Margot is a 30-something daughter of elderly parents, now deceased, alone in the world and feeling the ticking of her biological clock. Will is a single former Wall St. wonder with commitment issues who has returned to London to help out his family with their struggling floral business. Blossom is the rescue mutt that they end up sharing custody of, with predictable results. The road to romance is rocky, but a lot of fun for the reader in this charming story. Margot is eccentric but loveable and Will's distant reserve softens as their shared custody becomes friendship and their lives slowly become intertwined. Will's family members have their own issues, due to Will's controlling and narcissistic father, who is no longer on the scene but whose abusive actions still affect his former wife and his adult children. The relationships between Will and his mother and sister and their friendship with Margot are well-developed and touching, and the theme of childhood trauma still impacting the lives of adults packs an emotional punch without ever becoming too dark and heavy. The depiction of the world of animal rescue shelters also adds interest to the storyline, and Blossom is an endearing character in her own right. Light touches of humor make this story an entertaining light read.

I picked up this title mostly because I saw it on netgalley and was drawn in by the dog on the cover. In the past I’ve really enjoyed books where the pet plays an important role in the story. This book definitely had a lot of that going on to the point where it was a little bit overkill. I thought that there was just a little to much focus on the dog and not enough focus on the relationships developing throughout the story. When the main romance of the book started appearing I didn’t really feel the chemistry between the two characters because for the majority of the book we focused on their relationship with Blossom, not necessarily each other. That being said I loved watching the relationship that blossom developed with every character that she interacted with and watching what crazy antics she decided to get into.
I also really appreciated the family aspect of the book and would have loved to get to know some of those characters on a slightly deeper level but overall I was happy with what we got out of them.
I also really appreciated the Plus size rep in this book. Though it’s definitely not the main focus but it does get brought up a couple times throughout because of Margot’s job and her being plus size herself.
I also really appreciated a positive representation of a dog that is typically viewed as “aggressive”. I love that they showed with Training and taking the time to meet all of their other needs like exercise you can have an amazing dog.
Overall I did enjoy myself reading this book for the most part. I definitely would recommend it to my friends who I know are dog lovers and would really appreciate this book!

*I chose to write this honest review after receiving a free copy on NetGalley.*

This was super cute. Besides romance readers, dog lovers would also enjoy this story as the main characters try to figure out how to co-parent a dog they both love. It's a warm fuzzy of a book.

I thought that I was going to love this book going into it. I expected a cutesy romance involving dogs. It was that but it wasn't as cutesy as I wanted and I just didn't enjoy a lot of it. My favorite part was the dog. Blossom was the best character in the book and she had such a great and big personality. The two human main characters I found to be a bit annoying. I just wasn't entertained while reading unless it was Blossom doing something cute or hilarious. I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange of an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read. Sweet and easy to read story.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

Cute enough. Didn’t sizzle. Characters were sweet.
3.5 rounded up

"Rescue Me" was my first book from this author, but it isn't likely to be my last.

This was a really sweet, uplifting, heartwarming story. Will and Margot cross paths at an animal shelter, and through a series of events, end up "co-pawenting" a dog. I loved that Blossom was a staffy (aka, pit bull). I volunteer with my local shelter, and there is SUCH a misconception about these dogs (and, of course, the shelters are totally overrun with them). Of course there are unquestionably "bad apples" (like in any breed), but like Blossom, so many of them are just scared, mistreated, and in need of some stability and love. Anyway, stepping off my small soapbox... Will and Margot meet and continue interacting due to their shared ownership of Blossom.

"Insta-love" (aka, insta-lust) and relationships that go from meeting to engaged in like a week are a bit of a pet peeve for me with romance. Fiction is fiction, not real life, but I just can't suspend disbelief over and over again when every book I read has characters finding their HEA over the course of a single weekend. That said, I really loved and appreciated the slow build of this book. Will and Margot's story takes place over multiple months, and their relationship goes from semi-enemies, to reluctantly civil acquaintances (with shared interests), to friends, to more. It felt like a natural progression and that time was spent both getting to actually know each other.

I also appreciate that the author wrote a borderline plus size heroine, and that the characters were a little older than the typical romance hero/heroine. A good chunk of the population doesn't fall into the "tall, blonde, size 2, twenty-something" mold, but we're deserving of a great love story too!

I've seen some comments that the book starts slow, but I'm honestly ok with that because we spend that time getting to know Blossom, and really laying the groundwork for the rest of the book. I DO think the book started to drag a bit through the middle around the 60% mark though, and those sections drop this book down to like a 3.5 star for me. With a little more editing through the middle, this was probably a 4.5 star read.

Rescue Me by Sarra Manning was so so cute. It followed Margot and Will when they met at a local dog shelter. They both fall in love with the same dog and decide to share custody. Problems arise when they have different dog parenting styles. This book was a slow burn but it kept me wanting to read! I loved the characters chemistry and how they loved their Blossom. This book is a definite re-read for me! Sarra Manning always does a great job!

Rescue Me is a cute rom-com by Sarra Manning. While I found the first 100 pages a little slow the build up to the meat of the story was necessary. Margot and Will had a “meet cute” at a dog rescue and wanted the same foster dog. They ended up with joint custody and learned how to “co-parent”.

I definitely enjoyed this book and think anyone looking for a good rom-com with a dog will enjoy this book.

Who doesn’t love a rom com with a dog?!

I wanted to like this more than I did...
First of all, there were parts I enjoyed. Obviously dogs are always a welcome add to a story. It was a lot more smutty than I was expecting, which is fun.

But was so slow to get into the romance. I know that we had to get to know them and the dog, but it didn’t even get started until past the halfway mark. And even then we had to wait awhile for anything to actually happen. Made me tempted to skip to the good stuff... which I ended up doing.
I don’t mind a slow burn, but this one needed to start way earlier.

Once it got going it was an okay read, but having to wait for over half the book for it to be decently interesting was not my favorite.

I requested an arc for this book without really reading the synopsis and only because I was in the mood for some rom coms. I didn’t know what to expect but I was very very pleasantly surprised.
Will and Margot both fall in love with the same Staffie, Blossom from the animal shelter and decide to adopt her together , and share her custody. How Blossom manages to change their lonely lives makes up the rest of the book
When I started reading, I couldn’t bring myself to like either Will or Margot. They were both irritating and unlikeable . But Blossom was a star right from the beginning and my dog loving heart needed more of her, so I decided to keep on reading.
Slowly, without even realising it, I began to fall in love with both Will and Margot. How the author slowly unfurls both these unlikeable characters and makes you fall in love with them is nothing short of magic!!!
I was thoroughly entertained and loved how the relationship between Will and Margot develops. I loved Will’s family as well!
The star of the book however is Blossom. Even the dog gets character development in this book and I loved every second of it!!!
I highly highly recommend and can’t wait to read more from this author
Rating:4.5

Mein Leseerlebnis

Schon seit längerem hat Sarra Manning kein neues Buch herausgebracht und da sich ihr neues für meine Ohren richtig gut anhörte, habe ich es vorbestellt. Zwei Bücher der Autorin - Unsticky & You don’t have to say you love me - liebe ich, die Bücher danach fand ich entweder gut oder ich mochte sie gar nicht. Und nun also “Rescue me”.

Wie gesagt, die Synopsis hörte sich für mich spannend an. Ich erhoffte mir interessante Charaktere und eine intensive Liebesgeschichte. Und das habe ich auch mehr oder weniger bekommen, vor allem im Mittelteil der Geschichte. Am Anfang und Ende gab es für mich leider ein paar Schwächen, die mein Leseerlebnis etwas getrübt haben.

Der Schreibstil der Autorin war angenehm, aber vielleicht nicht so intensiv wie in ihren vorherigen Büchern. Der Zugang zu den Charakteren viel mir zunächst etwas schwer, nach gut fünf Kapiteln wurde es aber besser und gerade im Mittelteil habe ich gerne Zeit mit den beiden Hauptcharakteren und ihren Freunden bzw. Familien verbracht. Vor allem Will fand ich als Charakter interessant und nach einiger Zeit auch sympathisch.

Margot war für mich persönlich nicht der ideale Charakter. Sie will unbedingt ein Kind und ihre Torschlusspanik fand ich teils etwas anstrengend. Auch bin ich kein Fan von Leuten, die sich Tiere zulegen, ohne zu wissen, wie sie diese während ihrer Arbeit versorgen werden. So etwas ist mir absolut nicht sympathisch. Aber gut, im Mittelteil bin ich auch mit ihr warm geworden und fand auch die sich langsam entwickelnde Liebesgeschichte sehr schön. Es gab so einige Szenen, die mein Herz erwärmt haben oder mich zum Lächeln gebracht haben.

Das Ende war mir etwas zu überstürzt und ich fand es schade, dass es überhaupt eine zeitweilige Trennung der beiden Hauptcharaktere gegeben hat. Die Schwächen vom Anfang traten wieder auf und es war etwas frustrierend, dass Margot scheinbar keine Entwicklung durchgemacht hat.

Wären das Ende und der Anfang des Buches mehr wie der Mittelteil gewesen, wäre das Buch für mich eine runde und schöne Sache gewese. So ist es eine Geschichte mit einigen Höhen, aber auch Schwächen. 🖤🖤🖤3/4

Für wen?

Wer sich langsam entwickelnde, erwachsene Liebesroman mit Hunden mag, sollte mal in eine Leseprobe reinschauen.

A love story centered around a dog? Sign me up. This was such a great story of personal growth as both Will and Margot had a lot of growing and personal hurdles to muddle through to be ready for love. This book is a slow build relationship where through the act of "co-pawrenting" the adopted Blossom Will and Margot break down each other's walls and slowly but surely the three of them fall in love. I think dog lovers will appreciate this book because it seems entirely plausible for a wonderful, quirky pup to bring two people together.