This book has it all for me - romance, a little mystery and dogs (especially a doxie!).

This is part of a series and I haven't read the first book yet but might just have to go back and read them (when I can find time!). You do not have to read the first book to enjoy this book, but there are a few mentions to some things in the past that happened in book 1. But nothing big or hindering enjoying the book.

I really liked the mystery aspect - who was stealing the show dogs? I was very shocked when the mystery portion came to a head and who was involved. It is crazy the lengths some people will go to in a competition.

I like the romance portion too - Addison thinks she wants one thing but who/what she really needs is quite the opposite. I love the story line between Addison and Felix and a little surprise he reveals closer to the end of the book. This surprise fills a lot of buckets for Addison once she realizes it.

All in all a great book and if you love dogs, romance and mystery you will want to check out this book.

I'm not really a romance novel reader, as I'm just not a fan of a lot of tropes of the genre or the instalove that is present in so many. I am working to branch out and read more from genres that aren't typical for me this year, though, as I need to be able to discuss a wide variety of books with patrons as a librarian. I am glad I decided to branch out with this one, it was such a charming book. It was a fun, easy read. I really like the protagonist, Addison, and the dynamics between her and Felix, the male love interest. There were lots of adorable dogs too, which never hurts. At the core, I really considered it more of a mystery/who-dun-it than a romance so much, though, there is certainly romance going on. There is no instalove, and Addison was portrayed as much more independent and intelligent than many romance novel heroines seem to be portrayed. For those who enjoy romance, or even general women's fiction, I recommend this one!

Addison Turner is a volunteer at a dachshund rescue center and a doggie clothing and accessories designer, along with being a groomer. She is helping at a fundraising event when half of the show dogs are stolen. Of course, she is blamed for it. She meets Felix Vaughn, a bartender at the event and they get together to investigate the thefts. The problems are that there are more thefts, Addison is forcing interest in what she always deemed her 'perfect man.' Felix, Addison feels, is much more interested in someone he says is a 'friend' than he should be. Things are quickly snowballing and both Addison and Felix are fast losing the money that they desperately need to survive. Adding to all of that is the lust simmering between the two. When all of this comes to an end, the fur really does fly, in more ways than one! This book was a true pleasure to read!

Set in the midst of the crazy world of dog shows, Addison is a groomer and dog fashionista. She has worked hard for the past two years building up her dog grooming clientele and has now invested all of her money from her in business her her new dog fashion line. The evening she is to present a sneak peek of her designs, all the dogs she has backstage from the upcoming dog show are kidnapped. She reluctantly enlists the help of sexy bartender Felix to solve the case and in turn save her business.

This book was very funny. Although the characters were a little nuts about their dogs (and dog fashion) it fit well with the setting. The mystery was good, but I would have liked a little more focus on Addison and Felix's relationship and not so much time spent on the investigation. The story moved a little slow for me, but the humor kept drawing me back in. I received this book for free for my honest and unbiased review.

Beauty and the Wiener is a book that took me completely by surprise.
And I'm not saying this just about one aspect but about several.
First it's not really what I would seek out to read. But frankly I liked the cover and the summary sounded fun. So on a whim I decided that I would like to give it a try. I made sure that it can be read as a standalone, since I haven't read the previous book in the series.
So it's my first book by Griffin as well. And let's just I am sure it won't be my last.

The plot was captivating. I was totally into the mystery. Though I did guess who the culprit is, I kept wavering and wondering if I was wrong. I more than enjoyed the covert missions of Addison and Felix. All the mishaps and all the sneaking around was beyond entertaining. And there were a couple of things, I didn't solve completely.

The character building is interesting. As I said I haven't read Must Love Wieners (yet) so I didn't know any of the cast. My first impression however was, somewhat of shock. I felt Addison was dizzy and superficial, and possibly a bit delusional... Very quickly however I changed my mind. I grew to like her and understand her. Felix, on the other hand had me at the first go. I loved him right from the beginning, As the story went on and we got to know both MCs better, both gained depths and I felt beyond smug that I was always right about the "bad boy". Griffin did a great job and showing Addison's weakness and her past hurts, without dwelling too much on it. And I love how she subtly changed and how she slowly realised what she really wanted.
I liked the interactions between Addison and her friends. But I would have liked some more of it, I felt like it was too little to understand their relationship. Maybe this is because I haven't read the first book yet?
Basically we get little about Addison's personal life despite the fact that this is written entirely from her POV

The romance left me divided. Because I totally adored their "slow" burn romance- that wasn't that slow burn. But I really couldn't relate to Addison's Cinderella dreams. Then there is the nearly love-triangle. It wasn't that bad mind you. I didn't really mind it. Except for Addison's blatant ignorance. It infuriated me, actually. I found the end, while completely satisfying, lost it's swoon factor by talking about how this was so forever. It was a bit too much for me

On another note; the biggest surprise for me was the show dog world. See, I am not much of a dog person, I never owned a dog nor do I have a great affinity to them. I think I am more of a cat person. I know very little about the dog shows. Mind you not that I would know more about cat show, or any other pet for that matter. So I was a bit overwhelmed by that aspect of it. But Griffin did a great job at conveying the world, it's draw backs and it's great sides. At least from my layman's point of view. Because of this I found myself immersed in it and totally enjoying that aspect of the book.

I am definitely going to read the first book and am looking forward to the next.
An interesting discovery for me. I think lovers of the genre and dog lovers will really enjoy this one.

Addison and Felix's story is a sweet romance mixed with a little mystery. When dogs are stolen at an event Addison is holding she is blamed for the crime and her business goes into a nose dive. Felix comes to the rescue to help her figure out who took the dogs out!

**I received a copy of Beauty and the Wiener from St. Martin's Press and Net Galley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review**

Beauty and the Wiener by Casey Griffin is book two of her Rescue Dog Romance series. I read it as a stand alone without the first book and it was easy to get into the book.

This is the first book i've read by this author, and i found it to read quite smoothly.
I'd give the book a solid four star rating for the mystery and the romance

Addison is a pet groomer. While at a posh dog show, she sets out to promote her new business to the pet owners in attendance, while looking around for a man to fill and compliment her empty life. After a brief encounter with him during the show gala, Addison sets her sights on Philip Montgomery III, who looks as great in his tux and as does his obvious trust fund. However, during this same show, Addison also meets up with Felix, the affair’s scruffy bar tender, who shows a definite interest in her, despite her obvious rejection. Things seem to be going smoothly at the show, until several dogs being pampered in Addison’s portable spa disappear. Naturally, all eyes turn to Addison as the perpetrator of this crime. To make matters worse, the next time she attends a dogie benefit at Philip Montgomery’s, more dogs disappear. This time, both Addison and Felix, again the affair bar tender, look like a couple of conniving dog nappers. Thus, the duo begins trying to unravel the clues to solve this mystery and salvage their reputations as well as keep themselves out of jail. The story goes through some interesting twists and turns as they figure out exactly what is going on and who is responsible for the dog napping.

This is a cute story, though it never did live up to what I had hoped it would. I found the two main characters, Addison and Felix, unlikable, for the most part. Addison is convinced she is a small-time, though unrecognized, sleuth and, with Felix, will solve this crime, bringing back their reputations as well as respect. I got tired of the faux pas that Addison, the sleuth, makes as she tries to solve the crime. Some were obviously meant to be humorous, and some were. However, others fell flat, in my opinion. I never did grow to like Felix either. As the story progressed, I did come to tolerate him, and, having a daughter, who suddenly appeared and became part of the story, did make him more human (he came off as a pretty good father), since he began displaying something other than arrogance and over confidence in his looks and abilities. I disliked Addison’s new idea to spur on her dog grooming business: dressing the dogs up in human clothes. I personally dislike this whole idea, and see it as something five-to- seven-year-olds would do as part of their play time. I see no real reason for adults to do this, and I figure it makes the dogs uncomfortable while in “dress up” mode. I expected to thoroughly enjoy this book, since I love dogs and stories about dogs, but never did get into this one. It may have been the fact that I disliked the main characters and this dress-up idea. Addison’s dog seemed okay with it, but I am not so sure I would find this dog lovable, or even to my liking. This book will probably enthrall some dog lovers. I was just left short. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

What an adorable story!!! I really enjoyed the budding romance between Felix and Addison. The tension was perfect and I loved their arguments. The mystery in the story was perfect and I had no idea who the kidnapper was until the end. This story caught me the first chapter and I had such a hard time putting it down. I also loved Princess! As a dachshund owner, I really appreciated Princess's quirks and idiosyncrasies that are so typical of dachshunds. This story has it all romance, humor and mystery!!

My review is live on Goodreads and I will also review the book when it's available to do so on Amazon!

This is the second book in this series but it can be read as a stand alone novel. Yet, after reading this book you will want to pick up a copy of the first book. The author has just gained a new fan in me. OMG! I absolutely fell in love with Addison and Felix. They made the perfect couple. This is a good thing as they were just alright as detectives. Yet, they sure kept things entertaining as they tried to solve the mystery of the missing prized show dogs. From the compromising situations to the sexual tension, I had an fun time reading this book. The witty banter between Addison and Felix did have me laughing and smiling. Than there was the other characters in this story. None of them felt like characters just thrown into the story or played just second string. I knew that the dog competition could be ruthless but I never imagined that fur would be flying. Beauty and the Wiener wins best show! A furtastic good time.

​This was a very enjoyable light-hearted mystery about dogs.... dog shows, doggie fashion and dog-napping. I read the first in the series a short while ago and really enjoyed it, but I think I actually enjoyed this one even more. There was a lot more mystery to this one with all the dog-napping going on. I'm not good when there's a dog in the book in case anything happens to them but these were all OK!

Addison is trying to set up her doggie fashion/grooming business and establish herself at a major dog show when dogs she/her assistant are supposed to be looking after are stolen and there's uproar with Addison being blamed. She teams up with Felix, a bartender at the event, who also falls under suspicion at a later event they're both at as dogs are again stolen from this event and in a van Felix and his assistants have been using.

Addison and Felix start their own investigation into the dog-nappings, to clear their names and get the dogs back, and end up in various situations, some of them very funny, trying to figure out who stole the dogs.

If you are after a light-hearted fun read then I would recommend this book. Even though it's the second in the series you don't need to have read the first book, although I personally always like reading books in the correct order so you get a background on other characters that are mentioned. I am really looking forward to the next one in this fun series.

It was a good concept for a story but it got stale in parts and I started skimming. I enjoyed the parts where Addison and Felix were interacting and the conversations between them was fantastic. The whole hunt for who did it was ok, it was so odd at times there were climbing fences and sneaking around, who does that and not get caught by the cops. There was so much of it in this book it was almost a mystery theme and not a romance since there was barely any in this story.

Addison Turner is a dog groomer, though she prefers "dog stylist," who is trying to launch her fashion line for dogs. She is also looking for Mr. Perfect. She wants someone like the heroes of the Disney movies she watched as a child.

At an exclusive event for show dog owners, she sets her sights on Philip Montgomery III who looks great in his tux and with his trust fund. She doesn't want to fall for scruffy bartender Felix Vaughn. When the show dogs she was preparing for their fashion review disappear, she finds herself in danger of losing her livelihood. Who'd trust their dog to a groomer who loses their prized pets?

When more pets disappear at another event leaving Felix with the blame this time, Addison and Felix team up to find the missing pets and save their jobs. The chemistry between Addison and Felix is combustive even with Addison trying to find reasons not to like Felix. She jumps to lots of conclusions about him and there are the usual romantic misunderstandings.

The two have quite a number of suspects among the elite members of San Francisco's show dog community and they learn all sorts of things as they investigate. This book had quite a bit of humor mostly at Addison's expense. She doesn't always pick the most appropriate clothing for her sleuthing. The whole idea of fashion for dogs also struck me as funny. I found the relationships between dog owners and their dogs to be spot on.

Fans of mysteries, dogs, and romances will enjoy this story.

This is book #2 in the Dog Rescue Romance series. I loved the first book and I knew I would love this book, too. Addison Turner wants her life to be like a fairy tale ending, but to me life is not like a fairy tale. Things don't always go right. Addison wanted a prince charming to sweep her off her feet. I can not argue with that. Who doesn't want a prince to take you away?

Addison meets bartender, Felix, who tells her how she is with man. I love how open and honest he is. She meets a man with money and he is not as fun as Felix in my opinion. But, who will she choose?

This book was funny and suspense! A great read!!

☆☆☆☆☆
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes!
Read more from this author? Yes!

Happy Reading!
Melissa

Beauty and the Weiner by Casey Griffin is the 2nd book in her Rescue Dog Romance series. I have not read the first book in this series, but this book read very well as a standalone. Beauty and the Weiner is an humorous adventure revolving around dogs, dog shows & a dog-napping mystery.

Addison Turner, our heroine, runs Pampered Paws, where she is a dog groomer and designer. Addison is also a dreamer, who wants to be famous, and who envisions herself marrying the perfect man, who is wealthy and gorgeous. Prior to the show, Addison meets the bartender, Felix and after a bit too much to drink, she asks for him to help her find the perfect man. Felix flirts with her, and playfully humors her with suggestions. Felix, who is a hunk, can be persistent and charming, and even fun. But he is exactly the kind of man she doesn’t want, as he tends to annoy her.

Things are looking up for Addison when she participates in a dog show and beautifully grooms the top rated dogs. But just before the show begins, many of the dogs under her care turn up missing. Addison is the immediate suspect, with everything beginning to crumble around her. Attending another event, where she sees her perfect man, there is another dog napping. Since Felix was on site helping with the food and liquor, he is now a suspect that many of the dog owners say is in cahoots with Addison in the kidnapping.
What follows is a mystery as to who stole the dogs and why. Felix and Addison will work together to try and solve the mystery, find the dogs and clear both of their names. This will also open the door for a romance between Felix and Addison, that does become hot and heavy; though Addison still thinks of the other man as what she wants, until she begins to see that wealth and good looks does not have to be the perfect choice. We also see another side of Felix, who has a young daughter and is determined to save enough money working overtime to purchase his own bar. It is a wild, action filled, humorous chase to find the dogs and the culprit. If you enjoy stories about dogs with a mystery, then I suggest you try to cute fun story.

Addison has the opportunity of a lifetime in front of her: She's been invited to show off her dog costumes and grooming talents before a dog show. She's so excited and really anxious to do a good job and get her business off the ground and running successfully. She does have enough time to get a drink and maybe dance one dance. She even finds Mr. Perfect near the dance floor. The night is off to a good start until she goes back to do the show and finds several dogs missing. Seven to be exact. How could that happen? Where did they go?

St. Martin's Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published February 7th.

This is a bit like a cozy mystery. Addison's reputation is shot, no one will even keep their pampering appointments for their dogs, and everybody thinks she's stolen the dogs. The police don't give dog kidnappings high priority, so she'll have to solve it herself if she's going to save her business.

There's a lot of humor in this tale. Addison is sure she's going to have a fairy tale romance. She's even picked out her Prince Charming. But Felix the bartender is pretty hot and he's interested in her, too. Addison manages to misunderstand every relationship Felix has which is a hoot to read. She finds out Mr. Perfect isn't all that charming. And before the end of the story, everything has been turned upside down in her life. Even her dog shows her a side she hasn't seen before.

With dogs everywhere, odd dog owners, and a thief, it's an interesting look at the dog world and people in general. I think Addison is going to do well in life and she picked the right fella to do it with, too.

This is a funny well told tale that was a joy to read.