YOU LUCKY DOG by Julia London is a really cute contemporary romance. This novel begins with an adorable meet cute where Carly and Max get their dogs mixed up. The combination of romance and dogs is top notch! I also loved the addition of fashion, nerdiness and humour. I liked how Carly was a woman struggling in life but still trying to have it all with a great attitude and I liked how Max was a man who was both intelligent and kind hearted. Of course the dogs were extremely lovable too!

What a book to just put a smile on your face!

We are definitely a dog household! Dogs can be messy and inconvenient, but they also have the biggest hearts and I can’t imagine living without at least one dog in my life! So, any book the primarily features dogs is one that I will be excited to read! This one was a super fun read, with a few deeper elements to make the story more substantial. As we get closer to summer this will definitely a good book to read under the sunshine!

I loved that Max and Carly met because of their dogs, and their relationship was the perfect amount of awkward to be cute! Though more than their romance, I liked that we had a split POV between the two of them so that we could follow along as they both grew as individuals. We got to see glimpses of not just their relationship to each other, but their relationships to their siblings and parents, creating more well-rounded characters.

If you go into this novel like I did, simply expecting a light hearted story that you can read in an afternoon and leave with a smile, you will enjoy this one!

Carly isn't what you would call lucky: she's struggling to find clients after being fired, her parents got divorced and are acting like lunatics, her sister is constantly on the brink of a meltdown, and now her dog walker has returned the wrong basset hound.

Carly eventually tracks down her dog, who is in the care of one Max Sheffington. It turns out Baxter and Hazel, the two switched-around basset hounds, have a bit of a love affair, so Carly and Max agree to get together...for the sake of their dogs, right? It couldn't possible be because they are instantly attracted to each other.

I didn't love Evelyn and Tobias' subplot - there was enough conflict (Carly wanting to move to NY and Max hoping for tenure) that Evelyn and Tobias' story could have been left out. There was also a missed opportunity that had been hinted at several times: Carly doing some PR work for Max. One of the reasons he felt that Alanna was going to get tenure over him was because she was getting more recognition, right? Carly works in PR and she could have easily spun a great story about Max's work. I'm a little sad we didn't get that story.

I enjoyed this book and finished it in a day, so it's a quick read. If you're looking for an original meet-cute, family drama, and cute dogs, this is a good choice for you. Max was my favorite character in the book, and I really appreciate the richness of his background story.

I enjoyed this book! Any book that has dogs in it gets me excited to read it. I loved all of the characters. They were relatable and I cared about them and what was going on in their personal and professional lives. I really liked how romance wasn't the main point in this book - I'd say that Max and Carly growing as individuals was the main part of this book. I smiled a lot during this book!

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for a copy of this book!

This was unexpected, but in a really nice way. I thought that the romance was nice, but I really loved all the personal growth they experienced. The dogs were the best though, and I am not one to like dog books.

While slow to start, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There was just enough drama without being over the top and the characters were relatable and down to earth. The meet cute setting the story up was very original and I enjoyed how it propelled the story forward. I would recommend this book if you're looking for:

-Enemies to lovers
-Forbidden romance elements
- A PR rep trying to make it on her own with clients who think she's their personal assistant and a family who can't seem to get it together
-A professor trying to get tenure, who is nerdy and sweet enough to make you swoon, who loves his family
-Family hijinx
-Cute dogs and dates at dog parks
-Slow burn tension that pays off
-An ending that had me unable to put the book down and left me with a book hangover

While some of the twists were predictable I enjoyed reading them layout. Max was my favorite character. His upfront ness and his loyalty to his family was refreshing. He didn't expect Carly to leave her job for him and respected her drive, supporting her. That both main characters were terrible at dating and up front made the story even sweeter. If you're a dog lover or looking for your next romance novel, pick this one up!

3 stars
Who doesn't love dogs?? An accidental mix up and switched dogs leads to a new loves. This was a fun and light read. I like to calls his more a contemporary romance. A fun summer read by the pool whole catching rays. Bonus, if you love dogs, you will love this book!

3.5 stars! Review to be posted on the blog, One Way Or An Author!

"Forget the chemical reaction - was this love, that thing that pushed all rational thought aside and drove men to do things they might never do? Was it love that made this feel momentous and slightly desperate and unworldly? It wasn't just corporeal - it was more transcendent than that. It was wird, this thing called love - you didn't see it, you didn't hear it, but suddenly, you were there."

YOU LUCKY DOG has an adorable premise, lovable characters, and a fun family subplot. There was something about it, though, that was lacking the magic. Maybe it was passion between the main characters? They were both level-headed, and the romance a smooth development. I don't know why, but I just felt a disconnect between their relationship development and the eventual "I-love-you's." Nevertheless, the premise sets it up to be a light-hearted and sweet romantic read that's perfect for a summer day.

Max and Carly meet when their dog walker gets arrested for selling weed (while walking their dogs) and they get the wrong dog returned to them! While they're both basset hounds (sooo cute), Baxter is sad and calm, with soulful eyes. On the other hand, Hazel is energetic and playful. When they're together, they're an absolute chaotic treat! Finding their dogs is Max and Carly's meet-cute, and their attraction and flirtation starts from there.

I thought both characters were super likable. Carly strives to be a publicist in New York, managing famous artists and the like. Currently though, she's between jobs and working her own individual clients. She's running low on money and managing a dysfunctional family where her mother is finding her sexual liberation and her sister is running wild with children. Max, on the other hand, is a neuroscientist at a university who's looking for tenure and balancing research projects, classes, and an autistic brother. I actually really enjoyed his research that links the love between dogs and humans to a way to target therapy for people on the autism spectrum. (I don't know if the author intimately knows the subject, but it was beautiful to see accurate neuroscience in the book.) It was interesting to see Jamie's behavior (he's Max's brother) as someone on the autism spectrum; I can't say anything about the representation but it's clear that Max and his father love Jamie dearly and want the best for him. Max is a bit awkward and dorky, while Carly's energetic and hard-working. Their dialogue is funny and adorkable - sure to leave a smile on readers' faces.

Everything about this book is "summer read" energy - from the adventurous dogs to the lovely romance. There's quite a lot of family drama that weighs the book down, but the ultimately light-hearted atmosphere of the book makes it bearable and laugh-out-loud at times. However, there's still something that's /missing/ for me - I'm not sure what it is, but it made me enjoy this book without having it particularly stand out. Nevertheless, you'll get all the adorkable and sweet puppy vibes if you pick this book up! Oh, and a light and lovely romance.

Content/Trigger Warnings: depression

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the review copy!

Excited to read ARC, as I enjoyed Cedar Springs Series and want to read more books by her.

Escape to one day in Austin Texas...

A dog walker makes a bad decision -
leads to a mix-up of dogs
leads to a meeting of two (kinda) dog lovers
leads to a favor asked and granted
leads to 2 sad dogs that toys and dog tv won't heal
leads to a doggy date at a dog park

Leads to you wanting to finish book and not stopping until the last word.

Any book with dogs on the cover I am immediately drawn to so of course I was excited to read this book.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved so many aspects about it. Both of the characters were nice and you cared about them and what was happening in their lives.
I also enjoyed the family element in this book especially with Max's brother who is autistic. As someone who has very close experience with autism, I think the author wrote it amazingly. I also loved how Max cared for his brother so much it even shaped what he wanted to do with his career.
The romance was adorable and wasn't the main focus of the book but I was more than happy with that. I would say this book is mostly character development with a splash of romance. The romance we got adorable and I loved it.
The two basset hounds were the stars of the book and what I wouldn't do to have Hazel and Baxter in my life.
This book put a smile on my face throughout and I had a great time reading it.

An additional purchase for where contemporary romance titles are popular. While I found the premise to be adorable and our two main characters and their initial predicament to be charming, this book didn't quite hit the mark for me. I would have liked secondary characters to be a bit more three-dimensional, and, speaking as an educator, the portrayal of Autism in the book wasn't handled as carefully as I would have appreciated.

You Lucky Dog is a fun sweet summer read. The dogs were my favorite characters. Light escapism with a HEA, perfect for the beach.

This is what I would call a “beach read”. Sweet and simple. Lots of kissing, some flirty banter, sweet declarations, a few seconds of ugly crying and a little heartbreak, all ending with a touching HEA. Max was my favorite, he seemed much more developed and heartfelt. Carly was sweet but, at certain moments, came off as flaky, but then again, her family was “unique.” All together, sweet story for the 1st read of summer.