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Ruff and Tumble

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Member Reviews

Hey folks, daddy Steve here again with some doggiebook talk. This one is a lighter read, Ruff and Tumble from author Lucy Gilmore.

This author has a long list of romance type books all with dogs in them, I know I see her name float around a good deal but that was the first book I read of her. Most certainly will not be my last…

It doesn’t show on the cover but this one merges two of my big interests: puppies AND football!!! Many of you know the Puppy Bowl that happens around the Super Bowl, well in this book there’s the Puppy Cup that will happen at the same time as a fictional Super Cup. The whole story revolves around the star QB of the hometown Seattle pro football team (fictional name the Lumberjacks but that’s not too important) falling in love with a production assistant for that puppy football show.

That was a fun read, at times cheesy but always fun. Some LOL moments, some tender moments, some « saucy » moments. 😉

Obviously, no dogs got hurt in this book, it was fully of ridiculously cute puppy moments. Another reccommended read for dog lovers.

PS: yeah, I’m a sucker for romance books as long as there are dogs involved… 🤷‍♂️😁

#Malcolmstories #doggiebooks
#NetGalley #RuffAndTumble

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i really liked this book. This was a pleasant book to read and I will read more from her. Liked it all. from start to finish. pure enjoyment.. who doesn't love a book with a doggie in it. Hooked me.

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This is a romance with big heart. I love the puppy bowl theme and how that and football bridge the gap for these characters. The entire story feels sweet and soft and gooey in the best way and there is low angst and high awesomeness .I recommend for anyone seeking a comfort read, sports romance, adorable puppies, and a perfect HEA.

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Sexy athlete meets the one he never knew he needed! This is a precious romance that will have you seeing hearts and puppy dogs. Sweet romance for many ages!
Opinions are my own.

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I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. I really enjoyed this book. It was really well written and it just had you trying to solve the mystery. I look forward to seeing what’s next from this author.

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Ruff and Tumble by Lucy Gilmore

This sweet, funny romance takes a view at the most anticipated sporting event, Puppy Football.

This was a warm,comforting cozy. The characters were well developed. You will especially enjoy this book if you are a doing lover. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

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3.5/5 stars. Many thanks to the author and publisher for the free review copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was a very cute story with puppies and a sports-romance theme! The plot wasn't very realistic, which is why I struggled at the beginning of the story. I stayed for the romance between Cole and Hailey - and their relationship turned out to be as sweet as having an Oreo Milkshake on a gloomy day! 🧡 Their conversations were full of banter and humor, I loved reading about them so much! Hailey's criticism and Cole's fascination towards that was just so.... sweet? 100 points for the adorable factor!

The family relationships in Ruff and Tumble were one of the highlights of reading the book for me! All of Cole's family members melted my heart. I wanted to hug all of them and invite them over to my house for some heart-to-heart conversations.

If you're looking for a book with a lot of heart, I recommend picking this one up!

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I love sport romances.
This one doesn’t disappoint either.
It’s a slow burn so great for a beach read.
Just really enjoyed this one.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.

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This was such a sweet book! Cole's family was wonderful and the slow build up between Hailey and Cole was swoony. I especially enjoyed that Hailey did so much for animals in need and I am a sucker for animals. Overall, this is a book that should not be missed and I can't wait to read more by Lucy~

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I seriously adore this author! Her characters & writing are so wonderful! This book has the small town vibes & a cute Puppy Cup! Cole is a quarterback and football is life! He’s in the NFL but has injuries. He believes that he only had a few seasons left in him at this point. Cole also believes their’s a curse on him. Hailey was a foster child growing up. She’s now the production assistant to the Puppy Cup & will be working with Cole. Hailey is a fan of Cole and his team. She tells Cole things he does wrong in football, which is so entertaining! Hailey can be shy at times but she comes into herself! I loved that this was a slow burn. It seemed fitting for Hailey and Cole. Though Cole did have to work hard to win Hailey over! Also let’s not forget the cute puppies & dogs! I love that they were a big part of the book! Added cuteness! All in all such a sweet feel good romance! Can’t wait for the next one!

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Another very entertaining book by Ms. Gilmore! A great beach read! This book has great looking football players, cute puppies and an excellent lighthearted writing style.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley for my voluntary, honest review.

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Such a sweet story with football and dogs! What could be better! Hailey is the production assistant for the Pup Cup and Cole is the quarterback of the Lumberjacks football team. Cole proposes to Hailey that he be a part of the Pup Cup so that they can break the "curse" that has kept his team from winning the finals. Lots of dogs and football and family in this one. Great story!

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An adorable, sweet romance with football and dogs!

The characters went beyond what I normally read — they had compelling backstories. Well written, and character-driven story.

SourceBooks and Gilmore never disappoint. Thank you so much for this arc.


I received an arc of this book, and this is my honest opinion.`

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**Actually a 3.75-rating**

This would be so much easier to rate/review for me if I was merely writing up my end results reactions to this book -- a first for me from Lucy Gilmore [and not my last].

If I was giving my review in equal parts Cuteness/Adorable factor... and Did It Serve Its Purpose? --> and by this I mean, give me the story the Summary served up to me. And even sometimes shocking me by going forward a tad and breaking cookie-cutter boundaries by giving readers more. If so, this rating would go through the roof.

I walked into this book knowing full well it was not going to give me emotional punches and mysterious turmoils. By everything it doles out of itself... from Summary to book cover to maybe even a glimpse through the Title...this story should be easy-peasy, slam-dunks. Your typical Rom-Com served up on a golden platter.

You'd be kind of wrong, and this is what is sad about what allows some readers to pick and choose what they read by...outward appearances, alone. They never bother to take a chance on an unknown quantity to be pleasantly surprised by how much judging a book, literally, by its cover [...or synopsis or title...] can sometimes cause you to lose out on what could be a truly enjoyable and oddly different sort of read.

On the surface this book bleeds mediocrity. It's got a baskets of puppies... a quirky woman lead, a quarterback who plays for the NFL...it's got so much going for it, I almost had to take a step back for a bit and re-calibrate my brain to begin reading this story from another level. A much deeper and profound perspective.

Maybe taking a step above most quaint, small-town romantic comedies and notice that the Author put some real passionate effort in her writing--especially on her MCs, Hailey & Cole.

You can tell Lucy Gilmore is also either so passionate about football, just like her heroine... or she faked it really well with some extra help in knowing how to talk the verbiage needed to converse w/football players and also to talk like a hyper-fan who knows Stats and Bios about old games and players from each new generation of team roster.

There is also...a dog lover present. But even more than that...someone who knows about fostering animals, especially from a shelter. And I would go so far to even speculate this could spread into someone who also knows or knows OF the foster care system, and being "caught", "trapped" or born into the system of Foster Care.

That said...this is why this book is so much more than the sum of its outside parts. And it is a shame it could be overlooked because it is worthwhile to spend some quality time getting to know the two MCs, in Hailey and Cole.

Hailey especially because...hmm, a reader eventually realizes by the first couple of chapters into the story that Hailey is really unlike so many heroines you meet in Rom-Coms. Granted she has a lot of inner dialogue that makes you feel like she is shouting "NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS"...you have to rewind your itchy triggers to fathom...this is a woman who has grown-up in and out of Foster Homes w/ no real parent until she was 12.

By the time she does get the home she has dreamed of, and the parent she has always wanted...Life throws her another curveball and happiness for Hailey seems unattainable unless she is moving through the world always on her own. Hailey is also someone who never draws attention to themselves, so when she DOES meet Cole... she can never admit to him not only that she is a fan, she is a fan of his team... and that she is kind of an idiot savant when it comes to Stats and players Bios. Also, she is not half-bad in being an arm-chair coach...

Cole? Is yet another interesting prospect because when I first began this book I had some idea I would dislike him at some point, but instead I was wildly charmed by him, in very small ways. He has lived a very enchanted life as Quarterback of the Seattle Lumberjacks [think of them akin to the Seattle Seahawks], and it's pretty much a Legacy inside the history of NFL football. We never find this out until halfway through the book, but... Cole's Dad lost out on his own NFL quarterback career, so he is living vicariously through his son.

Those things said, when Cole comes to Hailey's work/office...where she is putting together the annual puppy football game. Hailey is the one who "recruits" the adoptable puppies and sets them into the two teams, whomever has reached this book's version of the Superbowl [called The Kickoff Bowl].

The Summary makes it seem like each time Hailey wins this puppy bowl game then the team she "represents" tends to win the Kickoff Bowl.

So, really, Cole is becoming a near washed-up quarterback who had a really bad shoulder injury a few seasons ago, but he keeps making everyone around him think he is able to do this... except he cannot with such a bum-shoulder he will never admit to. Hence the reason why folks say he is "cursed".

And now he needs to utilize Hailey, her puppies and the puppy bowl game itself in order to break this mysterious curse... when all he really needs to do is admit to his STILL injured shoulder and possibly consider retirement.

At the on-set, both Hailey and Cole are kind of very simplistic characters. Except at their cores they become deeper, and much more fascinating individuals.

I like some reviewer's assessment where they likened Hailey to Sandra Bullock's character in "<i><b>While You Were Sleeping</b></i>", because the skin fits her so closely. Cole is NOT Bill Pullman [sadly] but he does become a great complex character to pit against Hailey.

What I enjoyed the most is the very first couple of instances of Cole meeting Hailey and him having to use his charms in order to get her to agree to his messed-up plan to break his "curse"--especially when HE has this power all along.

I liked their first meetings because it felt like Hailey was not, and would never, be hoodwinked to Cole's charisma. I mean she kept hiding the fact she was a die-hard Lumberjack fan but would tell him straight to his face how bad of a quarterback he was and how he doesn't use his wide reliever properly. It kept knocking Cole back on his feet as he continued to think his old charms could win Hailey over. She genuinely was not fooled by his "faked" swag.

A couple of chapters in and we are kind of smacked in the face with Hailey's heartbreaking personal story. More by her own POV [not that she outright tells strangers her full bio], but still it impacts a reader, one way or the other.

At some point we also get more and more in-depth with Cole... as we get to know his entire family. And as they warmly embrace Hailey--thinking she will help them break Cole's "curse" as a Good Luck Charm... we can see Cole's family through HER eyes, meeting them for the first time. Especially as Hailey is invited over on Football Sundays.

Now, I bet you are wondering after I said all this, why is my rating not 4-or at least higher? And you are right to feel this way because I myself became a bit despondent because I was willing to overlook a few instances, but then...hmm, I have become a more honest reviewer, over the years, when I admit to myself when the minor details begin to pile up and irk me...the book drains itself of some power. Some instances are easily changeable, but then others?.. so much it ruins the overall storyline and eventual organic level of relatability.

What was once believed, or perceived, is no longer plausible, and now the reading brain has to come into some agreement with the reviewing brain... and compile an answer as honest-as-can-be.

Even with the rare qualities, this book also has some formulaic ones. Immediate turn-offs, for me.

I will explain two instances. Somewhere past the 50%, the book reminds itself there can't be too much push-and-pull between the MCs and the Romance factor has to amp itself. Unfortunately, it takes one of those insta-turns [for me]... and where once Hailey was NOPE-ing Cole and shying away... and Cole was shockingly keeping a wide-berth [Hailey gave off some "keep away"vibes] from her... Then in one moment...Cole is throwing smarmy charms at Hailey...invading her personal space and brushing her long hair strands back... then he kind of just selfishly swoops in for an unsuspecting kiss, just because HE wanted to.

I sat there, dumbfounded, and kind of sad...if not a little depressed...when I had some idea this book would take me down different roads and MCs were not cardboard cutouts of 20-other Harlequin Romance heroes and heroines I have read in my past. I mean... the worst was having to watch Hailey suck in her massive shy introvert-ness, in such awkward moments, and suddenly DESIRE and WANT the smarminess charm Cole was bleeding out...

In a way it deadened me to them being a vital romantic couple. because now, in my wild imagination, I am reading 2 types of books. with 2 versions of Hailey and Cole--one w/an Insta-factor, while the other is in a nice slow-burn. It was simply odd how suddenly Lucy Gilmore's bright shining uniqueness in her great MCs were instantly eeking into cookie-cutter molds of ordinary, everyday horny Harlequin protagonists.

I actually read the rest of the book as a split-apart. I was able to now compartmentalize the formulaic Rom-Com-i-ness that can turn me off...but then also still see Lucy Gilmore's compassion for keeping HER ideals of who Hailey and Cole were, at their core.

I am unsure who told whom this needed re-edits...the "romance" had to be amped [at a certain point] or ramped up a few notches. Or that Cole had to "revert" into sometimes being a douchey player jock. And that Hailey had to become this beautifully sad version of a Harlequin heroine...

...yikes, still, what a lovely HEA. In my head, my first versions of Hailey and Cole [the slow-burn one] got that happy ending, moving on in their life together by building a family of adopted animals and being Foster parents...it warms my heart because the MCs I enjoyed more deserved that righteous ending.

**<i>I received this e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>**

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I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A cute fun read. Hailey and Cole were easy to read about. It’s a nice feel good story. Puppies, football and love = happy reader.

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I liked Hailey although she could be a pest. I love the name 😍 Hailey. I liked her love for dogs 😍. I really liked Cole but their meeting was a bit awkward

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I became a fan of Lucy's books after reading her Forever Home series. She does a wonderful job writing characters you can connect with and want to see find their way together. Hailey and Cole are my favorite heroine and hero she has written. I also love how she integrates animals into each book, this time with Hailey working on the Puppy Cup. It always makes for a lot of sweet and entertaining moments.

This book had a nice mix of emotion, humor, and romance which made for an entertaining and fun read.

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Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of Ruff and Tumble by Lucy Gilmore! Today is the book birthday for this book, so definitely go grab it if you have a chance!
Ruff and Tumble 4/5 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
As a production assistant for the Puppy Cup, Hailey Lincoln knows all things puppies and football. So when Seattle Lumberjacks star quarterback Cole Bennett asks for PR help, she agrees. She's not swayed by Cole's good looks or stellar career, but by the puppies they can help. Okay, maybe she's swayed just a tiny bit by his good looks.
Winning at puppy football, however, is only the start. If she really wants to win—the game, the man, and the warm, welcoming family he takes for granted—she needs to pull out all the stops. And Cole, who's spent his entire life playing a game, has to realize that losing at football isn't nearly as catastrophic as losing the woman he loves.

Ruff and Tumble was such an adorable book! I love puppies and I love football, so putting them together into such a cute contemporary romance was my favorite thing. I really liked Hailey and her job as a production assistant for the Puppy Cup was so cool! I also really liked Cole and just the whole relationship/banter between the two of them. I also really liked Reggie, Mia, and all of Cole's family and I really want a book about Reggie and Garrett or one about Penny! All of the characters in this book were really compelling and the plot was adorable, so I definitely recommend Ruff and Tumble as a fun read with a cute, happy ending!

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Ruff and Tumble is a great romance novel that follows Hailey and Cole. Cole is the star quarterback for the Seattle team and Hailey works as a production assistant for the Puppy Cup. This was a refreshing take on the classic sports romance novel. Cole wanted to do something more in his life other than football and Hailey is an avid football fan. Even though I am personally not a fan of football, this book was very enjoyable with fun banter and a realistic love story.

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What a cute story! Ruff and Tumble by Lucy Gilmore has heart, one production assistant who lacks confidence, a star football player and lots of puppies. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of the Forever Home series which I adored but this is a unique book with a TV reality vibe to it. That is if you consider Puppy Cup to be reality TV.

The characters are fleshed out with both their strengths and weakness at play in this book. I didn’t quite understand Hailey Lincoln’s love or maybe knowledge of the Lumberjacks until her back story is given. What a lovely story it was. Cole Bennett’s was easier. It was obvious he had been groomed to play football from childhood. Their story is sweet but not too sweet if you know what I mean. The author strikes that balance just right between puppies and people making it a wonderful feel good romance. I hope that there are more to come because there are some supporting characters about whom I would like to know more.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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