A quirky, fun romantic comedy. Not really my genre pick but still a sweet story. I enjoyed the building and dogs more than the main characters though. I would have like to see their relationship evolve more, I couldn't really see why the attraction when he was the enemy. It's a feel good 'enemies to lovers' book if that is your thing, I came for the dogs.

Take a run-down building next to a dog park, a VERY busy dog park that has become THE place in the community, an idea for redevelopment of the run down building and two people who can’t quite decide if they are attracted or repelled by their own different agendas and you get this. With plenty of tug toys, character, cute dogs and an issue for the doggie community (the two-leggers not the four) to rally around. Because the rundown Miami Beach apartment building is the PERFECT location for new, updated, luxurious condos. It’s just that Caleb’s plans mean the Fur Haven Dog Park will be no more. He’s only got to get people to see what he can bring to the table when he works, or so he hopes, hand in hand with the building manager Riley.

This was cute – particularly for the outrage on Riley’s part (along with the others who bring dogs to play at the ‘park’ regularly. She and Caleb are really well matched and could be really good together – if he weren’t planning on paving over the park. Although “refurbishing” the apartments would be plausible – if not quite as lucrative as condos, there’s still plenty that Caleb has to work through to see what is possible. Clever for the community (people and dogs) who add personality and voice to first their protests, then their skills – to reach a conclusion that will suit everyone.

A quick read that lacked much of the development between Caleb and Riley that I was hoping for – there wasn’t really anything that “wrong” here – it just didn’t feel as if their relationship had a real foundation. And the friends to enemies to lovers vibe that I think formed the plot points never really felt as if they were solidly meant to be there – it went quickly and that lack of build up kept the emotions pent up and not very accessible. It was cute and surprisingly low-angst despite the community resistance and involvement – and the dogs were cute, but never really jumped up to beg for time in the story. I think that if you want a quick escape read – this is it.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aBX/”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

A Contemporary Romance from the enemies to more trope for dog lovers everywhere!

The Donovan's lost their brilliant shine in a scandal to end all business scandals, but whereas some were without remorse, there are those that want to make a new go of things. All they need is a second chance, the right opportunity...and maybe to turn what is some people's idea of a shabby nirvana into...condos? Okay, well maybe that part of the plan isn't so good, but as much as I wanted to despise Caleb through and through, his heart kept showing. That and let's face it, the fact that he's easy on the eyes, definitely kept me coming back...but yeah, he SO needs to work on first impressions (I'm here to fire you is NOT the best opening line...gheesh!). Now, as for the one that has to resist him...

Riley is a great gal through and through. She tries her hardest, has the best intentions of everyone in mind, but she's human...sometimes she falls. Luckily for her, Caleb is there to catch her...and LouLou...several times, but she's an independent woman, perfectly capable of handling things on her own, and when the wool of attraction is removed from her eyes, the intents she initially sees are not the best. She won't let Caleb destroy the lives of all those that depend on "the Dorothy" to be their safe haven, their forever (and FURever) home, no matter how charming he might be or how blue his eyes are. She'll be strong. She'll resist. Or at least she'll try...and those good intentions, along with a fabulously snappy Grandmother, will take her a long way.

It was great getting to know everyone, human and non, and a wonderful way to be introduced to the Fur Haven Dog Park series. Can't wait to see what's in store for both our two and four legged friends!


**ebook received for review; opinions are my own

Cute but predictable story, the relationship between Caleb and Riley seemed a little off, but this was still an enjoyable book. Loved the animals and the dog park & how it was the center for the community.

One look at this cover and clearly anyone who visits my blog regularly knows I was at least going to give it a chance. And I did. And while I wanted to love this book, it fell a little short for me. However, I still love the cover.

Cold Nose, Warm Heart tells the tale of Riley and Caleb. Riley used to work for Caleb's rich family is resort management until their illegal activities cost her a job and Caleb's family most of their assets. Riley ends up being property manager for her Grams' place, The Dorothy, and honestly, she isn't doing the best job. She seems to be able to put band aids on a lot of the repairs popping up but that's about all. Enter Caleb. He has been tasked by his grandfather to restore The Dorothy to greatness, and encouraging his brothers to assist. However, Caleb is headed straight to a fight because the elderly residents of The Dorothy, as well as Riley, don't plan on letting the property go so easily.

So if I'm going to read a book with romance, usually a hate-to-love trope is one I enjoy. But I found Cold Nose, Warm Heart to be fairly problematic. First of all, the connection between Riley and Caleb seems forced. I didn't really care for either of them and I felt like Riley came across as someone in or recently out of college and Caleb as egotistical and self-absorbed. Also, the book heavily focuses on the creation of a dog park near the property which Caleb quickly uses as way to manipulate the neighborhood into agreeing with his renovation plans. Now I LOVE dogs which is evident, but it seems like there should have been more focus on the run-down complex, the past financial mismanagement and how to make sure people, as well as their pets, didn't lose their home.

But let's not be all negative, because there were parts I really enjoyed. The cast of side characters is great. Grams is a hoot an so is Eliza, a retired attorney who lives down the street with her dog Lady (who is on the cover). I liked a lot of The Dorothy's elderly residents and Riley's poodle LouLou is pretty cute too. I also must admit that Riley did show some growth during the book, I just felt she should have more capabilities in the beginning. The development of her friendship with Sydney and her dog Chewy was definitely a plus.

So overall, this was a middle of the line read for me. The book does introduce Caleb's brother Lance who in his brief appearances already grew on me more than Caleb did the entire book. The next in the series focuses on him so I will be picking it up and giving the author and the series a second chance.

One last pet peeve and I'm sure this seems trivial to some but will shock few who visit regularly. The dog on the cover is Lucy. Lucy is pretty and Lucy is in the book. But Riley, the star of the show, has a poodle named LouLou. Could they not find a cute poodle to feature or at least add to Lucy?

Swoon! A book filled with wonderful dogs and a little romance what’s not to love? Eagerly awaiting the next book in this series. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2020/01/23/cold-nose-warm-heart-by-mara-wells/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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2.5 hearts

I was excited to buddy read with Barb, at <a href="https://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Booker T's Farm</strong></a>, because <strong>Cold Nose, Warm Heart</strong> has dogs and romance.  Dogs were in the story and important to the characters but I didn't get much personality from the dogs themselves.  I really enjoyed the planning and ideas for the dog park.

I didn't however enjoy the main characters. The power balance was typical with the rich guy and down on her luck gal. Even with Caleb's family having issues, he still drives a Porche and has money. Riley, for having worked in the corporate environment did not seem very professional or aware of standard business practices.  I did feel for them as people who never had a positive experience in a romantic relationship, where someone cared about them. But the romance seemed to build without basis.

They also spent too much time on the dog park, rather than figuring out what was going on with the property and why it had such poor maintenance and was lacking in maintenance budget. Again, neither one seemed very businesslike.  Both Caleb and Riley should have been giving it a look.

I did really enjoy Grams' spirit.  Lance was fun and felt much more real than Caleb. He was busy working and supporting himself. The other residents and those in the neighborhood were great. I loved Eliza and Sydney. I was happy Riley had some great friends.  Perhaps this is why she had the strength to figure out how to make things work.

In the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/274524-fur-haven-dog-park" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em><strong>Fur Haven Dog Park</strong></em></a> series, I am excited the next book is Lance!  I hope we will see how the construction goes and get an update on all our dog friends.

Barb, my COYER buddy reader, rated this one 3 paws.

Admittedly I chose Cold Nose, Warm Heart by Mara Wells based on the cover. It is very eye catching and unfortunately the best part of the book. It is written well but felt like the same old story line. I had a hard time picking it back up. If you like this type of storyline it will be an easy read and predictable.

If you enjoy dogs as I do then that also helps the story line. I didn’t find anything really wrong with the characters they just felt to predictable. I did enjoy that Riley would YouTube stuff to figure out how to fix it.
This is the first book in her new series Fur Haven Dog Park. This is my first book by this author and I will read another one. Her writing was good I just could not connect with the characters and storyline.
Damn 11, Shit 2
Sexual content - 2.5. Physical scene with little details
Drinking. A few casual drinking scenes

I received this book from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review.
You can see my full review at More Than a Review dot com where I rate the level of sex, violence, language and drug/alcohol use in books.

Cold Nose, Warm Heart by Mara Wells is a cute romance story about a dog park, an historical building (that allows dogs if you get special permission). A developer would like to turn it all into condos. I like the way the story turned out at the end. So many times developers do not take into account peoples incomes such as where will the old tenants live if these condos are built. Read the book I think you will like Cold Nose, Warm Heart.

Riley is the building manager of The Dorothy after losing her dream job thanks to the no good Donovans. But she's perfectly happy living near her Grams with her adorable poodle, Loulou. That is until yet another Donovan shows up to not only fire her but take over her building and the neighborhood dog park.
Caleb Donovan has one chance to prove to his Grandfather that he deserves to be part of the family business. All he has to do is get his two brothers in on the project and turn The Dorothy and it's empty parking lot turned dog park into upscale condos. He isn't expecting Riley or Loulou to put a damper in his plans.

I can't resist a romance involving animals. All the dogs and the one spoiled cat in Cold Nose, Warm Heart were a great addition to the romance of this story.
I really enjoyed Riley and Caleb's characters and connection. The neighbors and community surrounding The Dorothy were also very likable. Especially Riley's growing friendship with Sydney.
However I felt the storyline became too complicated and just too much to keep up with. I kept losing track of what the end goal was for each character. Did they want a dog park, to stay living in The Dorothy, to have it updated, to own it?...it just kept changing with all the characters leaving me confused.

DNF at 15%. I liked the premise and love the cover (that dog!!!) but unfortunately the story isn’t drawing me in. Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the chance to read an advance copy.

This book was a good afternoon read with a lot of dogs. It was a cute story with rich guy little to no family comes to take over building and dog park that girl is protecting after his family fired her. Its a good story but missed the chemistry, build up of his family- like there was one scene with one of this brothers and Lance seemed a little too much like an ass, and it was too much dogs/city council and not enough Caleb and Riley.

I should be honest up front-I am totally a cat person and not a dog person. That said, I’m always up to read a romance that has an animal on the cover though the overwhelming majority are canines (except for cozy mysteries which aren’t my cup of tea.) That was definitely the initial draw behind this debut novel by author Mara Wells, but as soon as I read the description with the enemies to lovers theme which is one of my favorites, though I think this one is better termed as frenemies to lovers!

Riley Carson became the manager/handywoman for her Grams’s apartment building after the loss of her previous job; she had worked for one of the Donovan family’s hotels but lost her job when the CEO went to prison and the properties were sold off. While her new job is nowhere near as exciting, it allows her to live in a place she loves with the people she considers her extended family since she had moved into the Dorothy as a child as her mom’s job on cruise ships kept her away for extended periods of time. Along with her rescue poodle LouLou she spends her days among the people she loves most in the world, trying to keep the Dorothy from falling to pieces or out in the empty lot that serves as the neighborhood dog park.

Her world is rocked however when Caleb Donovan shows up and announces that he is going to take over the Dorothy and oversee renovating it into high end condos in an attempt to rebuild business after his father’s fall from grace. His grandfather has promised him the property as long as he can rope his two estranged brothers into the plan, and his first goal is to fire the manager who he blames for the unkempt and rundown building. Needless to say this is not your typical meet-cute situation and while they share an instant attraction, their disagreements are a delightful fuel for their road to romance! Toss in meddling residents and neighbors, adorable animals and you are in for a fun read with a lot of heart!

Overall I enjoyed the read and would recommend it to other readers who want a fast and fun story. I would have liked more depth into the strained relationship between Caleb and his brothers, but fortunately they have their own books coming so I will definitely be on the lookout for them! (Especially Knox-the mysterious military man who is definitely my type of book boyfriend!)

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read this early!

Been in a bit of a romance reading mood lately, maybe I just needed some time away from mysteries. 🙂 Anyway I thought this one would be a good one especially since it featured a dog on the cover!

Riley is the manager at a rundown complex called the Dorothy, she got the job because her grams lived there and pulled some strings. She use to have a good job at as the manager of a Donovan resort hotel until they went belly up and she was out of a job. She is pretty content with the job she has and likes the older crowd that lives there.

Caleb Donovan is a bit down on his luck after the horrible scandal his dad put them through with his money skims and they losing their business. His grandpa is trying to help him build up his own empire and it starts with the Dorothy and now that Caleb has seen it he is thinking he is in over his head.

Riley and Caleb clash when he tells her he his there to fire her and it gets worse from there but they can’t deny the growing attraction for each other. Caleb wants to tear the place down and build condos, but that would put the older group out of a home as they couldn’t afford it. Riley has gotten to know a lot of the community from the small dog park they have made besides the Dorothy and her and her group of elderly’s will not be letting Caleb take their park or the housing unit without a fight.

I guess you would call this sort of an enemies to lovers trope though they were never hard core enemies even though Riley got mad at him on several occasions because of his plans. It’s still kind of a trope that I enjoy and part of why I enjoyed this one. I also enjoyed the fact that it involved lots of cuddle fur babies!

I like Riley she has a lot of spunk and found it funny that she pretty much run the Dorothy on looking up Youtube videos on how to repair things! At her old job she could just call someone but this one didn’t come with the budget to do so and so when it came to figuring out how to unclog a garbage disposal she had to look it up and do it herself. I also found Caleb charming and liked that get was getting a healthy dose of reality after going from having it all to starting over on his own. They made a cute couple.

While I did enjoy it I didn’t find it to be humorous as I was hoping and it was just lacking something that would give it higher marks. I am still going to check out the rest of the series and I am really curious about the next one involving Caleb’s brother Lance.

Riley and her dog LouLou manage the motley Dorothy apartment building. It's filled with mostly older people (including her grandmother) and yes it's a little shabby (more than a little) but it's home and right next door is the dog park. Caleb worked for his father, who managed to lose all their money (and the hotel where Riley used to work) and now he's been given a challenge by his grandfather- to redo the Dorothy and make it condos. You know where this is going- don't you? Riley and Caleb meet and like each other- a lot- until they realize who they are. Regrettably, this is the sort of story that can be pulled from real life- minus the romance and the HEA, of course- and Well has done a nice job with creating sympathetic characters. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. A nice read with good people (and dogs) to root for!

Thanks goes to the publisher, via Net-Galley, for the chance to read and review Cold Nose, Warm Heart by Mara Wells in advance of publication. My opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

Cold Nose, Warm Heart is a light-hearted read with the most adorable dog who stole my heart. The plot is unique with the characters joining together to build a dog park for the animals in the neighborhood. I LOVED that aspect of the story. The pacing is perfect for this book and kept me engaged from start to finish.

Riley’s the heroine and stole my heart from the first page. I loved how she kicked her shoes off and had a pile by her door. She got a raw deal when Donovan Resorts shut down. The owner ended up in jail, and she loses her position as assistant manager.

Now she’s managing a 55+ rundown condo in Miami with lots of issues. I loved her tender care for her grandmother and the other seniors in the complex. Her loving relationship with her poodle, LouLou is endearing. I could feel her anxiety when she finds out her grandmother doesn’t own the condo complex.

Caleb Donovan is the hero with lots of problems. His father’s in prison, and his grandfather challenges him the take on the project to turn the George into a first-class Condo Complex in Miami, but there is a major problem. He must get his half-brother to agree to help him. That will be nearly impossible. When he arrives, he is bent on firing the manager, but when he meets Riley, he’s wowed by her, yet he blurts out “you’re fired.” That starts a relationship with lots of tension.

The romance between Riley and Caleb is delightful and at times emotional. They have a huge obstacle that should keep them apart, and on completely different sides, but the chemistry is so strong, they both step over the divide constantly. I thoroughly enjoyed their love story and wanted them to find a way to make it work.

If you enjoy contemporary romance with plenty of humorous moments, an array of adorable fur-babies, and characters that will steal your heart, then you’ll love Cold Nose, Warm Heart as much as I did. I can’t wait to read the next book in this wonderful series. I believe this may be a debut novel for Ms. Wells, and it’s very well-written with fantastic characters. I recommend this book to all animal lovers. It’s sure to enchant you. Happy reading!

This is the first book I’ve read by Ms. Wells and I loved it! This book is about Riley and Caleb who are both lost and trying to get by when they meet.

From the time Caleb and Riley meet they have an immediate attraction with each other. They also run into differences and challenges through out their relationship. One main challenge is they want different things for the building a/k/a the Dorothy that Calebs grandfather owns and . Riley manages. Until Riley and Caleb meet, Riley thinks her grandmother owns the building. As the book progresses more truth comes out about the Dorothy, who owns it and the history of the Dorothy and how it all relates to Caleb and Riley.

My favorite part of the book was Riley’s dog Lou-Lou and Riley’s grandmother, all the tenants at the Dorothy. What book isn’t great when you have matching making dogs and older people.

This books is full of laughs, swooning and suspense and wrote with dual POV. I can’t wait for Calebs brothers stories. Read this book, you will not referee it.

I received an advanced copy for an honest review.

Caleb and Riley were wonderful characters but the dogs won my heart. This is a sweet story about two people finding love and all of the wonderful, precious pooches. This is a well written story that pulled me in and kept my attention until the end. I would definitely recommend this wonderful book.

What drew me to this book was the cover but it was the story line that drew me in. This was such a sweet and cute read about Caleb and Riley. There was so much chemistry between these two right from the start. Sometimes the chemistry came out in anger but it was still there. You add in the animals and for me it was a great way to spend the afternoon. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.Thanks Net Galley. I voluntarily reviewed this book in exchange for an honest review.

Things That Worked:
Dogs, dogs, and all the dogs! Anytime you put a dog in a book, I am there. This book centers around dogs and the establishment of a dog park. There’s also a human romance, but dogs are way cooler!
Okay, in all seriousness, this was a quick, light read that I found to be oh-so cute. There was a bit of a love/hate dynamic between our main characters, Riley and Caleb. There are plenty of eccentric characters throughout the story and the dialogue didn’t feel forced or awkward. The relationship between Riley and the people in her life was believable and the building chemistry between Riley and Caleb was done very well.
I also liked the fact that nothing seemed to be too rushed.

Things That Didn’t Work:
I do have a bit of an issue with Caleb’s side of the family and the relationships established there. Or rather, the lack of establishing relationships. His brother Lance was an odd duck and I didn’t understand their interactions. His other brother, Knox, is never in the picture but then randomly appears without any context of why or how? Caleb’s relationship with his grandfather is a bit strange too and I was not a fan of the grandfather character.

Overall Recommendations:
All in all, this one was very cute. I would certainly recommend it to someone looking for a light, enemies to lovers story. And the fact that it was centered around a dog park was perfect.