks like there's 8 books in the series so far:
http://rainestocktondogmysteries.blogspot.com/p/books.html
What's not to like? Dogs and the Smoky Mountains sound good to me.
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I'm not sure if animal series qualify as "chick lit," (and, yes, I realize the term could be mildly offensive, but I hope my fellow readers will not quibble), but I'm hooked on the Pru Marlowe series by Clea Simon: Cats Can't Shoot, Dogs Don't Lie, and Parrots Prove Deadly, which just came out.
And why are most of the dogs in dog series, or where dogs are major characters, have to be golden retrievers? Especially when everyone objectively knows that jack russells are cuter and smarter and all around better dogs 
. There's Dean Koontz with his retrievers, and David Rosenfelt with his Tara.
As for the series you mention, if you like books set in the NC mountains, try the Buryin' Barry series from Mark DeCastrique.
post here, Little Star. Thanks. 