***I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.***
Struggling to find her modern-day Mr. Darcy, a Jane Austen fan gets more than she bargained for when she swears off men and adopts an adorable puppy.
Dr. Charlotte Rodriguez is single—again—and she blames Jane Austen. She made brooding, aloof men sound oh sodreamy. But after years of failing to find her own Mr. Darcy, Charlotte decides it’s time to swear off dating. She’s going to lavish all her love and affection on someone who actually deserves it: her new puppy, Bingley.
And there’s no one better to give her pet advice than her neighbor and coworker George Leneghan. He’s quiet and patient and, best of all, way too sweet to ever be her type. But as their friendly banter turns flirty, the unimaginable happens—Charlotte starts catching feelings.
Just as Charlotte is trying to untangle what it is she truly wants, George announces he’s contemplating a cross-country move. Suddenly, Charlotte wonders if she’s kept her soulmate in the friend zone so long that she’s entirely missed her chance at a happily ever after. Dear Reader, could it be possible she’s had it wrong all this time?
Pride & Puppies by Lizzie Shane is the fourth book in her popular Pine Hollow series but can be easily read as a stand-alone. This friends-to-lovers story set in a delightful small town with a couple of sweet dogs made for a delightful feel-good story.
Story Recap:
Dr. Charlotte Rodriguez blames Jane Austen for being single again. She goes for those dark brooding characters and it’s always ended in disaster for Charlotte. She’s sworn off men and decided to focus on her own life and her new puppy, Bingley.
George Leneghan lives next door to Charlotte for the past year and has harbored a little crush on Charlotte. Since George is also a dog owner, he’s the perfect person to give dog advice to Charlotte as she tries to train her very active new puppy. Will spending time together training the dogs keep George in the “friend zone” with Charlotte or will Charlotte and George figure out they have a lot more in common?
My Thoughts:
I loved this sweet romance where the main characters developed a friendship first and then realized there was more. Both Charlotte and George have issues with love, and neither is ready to put their hearts on the line. It was clear that they enjoyed each other’s company and complimented each other’s personalities.
The side characters added to the story and were also a lot of fun to read about. Of course, my favorite side characters were the dogs. Bingley was a cute and energetic puppy and Duke is the older, well-trained dog.
I also enjoyed all the nods to some of the classic Jane Austen novels, and I loved that Hannah was a big fan. George is such a wonderful hero, he never tries to push Hannah, and instead, he waits until she is ready.
Recommendation:
I highly recommend Pride and Puppies to anyone who enjoys romance. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
About Lizzie Shane
Lizzie Shane was born in Alaska, to a pair of Hawaii transplants, and grew up with the extremes of the 49th and 50th States. As a lifelong movie lover, she decided, after graduating from Northwestern University, to try her hand in the entertainment industry–an attempt which lasted about five seconds. Following her brief and ill-advised jaunt into Showbiz, Lizzie began traveling extensively while pursuing her other great love–fiction writing. She has written her way through all fifty states and over fifty countries.
Lizzie began writing paranormal romance for a small independent press under the pen name Vivi Andrews in 2009. Though she also won Romance Writers of America’s® Golden Heart Award that year for contemporary romance, it would be several more years before she published her first contemporary release. Marrying Mister Perfect, the first book of the Reality Romance series, merged her love of happily-ever-afters and her fascination with the sociology experiment that is reality television.
In 2016 she was honored to be a double finalist for the Romance Writers of America® RITA Award for both Romancing Miss Right and Falling for Mister Wrong. She was honored again when Always a Bridesmaid was named as a 2017 RITA® finalist, and when All He Wants for Christmas was awarded VRW’s 2018 Holt Medallion–but her main claim to fame is that she lost on Jeopardy!
Lizzie now writes sweet romance for Hallmark Publishing and is thrilled to be launching the Pine Hollow series with Grand Central/Forever.
Sounds like you really enjoyed the book – and I appreciate that you shared it could be a standalone instead of feeling like you have to start at the beginning of a series.
Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Austen book, so this one caught my attention – adorable title and cover. I like that some of the character names are the same, also.
You sold me INSTANTLY with friends-to-lovers, my favorite trope! I definitely need to get my hands on this title ASAP! It sounds adorable and so much fun!
Jenny+McClinton
Sounds really sweet, I still need to try a modern day Jane Austen type read, great review 😊
This book sounds a bit of me! I love a Jane Austen type retelling!
An excellent review.
Have a great week!
I just love a friends-first romance.
This sounds so cute! Fab review.
Thank you, Yvonne!
I love that this is based on Austen without being a retelling of sorts. And puppies? I’d love to read anything with them🐶 Great review, Wendy!
Puppies, plus banter, plus the romance starts as a friendship! I’m in!
This sounds really cute and I like the way Jane Austen is tied in.
I read the first book in the series and it was a miss for me, but I do love dogs in books. Glad you enjoyed the story!
Sounds like you really enjoyed the book – and I appreciate that you shared it could be a standalone instead of feeling like you have to start at the beginning of a series.
This sounds like a nice read and Jane Austen is a favorite, so I think I’d enjoy this one. Glad it works as a stand-alone. Nice review!
I love the play on Pride and Prejudice. How fun!
Nice Review, Wendy! Sounds like a good one!
A wonderful review of this book Wendy! It sounds like such a lovely read.
Lovely review Wendy! This sounds like such a sweet story, and even better that there are puppies too! Thanks for sharing!
Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Austen book, so this one caught my attention – adorable title and cover. I like that some of the character names are the same, also.
I so want to read this one…mostly because of the dogs! 😀
Good review, Wendy!
Okay, I generally think Jane Austen-related stories are a bit overdone at this point but I can’t resist friends to lovers! This one sounds cute.
Such a cute cover! I love anything with dogs.
You sold me INSTANTLY with friends-to-lovers, my favorite trope! I definitely need to get my hands on this title ASAP! It sounds adorable and so much fun!
Sounds really sweet, I still need to try a modern day Jane Austen type read, great review 😊
Thank you, Jenny!
This sounds so cute! We love that the book features puppies.
I do too!
Sounds adorable.
It really was! Thank you, Nadene!
I love the sound of this one! Awesome review Wendy!🤗🌞☕📚💜
Thank you, Susan!
This sounds so cute. I love when couples are friends first.
I do too, Rae! Thank you!
It does sound very sweet yes! Am I the only one who really didn’t want a Mr. Darcey? I don’t do moodiness….
Have a lovely Tuesday Wendy!
Elza Reads
I hope you have a great week, Mareli!
Great for dog lovers. I do like a book that has interesting secondary characters too.
Thank you, Rosie.