It Started with a Dog by Julia London is a delightful read perfect for fans of lighthearted, feel-good contemporary romance, dog lovers, and coffee enthusiasts who will adore the charming tale of a holiday romance that brews up a sweet and steamy connection between two entrepreneurs amidst a backdrop of adorable rescue pups and a friendly coffee shop rivalry.

Julia London did it again. This second installment of the Lucky Dog series lived up to the bar set by the first book. And fun bonus? Each book can be read as a stand alone or in reverse order.
In true romcom fashion, our leading characters Harper and Jonah accidentally swap phones during an rideshare gone wrong. This twist of fate leads to a winter vacation filled with texts and emojis, and building attraction.
The chemistry is instantaneous and huge. You can feel the attraction steaming of the pages. But as big as their attraction is, so are the roadblocks standing in the way of their happily everafter.
Filled with laughter, over and under bearing family members, and a slew of dogs, Harper and Jonah will discover what really matters.

Hello,

Apologies for the late notice, but I have decided not to review this title.

While I am certain it's obvious by now, I wanted to also clear this off NetGalley, so it's not showing as open for either of us.

I look forward to continuing to work with you in 2023 and beyond.

Laura

What started out strong as an accidental phone swap with a touch of You've Got Mail turned out to not be for me really quickly. I ultimately decided to not finish this title, but I was so intrigued by the plot and premise that it was super disappointing. The tension between one of them trying to save their family coffee shop while the other was opening their biggest competition across the road had me SO hopeful. But untimely, the characters felt flat and I didn't believe their chemistry. This one wasn't for me but I still really love Julia's historical romances.

This was my first book by this author, but it definitely won't be my last. London wrote a fun romcom with chemistry melting the pages. Did I mention it features rescue dog? Yep! I really enjoyed this read and would reccomend it to others.

This book had some really adorable moments but took too long to get the story told.

Harper Thompson didn’t realize that the worst rideshare ever would be the turning point in her life. Heading home to be with family for Christmas, Harper ends up leaving with the wrong phone. Since both of them are out of town, they are stuck with the wrong phone and end up having an adorable week texting updates and important messages to each other. By the end of the week, Harper can’t wait to actually meet up with the most charming man she has spent time with in a (sadly) long time. She is also hoping he will bring the handsome dog which is the focus of his screensaver.

When Harper and Jonah Rogers finally meet in person, there is instant buzz on both sides and they agree to move on from phone swap to an actual date, or more like a get together to go jogging which would then include handsome puppy Truck. Harper and Jonah talk of all manner of things, favorite ice cream, favorite movie, how their families make them crazy but somehow as their bond grows, they seemed to have missed having one very important discussion. What do you do for a living?

Actually, Harper is aware that Jonah is an astrophysicist, and Jonah is aware that Harper does marketing for a crazy boss. But they haven’t gotten to the part where Jonah is in town to help save his family’s failing coffee shop, Lucky Star, and that Harper is charge of opening the Deja Brew coffeehouse across the street which is going to be the nail in the coffin to the Lucky Star’s business. Once this shocking revelation is made and Jonah realizes that he has been sleeping with the enemy, an enemy Jonah has fallen fast and hard for, how can he break it to his family that his new girlfriend is the competition that might doom their mom and pop shop.

This story started out adorably with the phone mix up. We have some great conversations back and forth between Harper and Jonah. In fact, most of the time which is focused on Harper and Jonah is perfect romance fodder. They were sweet and adorable and very attracted to each other.

What failed for me was the whole competing business portion of the story. Let’s start with I couldn’t stand Harper’s boss. He is mercurial but not in a fun odd-ball way. He puts Harper in charge of the opening of the Deja Brew store…but not really. There really doesn’t seem to be a large staff at this headquarters but Harper is expecting to get a promotion. Her boss decides that competition breeds creativity so he hires someone to compete for Harper’s promotion. She has to compete for her promotion after years dedicated to the company against someone who just walked in the door. Harper thinks this new person is the boss’s new admin but soon learns, from her competition, that he was hired to come in as Harper’s boss and is just as confused by the sudden need to compete to the position. Harper is a hard worker and could succeed at any company. She doesn’t seem overly attached to her boss, nor is she making an absurd amount of money. So why would she continue to work at such an unstable company with a erratic boss? It made no sense to me. Yes, she put in years of work but should have walked away years ago.

We also have Jonah who went to college to be an astrophysicist. An astrophysicist! His family’s mom and pop small-town coffee shop is failing in light of the fact that his father’s health was failing and the family is running the same coffee shop since the 50’s. The only people who come in are the regulars for a plain old cup of coffee. They fight any changes that Jonah proposes which aren’t much since Jonah is a astrophysicist, not a marketing expert. The problem with Jonah is that his company wants him to spearhead their next project, which is a dream come true and an offer not made often, but Jonah is afraid of his father’s health and that if he walks away, that the coffee shop with fail, especially with the new Millennial-centric coffee shop opening across the street. There is a Starbucks down the street which didn’t force the coffee shop to shut their doors so the problem is the coffee shop, not the competition. Again, Jonah is an astrophysicist, a job that I would think would pay better than average salary as compared to marketing genius. Wouldn’t he be better off, doing his astrophysicist job and just paying out of his own pocket for a coffee shop manager/marketing genius to try to save the coffee shop? It just didn’t make sense to me how flummoxed Jonah was about leaving his family to return to his dream job especially when his father told him to go.

The romance in this story was spot on and I loved Harper/Jonah moments, especially when including their dogs. The drama between the two coffee shops and the work issues were no brainers to me and someone could have figured that out a lot faster and we could have gone back to the romance.

I adored this enemy to friends to lovers story and who doesn’t like a dog thrown in?! I’ve been drawn to this light hearted series because I love that dogs are the matchmakers unbeknownst to them. The supporting cast of characters lends to moving along the story. Be prepared to laugh as you read about the trials and tribulations of getting a promotion, saving your career and making the hard choices. Enjoy this light and flirty fun book from Julia London.

The sunshine warmed her shoulders as she sipped her iced coffee at a small table outside the local coffee shop. The brew was strong and invigorating, giving her a sense of life in this chaotic season. People walked up and down the sidewalk; their dogs in tow. She observed the happenings and pet the dogs that had to show her love and affection. It was a good day… because what is better than coffee and dogs?

It Started With a Dog was a cute romcom about two strangers accidentally swapping phones and then realizing they’re running competing businesses. Harper is opening a popular chain coffeehouse, while Jonah is trying to run a failing family coffeeshop… but can love spark between them despite the competition? Plus, there are cute dogs involved.

I very much saw pieces of myself in Jonah’s character. The family aspect was heartwarming and I truly felt the emotions he was dealing with in trying to save the family business. Harper I wasn’t as big a fan of… some of her ideals I didn’t agree with. Plus her boss likes to talk with made up words and phrases and that drove me nuts! Overall though it was a cute romcom with all the dogs to love.

If you’re a romcom fan with dual perspective writing and love coffee and dogs, then pick up this cute read.

I loved You Lucky Dog (the first book in this series) and I really liked the second one too. Definitely continued to live up to expectations. The plot was fairly cliche but when you add a phone-swap meet-cute and adorable dogs, you really can't go wrong. Julia London delivered all of the warm cozy feelings I wanted when I picked up this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book!

Title: It Started with a Dog
Rating: 4 Stars

Oh my goodness, this book was so cute! If you loved the movie You've Got Mail you will devour this book! It has a meet cute, a friends to lovers trope, the most endearing characters and some adorable animals to top it off. If you like rom coms and light hearted reads, this is the book for you!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

Cute meet complete with dogs. I loved all the characters that I met in this story. You’ve got not only the romance side of things but there is a bit of a competition between the main characters that throws them for a bit of a loop. And of course the dogs who have just as much personality as the humans.

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. Give me rescue dogs, coffee and Austin, TX and I'm yours! This was such a cute story. I loved that there was no basic miscommunication, I absolutely hate when adult characters do not act as such.Harper goes through very real corporate and career problems. The way she handled the situations were just right with honest mistakes. In the end she learned to value herself and take a leap of faith. Jonah, what can I say about him. He is such a great guy and always wants to do what is best for his family, putting his own well-being on hold. As a Hispanic person, I can relate to this internal conflict so much. There is always that sense of guilt if you are not doing everything you can for your loved ones. I just loved this story, there is nothing I would change about it. It made me miss Austin so much. Bravo for this cute contemporary romance with real social causes and conflict resolution.

So once again I come to the hard question of whether I actually enjoy Ms. London’s Contemporary writing, which in the past was such a difficult question to answer that I almost past on this novel, but I’m glad I didn’t for once. While I can say that I didn’t love it nearly as much as I do her historical work, this second installment in the Lucky Dog series was much more enjoyable to me than previous contemporary novels in the recent past for sure. It took me a long while to make the connection to the first novel, mainly because it’s been a while and I didn’t love the first one enough for it to stick, but there is a connection and it’s interesting. The story begins with a meet-cute between Harper and Jonah in a ride share when they are both on their way out of town for Christmas, which leaves them in possession of one another’s phone. Harper is an extremely driven, uptight and overall odd character, making her a tricky to like in the beginning, but she has her moments and her odd sense of humor make Jonah laugh and lightens his heavy load. Jonah is dealing with the heavy burden of managing his family business as his father recovers from a health scare, but the health of the business is its own scary proposition. As Jonah and Harper chat through the holidays they begin to really like one another and decide to try getting to know one another when they switch back phones in person, but they both also have a lot going on professionally. And when Harper’s professional future and Jonah’s begin to clash things between them become tense and a decision between personal connection and professional competition has to be made. Some say competition can make a relationship more intense, but at some point I think both Harper and Jonah began to see that there wasn’t much worth for competing for, and instead they needed to band together to build the life they wanted together.

I really enjoyed this story much more than the first in the series, but there were a few things that made it less enjoyable for me. I really didn’t like Harper’s boss and through most of the story her coworkers either, even if that was the intention to make her learn her lesson and move on with life. Some of the other side characters, namely Jonah’s family and friends and, of course, the canine characters were much more enjoyable to read about, so they carried many of the scenes when Jonah and Harper were being idiots. Harper was a woman that needed to find a way to experience a new way of living and let go of a lot so that she could find a happier life. Having life goals is one thing, but she was really letting life pass her by until Jonah finally got her to start living it. I loved seeing her find a backbone and standup for herself with her boss and move on with her life in order to have Jonah. Jonah is just the opposite, always giving so much of himself to others that he’s lost himself and I think meeting Harper was just what he needed to remind him that there can and needs to be a balance in your life in order to find happiness. He was a perfect guy once her stopped martyring himself and accepted that sometimes being selfish is the best thing for everyone involved. The love that developed between Harper and Jonah and sweet and came at just the right time for them both, giving them someone in their corner that they both needed. I am looking forward much more to seeing where the series goes next and what type of canine craziness will be coming next. While the story didn’t blow me out of the water like some of Ms. London’s historical works, it was charming, engaging, and overall a satisfying read.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to read this one because I changed my kindle email address and forgot to update it on Netgalley, so it never arrived to my device. *facepalm*

Okay the cutest romcom ever alert!! I am obsessed with every aspect of this book: the characters, the story, the DOGS. I mean, this is probably the most fitting romance I've read in a while, and the fact that it was so well written makes it all the better! 5 stars from me!

You've Got Mail + Coffee + Adorable Dogs 🐾
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𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬
It Started with a Dog was such a cute, hilarious, and charming read!
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I absolutely loved the meet-cute between Harper and Jonah. I mean how devastating would it be to switch your phone with the person you are ride sharing with? But these two make it work right from the get go.
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There is just so much to love about this book. From the strangers-to-friends-to-lovers to the business rivalry to the crazy encounters with Truck to the banter, this book will hook you in from the start and not allow you to stop reading until you reach the end.
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𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨
🐾 Friends-to-Lovers
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𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🐾 You've Got Mail
🐾 Adorable Meet Cutes
🐾 Coffee & Pie
🐾 Dogs
🐾 Crazy Family Dynamics
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𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Fun but ultimately not memorable. I'm currently clearing out all of the books that were published in 2019-21 from my title feedback view!

I want to take a moment to appreciate how ADORABLE this cover is!!!! It’s so PRETTY!!! I ordered a paperback to put on my shelf because I loved it so much but I was so happy that I loved the inside of this book just has much!! This was such a light and happy book!! I really loved that the couple got together fairly early in because we got to seen them explore their relationship and feelings especially because the conflict was mostly about the coffee shops and the tension that brought. The conflict felt more external instead of internal. What sold me to this series was the dogs!!! The cuteness of all the rescue dogs tugged at my heart. I have 4 dogs so my heart was sold to Jonah. I’m in love with him, and I loved him relationship with Harper so much. The way they would tease each other! So cute!!! This was a super fast, light and sweet story, I had so much fun reading it!

Julia London's latest release is as endearing as the cover suggests. Dog lovers will especially love this romance between Jonah and Harper -- sweet and delightful.