Review: Once Upon a Puppy

Once Upon a Puppy by Lizzie Shane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

2.5 stars 

The man had rubbed her the wrong way since the second they met. 

Once Upon a Puppy returns readers to Pine Hollow, Vermont and all the characters I had grown fond of in the first in the series, The Twelve Dogs of Christmas. We met Connor Wyeth, the uptight lawyer who's fiancee left him 13 days before the wedding and Deenie Mitchell, princess party planner full of wanderlust in the previous book and their oil and water clashing had me anticipating their book. You could easily start with this book but one of the best things about this story is the Pine Hollow setting and the group of friends the author has created. The first half of the story almost has more of a focus on Connor and Deenie separately as we get to know them and catch up on the group of friends. Connor and Deenie have their moments together but they are more touch and go, as they are navigating through life and thinking about each other. 

She was too different. That was what she'd been told her entire life. Until it had become a badge of honor. Stay different. Stay weird. Stay wild. It was who she was. And she wasn't giving it up for any man. 

The second half brings us to the fake dating trope and the romance part picks up but this is a closed door romance with only some kissing on screen, the tone is very gentle and warm. I like fully developed characters and I thought the author spending more time on Connor and Deenie in the first half, gave us this, for the most part. Deenie and her issues with never feeling respected by her family and never fitting in was more front and center and gave me a better idea about who she was. Connor's backstory comes later in the story and I wish we could have gotten even more with his mother as they seemed to have such a strong relationship. The set-up with Connor being a workaholic and fearing being left because of his birth father leaving him and his then his fiancee and then Deenie being defensive about her lifestyle choices of traveling all the time and not holding a “steady” job, set these two to clash but under the labels of uptight and wild child, the author did show how they actually fit each other. I did end up believing in their ying and yang fitting personalities. 

He didn't need fun. He needed stable. Reliable. Someone who would stick with him no matter what.

This series is tied together not only by the location of Pine Hollow but also doggies and Connor's dog Maximus added a reason for Deenie to be around, she trains Maximus, but also added some of that lovable element that only dogs can do; Maximus doesn't overwhelm with crazy antics but will have you thinking about getting a 140lb “lap” dog. The other secondary characters that consist of Connor's group of friends, filled out the story perfectly. They add dimensions but didn't overwhelm and there is some obvious laid out future romances on the horizon (Elinor and Levi have me thirsting for a second chance romance). I was wanting more of Deenie with her great-aunt Bitty, a woman who accepted and celebrated Deenie for who she was, that relationship should have been shown more because of the emotional impacts those moments could have produced. 

He wasn't the one making her feel like she wasn't enough. He was the one telling her that she was. 

I enjoy a little more spark and heat between my couples and that just wasn't this story. The pace is a little more slow moving as their friendship grows and then Deenie displays some defensive immaturity about feeling like she is the only one changing for Connor to create some late action angst. I still adored the circle of friends and the dogs but the sweetness fell into slow and dull a few times for me. However, if you're looking for a closed door romance that has a more gradual speed as it settles you into a circle of friends with added doggie bonuses, Pine Hollow is a series to look into.

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