This was such an enjoyable Christmas read. If you love dogs, this is the holiday book for you. I loved the dogs and enjoyed the humans in this story too. When Ally goes to help her grandparents with their dog rescue, she is at loose ends with where her life is going. The holidays in the small town that she's visiting put everyone in the spirit, even when the towns funding for the dog rescue gets cut and they need to get all the dogs adopted before the new year. A great heartwarming holiday read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for allowing me to read and review.

This book was delightfully charming. Everything you want in a Christmas story, small town antics, cute dogs and a couple to root for! I love Ben and Ally and their story.

Curl up next to the tree with a cup of cocoa, and enjoy this book.

This is my favorite Christmas romance of the year. So many romances begin with a focus on the female protagonist, but this book started with Ben. And I related to him from the beginning. He comes off as a bit of a grumpy Scrooge without coffee (me too), but he is an excellent man struggling under the weight of trying to manage everything he feels responsible for. Most important, he is trying to take good care of his niece, Astrid, whose parents died and left him guardian. His love for Astrid is his guiding light.

Ally is a great heroine, coming to Pine Hollow to help her grandparents with their dog shelter. And when the shelter loses funding, she needs to find homes for all of the dogs.

This is a really clever book. One of my favorite lines ends, "the butcher, the baker, and Joanie Pounds, who made her own scented candles." I just adored the reference to the nursery rhyme. Similar fun phrasing is sprinkled throughout.

The book sounds like another sweet holiday romance. And it is. But it's much deeper than that. It's a story of two people figuring out how to deal with grief and whether to open themselves up to let others in.

And of course, I am so pleased that the novel centered around adopting dogs. Rescuing pups is a cause near and dear to my heart.

I am not a huge holiday romance fan, but this book was so cute! It was the perfect distraction from waiting for election results. I loved how each dog had it's own distinct personality. This book is reminiscent of a Hallmark movie with the single dad scrooge, city girl who returns home, low steam, and small town that comes together for the animal shelter.

Thanks to Forever for my copy to review!

I love a good sweet holiday romance and this hit the spot. Add in a dog rescue with lots of cute puppies and I just couldn't put this book down. Pine Hollow is a small village where everyone knows each other. When Ally comes from the big city to help her Grandparents run the dog shelter she never thought it would lose its town funding and have to close by the end of the year. Ally also didn't expect to fall in love. The characters are very well developed and I just love them all. I felt like I was actually along for the ride with Ally as she navigates through Pine Hollow to help save the dog shelter. This is an amazing little town that I would just love to live in. I can't wait to read book two! I have three rescue dogs and understand the hard work that goes into finding the right furever home for each puppy. This was a truly great little Holiday read that I definitely could find myself reading over and over again.

If you are a dog lover, want a little Holiday romance then this is the book for you! I give a 5 star!

Thank you netgalley for an advanced copy of The Twelve Dogs of Christmas! A holiday romance involving dogs? Count me in! This was the such a sweet story & I cannot wait to see what else this author has in store!

Ally’s moved back to her grandparents small town to assist with their rescue. When she finds out they’re being shut down, she does everything to try to get the dogs rescued. In comes Mister Scrooge himself, the guy who is the deciding factor to close it down. But Ben feels bad about the decision he had to make that he comes up with a plan to help Ally out. Get the dogs into loving homes before the rescue has to close their doors. Are Ally and Ben just helping each other out for the holidays or is there something more?

This has been on my favorite holiday reads yet, there wasn’t a thing I didn’t love. The connection between Ben and Ally was perfect. The slow burn romance definitely worked, even though there were so many moments I was saying FINALLY! Grandma Rita was also a character. I was cracking up at things she was saying & she reminds me of my grandmas. I 100% would rate this higher than 5 stars if I could! Run, don’t walk to the store to pick this gem up!

This was delightful—a Hallmark Christmas movie in book form. It’s well-written and charming. I was rooting for Ben and Ally from the moment they met, and of course I got my satisfying ending. This is a wholesome romance that will be perfect for reading this holiday season.

I read this back in September but waited to post my thoughts until now, mostly because I think it may be the most perfect holiday romance EVER and I wanted to wait until a little closer to Christmas so it didn’t fly under your radar. It has everything I want in a holiday read and more, it’s warm and cozy and set in the cutest little town, it has a menagerie of sweet and zany dogs, there’s a single dad type trope, and a wonderful supporting cast of characters too! See, everything you could want!!

This was such a magical read, it really brought the Christmas spirit alive for me. Hell, it had me wanting to decorate for Christmas in mid September so it definitely will put you in a holiday state of mind. The romance aspect was adorable and tender and gave me all the warm fuzzies. If you read one holiday romance this year make it this one, I don’t think you’ll regret it!

What a wonderful book! Lizzie Shane has given us pure Christmas and wonder in this book! Her Characters are so real that it seems like they could be your next door neighbors. So many Christmas books give you a plot and throw in an "Oh, yeah, it's Christmas time," but Shane went with Christmas all the way through. There was plenty of snow, Christmas lights, hot chocolate and even Christmas decorations on the dogs in the shelter that they are trying to find homes for.
Ben was a kind of messed up guy. He was so busy trying to take care of everyone else that he wasn't willing to reach out and take love with Ally when it was right in front of him. His niece that he was raising was a delightful part of the book, but Ally really took my heart. It just didn't seem like she had a place where she felt that she belonged. But hold on--Christmas miracles really do happen!
Another terrific book by Shane that puts your heart and your mind in the right place for Christmas.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

This was not a favorite. Too much worrying about what everyone thinks really took away from what could have been a good romance.

Wow! This book is so wonderful! It is heartwarming, charming, hopeful, fun, sweet, romantic, funny, and so much more! Whenever I picked up "The Twelve Dogs of Christmas", I was whisked away to the small town of Pine Hollow, and fell in love with the town and story!

This is the first book in Lizzie Shane's "Pine Hollow" series, and I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am to find out there will be more books in this incredible series! Ms. Shane truly knows how to bring a story to life, and her characters are feel so incredibly real. I feel like I got to know each and every personality, including those of each and every doggy (which I just loved!), and found myself rooting for these characters to find happiness.

Ben is the guardian of his niece, Astrid, since her parent's died tragically a couple of years before the story takes place. He sometimes puts up a hard exterior, but truthfully is a very warm and sweet. He is afraid of letting those around him down, and puts other's needs before his own. Never could he have imagined helping to find homes for the shelter's animals would lead to possibly finding the person who can bring out of him what has been gone for so long.

Ally is sweet, spunky, loving, and has such a big heart. She comes back to town to help her grandparent's run the animal shelter, only to find out their funding has been pulled. When she agrees to have Ben help her find homes for the remaining dogs, she never could have imagined what happened next!

(Possible Spoilers!)
I found myself rooting for Ben and Ally to find their happy-ever-after with one another from the start! The bring out the best in each other, and truly understand the other's wants and fears. Though some moments are hard, they are able to work through them, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if and when they would admit their true feelings for one another! You will just have to read to see what happens!

Also, the town's ability to come together and support each other is simply beautiful and heartfelt, and brought tears to my eyes. From Astrid, to Ally's Grandparents, to Deenie, Elinor, and so many more, this town is so full of heart, and it was just a joy to read.

If you enjoy contemporary romance, holiday romance, small-town romance, and / or love dogs, I highly recommend this book! So many moments had me smiling from ear to ear, squealing with delight, and simply swooning! I could not put this book down, and found myself picking it up whenever I had a moment to see what would happen next! No spoilers, but, I will say, the ending...SO MUCH SQUEALING!!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the review copy of this novel, I just loved it! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Lizzie Shane and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the book The Twelve Dogs of Christmas. This is my personal review.
I loved this book so much! It was so easy to get into the lives of everyone who live in Pine Hollow.
Ally is a professional photographer who came to help her grandparents run the Dog Rescue shelter. She came to help and find her way back to feeling like she belongs somewhere. She fell in love with the dogs and everything else about the town.
She meets Ben – who is known as the town Scrooge but with the help of the dogs – Ally and everyone in town things soon turn out perfectly!
The dogs in the book are such a huge part you fall in love with them all.
Thank you, Lizzie Shane, for warming my heart and giving me this beautiful book!

You don’t have to be lover of dogs to adore this absolutely adorable sweet heartwarming book, but be prepared to want to get to know one after reading! This book exemplifies why everyone should know the love of a dog. Ally Gilmore, a talented photographer goes home to spend the Christmas holidays with her grandparents parents in Vermont. They run the local and only animal shelter in town and are universally beloved by their town. Together they find out that all of the funding for the shelter has been pulled and the shelter is going to close RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Wow, who does that? Talk about awful Scrooge behavior. Ben West is that very scrooge. He is the guardian to his adorable niece who is desperate for her own pup to love on, has no idea how to be a single parent to his niece, let alone a dog and wants nothing more than to just get through each and every day with nothing major blowing up in his face. Ally is truly incensed and wants his hide! Their initial meeting does not go well and Ally is rightfully frustratingly and maybe a little over the top mad. She is so angry that though she accidentally spills an entire hot drink down his shirt at their first meeting she isn’t really all that sorry! Ben instantly attracted to her, but knows he has a lot of work to do to get into her good graces and stop her from leaving town possibly for forever because though he knows he is breaking her hear and grandparents with his vote to close the shelter he wants her more than he has ever wanted anything in his life. Negotiating a “temporary truce” he decides to help her find homes for the remaining dogs left at the shelter. And so begins their rocky, funny, romantic, kid filled road to finding their eventual happily ever. Make sure to out some time aside for the once you start reading you will lose track of time and want to finish. This would make a sweet Hallmark or the like movie. I know Id watch it. I really adored this sweet tale. Its the perfect feel good read during these very tumultuous times.

Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Lizzie Shane
This was such a sweet holiday read! This story has nods to Gilmore Girls' -  the town is Pine Hollow compared to Stars Hollow and the main character is Ally Gilmore.  The town square and gazebo are so picturesque and I really could picture so many quaint scenes there. The story has a town Scrooge, which also reminded me of Luke.

This story was so fun and put me in the holiday spirit. It reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie, Ally is returning from NYC to help her grandparents with their animal shelter, but the shelter's funding gets cut right before the holidays. The city councilman Ben, is a single dad and a town Grinch. I loved the dog features and their efforts to get these dogs in forever homes before the holidays. There were several other single characters introduced in this story and I'm looking forward to seeing other stories in this series.
 
Thank you for my gifted copy @readforeverpub

I’m not a huge animal lover (don’t hate me), so I wasn’t sure if I would love this story, but I did! Every character in the story, both canine and human had such personality, they all drew you in and made you care about them and their story. Usually in a book like this where one of the main characters is supposed to be a “Scrooge” it takes me a while to like that character, but I fell in love with Ben and was rooting for him from the start. I loved everything about this book, and really hope this book is part of a series so I can go back and visit this town again! This is my honest review of an ARC I received on netgalley.

This is a delightful read about a rescue shelter for dogs that has to close by the end of the year due to loss of funding. Of course, it takes place in a small town where everyone knows everyone. The story moves along nicely with interesting characters. One may want to clobber Ben once in a while. But he's had fatherhood bestowed upon him abruptly because his sister and husband were killed in a car accident. He tries so hard to be everything to everyone. The lessons learned in this book should resonate with many. Of course, if the characters would just talk to one another instead of the whole town, the book would be much shorter. The ending was somewhat predictable, but it did have a few twists that I didn't see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC for my honest review.

I have posted this same review on Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub.

A fun & sweet small-town romance that would totally be a hit as a Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movie!!
What's not to love with a holiday romance between the grumpy, small-town councilman and the lovable, new to town heroine who is just trying to save her grandparents legacy from aforementioned town council. Plus there are dogs, lots of dogs!!

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

I absolutely loved this book! Sometimes you just need a feel good story and this was it!

Big city girl comes home usually means a good romance, even if it isn’t always realistic. It makes for a good story and that’s the whole point! Ally comes back to help her grandparents with their animal shelter only to find out that the city budget for it is being cut. Enter Ben, the mean councilman who voted for it and don’t pay attention to the fact that he gets talked into a lot of things because he’s such a great guy. And the new guardian to his orphaned niece. Who loves dogs. Cute story and fun read for the holidays.

This book was pretty much the perfect holiday romance. Reading it was like being snuggled under a blanket, in your favorite chair, with the fire going, sipping a cup of hot chocolate with real marshmallows (and maybe just a touch of schnapps!). Ally and Ben were a likable and well-matched couple, both of them caretakers to the core, wanting nothing more than for the people they loved to be happy and safe. Add in 12 adorable dogs, all of whom needed to find homes in a hurry once the town decided to stop funding Ally's grandparents shelter, and you have all the elements needed for a wonderful romance. There were just enough obstacles in Ally's and Ben's way to keep the plot moving along nicely, and I loved the way the dogs were an integral part of the story, not just there for window dressing. I can't wait for the next book, especially since it will feature an opposites attract, fake dating situation between 2 characters whom I really liked in this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas was a sweet holiday read. The heroine is visiting her grandparents and trying to help them save their dog shelter. The hero has a very busy life. He is the guardian of his niece and on the city council. He may have the label of Scrooge. I love a grumpy hero. This wasn’t a bad read on a cold day. It’s not a very spicy read. The couple just kiss a few times. I was still satisfied with the journey.


I voluntarily read an early copy.