As soon as I saw those adorable puppies on the cover of this book, I got such a warm and fuzzy feeling I knew I had to read it. Abby, a young girl with an unsettled home life, sees someone toss a sack into the river near her home. When she notices movement in the sack she doesn't hesitate to jump in and ends up rescuing seven puppies which she takes to an abandoned cabin where she eventually meets up with Elliot who owns the cabin but hasn't been there in years. Told from the points of view of Abby, her mother Mary and Elliot, this was a well written, heartwarming book that I would recommend to friends. Seven Perfect Things is a story about taking a chance and believing in the good in some people. This is the second book by Catherine Ryan Hyde that I've read and enjoyed and look forward to reading some of her other works.

With thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this story prior to publication.

What a wonderful book! It centers around a girl who rescues seven puppies from drowning in a river. It also focuses on her family, which is not a very happy family.

My favorite scene in this book is early on when the girl lays down and lets the puppies play and crawl around her. It brings so much joy to the girl that I couldn’t help but be happy just by reading it.

This a book about healing and fighting for what is right. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a heartwarming book. I’m a cat person and I loved reading about the puppies!

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. If you are looking for a “feel good”, “make you smile” book....THIS IS IT! This is the second book I’ve read by Catherine Ryan Hyde and I loved them both! The writing style is nice and easy. You can just relax and read. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for a real heavy book with a lot of thinking. This story was beautiful from beginning to end. There are sad parts of the book that deal with the loss of a loved one and living in an environment with an abusive parent, but the story was so well written that it all comes together so nice in the end. Elliot is grieving the loss of his wife and never expects for a spunky 13 year old and her mom to come into his life at the exact moment when he needs them. What’s so beautiful about this book is the way they all help each other, sometimes without even realizing it. This book’s release date is May 4, 2021 and I highly suggest picking up a copy. I look forward to reading the other Catherine Ryan Hyde novels that I have waiting for me on my bookshelf and kindle!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

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If your looking for an easy, feel good summer read, and if you are a dog lover, Seven Perfect Things is your go to book! I have loved every book I have read by Catherine Ryan Hyde and so look forward to reading her new releases. I have read the reviews on this book and it seems that I am an outlier here. Seven Perfect Things was written to simplistically for me and was too slow paced for me. I constantly found my mind drifting and found myself skimming the pages. Even though it was not my favorite book I encourage you to read it, Not every book is for everybody. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another wonderful effort by one of my favorite authors, Catherine Ryan Hyde. The warmth and interesting characters, always draw me in with their struggles, compassion and warmth. Of course, when dogs are part of the supporting cast, it can only be interesting.
Seven Perfect Things is all of this and more. A lonely, unhappy young teen age girl, trying to find some happiness, comes across seven small, abandoned puppies. Rescuing them proves to be a big challenge, until she meets the sad grieving gentleman who owns the cabin where she has been keeping them, and he is pulled into the effort.
Her mother, living with a controlling, mean husband and father, is pulled into the drama of these puppies, and a friendship and bond is formed.
This is a feel good tale, which left me smiling. Just another wonderful novel by a talented created author.
My thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. All comments are my own.

As thirteen-year-old Abby Hubble walked home from school after a slight detour, she watched as a car stopped on the bridge in front of her and a bag was tossed into the river. Abby was shocked to see the bag moving as it slowly sank. After diving into the river and dragging the bag to the surface, she emptied it onto the riverbank, only to find seven puppies; coughing and vomiting river water, but they were all alive, thanks to Abby. But now what was she to do with them? She couldn’t take them home, her father would kill them himself, and her inquiries at the pound meant she couldn’t leave them there. So she took them up to the abandoned cabin on the mountain side where she left them in the shed, promising she’d be back the next day.

Elliot Colvin had just buried his wife Pat after her long illness, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. Grieving, he thought he might take the advice of a friend and head to his cabin in the mountains, which he hadn’t been to in a long time. But when Elliot arrived, he was shocked to see his cabin had been burgled with almost nothing left inside. As he headed to the shed to see if anything in there had been taken, the sight of seven puppies had him speechless. What was he going to do with them? Who had robbed his place? He was angry and sad – but when a young girl arrived, claiming to own the puppies, sparks flew. Not for long though. Slowly Abby and Elliot became friends – but trauma and upset was looming…

Seven Perfect Things is another heartwarming novel by a favourite author, Catherine Ryan Hyde, which I adored. She never misses a beat with her stories and who doesn’t love a tale about puppies 😊 There was some darkness in the novel, but there was also happiness. Determination, courage and love kept Abby and Mary going, even while danger lurked. A perfect story which I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Seven Perfect Things by Catherine Ryan Hyde. Sometimes a persons kindness helps in sad situations. Rescuing seven dogs from a river and taking them home because a shelter would kill them otherwise.

What a heart-warming and soul fulfilling story! 13 year old Abby is the kind of kid we all hope to have.....smart, thoughtful and caring. After saving seven puppies from drowning in a river, she encounters Elliot Colvin. Elliot has just lost his wife and has also lost any sense of happiness. Abby and her mother, Mary, are stuck living in an unhappy home with a man who is awful to them. These three people, along with seven puppies, take a journey together in this book. I found myself smiling and giggling. Yet I also worried and needed to know what was going to happen to everyone. Catherine Ryan Hyde creates characters you care about and want to see happy. I love how simple encounters and decisions in life can lead us to places we never knew we needed. Thank you to NetGalley and Catherine Ryan Hyde for allowing me to read this book.

One grieving widow, one defeated woman, one feisty girl and seven adorable puppies come together in this story of longing, loss and love. The result is a great story that will make you cheer for the good guys, aka the aforementioned characters.
I cannot wait to recommend this book to friends and family!

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC.
Wow, this book filled my heart...
Abby and her mother Mary live with Abby's father Dan and the only time they can breathe easily is when he's out or at work. He's a miserable, bad tempered man who has nothing good to say to either of them, coming Mary and leaving Abby feeling he doesn't really even register her. He's a psychological bully.
When Abby rescues a sack of 7 puppies, she hides them in a disused barn, When the owner of the property shows up, she talks him into letting her keep the puppies there, in return for cleaning his home. A surprisingly deep friendship forms between them, later even including Mary. But disaster strikes when Dan forces them to leave with him. Leaving her puppies is like a knife in Abby's heart, what on earth can she do?
This is such a wonderful, sad and beautiful read. It made me feel uplifted and hopeful in these uncertain times, like a tonic for the soul. Highly recommended!

Seven Perfect Things is such a sweet, heartwarming story that grabs you right away. I pretty much read non stop because I had to know the ending. I had high hopes for the ending I imagined.
Abby (13 years old) rescues 7 puppies after someone throws them over the bridge into the river. She can’t take them home. She decides to take them to a remote cabin she knows no one lives in. The owner of the cabin, Elliott, is a recent widower who decides to go to his cabin to get away from the memories of his wife. He has not been to his cabin for years. Abbys mother, Mary, is a wonderful person trapped in a unhappy marriage.
A story about finding happiness through friendships and most of all, second chances.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

4.5 stars

This was a such a great story, and I loved all of characters!

Abby and her mother, Mary, don’t have the best home life, but things begin to look up when Abby discovers a bag of puppies someone threw in the river. After rescuing the them, she’s determined to keep all seven of the pups but doesn’t have the means to provide for them. She keeps them safe in an shed next to an abandoned cabin and uses what little money she has to buy them food. But it turns out the cabin isn’t abandoned after all.

Elliot is still grieving the loss of his wife when he decides to go up to his cabin, and when he arrives, he’s surprised to find his shed is full of puppies. After hearing about all that Abby has done to keep them alive, they gradually build a friendship, and she finally sees what it’s like to have a real father figure in her life. Mary, too, befriends Elliott and Abby can’t help but envision what it might be like for the three of them to be a family. But when Abby’s father discovers what has been going on, he quits his job and moves them all away. Will Mary continue to let her husband control their lives, or will she finally break free and fight for her daughter’s and her happiness?

This story was so sweet and heart-warming, and I wish I could’ve given it 5 full stars, but it ended WAY too abruptly. In my opinion, there needed to be at least a few more pages or another chapter to bring the story full circle. The ending just felt incomplete. I still highly recommend this book though!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3947469328

If the current pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that our pets are as much part of the family as their human counterparts, and as this story shows, the dogs are a great deal better behaved! The blurb tells us from the start that the puppies have been dumped in a sack in the river (can I get a boo hiss for the hoomans that did this!!!), so we have to be prepared for a tale of survival, a battle against the odds and a whole lot of love, bemusement and shenanigans to follow.

So, to the story …

After rescuing seven puppies from the river, refusing to leave them at the pound where their future is more than uncertain, and knowing her father will not allow her to take them home, Abby traipses up to a unoccupied cabin nearby to care for them. Buying food and water for them with what little money she has, Abby is determined her puppies will survive. She rushes out of the house each morning to check on them, and again after school, keeping them secret from her dad, although she did tell her mum about them … just maybe not all the facts.

Since school is about to break for summer, she reckons she can spend more time with them while looking for new homes to take them in (she does this with the best of intentions not realising how much she has already grown to love the puppers).

For a couple of days, she copes – helped by some money from her mum (who has guessed from the paw prints on her clothes and her late hours that Abby still has the dogs somewhere). Abby and her mother live in fear of upsetting her father, which makes her mum all the more determined to let Abby have her secret knowing that she is of an age where being responsible for something other than herself will be a valuable lesson.

But, then the owner of the cabin arrives …

Recently widowed, Elliot arrives at his cabin for some alone time, only to find the cabin has been broken into and much of his stuff stolen( not by Abby, I hasten to add). Added to that, when checking out his generator – no longer there – in the shed, he finds Abby’s puppies and a pile of smelly newspaper.

When he takes the same trip as Abby to the pound, the staff member recognises the pups and is sorry to see them again. Elliot cannot leave them to their fate, so he returns to his cabin to find a distressed Abby looking for her dogs. And so begins their relationship which, while it has a rocky start, soon becomes focused on the puppies’ wellbeing. If anything, Abby’s presence stops Elliot from sinking into depression, and instead he is cheered by the antics of the playful seven.

But it can’t go on like that. Elliot will have to leave his cabin eventually, and Abby needs to find homes for the dogs. However, by then the two are firm friends and come up with a plan to look after the puppies which just so happens to also take into consideration Abby’s home life and her mother’s unhappy marriage.

The struggle is real and their plan falls apart early on when Abby’s father decides he’s in charge of his family and “takes” them away. With no way of contacting Elliot, it seems Abby may never see her puppies or Elliot again.

An emotionally-charged story that will keep you reading through to the end to see how things work out.

Sweet book. This is perfect for a sunny day at the beach. I throughly enjoyed it.
I would recommend it.

Wow, I blazed through this one, literally started reading at 11 in the morning and was finished after dinner. And I'm going to be very unoriginal and give this yet another 5 stars, like I do for most books by Catherine Ryan Hyde, because they're just that awesome.

This story involves seven perfect puppies, as per the title, a really mature and cool teenager (loved her), her mother who's in an abusive marriage, and a really really decent man who has just been widowed. The rest is in the book itself, and it's way more fun if you read it than if I tell you! Suffice it to say, the author touches on the same important subjects she often talks about in her books - domestic violence, the will and courage to allow yourself to say no, compassion for living beings and dealing with grief. And above all of it - kindness. There's always kindness!

I was on the edge of my seat reading this one. Especially a sore subject for me, (view spoiler) So I was reading the book with sweaty palms. As usual in her stories, Ms. Hyde is brilliant with building tension and keeping you flipping the pages fast. You just want to know what happens.

And then there are the puppies. The book reminded me of this book called Atticus: A Woman’s Journey with the World’s Worst Behaved Dog a little bit! How the power of DOG changes people's lives for the better (lol). There should be more wholesome stories with dogs, where NOTHING. HAPPENS. TO. THE. DOGS!!! (Everyone always asks. This book is safe to read!)

Anyway, not a very coherent review this time, but you should definitely read the book!

Thank you Catherine Ryan Hyde, for writing these stories. They are important, they are also uplifting and so emotional. I'm so happy your books exist.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

Seven Perfect Things
By Catherine Ryan Hyde

An Immensely Satisfying Story of a Teenager’s Courage and Perseverance


SUMMARY
When thirteen-year-old Abby Hubble spies a man dump a moving burlap bag into the river, she immediately dives in and rescues seven puppies. But now what? She knows that her father would never let her bring them home and the animal shelter is already full. Instead she takes them to a nearby abandoned cabin, and promises them that she’ll be back the next day to feed them.

Elliot Colvin has just lost his wife. After her funeral, he retreats to his long-neglected hunting cabin and finds Abby and her seven puppies hiding in his shed. Abby and Elliot become friends and Abby begins to imagine how nice her life would be if her mother were married to Elliot instead of her emotionally abusive father. But when Abby’s father moves the family hundreds of miles away, Abby and her mother must decide if they are willing to defer happiness.


REVIEW
Who can resist puppies! Abby Hubble reminds us to find joy in the small things, like the warmth of a puppy’s pudgy belly or the thump of a wagging tail. Seven Perfect Things is a charming and poignant story of friendship, joy and courage.

Author Catherine Ryan Hyde has delivered another tender and triumphant story. This time it is about a teenager and her mother overcoming difficulties and finding the courage to choose happiness. The puppies may draw you in but the the writing keeps your head in the book. The characters are realistic and the story is filled with tension. Hyde’s writing is easy on the eyes and immensely satisfying.

Hyde, a best selling author, has written 39 additional heart warming books like this one. Her most popular, Pay It Forward (2000) was made into a movie and chosen by the American Library Association among the Best Books for Young Adults.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Publisher Lake Union
Published May 4, 2021
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Catherine Ryan Hyde for allowing me to read the ARC of Seven Perfect Things for an honest review.
When Elliot looses his wife, he just wants to be alone in their country cabin, arriving to find it has been robbed and has a big surprise in his shed. He soon meets thirteen-year-old Abby, who is shocked to find someone in the cabin which has been abandoned for over three years. All she wants is space from her angry father, peace for her mother, and what she left in Elliot’s shed. This story is full of finding trust, happiness, and love in many different places. I love Catherine Ryan Hyde’s books. I always have a smile, a warm feeling, and hope that I may be of some hope to others.

Seven puppies are saved from certain death after being tied up in a bag and thrown into a river. Abby, an accomplished swimmer, dives in to save them and makes it her mission to care for them in a seemingly abandoned cabin in the woods as she knows they will be put down if brought to her dysfunctional home. Enter the cabin owner, Elliot, a recent widower, showing up at just the perfect time, forming an unlikely bond in this uplifting transformative story.

Catherine Ryan Hyde really knows how to write a story that draws you in and pulls at your heartstrings. I have loved all six of her books I’ve read. This may be my favorite. Seven adorable puppies, a grieving widower, and a mother and daughter in need of help make for a compelling read. I loved all three of the main characters, but thirteen year old Abby may be my favorite. She is a strong and determined young lady who gets the whole story going by jumping in the river to rescue a bag full of puppies she saw a man throw in to drown them. The story moves quickly from there to a wonderfully satisfying ending.

Abby Hubble is on her way home from school, so when she sees a man behaving suspiciously on the brow of a bridge, she watches what he is doing. She sees him get a sack out of his car and throw it into the gushing river. Abby doesn’t hesitate as he drives away. She looks down into the river and sees movement within the sack. She has the feeling that the thrashing within the sack is something alive. Abby is thirteen years old but she attends swimming club and is a very strong swimmer She doesn’t need to think about what she should do. Without hesitation she dives into the river and rescues seven adorable puppies. It is love at first sight for Abby, but she knows she cannot take the litter home. Her Dad is mean spirited and domineering. He always has the last word and he would be furious with Abby if she took them home. So, leaving her kit behind, she trudges with the pups to the Dog’s Home, hoping they will be able find homes for the puppies only to find that it is full to the brim. Unable to bear the thought of her puppies being euthanized, Abby walks up the foothills of the Sierra Nevada until she reaches a disused and burgled cabin. She knows it has been deserted for a long time. There she leaves the dogs in the shed, making them as comfortable as she can. Soon she will have to start looking for new owners.
Unknown to Abby, the cabin’s recently widowed owner Elliot Colvin is at a crossroads in his life. He has nursed his wife through a long, terrible illness and recently she has lost the battle to live. Elliot has not been to his hunting cabin for a number of years, but has decided to go there to hide away from his friends and neighbours and give himself time to grieve and decide what to do with his life. He is in no hurry to go back to work and has taken compassionate leave. He drives up from the city to relax in his hunting lodge and recuperate. He is saddened to see that he has been burgled and his most valuable items stored in the shed have gone. Inside he sees the frightened puppies and wonders what the deuce has been going on. When Abby turns up to feed and clean up after the puppies Elliot is soon persuaded to help her in her quest to rehome the puppies. Elliot and Abby become good friends and this is their story, and what a lovely story it is.
I have always admired Catherine Ryan Hyde’s stories for both children and adults. She is a prolific writer with many books in her back catalogue, nearly all of them read by me. Her storytelling skills are absolutely top notch. Her characterisations are second to none. You will feel empathy or hatred for them and your relationship with the fictitious characters will feel real and meaningful. You will worry about their decisions and their predicaments. Catherine knows how to pull at your heartstrings. She is the mistress of empathy and creates wonderful stories full of contemporary issues. This story tells of a broken family and their desire for peace and happiness. She builds solid relationships based on friendship and mutual trust. Her stories are always relevant and thought provoking and this novel is amongst her very best.
I received this excellent and moving novel through my membership of NetGalley and from publisher Lake Union Publishing, in return for an honest and unbiased review. This is my 4.5* review. All the opinions are my own with no influence from other parties. ‘Seven Perfect Things’ is going to go on my list of recommendations as highly readable and a real page turner.