[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Lila Vasquez and her sisters run a puppy training business for service dogs. And that’s why she’s wearing the pink poofy dress that makes her look like Glenda the Good Witch. “It’s a costume party,” her sisters said. But it was a classy black tie affair instead. One where Lily’s business, Puppy Promise, was partnering with the Auditory Guild to give a service puppy to a kid.
While Lila was trying to hide her embarrassing dress, she caught the attention of Emily Ford, a little girl at the party who thought Lila was a princess. After an awkward exchange with Emily’s dad – one that included a waltz to no music – Lila was happy to send the pair on their way so she could hide her humiliation and never have to see them again. But it turns out, Emily is the recipient of the puppy from Puppy Promise.
Lila’s work training Emily and her new service puppy means she is at the Ford’s house a lot. And Emily’s father has a way of making Lila feel things she has never felt in a relationship – or about herself – before. But when it looks like the Fords will be moving away, all of the progress made – for Emily and her dad, for the puppy, and for Lila – may turn out to be for nothing.
Review
This was darling! I am a sucker for stories with endearing kid and animal characters, and this has both. The adult characters are great, too. I loved Ford and his fascinating neighbors. Lila and her sisters are terrific, too. As soon as I finished this, I grabbed book one, Puppy Love, off my TBR shelves – it was also delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed both stories (so far) about these sisters and their puppy training business.
The premise for this is pretty typical – a Hallmark-esque meet cute and relationship disaster with a lovely Happily Ever After sort of ending. What sets this apart for me are the characters. Emily’s hearing loss and need for a puppy was fully integrated into the story, even though the main focus was the adult romance. The adults in the story – mainly Lila and Ford – are enchanting and flawed. And those flaws impact their individual decisions as well as the chemistry between them. The puppies throughout the book were adorable. And their impact on Emily and another kid in the story was terrific.
This was a delightful start-to-finish read for me, and the rest of the series is on my must-read list. (Language, sex)