Dogs, cats, Alaska, romance - it's pretty easy to like this charming RomCom. Oh, and then there's the feud to add a bit more fun. Sure, the tropes are great as is the setting and characters, but what I really liked was the way Alanna Martin put all of that together into this story and made it work so well. And so much of it feels real - don't get me wrong, romances like this one usually do require some stretch of the imagination, but if you've ever lived in a small town and known people who could hold grudges for life, then you can imagine knowing these families. At least I could, and I liked the story all the more for it. It's a fun, entertaining, thoroughly engaging romance, and I'll definitely be watching for the next in the series.

Another author suggested this book and well the cover is cute so I thought it would be worth a try. Well the cover might be all cute and puppies but this one has some steam and such a good meet-cute you will fall in love with it. The two meet without know who the other truly is- thanks to a family (Hatfields and McCoys) century long feud they still try to give it a go. This one has dogs, dogs, and more dogs along with a cat. Loved the leading lady but also the side characters of themselves trying to figure out how to deal with this feud in small-town Alaska.

I can't wait for more of this series!

4 stars
3.5 steam

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rounded down to 2.5 stars.

The adorable cover really drew me to the book, and I definitely couldn’t resist a romance that also featured 3 huskies as quite possibly the best wingmen (wingdogs?) ever. But the story fell a little flat for me.

The Lipin and Porter families are engaged in a Hatfield-McCoy style rivalry that has been going on for more than a century. So when Taylor and Josh meet, they have no idea that the other is actually “the enemy.” Even after they find out, they have no desire to stop seeing each other, but the mounting pressure from their family forces them to keep their relationship a secret.

The vast majority of family members on both sides, which translates to nearly all of the side characters, are horrible, narrow-minded, and unlikable people. Both Lipin and Porter characters started pulling pranks that escalated into vindictive and illegal acts that had me so worried for the safety of not just Taylor and Josh, but also for the people around them. It was such an unhealthy situation, and it felt like the families were so overly controlling.

The story itself was very slow-moving. It didn’t take me that long to read the story, but it felt like nothing was really happening for a lot of the time that I was reading. Even the sex scenes felt a little bland. Overall, this wasn’t really a great fit for me, and I spent a lot of time reading it feeling bored. It does make me want to visit Alaska though!

3.5 Nothing On Romeo And Juliet Stars
* * * 1/2 Spoiler Free
I have to share, I use to have Siberian Huskies. They are the best. My huskies were a handful, loving, and loyal as the day was long. I had two, had a surprise litter and lost my heart happily. Raising them, loving them, and having my children loving them was everything.

So when I saw this book, I had to jump right in. As my title references, this is a story of two people who come from families that have held onto a feud from years ago. Dogs bring them together, they have no idea when they meet, they are part of dreaded enemies and with these factors...let the fun begin.

The romance was there, the dogs steal the show and a woof woof win.

Taylor Lipin escaped her small-town Helen, Alaska home ten years ago. She was determined not to be a part of the ridiculous rivalry between her prominent family and their hated enemies, the Porters. Taylor felt stifled and unappreciated by her family as well so she was glad to be thousands of miles away except for the occasional holiday visits. When her sister, Lydia, who manages the family inn sends up a red flag for help, Taylor agrees to go home as temporary support. Taylor’s mother decided ditch their father moving to anchorage and leaving the family in a bind.

Josh Krane is a new transplant to Alaska working as a doctor in the town’s hospital. He didn’t grow up in Helen; however, he is a Porter cousin who should know that Lipins and Porters do not mix except to mix it up in a long played game of retribution, antics, and revenge. When Taylor and Josh meet, neither realizes the other’s affiliation. Once they do, it’s decided to keep their relationship under the radar away from their families’ vendettas and interference. In a small town with spies and allies on both sides of the feud, that is hard to do as they find out much to their chagrin.

No one seems willing or able to give up their many years’ worth of grievances giving the Montagues and Capulets a run for their money. Taylor and Josh try their best to diffuse the escalating tensions with the round of dirty tricks and vandalism which are the results once their relationship is outed. The level of vitriol from their relatives is less than amusing. Even Josh and Taylor’s contemporaries buy into the oppositions although they begin to see that perhaps what always has been needs to change. Neither Taylor’s parents nor Josh’s relatives have much to recommend them as fine upstanding citizens taking their family drama to the max.

I enjoyed the witty writing as well as the setting; however, the focus on the over-the-top crazy relatives pushed the limits at times to the detriment of the romance. The forbidden fruits aspect makes their time together more intense, but having to hide out at their age seems a bit silly. Since this is first in the series, there is more to come on as they only eventually win the first skirmish; however, the battles are clearly far from over.

3.5 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher and am posting an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Heart on a Leash caught my eyebecause of the adorable huskies on the cover. And while there were some cute dog moments, there are other aspects I came to enjoy.

I’ve never been to Alaska, and Alanna Martin perfectly captured the image of life in a little part of that state for me. And given that family dynamics play such a big role in the story, I did like getting that sense of the two families in relation to the town itself.

While they come from feuding families, a la Romeo and Juliet, the romance between Taylor and Josh was quite cute. I wasn’t overly connected to them, but as a lighthearted small-town romance pairing, they work.

And I’m not opposed to a bit of family drama, which I expected given the premise. But drama felt a bit much, with some members of the two families choosing the feud over love, making things too complicated for Josh and Taylor. Families are messy and I respect that Martin wanted to be true to that, but it all felt so petty.

I did like this book overall for what it is, and I love that the series will have an emphasis on rescue huskies playing a role in leading their humans to love. If you love small-town romance or books that feature adorable dogs, I’d keep an eye out for this one.

I know you think I was kidding but I was spot on that Heart on a Leash has a theme of Romeo and Juliet inspiration romance. Let me start from the beginning. Taylor and Josh may have not grown up together but they are destined to be rivals with each other because of their family fuel. Funny how that works, they fall in love with each other without knowing each other's last name. It's kinda funny because rivals to lovers have insane chemistry with each other. And it makes the reading so much better especially when Taylor and Josh don't care for each family fuel and keep falling in love with each other. It does not mean that they won't hit some bump in the road. 'Cause they do. It is bound to happen. That's love for you, and rival families too.

This was a sweet, yet rather stressful, read. Taylor and Josh are a bit of a Romeo and Juliet couple, who fall in love despite their feuding families. While their relationship was lovely, I found it hard to believe in their happy ever after. Too many members from both families were still absolutely not reconciled to their relationship, and given the sorts of things the families had been doing to each other generally and to Taylor and Josh in particular, I found myself fearing for their safety if they stayed together.
While this book was successful as a portrait of dysfunctional families and communities, I'm not convinced it was successful as a romance.

This romance would have been perfectly charming even without the huskies, but I'm a firm believer that dogs make almost any story better.

Taylor Lipin is disenchanted with her life in LA, but she doesn't know it until she loses her job and returns home to Helen, Alaska to help her family run their resort hotel. While there she meets Josh, a physician. Their chemistry is smoking hot and their banter is everything I could ask for. Straight to the HEA, right? Well, no, because Josh is a Porter. And here's where things get complicated, because the Lipins and the Porters have been locked in a Hatfields/McCoys style feud for literally over a century. They’ll stop at nothing to get ahead of each other, whether it's jockeying for economic and political power or a little light vandalism. Once Josh and Taylor’s relatives find out they’re dating, their actions escalate to the point where actual violence becomes a possibility.

I loved Taylor's slightly sardonic voice, and how she is just done with this whole feud mess. Josh and Taylor's relationship was really well done, as were their conflicted feelings about their families and the feud trying to tear them apart. Each is understandably concerned about the other getting hurt by some overzealous relative (even aside from the inevitable awkwardness at family events). Indirectly the book was also a nice comment on the dangers of dehumanizing your opponents. The wrap-up was heartwarming, even more so because the dogs were directly involved in moving the plot forward (the Porters are obsessed with huskies and every member of the family has a bunch of them). I very much enjoyed HEART ON A LEASH, and PAWS AND PREJUDICE, the next book in the series (though not a P&P retelling) is at the top of my TBR!

Don't let the cover on this book fool you! Heart on a Leash was unexpectedly steamy! If you love books set in Alaska, I highly recommend it. This was a fun book with a little bit of everything -- romance, small towns, steam, and of course adorable doggies!!

3 1/2 Stars
It's not the Hatfields and McCoys but the feud between the Lipins and the Porters contributed to the interesting storyline. I really like Taylor and Josh. They both are against the feud and disapproving of it made me like them even more. Josh's three huskies, Jay, Pepper and Bella were fun to see interacting with Taylor and Josh. I can't say this was fast-paced story but I did enjoy the storyline.

I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

The review will appear at Romance Reviews Today: http://romrevtoday.com/

HEART ON A LEASH – Alanna Martin
Hearts of Alaska, Book 1
Berkley Jove
ISBN: 9780593198834
April 27, 2021
Romantic Comedy

Helen, Alaska – Present Day

An urgent message from her sister Lydia in Alaska changes Taylor Lipin’s life. Lydia’s news is that their parents have separated, and with their mother moving to Anchorage, it’s left Lydia to run the family bed & breakfast alone. Can Taylor come home for a few days to help her manage the ensuing chaos? As it turns out, Taylor learns on the same day that she’s been laid off from her job in Los Angeles, so doesn’t have an excuse to say no. Returning home will mean once again finding herself living with the ongoing feud between the Lipin and Porter families. A feud she hates because it’s too stupid. Shortly after arriving in Helen, Taylor goes out for takeout food and runs into a handsome man—a local doctor named Josh Krane. The two hit it off and, even though Taylor will only be in Helen for two weeks, they go on a few clandestine dates. She likes his three dogs, though Lipins are cat lovers, and the dog lovers are Porters. Then, to her shock, she learns that he is related to the Porters.

Josh, like Taylor, thinks the Porter/Lipin feud is crazy. The blood is so bad between the families that they are not allowed to mingle, and you must choose sides. They pull pranks on each other, which Josh feels is childish. After realizing that Taylor is a Lipin, they continue to date, but it’s even more secretive. But since Helen is a small town, the truth is bound to come out. How will their families react? Can their fling continue past the discovery—and beyond two weeks?

It’s a romance not unlike Romeo and Juliet in HEART ON A LEASH by Alanna Martin. Well, except Taylor and Josh won’t be drinking poison to end their lives. What started the feud between the two clans? Just some fighting over politics and such that has gone on for years. As for Taylor, between trying to juggle her romance with Josh and helping her sister run the B & B, she must deal with the unraveling of her parents’ marriage. The relationship between Josh and Taylor is cute and adorable, with the added bonus of his three huskies, all of whom love her back. In a normal situation, including living in the same town, they’d be dating long term. But Taylor left Helen because of the feud and Josh’s job is here. How can they even make it work? Heck, the short-term is going to be hard when the families start pressing them to end things.

This is the first tale I’ve ever read by this author and it won’t be the last. I can’t wait for the next one coming after HEART ON A LEASH, which is titled PAWS AND PREJUDICED, out the end of June. This tale is fun and breezy, just what readers need to read and relax whenever the stresses of the day get to them. I highly recommend putting HEART ON A LEASH on your book buying list.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

Heart on a Leash by Alanna Martin is the first book in her new Hearts of Alaska series. Taylor Lipin, our heroine, having recently lost her job, goes home to Helen, Alaska temporarily to help her sister run the family B&B, since their mother left town. Taylor left Helen 10 years ago, coming back home occasionally, because she hated the horrible feud between her Lipin family and the Porter family. She quickly meets a handsome hunk, who happens to be doctor and owns three wonderful huskies, who immediately fall all over Taylor.

Dr. Josh Kane, moved to Helen to open his own clinic, and be near his mother’s family, and enjoy the small-town atmosphere. Josh walking with his three huskies, meets a beautiful girl, who is fawning all of the huskies, and decides to ask her on a date. What Josh doesn’t know is that Taylor is a Lipin, whom he has heard about during his time in Helen; which is because his cousins are all Porters.

Josh and Taylor find themselves enjoying each other’s company, neither knowing that they are consorting with the enemy. Eventually, they discover the truth, and decide that they like each other too much, and plan to try to keep their relationship a secret. But in a small town, secrets are hard to keep, and tensions escalated as each family makes threats against the other to break the two of them up. But both Taylor and Josh think this century old feud is ridiculous, and despite the various sabotage attempts, they decide they are going to stay together, as they are both falling hard for each other.

I really loved Taylor and Josh together, as they made a great couple, who were willing to fight their families, in order to stay together. Taylor’s sister is willing to give Josh a chance, until there are a few attacks at the B&B; and when Josh learns that someone from his family poisoned wine to make the guests sick, he begins to worry if Taylor’s life is at risk. Will Josh break up with Taylor to keep her safe? Will Taylor leave and go back to L.A.?
What follows is a fun and sexy romance between Josh and Taylor, and those adorable huskies, who made this story even better. Taylor’s relationship with the three dogs was fun and adorable. I loved the scenes with both Josh, Taylor and the dogs, as they were fun and cute. Heart on a Leash was a sweet romance, but the feuding of both families added an element of being complex, tense and very destructive. I liked that Josh and Taylor were determined to not let their family destroy their love for each other, but when things get dangerous, will they walk away?

Heart on a Leash was a wonderful steamy romance, great couple, three fantastic dogs amidst a terrible family feud that created a tense background. Alanna Martin did a great job writing this book. I suggest you read Heart on a Leash.

I wish I could have liked this book more because I loved the concept of it and the doggies. But this was a bit boring and I wasn't that interested in the story by the 50% mark, but I wanted to finish it.

One of the main reasons I wanted to read this book was because of the family feud. Both of their families are rivals and they have a decades-old feud where none of them have any contact because they hate each other. But how can you make me care about this family feud when both of the families are SO AWFUL?!!! They're so mean and horrible. Maybe Lydia can be saved, she's so nice. But even Kelsey is kinda mean and I just don't want to read about a HEA for her? I don't know. Josh and Taylor need to be away from every single member of their family because gosh they're so toxic and not really family for them.

The huskies were cute, I can say that. A lot of husky content.

But yeah, the story is very slow, and nothing really happens. There are a lot of "pranks" or whatever you want to call them their families do so this two break it off, and there is also worry and kissing and eating at Josh's house a lot. But aside from that? Nothing really happens. I couldn't connect with the story or the romance itself, I wasn't feeling it as much as I wanted.

This book was boring. I made it 25% and it felt like it was taking the story forever to progress. Also, grown adults being concerned about a decades old family feud only works for me if I am invested enough in the couple to care. And I didn't care. I didn't even get to learn about the cats that are supposedly in this book. <insert sad face>

I couldn't resist the cover and title of this sweet contemporary romance set in Alaska. I was pleased that this book was really fun and exactly what I enjoy in this genre. Josh and Taylor's relationship, to the dismay of their feuding-for-decades family, developed in an adorable and fun way. The dogs were sweet little side characters and I enjoyed the character development. Can't wait for the rest of this fun series!!!

A modern day Romeo and Juliet in the frozen north, with huskies. When when a young man descended from one noble family but still a newcomer in this small Alaskan town hooks up with the rebellious prodigal daughter from a rival family, the family feud threatens to escalate out of control. It’s an entertaining debut, even if the warring families do go to extremes, The shenanigans are offset by the level headed and cinnamon roll like leads. Here’s how I justify it in my head: the families behave like competing mafia families or gangs with a veneer of respectability. That worked for me.

Heart on a Leash was the perfect balance of sweet and sexy. Imagine having an instant connection with someone only to find out that your respective families might as well be the Montagues and Capulets? This is what happened to Josh and Taylor, both somewhat new in Helen, Alaska (although Taylor had grown up there) but engulfed in a long two-family feud as a result of genetics.

I enjoyed Josh and Taylor's chemistry, ADORED the huskies, and was completely vested in the fate of their forbidden love, Josh and Taylor's, not the huskies :). The family antics were so over-the-top but I could almost see it happening in real life, especially in a small town with so much history. Although there was obviously a HEA (it was a romance, people), I appreciated that it wasn't all wrapped up on a bow and look forward to seeing how the Porters and Lippen's are getting along in book 2 in the series even though the rivalry won't be at the forefront of the new couple's romance.

Heart on a Leash
by Alanna Martin
Read an Excerpt
Berkley Publishing Group
You Like Them
Berkley
Romance
Pub Date 27 Apr 2021 | Archive Date 27 May 2021

Super cute romance and I loved the family drama, but other than that this book was not memorable for me.
I like the cover.. who can turn down our canine friends. Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for this ARC.

3star

Ok let me start by saying if you are anything like me don't let the cover make you think otherwise. This is a romance with full heart and steam. And yes the dogs are there are very important part of story too.but it's not in their POV as I had been misled prior to picking it up.
CW: none that I think of.
Syeam: open door

Taylor and Josh start a sweet bumping into each other meet cute (won't add the spoiler) but soon grow into a hot couple. That coupled with the beautiful imagery of summertime Helen Alaska was a much needed getaway for this frozen quarantined reader.

But the best part for me was the whole family drama 😬 it was too much reminiscent of my fav feud romances but with just enough tension without making my heart sink violently. The cousins are the best. Love Taylor sister and Josh cousin Kelsey's tough act. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

So take a walk, a trip , there's even a hike! And get to the other world with this book! Can't wait to pick up the next one!