BLOG TOUR: Puppy Kisses by Lucy Gilmore

Welcome to the Blog Tour for book 3 in the Forever Home series, Puppy Kisses. [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.] This book will release next Tuesday, June 30, 2020.

 

Summary


It started with a car chase and a lie.

Dawn and Zeke had stolen – rescued – the puppy from an abusive owner who chased them with a shotgun. Their high-speed getaway caught the attention of the sheriff. Zeke was about to lose his license, and Dawn’s flirting was doing no good. So she said the puppy was a service dog in training for Adam.

Zeke’s brother, Adam, went along with the story once he put most of the pieces together. He’d do almost anything for Dawn, not that he’d tell her that. But once the sheriff was gone and the local vet had checked out the puppy, Adam was attached and refused to let her go.

Dawn had been rescuing the puppy for herself. She had other animals at the kennel that would work as a service animal for Adam. Training the right puppy – and getting her rescued puppy back – would be a great excuse for spending more time with Adam. She didn’t know why he insisted on pushing her away. They were combustible when they were together. She would just have to keep pushing until he saw the potential they had together like she did.

Review


This was a great addition to a fun series! The characters – both human and canine (and bovine!) – are terrific. The dogs in this book are especially delightful. I adored Uncle from his first appearance. And I laughed every time Adam called the new puppy Methuselah.

There are lots of laughs in this book. I loved the snappy dialogue between the various characters. The animals added great humor to this too, especially the rogue cow.

Adam and Dawn are fascinating protagonists. Dawn is so in-your-face for most of the book, yet a lot goes unsaid between her and Adam. Both of them could have avoided some conflict with better trust and communication as well as fewer assumptions. Adam gets some benefit of the doubt on the communication pieces because his visual impairment means he misses any visual cues from Dawn’s facial expressions or body language that might have clued him into her true feelings. Dawn is also working through some identity things as the person she wants to be and the person people assume she is don’t always line up.

There was a moment at the end of the book that seemed to be headed one way and then absolutely didn’t go where I thought it would. Which was fine – it was a great shift. But it didn’t feel resolved by the end, which left me feeling off-kilter going into the great epilogue. This was the only blip in a thoroughly delightful story. I have enjoyed this whole series from the start. Be sure to check out book one, Puppy Love (♥♥♥♥) and book 2, Puppy Christmas. (You can read my review of Puppy Christmas here.) I would love to read more books with these characters if the series is going to continue or spin off in any way. Each of the three sisters have had a book, though, so I’m not sure if there will be more Forever Home stories in the future. (Language, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

 

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If you have enjoyed one of Lucy Gilmore’s books before, or if you want to know more about her, you can explore her website here.  While you are there, you can see the other names she writes under and check out those books as well. It looks like she has plans for some new stand-alone puppy-related romances coming in 2021! I even picked up a few books from her other pen names, thanks to the website. Be sure to check it out!

As part of the Blog Tour you can enter a giveaway for copies of the first two books in the series!  You already know I loved them. Check out the giveaway here.

BONUS REVIEW: Puppy Christmas by Lucy Gilmore

[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)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥