quick thoughts: it was cute, but felt like how you feel when you pull the cookies out just a minute too late and you know they’re going to be burnt once they’re done cooling on the pan.

i really enjoyed this book for about the first 50, maybe 60 percent of it. but by then, i was honestly just ready for it to be over. it just became very bland, repetitive, and annoying.

there was heavy emphasis on the miscommunication trope, which i abhor and so maybe i didn’t like it because of that and it has nothing to do with the book itself. i don’t hate miscommunication as much in young adult novels (i still hate it, just not as much) because it’s more understanding. typically in a ya novel, you are dealing with—yep, you guessed it—young adults. it’s understandable for them to lack communication skills and the courage to voice what they want because they’re still learning what it is to be alive in this wild world. but when miscommunication is a major focal point of the plot of an adult romance novel, it’s just plain annoying. why? i don’t know. maybe because these characters are borderline 30-years-old and they still don’t know how to communicate like adults. i feel like if the only vantage your conflict has in your story is the fact that the hero and the heroine won’t communicate with one another, then maybe you should rethink your storyline.

pride & puppies follows our two main characters, charlotte and george. the novel is written in dual perspective, giving you a look from charlotte and george’s points of view throughout the story. the novel opens with charlotte having discovered her boyfriend had been cheating on her and she ended things with him. this was her first time being the one to end a relationship with someone. you quickly learn that charlotte is obsessed with all things jane austen and all she wants is to find her mr. darcy and have her happily-ever-after. but she’s tired of being let down by swarm after swarm of assholes. she decides she’s done with dating, done with men altogether. amidst her swearing off men, she comes up with the idea of the puppy pact. instead of spending all of her time swooning over men that aren’t worth a second of her time, she will dedicate that time to swooning over a puppy.

and of course we have our hero, george. george is new to pine hollow and just wants to find love and happiness in the small town. he wants to be a part of everything pine hollow, wants to be a part of the community he’s found. and ever since he met his coworker, charlotte (charles) rodrigez, he has been awestruck by her. he spends the entire two years of his term at the estates (where they work) hoping she will eventually notice him and realize he is what she wants. but as george’s contract with the estates comes closer to it’s end, it doesn’t look like he will get that happily-ever-after he had hoped to find here and he has to start making the decision to either stay in pine hollow, pining after a girl that doesn’t want him, or move back home and be close with his sisters who need him.

there were a lot of cute moments that i really enjoyed throughout the book. i loved the relationship that george had with his sisters, though at times i felt they were a little too pushy—but whose siblings aren’t? i loved that they have a bookclub with one another and have video meets every week. that seems like such a special thing to have with your siblings. i wish i had something like that with my brothers. i also loved the idea of the story. the puppies was such a fun addition. i mean, who doesn’t love puppies?

but there were just some aspects that were excessive. for instance, charlottes obsession with jane austen was a little over-the-top at times. it was a little too obsessive. it made it unbelievable. another excessive piece of the story were charlotte’s insecurities. it felt like i was reading the same page over and over at times. there were literal instances that i was like, “wait, did i already read this??” only to find out, no, i indeed had not. the mc was just complaining about the exact same thing she was complaining about three pages ago and ten pages ago and fifteen pages ago and—you get the point. and like i said, those insecurities and her lack of communicating or resolving them with george is what drove the story…

touching base on the dual pov…i love when a book gives the perspective of both the fmc and the hero. when i read a book that doesn’t give dual pov, i often sit and wonder, what is going through his head right now?! i wish i could see this from his pov. but this book just didn’t do it well, in my opinion. the only thing that changed whenever the pov changed were the names being said. the personalities were exactly the same. their voices were exactly the same. and maybe that’s not a big deal to others, but that really dampened the story for me because it really didn’t feel like the pov had changed at all and it didn’t give that satisfaction of getting both perspectives that i have gotten from other dual povs.

in the end, the story was cute. however, there were a lot of things that i feel need worked on.

Jane Austen inspired, check.
Swoony read, check.
Awesome side characters, check.
DOGS?! Check!
What more could you ask for in a book!?

The only good part of this book is the dogs.

Charlotte is incredibly annoying. George is okay, but he never even remotely flirts with Charlotte so how could he expect her to know he likes her or for her to reciprocate feelings? Same with Charlotte. The romance in this book is awkward.

Thank you Forever Reads for providing me ARC for an honest review of the book. Charlotte has just broken off with her boyfriend and has decided that she is sworn off men and that is done.  She is going to get a puppy instead she's trying to convince her besties to join her in Puppy Pact. Her neighbour George who happens to also be a coworker has a dog who is really behaved and is single too.  Charlotte decides she is going to help him find the perfect girlfriend since he's a good guy.

This is a cute romcom with dogs and puppies in it.  Story revolves around a small community called Pine Hollows. If you like Jane Austin books and puppies then you'll probably enjoy this one. Each chapter starts off with a quote from one of Jane Austen's books. It is definitely a sweet and feel good story.  It's a light read so if you are looking for something sweet and light this one is perfect.

Cute hallmark romance! If you like a play on Pride and Prejudice with dogs this it! Thank you for the arc!

I love dogs and Pride and Prejudice so I was rooting for this one.

The characters didn't connect for me. It was a friends to romance story but I wasn't a big fan of Charlotte. The story dragged a bit in spots for me.

The bright spots were the interweaving of Austen quotes and references. The puppy pact was a unique idea and for that I really give this author credit. It sets the book apart from a cookie cutter formula.

It's a solid effort and I think some people are going to love this book. If you like contemporary romances and characters like you would hang out with after an episode of Friends, this might really hit the mark for you.

Thanks netgalley for letting me read this book I haven't read a book by this author before and I loved it it was fun and easy to read and you could feel the emotions I can't wait to read another

I’ve never read a Lizzie Shane book but this one won’t be my last! I needed a fun, quick summer romcom read and this book was just that!
Charlotte swears off men after a string of failed relationships and instead snags a cute puppy! But shortly there after George comes into her live. Charlotte questions her ever move - but in the end love wins. Overall, enjoyed this book!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital arc

I really enjoyed the complex insecurities and emotions of the leads. They are an interesting couple and refreshing watching them work through all of their emotional baggage that they brought to the relationship.

Pride & Puppies by Lizzie Shane was the feel good Rom-Com book that I needed to start with this September. A group of friends decide to swear off men and start the “Puppy Pact”. I can 1000% get behind anything having to do with puppies because I love those four-legged creatures more than my own life.

You get workplace romance, friends-to-lovers, small town, Jane Austen, and furry friends galore. What more could you get from this book? I enjoyed reading this book. It was a fast read, cute, and it made me giggle a time or two at how sweet George was to Charlotte. I can’t wait for more to read this book and to hear others thoughts.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for an early arc of Pride & Puppies.

This is the first Lizzie Shane book I’ve read, but it won’t be the last! I loved it from beginning to end. The characters are richly developed, with flaws and all! The women have actual careers, intelligence, and lives outside of their romantic relationships. The romantic tension was realistic, unlike most manufactured drama in romance novels. The Jane Austin references were just enough to be thematic without being overdone. And there were puppies!

This just wasn’t the book for me, it leaned more into the miscommunication trope than I wanted and the plot took way too long to get going for a contemporary romance. I think will be the book for some people, the characters are endearing, and it’s fun and whimsical. This was a me issue not a book issue.

Pride & Puppies was a cute HEA book. The main characters were good, although I was interested in learning more about the male character (George) and wanted to get further into why he moved across the country. Charlotte is the female lead. We start off in a break up and a moment where she swears off men and decides to adopt a puppy. While she goes about finding out about herself and adopting the puppy, she begins to hang out with George. Of course, he is crushing on Charlotte and it leads to fun, a little miscommunication and HEA.

Thank you to NetGalley, Forever Grand Publishing and Lizzie Shane for allowing me to read this advanced copy of Pride & Puppies.

Thank you to Lizzie Shane, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Pride & Puppies come out November 22, 2022!

After a dating a string of fake "Mr. Darcy's" (brooding yes, secretly softies no), Charlotte has decided to swear off men for six months and instead get a puppy. While preparing for her new puppy and getting used to being single she starts to get closer to her coworker and neighbor, George. George is such a sweet and patient guy that Charlotte thinks she could never fall for such a nice guy. Which is very unfortunate for George seeing how he has been infatuated with Charlotte since meeting her two years ago. With the thought that Charlotte will never feel the same way for him and the belief that he doesn't fit in the small town, he is contemplating moving back to Colorado to be closer to his family. But before long Charlotte starts to realize that nice guys might be her new type, at least she thinks that George might be her type.

I really enjoyed this book and the characters. It take a little bit for me to start getting into the story but after that I couldn't put it down. I really like both main characters individually and rooted for them to get together. Both characters had a good group of friends and family members to support them, in addition they both had adorable cuddly puppies. This book was very cute and I loved all of the Jane Aston references. I will for sure be reading more from this author is the future.

This was a sweet story. My only complaint was Charlotte's demeanor at times. She was very over the top at moments and for me personally, I am not a fan of this type of personality. Though we do see why she is like this later in the book. I loved George's relationship with his sisters! As a huge Jane Austen fan. I loved how it was incorporated into the story and the ending! I would definitely like to read the other stories in this series.

After a string of bad relationships, Charlotte swears off men and decides to focus her energy on getting a puppy instead. Enter George, her cute coworker who just happens to be secretly in love with her.

I hate to say it, but I had a hard time even finishing this book. The first couple of chapters were a promising start, but I very quickly found myself bored. The plot moved incredibly slowly. I didn't find either of the mc's likeable, nor did they seem to have any chemistry with each other. The internal dialogue was the same thing over and over again from both pov's.

I really wanted to like this book because I love Jane Austen, and the cover was so cute. But I just couldn't do it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Holy. Crap.
This book was phenomenal. The characters and relationship building was amazing. The characters all had well thought out backgrounds and stories. Their pasts played a huge part in their lives, and the author did an awesome job showing their thought processes and how this impacted their relationships.

The EMOTIONS that I felt reading this, especially the end. 🤯 As a constant over thinker, I really related to Charlotte, and I just loved her character. I also loved all of the more humorous parts and the Jane Austen references.

The community members were funny and interesting. I loved the best friends and the family members of Charlotte and George. I would read a separate book about any of them if Lizzie Shane wrote one!

Honestly, I could write pages sharing what I loved about this book, but I am going to keep it short. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fantastically written romance novel, and I will be purchasing a physical copy of this when it releases.

I really wanted to love this one. It’s still a happy go lucky romantic read, so by all means this is my own opinion, and I think many would like it. But for me, it was predictable and yet, unbelievable. What I mean is, she says she is getting a dog, then it goes to him, he has a dog. She loves Jane Austen, then it flashes to him, he’s a single 30 something that loves Austen. She’s swearing off men for 6 months, his lease to move states is up in 6 months… you kind of know where it’s going 20% in. If you’re looking for a light, predictable read, you should read this one. There’s nothing wrong with that, I think it’s cute, I just didn’t finish it with a book hangover.

A fast, romantic read with puppies, so it's hard to go wrong. The only thing I didn't really like about this book was the way the characters talked. It's hard to get interested in the romance when the dialogue doesn't sound real or relatable. Overall, enjoyed this but not a must read.

I legitimately had butterflies in my stomach for about 75% of this book. There is so much to love about it:

-Jane Austen quotes
-Puppies (obviously)
-Dual POV
-He falls first
-Ted Lasso references
-Charlotte's friend Kendall (I love a friend who will call you out on your BS but still loves and supports you)
-George's sisters are hilarious
-Emergency book club meetings (yes, this absolutely should be a thing. This was my favorite scene)
-Emma's book. I melted.

The 25% of the book I didn't love was a little more than halfway through.
-Charlotte's last name is Rodriguez, and there's only one scene where it's briefly mentioned that her dad was speaking in Spanish. No other reference was made to their culture throughout the book, so this just seemed really random to me. It was so unrelated to any other part of the story it had me wondering if this was to checkmark a diversity quota. Which doesn't feel right.
-Charlotte was definitely being clingy and asking for a lot, which granted was the point. Lizzie portrayed this quite well because I didn't like Charlotte during this portion when she was being unreasonable. Thankfully, Kendall was there to shake some sense into her. This probably shouldn't even count as a "dislike," because it was clear that this was the author's intention. She may have just done it a little too well lol.

But overall, I started with warm feels and ended with warm fells. I didn't want to put this book down. It was a great read! FYI this is a closed door romance.