Okay, I just adored everything about Ruff and Tumble, by Lucy Gilmore. It checked all my boxes and then some, and after reading a string of meh-ish books, this one made me feel simply happy. In fact, it was the first e-book in a while where I kept checking the percentage read hoping it was low and not close to 100.

Ruff and Tumble falls loosely into the categories of pro-sports, famous/adorkable, and puppy-driven romances, and it does justice to all three. It takes us behind the scenes of the Puppy Cup, a fictionalized version of the real-life Puppy Bowl, imagining a meet-cute (if being trapped in an elevator with a laboring golden retriever can be considered cute) between a golden-boy pro quarterback and the more-cute-than-beautiful uncredited producer of the Cup.

But Gilmore manages to avoid the sticky-sweet pitfalls that come with this type of storyline by making her two characters go beyond the usual stereotypes, giving them compelling backstories. We have a professional athlete who wants out but feels hemmed in by a loving family and a former foster child who hasn't yet realized that everything is going to be okay and that she's not just loveable but actually loved. As Hailey and Cole get to know each other through the dogs, they each grow as individuals, which eventually helps them grow closer as a couple.

Throw in several terrific secondary characters--bipeds and quadrupeds alike--and you have a story that is funny and poignant and that feels complete even though you don't want it to end. Extra kudos to the author for writing an HEA that doesn't take the more obvious easy way out.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks!