The beginning drew me in immediately like I fell in love with the writing style. The book is very short, novella length but still a good read. The cute innocence of Rory! Overall a really cute and fluffy read!

This was a cute, fun read. I enjoyed the characters and the plot, even if the second half was a bit heavier than anticipated.

I am looking forward to seeing more from this author!

just a silly, fun, cute little read. i don't really have a ton to say on it, but it was just a basic romcom where a ... dog turns into a man? it was so unserious and did make me cringe at some points, but it also had some deeper topics and touched on more serious subjects as well (check tw!). i didn't love the fmc and overall just thought this was a little too cringe, but it was entertaining and quick!

A romantic comedy with a freaky Friday esque flare to it.

I’ll be honest, I’m not really one for comedy especially romantic comedy but something about this book called to me and boy am I glad I gave this book a chance.

I absolutely adored this book, from the hilarious moments down to the more serious topics in the book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that comes across it, and I might even fare to say this is my new favorite book and I would love to see it turned into a movie one day.

Just a warning, this book does touch on some sensitive subjects one of those being miscarriage so if that is something you are not comfortable with you may want to avoid .

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and Avon for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fantastic read! I honestly went from cracking up laughing to sobbing and back again to giggles. There was so much joy and feeling in this that I could not put it down. Every character, down to the voiceless cat, Matilda, was a joy to read.

Genie and Miles had such great chemistry while also having a wonderfully written friendship that it felt so believable. The side characters, like Kelly and Dave, gave a diversion in the plot but still helped it progress forward so nothing felt out of place or a waste of time.

And RORY! Oh my goodness. I really didn't think that a dog-turned-man could be written so perfectly but it was done. Rory maintained many of his dog characteristics and thoughts while still being able to function (for the most part) as an adult human male. It was so good. And as the story progressed, and Rory's change progressed, you could see the change settling. It was so well done. Maddening and sad at times, but still great.

Honestly, this was just a fun time. The parts that got in the feels hurt, don't get me wrong, but they made sense and they helped you to understand why Genie is the way that she is now. Freaking loved it.

Such a delightful and refreshing read. A little pinch of magic and a whole lot of laughs. This was such a fun and quirky book. I was able to finish reading in 2 days because I was so eager to find out the ending. This book is a journey that is absolutely worth taking.

5/5

Side note, I had to google what stroking meant in England English because it is totally different than American English LOL I am happy to report that it just means petting 😆

This was such a good book. I absolutely enjoyed it and look forward to reading other books by this author in the future. Great writing and wonderful storyline.

When thirty-year-old Genie’s grandmother tells her she has one wish to use before midnight, she doesn’t take it seriously. But after hugging her golden retriever Rory goodnight and thinking that he’d make a great human, she wakes the next morning to find a naked (and exceptionally good-looking) man in Rory’s dog bed. Fortunately, Genie does not fall in love with Rory (though plenty of other women find him attractive). The human Rory does make an excellent listener and matchmaker, but longs to return to dog form. As the days go by, Rory begins to lose his heightened dog senses and Genie must embrace her family heritage if she’s ever to make things right again. I did find it a bit odd how quickly Genie, her friends, and family accepted that the human Rory really was her dog. This made it easier to focus on the important parts of the story arc, but led the tale (pun-intended) in a bit of a different direction than I was expecting.

A light-hearted romance for dog-loving fans of Netflix’s Hot Frosty.

The Good Boy by Stella Hayward was such a great and funny read! It had me giggling most of the time and occasionally frustrated (in the best way) because the two main characters just wouldn’t confess their feelings. The story also carried some heavier moments, touching on the loss of parental figures and infant loss, which broke my heart and even brought me to tears. While certain parts felt a bit dragged out—fewer chapters might have tightened the pacing—it was still a fun and engaging read overall.

Hands down, Rory was the star of the book and my absolute favorite character. Truly the best boy ever 🤍.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

hilariousl, funny, and cute story with very lovable protagonists in Genie, Miles, and of course Rory, the golden-retriever-turned-human who's the main star of this show. 4.5 stars, rounded up. tysm for the arc.

If this isn't the CUTEST love story I've read in a super long time! Rory and Genie are the funniest, heartwarming pairing that go through life together. You can really feel the dog personality of Rory come out in contrast to Matilda's personality as well. If you're looking for a cute love story with dogs galore this is the book for you!

The narrator often speaks directly to the reader, so we know something terrible happened to her around age twenty, causing her to give up hope. Women in Genie’s magical fortune-telling family can bestow a wish to someone they love. At the stroke of midnight on her thirtieth birthday, she wishes her dog Rory was human. The human Rory isn’t very bright, and I kept hearing the voice of Wolf or the fog prince from the Tenth kingdom miniseries. She gets help from her cute neighbor to dress him. To get dog Rory back, she may have to explore some uncomfortable truths. Lots of sexual tension, cat jokes, and bathroom humor. The side quests often prevent Genie from telling Miles her secret. The box made me cry.

I really enjoyed this one more than I thought I would! Genie is turning 30 and her friends and family think she has been in a stuck in a standstill with life and want more for her. All her life she has been told that magic runs in her family, and for her birthday her grandma gives her a wish at midnight. Genie, jaded and not believing in her family magic, makes a wish for Rory, her dog, to be human. With the help of her friends and family, she must go on a quest to turn her dog back and maybe even figure out how to move on with her life along the way.

I loved Rory and could relate to Genie pushing her feelings down and bottling them. This book made me laugh out loud multiple times. It reminded me that it's never too late to go for what you want in life. This was a lighthearted, fun, and cute story (no spice).

I absolutely loved the premise of this book and after reading it I found it very mid and dull. I honestly wanted more of the side stories and less of the dog/human. At several points I wanted it to be shorter.

I really loved the authors writing style and it read easily. Conversations felt natural and I enjoyed the inner commentary of the FMC so I would definitely read another book by this author. I loved the magic family premise.

Mild spoiler in this paragraph. When the FMC was ready to share what her trauma was my heart broke for her. And then I felt like it was kind of over as fast as it started. She talked to two people about it and then it wasn’t brought up again. Like she was totally healed.

The end was heartwarming and just what I wanted.

I wanted to love this more? The idea is really fun one & pretty original. I loved Rory. Rory saved the book. There was just something off about the sentence structure & pacing of the book for me that made it hard for me to want to continue & finish it. Genie & Miles did make me laugh at times so that was nice & the cover art is pretty too. Not my fav but could be yours!

Thank you to NetGalley for an e arc in exchange for an honest review!

I had a hard time getting into this book. I like the idea of it, it is very creative and honestly who doesn’t wish their dog could be their actual best friend, but the story was too awkward for me to get into. I do not mean awkward writing, the writing was good and I can see other people liking this story, but I have a hard time engaging in awkward moments myself.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for this book.
I was excited to read this book because of the rom com theme. I thought a good lighthearted rom com would be fun to read.
However, the plot and writing style were so cheesy to me. I like things that are a bit more serious and realistic. I’m rating a 3/5 because the plot is unique but it’s just not my style. Thanks again for letting me read!

First and foremost a HUGE thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins Publishers and Stella Hayward for allowing me the opportunity to be able to read this arc!
Just from the description of the book I knew I wanted to read this. How is this going to go?
Well I wasn't exactly blown away by it at first. But, I knew by the end of the third chapter that:
1. Rory was going to be turned back in to a dog.
2. Eugenie had a lot of growth/healing to do.
3. Miles was going to be the "one"
And with that I continued on. I'm glad I did. The story made me laugh and almost cry at some points. I kept wandering how those 3 items was going to come around. The only way for a person to know is to read it.. so I did. And now I can't wait for it come out so that I can add it to my collection of books to enjoy it again.

Recommended for: cozy mystery people. I feel like you'd appreciate this one more than I did
Not for: the romance girlies

The cover hooked me, but that was it. The book wasn't bad, I just don't think it was for me. While there were several lines that made me lol, it was mostly because of the ridiculousness of the premise. I think my biggest hangup was that the development of the relationship between the fmc and her dog-turned-manfriend was more the focus than that with the mmc. I also just felt generally uncomfy with the byproduct of my beloved pups suddenly becoming awkward childlike men living in my house.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this arc.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found the plot enjoyable and while it does hit heavy topics in the third act, I felt they were handled with a lot of grace for all of the characters involved.

I haven’t read a lot of books lately that make me actively laugh while reading them, but this one had me giggling at the dialogue and jokes in a few different places.

Rory’s character was what I would expect from a dog turned human, and I like that the book didn’t try to explain how everything happened to turn him human. It was just a wish and magic, Genie doesn’t know the rules so we don’t need to know them either.

All in all, this was a very enjoyable read. I would pick up more books from this author if I saw them in a bookstore.