Pugs and Kisses follows Evie Williams and Bryson Mitchell, former friends turned almost-couple who met in vet school. Their old mentor reaches out to ask for their help when his dog rescue (the site of their almost romance) comes under threat of shutting down.

Through their work to save the rescue, Evie and Bryson confront their history, the status/class differences that tore them apart, and Evie’s willingness to start again after a long-remembered heartbreak and a fresh betrayal to recover from.

If you read or heard about Pardon My Frenchie, this is book two in that series, the heroines are best friends and reappear, with plenty of groundwork laid for a third book about Ridley and Von.

I enjoyed this one, it flows so well that I found myself blowing through it before I realized. The present-day flirtation between Evie and Bryson is sweet, and it shows the strong foundation they have as friends without being overly reliant on off-page throwbacks to their vet school days. Given the interpersonal mess Evie finds herself in, I was relieved to see it handled quickly and decisively with no threat of a love triangle featuring her doofus ex. While the third act conflict isn’t exactly brilliant on one character’s part, it is in line with the rest of the book.

I think this is a great palette cleanser, a light summer read, and an improvement in the series. The build up does lead me to believe that book 3 might be the winner take all though, so I’ll be staying tuned!

I was happy to see that we were getting a book for Evie. She was in the author’s last book as a secondary character, and I loved that one. I enjoyed the fact that it was a second chance romance, but I didn’t care for the third act breakup which thankfully didn’t last long. Plus, I’m always here for more romances set in NOLA.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

Really enjoyed this charming romance novel and loved the leads and supporting cast. The book is quite fun and I think most people would have a good time with this read.

3.75 ⭐️ If you're a dog parent or love dogs, you'd enjoy this read! A second chance, friends to lovers, dog saving, cute little romance. ❤️ Two past lovers reunite and work to try and save a veterinary clinic. 🥰

Farrah Rochon continues her dog-lovers New Orleans rom com series with this second installment, Pugs and Kisses. For fans of fast-paced, light-hearted romances, this is a great pick.

Evie Williams life has changed suddenly. After catching her fiancee in bed with another woman, she finds herself single, unemployed, and a little aimless. Until her college crush, Bryson Mitchell, returns to town and the animal shelter they both volunteered at is on the brink of closure. Now, Bryson and Evie must face their past as they try to create a future for the shelter that meant so much to them and maybe for them, too.

There are many great things about this book. I love romance anthologies because we get glimpse of the past couples doing well, and so it was fun to see Ashanti and Thad and pieces of their life continued. Evie is a multi-faceted character in her own right, and it was great to see her perspective on the friend trio and how she approaches life. Bryson is another fun character with some dimension. He’s worked hard and is great at his job, and loves animals in the same way Evie does. It was enjoyable to see them bounce off each other professionally and personally. They had good chemistry, which made the romance enjoyable.

Because they were such good characters, I think that’s why I rated this a 3.5 stars. I wanted more, and I think there was room for it. Several plot points and emotional beats felt sudden, and I think there was room to dive into why these characters felt or acted a certain way more than what we got to maybe feel less sudden. The reader would have benefitted from like 50 more pages that included a couple confrontations and a little more time in the resolution with two side characters in particular to really tie up the joy of the shelter resolution.

All in all, a fun, easy, and quick read.

Initially drawn in by the cute cover and pun-ny title, this turned out to be a delightful cozy romance.

Pros: the writing style, cast of characters, DOGS (obviously.)

Cons: the romance was too slow, the ending too fast. I also didn't realize that this was the second book in the same universe and was spoiled on Pardon My Frenchie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Actually 4.5⭐️

I was in a reading slump for most of April and Pugs & Kisses was the only book that was able to pull me out of it, even if only for a few days.

I loved Evie and Bryson’s story. I’m a sucker for a good second chance romance and this one did not disappoint.

I will definitely be recommending this to others.

Pugs and Kisses is a sweet romance where two people find who they truly are and where they fit in life and maybe they find each other.

Evie…my gosh the way this book starts I wanted to scoop her up and give her a big hug but this woman is a force. Evie sets out to figure what comes next and the strength she finds in herself is truly amazing. I love that she started to do things just for her and found her love for herself again.

Through her journey Evie reconnects with an old friend, Bryson and something starts to stir inside her and she has to decide if she’s willing to take a chance.

Bryson is back home and as he gets used to being back he starts to remember the beauty of home. He has so much to overcome come when it comes to his past with Evie and boy did he almost mess it all up.

This book is beautiful and highlights the strong bonds of friendship and the importance of loving who you are.

I received an ARC of this title from Netgalley. Here are my honest opinions.

I really like Farrah Rochon's writing, and the type of characters she writes. You want her characters to be happy. Through in that they're veterinarians, set it in New Orleans, talk about Ethiopian food, and have multiple adorable dogs, and this is going to be a good time. A relaxing read when the world out there is ... the world out there.

Pugs and Kisses brings us a heroine, Evie, who has never felt like she has stood on her own, uncompromising in making her own decisions. She was raised in a wealthy family and meant to go into medicine. While she goes into veterinary medicine instead of what her mother wanted, she instantly went to work for her boyfriend. When they break up, she wonders what her future holds.

Bryson volunteered at an animal shelter with her, and went on to be world renowned. Now he's back. When they meet again, he is determined he win her love after making the mistake of letting her go before. From more humble beginnings, he never felt like he would fit in with her world.

Now, the shelter is in danger of shutting down so they team up to save it.

We also revisit characters from Pardon My Frenchie!

I love Farrah Rochon's characters, what she finds attractive in a hero, and how both of her characters are community minded. I could also read about New Orleans forever. As the song goes, Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans? (Heh, even though I've only been there once.)

Gorgeous setting, gorgeous people, gorgeous dogs, incredible setting!

Evie and Bryson have a very interesting fight that left me torn on whether or not I would have been as offended as Evie. Maybe? I still think Bryson should have cleared it up easily in the moment. But it leads to more romance, so who am I to complain?

One small issue I have with the author's books is that I invest in the side plots, wondering how the characters are going to solve whatever they're non-romantically going through, and then it's a deus ex machina -- solved in a way that feels like that was never important or like a couple more pages of the nitty gritty were never considered.

Romance is a happy genre, and so of course I want everything to work out, even work out the way that it does -- which is admittedly set up nicely -- but it felt a little too easy to be fully satisfying.

I know, and find it valid, that a lot of readers won't care, and it's not what they're seeking, so I accept that it's a me thing, and it's never going to stop be from picking up the next book!

I'm assuming we're getting another book in the series, Ridley's (and Von's) story, and I'm very excited! She WILL learn to love dogs, right?!?

This book was so fun! I am a huge animal lover myself so I was drawn to the cover and title. I enjoyed the second chance romance so much and these characters, as well as the setting! I want to check out more from this author!

This was cute rom com, nothing more nothing less. It did start to lull in the middle of the storyline but I enjoyed it!

This was such a cute, second-chance romance. Groveling? We love to see it. I loved the way that, despite their unresolved feelings and resentment, Evie and Bryson worked together for the greater good in regards to the animal shelter where they got their start. The slow burn romance was done really well, and I was thoroughly invested in not only them getting their HEA but also saving the animal shelter. I'm a sucker for an animal companion so I absolutely adored all of the doggie moments we got throughout this story. This was such an easy and swoon-worthy read.

Pugs and Kisses gave us a second chance, slow burn romance with rescue pups as the cherry on top! Evie and Bryson had a summer fling back in college while interning at the Sanctuary, and the connection was instant. But when Bryson let his fears (and class differences) get the best of him, he ghosted without a word. Fast forward a few years, and he’s back in New Orleans, while Evie is fresh off catching her fiancé cheating… so yeah, she’s not exactly thrilled to see him stroll back into her life. But when the Sanctuary needs saving, the two team up and working together just proves that spark never really died.

I really enjoyed this one overall! The chemistry was there, the doggie moments were adorable, and I loved their growth. My only hang-up was that the ending felt a bit rushed, and some of the side plot threads (especially with their parents and Dr. Landry) were just kind of… left hanging? Still, a sweet and swoony story that made me smile.

This was adorable! Cute dogs, cute romance, low drama, what more can you ask for? The second chance elements were nicely set up (without feeling like the original breakup was pointless), and both leads were swoony in all the best ways.

This is the second in a series, but you do not need to read the first one to understand it. Though I might go back and read Pardon My Frenchie for some more cute dogs and NOLA vibes :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am rating this book a 3.75 overall. I got to read this early thanks to NetGalley. This was my first time reading a book by this author and I enjoyed it. It was a cute, slow burn. Like really sloooow burn, they didn’t kiss until about 56% in and it was still a mild kiss haha. If you are in the mood for a romance that focuses more on the FMC and MMC emotional connection building rather than having a lot of the book focus on the spicy scenes, then I think you will enjoy this. It was refreshing to read a book that had minimal spicy scenes and even then the spicy scenes were more toned down compared to other books I’ve read. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy those books too but it was nice to read something different. I enjoyed the contemporary references. It’s not a 4 or above because 90% into the book the FMC and MMC had an argument that I was not expecting, especially after they had made a lot of progress so it just seemed unnecessary. Or I would’ve liked it more if they had communicated sooner and not waited as long. Overall still a cute read and loved that fur babies made many appearances throughout the book.

This was so stinking cute!

This is filled with an adorable romance, cute dogs, and wonderful friendships. Evie and Bryson were so adorable. I loved them so much. They had a great friendship that blossomed into more. The built up to the romance was written wonderfully and had so many swoon worthy moments. This one is for the slow burn lovers.

This was a low stakes/drama story but it did have a little bit to keep things interesting. The drama is mostly with side characters like Evie's and Bryson's family members. I would mostly say this is a feel-good story though.

A wonderful romance for dog lovers!

Loved this story! I read it quickly, and loved the tension between the two main characters. The way I wanted to hug Evie and Bryson’s dogs!!! This is the perfect book for any dog lover who appreciates competency in a man.

Read if you like: Grey’s Anatomy (but make it vets), dogs (duh), second-chance romance, teaming up for the sake of a good cause, and a light sprinkling of spice

Thanks to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me with a copy of the book.

Set in New Orleans, Evie runs into her college crush just after breaking up with her cheating fiancé. Bryson has just moved back to town, highly successful in their field. They run into each other at the dog sanctuary they volunteered at the summer they got close 8 years ago, now finding it about to close due to lack of funds. Working together to save it, Evie and Bryson deal with their past while also finding a future together.

This book as an amazing sense of place. I loved seeing them explore the city (and getting to see Bryson's hometown!). The friendships in this series stand strong as well, creating a great community as these two get their second chance at love. Farrah Rochon remains an auto-read author for me!

This romance includes:
🐕 Veterinarian main characters (great detail about their different jobs in this field)
🐕 Slow Burn
🐕 Second Chance
🐕 Waffles the Pug mix and Bella the Papillon!
🐕 Delightful descriptions of food in New Orleans
🐕 Complex relationships with parents

Fingers crossed we get Ridley and Von next!

Content Warning - death of a pet (not MC's), infidelity (FMC's ex cheats on page in first chapter, FMC's father's cheating is also described later)

Open door / some spice

5 / 5 stars

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for this eARC!

Evie’s life has been thrown for a loop when she walks in on her fiancee cheating on her. She immediately ends things by kicking him out. And who might she run into days later? Bryson, now famous vet, the only other man who has broken her heart. Forced to work together to save The Sanctuary, the pair grows close. But can Evie overcome how Bryson left without a trace all those years ago?

This book was dual pov 3rd person. The writing was captivating and I was drawn in initially but the romance was a little too slow for me. But if you like dogs, second chance romances, and slow burns this one’s for you!

Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

If you're looking for a sweet, fun read where the adults actually communicate, Pugs and Kisses is for you.

I absolutely loved the premise of this story as it's a forced proximity situation that I haven't read before. The tension between Evie and Bryson is evident from their very first on page interaction, and the slow burn between them is absolutely delicious. I am a sucker for second chance romances, and Farrah Rochon does not disappoint. Especially as she ensures that issues between the couple are addressed so that we, as readers, aren't left banging our heads against the wall at their miscommunication, or lack thereof.

I also appreciated Evie and Bryson's relationships with their respective parents. We all know our relationships with our parents change and grow as we do, and I feel as though Farrah does an exceptional job of portraying the complexity of familial relationships while not being heavy handed.

If you're a fan of slow burns, second chances, and, of course, dogs, I highly recommend Pugs and Kisses.