You Lucky Dog has a great cover that will surely sell itself to my patrons. We all know not to judge a book by the cover but for sure we all do!

Bestselling author Julia London starts this romance with a great meet-cute - accidental dog swap. Carly's pot-dealing dog walker has been arrested and she receives the wrong dog back! Eventually tracking down her Baxter with the cute Max Sheffington, she returns his loveable dog, Hazel. Max is in a bind and recruits Carly to watch Hazel while he takes his autistic brother to a dog show.

This charming premise will so much potential just fell flat for me. To love a book I must feel invested and in love with the characters and I really had a disconnect with Carly and Max. I didn't find the dogs cute (and I'm a dog lover) and all the side characters infuriated me and didn't add any pleasure to the story. Supporting characters should do just that, support the story but I just didn't like them. I was disappointed I had such a reaction to this romance.

Love a sweet meet-cute, especially one with dogs! This book was the sweetest: from the romance to the basset hounds and everything else. Just plain cute. It made me sad when the book was over because I wanted to spend more time with Carly and Max.

🐶 You Lucky Dog 🐶 ⁣
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Baxter and Hazel are identical basset hounds except obviously Baxter is a boy and Hazel is a girl. Their humans Carly and Max have the same dog walker, and it just so happens that the dogs swap homes by accident. ⁣
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Carly is eccentric, driven and a fashion publicist, while Max is a neuroscientist studying autism and dogs. Opposites attract when their pups fall in love with each other and they obviously can’t keep them separated.⁣
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This story is filled with quirky conversation, family drama, and super cute pups. It also discusses autism, as Max’s brother Jamie is autistic and absolutely adores dogs and how dogs can help autistic children and adults. They also promote animal rescue, which I love. ⁣
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Did I mention I solely requested this book because of the dogs on the cover?⁣
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This is a cute read and I would definitely recommend it if you need something light and a page turner.⁣
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Thank you @netgalley and @berkleyromance for an ARC for my honest review. This adorable book is out in August!
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#bookstagram #books #netgalley #YouLuckyDog #romance #dogs #goldenretriever #bernesemountaindog #dogmom #rescue

This is one of the cutest covers I've seen on a book this year! I thought the synopsis sounded so cute, I love a good meet-cute with dogs. Unfortunately I could not get into the writing or plot of this one at all. This was my first from Julia London and I think I should have started with one of her royal romances instead. I did appreciate that this one had some autism representation with a side character, but overall the romance aspect fell flat. This was definitely more of a women's fiction instead of romance in my opinion.

Not what we need at that time for inclusion. Cute romcom. Sweet and heartfelt. Not right for us at this time.

This book was funny, cute and also had some “OMG” moments. The perfect afternoon read! I love their “meet cute” and the dogs were 100% my favourite characters in the book!

3/5 Stars.

A rom-com that I so desperately wanted to love, but alas, it was mediocre for me and my tastes.

The premise of the book was so intriguing as it had two basset hounds (Baxter and Hazel) that get switched by their dog walker. I really wanted to see more of a romantic comedy, but I only got a splash of the romance in this book.

Our two main characters (Max and Carly) meet when Carly tracks down who her own dog (Baxter) was traded to/for (Max for Hazel). Opposites attract as Max, who is working on Tenure at his University that he works for, sees how attactive Carly is, who works in PR. Over time, our two main characters start to fall in love, all the while some quite heavy and sometimes a little bit innundating side character plots revolve around them.

*Case in point-
-Carly and Max's mom and dad get together in a whirl wind marriage, putting a damper on their own relationship.
-Max's brother who has autism gets a large chunk of this novel because the author really wanted to educate her readers on this issue. While I think it's fantastic that this is addressed, we kind of got bogged down with the 'neuroscience' talk and I found myself feeling like I was reading a textbook, not a fun summer rom-com at times. As someone with family members on this spectrum, I wished it would have been more show and less tell.
-Carly's father was in the picture for the first chunk of the novel, but then his storyline kind of fizzled out.
-Carly's sister and her family could have used its own side story as there was a lot to unpack with her character that left the reader wanting more clarification.

In the end of the book, Carly and Max's parents get an annulment, Carly moves to NY for a PR job, and Max gets Tenure. After what felt like a rushed ending (when Carly was in NY, the author used 'xx months later' many times, our two main characters get together again and Carly moves back home.

I did enjoy this novel, just not as much as I had hoped. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves dogs and who would like to read more about the autism spectrum.

Adult and up.

Sweet little romance story from Julia London. This one is easy to recommend to people who want a mostly clean (not too much sex) story to escape the craziness in the world. Extra bonus, great love story for dog lovers!
Predictable, but still just a fun story that leaves the reader feeling happy and content.

Do you love romance? Do you love dogs? If you answered yes then this is the book for you! A sweet, quick romance featuring fashion, education, unreliable dog walkers and smitten basset hounds!! I loved reading this book & recommend it!

Sometimes I think that despite all the traveling I do, I really need a dog. You Lucky Dog by Julia London just fueled that flame. Besides this cute cover, any book with dogs as main characters, the perfect meet cute and story with right person but wrong timing all adds up to a great book and I am all over it.

Carly Kennedy inherits a basset hound named Baxter from her sister. Baxter is a little different, which is why Carly notices immediately when she comes home to a wrecked house and a dog that is clearly not the same one she left that morning. After some investigative work Carley tracks down Maxwell Sheffington, who also has a basset and uses the same dog walker. She is expecting some elderly man to answer the door not a handsome professor who did indeed have her Baxter.

One they switch dogs, both Carly and Max realize that Hazel is the key to Baxter’s happiness and start spending more time together. They realize they may also be the key to each others happiness but their timing is never good. But things get complicated quick. Max is up for tenure at the university for his study on how dogs can help those with autism. While Carly is on the cusp of her big break for her dream job in NYC. Throw in a crazy family, a fashion designer client and some neuro science and this story was just too cute. I loved all the characters and the family dynamics but most of all I loved those dogs!

“It was weird, this thing called love- you didn’t see it, you didn’t hear it, but suddenly, you just were.”

Thank you Berkley Romance, Penguin Random House and Netgalley for a eGalley of this book to read and provide an honest review.

I thought this was a very cute light romantic read. I loved our two basset hounds, one hyper and energetic, the other a little depressed. When they get switched and their owners have to switch them back hilarity and love ensue.
I liked how they addressed the topic of Autism, but I didn't like how much they used the word disorder with it. But I think the characters are very well done and I liked they a lot more by the end.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!.

Adorable rom-com that's light on the romance. Two basset hounds- one depressed, the other not get switched when the dog walker gets arrested. Their humans finally get their right dog back but fall in love along the way. I enjoyed this book because Max's brother Jamie has autism. As someone who has an autistic brother I can say that Julia London did a wonderful job in her description of what Jamie is going through. Wonderful story about finding "the right one at the wrong time."

Berkley comes out with some great books but unfortunately this wasn't one of them. I found the MC's too different and their dialogue too choppy for me to like.

The book's description (and admittedly, the cover too) made me think this would be the perfect, light escape for me right now, but in actuality the book was quite disappointing. The characters were not particularly likable and the plot was lacking. I did read the whole thing though, continually hoping for something to get better.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Company for an E-ARC for an honest review.

This was such a fun and breezy little romance novel. I particularly enjoyed Baxter and Hazel, our beloved Basset Hounds who charmed you from the very beginning. I'm a dog lover, and this book really did snuggle up to my heart in the best way. I will admit that I didn't particularly like Carly at first, but as I continued to read I found her rather endearing. Max was utterly adorable in his nerdy self, and I felt that these two really did work well together. I also liked how their relationship progressed naturally. They started off as two dog owners who had their dogs switched then somwhat acquaintances that had doggy play dates to friends to lovers. Their chemistry was a bit lacking, but I really did enjoy them as a couple.

One of the major downfalls with this book was the drama between Max's dad and Carly's mom (who is the absolute worst person in this entire book). I didn't think it was needed to add more drama to Max's and Carly's story. Carly was very vocal about moving to NYC, and Max is up for tenure. That could have been enough to create some conflict between them, which after the forced drama between their parents, was the main reason for their "split up". Even then, it wasn't like they never spoke to each other again, and they respected each other's decisions and boundaries. The end decision Carly makes was all on her own, and I really appreciated the author for that.

The other downfall is Carly's family. They brought the book down for me. I hated all of them, especially her mother and her sister, who apparently just loves to get pregnant and have children like they're accessories but can't actually handle them. She angered me the most.

I did appreciate the Autism rep, but I will warm people that they use "disorder" quite a lot when referencing Jamie's (Max's brother) autism. It is technically in the DSM-V as a neurocognitive disorder, but there's a lot of personal beliefs regarding that. If you have Austim or know someone with Autism, please be cautious. It may be a hot topic or a button for you. Also, the treatment of Jamie by his father was also appalling, but I tried to think of them as a family unit, and how being Jamie's caregiver had to be exhausting for a 60-something year old man. I'm not excusing it, and there were times where I was like, "Wow, f*ck you, dad," but it did push the story along with Jamie's story arc, and it does have a lovely happy ending.

All in all, if you like dogs and breezy romances, this is one to check out. It's the perfect book for the summer.

There wasn’t anything majorly wrong with the book but I just don’t think it was for me. It’s a style of storytelling that I come across every now and again, that I recognize as fine, but I don’t personally connect with it. It reads with a lot of exposition and I get bogged down in that.

I loved the main characters though. Their meet-cute was fantastic. They are both competent and driven individuals. And the way they fall in love feels so organic. Plus, dogs! (No animals were harmed in the course of this story) It was delightful any time the puppers got page time.

I do have one criticism. I am always adamant about having significant secondary characters in romance books. I don’t like the leads living in a people free bubble. And there WERE plenty of supporting cast in this book. But they were all so frustratingly awful. I was getting stressed every time Carly had to interact with anyone but Max. There needed to be a balance somewhere. Another present character that provided unconditional support or some levity.

That all being said, I know there are readers out there who are going to love this book. If you like a steady, organic love story, with some cute doggos in it, plus a driven but struggling career woman, then I encourage you to give this book a try.

* I received an early e-copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really, really wanted to love this book. I mean this book has cute rom com written all over it. The cover is adorable and what's not to like about dogs and love? However, I struggled to connect to the characters inner dialogue and personalities. Most of the inner reflections and the way events played were a bit disjointed. The initial realizations of the dog switch took a back seat to too much superficial back story. I wanted more reaction on finding the wrong dog! I could have read chapters on it. I wanted more connection between people and animals. I wanted a more steamy initial connection between the main characters and not just "she was pretty." I will be honest and say I did not completely finish this one. All that said, I definitely still encourage others to give this book a try!! Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun book. It's been a while since I've read anything by Julia London and this was the perfect book to jump back in with. I enjoyed the banter between Max and Carly, and it was so cute how they used their pets' puppy love as an excuse to continue their own romance. I normally like my heroes a lot more grumpy, bossy and alpha, but Max was delightfully funny in a nerdy sort of way.

I (somewhat unexpectedly) really enjoyed this book! I live in Austin and I sometimes have trouble reading books that are set in my hometown, because it takes me out of the story a bit when I notice familiar places (or things that authors have blatantly changed - I get why they do it, it's just sometimes disorienting!) so when I noticed this book was set mostly in Austin, I was nervous about whether I'd like it or not. But man, it was just so fun.

For one thing, if you love dogs, this is a great book for you. It's more than just a romance for humans -- it's a love story of humans and their dogs (and between dogs, as well!) and it depicts what it's like to be a dog owner. And the romance itself is really lovely to follow, too!

Carly and Max are confused when they come home to the wrong dogs. When the swapped dogs bring them together, Carly and Max explore the chemistry between them and help each other with life's problems.