This was such a cute, cozy, and fluffy romance! It started off a bit slow, but around the halfway point, I really got into the storyline and found myself rooting for the main characters. Their journey kept me invested, and I loved seeing their relationship develop.
The main characters work together and soon partner up on a project to create a calendar featuring men and dogs. SWOON! Their banter was great and the MMC was a grumpy sunshine/golden retriever boy which I loved!
As an animal lover, the pet theme was a definite highlight! It added a sweet, heartwarming touch to the story. The book overall had a fun, lighthearted vibe with some genuinely funny moments that made me smile.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life. The audio quality was clear, and the performance made the story even more enjoyable.
If you're in the mood for a feel-good romance with charm, humor, and a dash of pet love, I definitely recommend this one!

This was such a cute and lovely read. I really enjoyed myself with this one. It was such an easy read and I really needed this one right now. I loved the main characters and their quirks, but I also really loved their storyline. I laughed out loud at times and had my feet kicking with the giggles for this book. I'm 100% going to read more of this author! The narrator was also a great addition, she really brought the story to life and was nice to listen to. This was just a great book overall and I definitely recommend this one!

Finding Mr. July is an adorable workplace romance read, plus dogs, and really who can go wrong with that. I really enjoyed the banter between the love interests and the FMCs internal commentary. I loved the calendar project and thought it was very fun to go through the process with them. There were some sideline stories I thought could have been expanded on, or alternatively left out completely. Some characters were introduced then sort of abandoned and left me wondering. There were others I wanted much more from, so I am curious to see if there will be more books in this world. Some of the conflict between the main characters felt unnecessary, but it didn't deter me from continuing.

I thought the narrator did a fantastic job with the decent size cast of characters. She had a good cadence and was very expressive.

A charming, feel-good romance with heart and humor. Finding Mr. July by Anna E. Collins is a delightful summer read that left me smiling. Great to read on the beach.

Holly knows she needs to win the work contest to be promoted and officially move on from her ex. She knows the perfect coworker to help her win, unfortunately they recently had a steamy run in. Can Holly finish her work project and time and get the promotion with the big move or will her or her coworkers sabotage the work?

Read if you like:
📅 Workplace Romance
📅 Banter
📅 Men and their Dogs
📅 Gumpy/Sunshine

Thank you to the publishers and NetGally for this Advanced Release copy. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This one was very cute. I loved the premise. It was sweet to see Holly and Jonathan’s relationship progress over the course of the book. Seeing them work together on the calendar and open up to each other.

I also liked seeing their interactions with the men who modeled for the calendar. Seeing the funny situations that arose.

I feel like Holly’s reaction to Jonathan’s explanation at the end of the book was a little intense. But it was nice to see how it was resolved.

Really enjoyed and def recommend.

Thanks Hachette Audio for the audiobook via Netgalley

Finding Mr. July is a delightful tale by Anna E. Collins. When attorney Holly King’s life imploded, she left law and the law firm that supported her cheating ex over her. She now finds herself living in her widowed brother’s guest suite, helping with her niece Ava, and working as an intern for her friend Rachel at an environmental nonprofit. As the course of the internship comes to a close, Holly is pitted against the other three interns to design and implement a fundraising project using the limited resources provided. Each contender has access to their mentor, a creative staff member, and a small budget.

When Holly stumbles upon the idea of a calendar that poses a man with his canine best friend her idea is approved but for such a project she will need to complete the product early enough to give her time to make sales. With only grumpy graphic artist Johnathan Summers still available to work with, it’s likely to be a very long project!

As the two opposite personalities work together to create the end product there will be many pitfalls along the way and the reader will be taken along on the humorous journey to finding oneself and future as a byproduct of an actual task. This is a very enjoyable book and I do recommend it!

Love the premise. Holly is trying to start a second career by taking an internship with an environmental nonprofit. If she can be the intern to raise the most money during the summer, she can earn a permanent position in Scotland. Her fundraiser: a calendar featuring dogs and hot guys in nature. Her photographer is the (hot) office grump. But as they work together they realize they both have baggage to unpack.

Grumpy sunshine romance is one of my favorite tropes. And the workplace aspect added great tension which led to some good spice. The photo shoots were fun as well.

I found the third act breakup annoying and unnecessary. I felt like the characters should have trusted each other more by that point. I did like the resolution of the breakup though.

The narrator did a great job with all the voices and made the story come alive.

Thank you to @Netgalley and @readforeverpub for the chance to review this ARC and to @hachetteaudio for the ALC.

Puppies, calendar hunks, and a grumpy hottie, oh my!!! Overall, I thought this was a super cute read and the narration was really great! The first half was a little slow for me but I definitely gained more interest in the second half. I loved that both main characters had messy pasts as it made them much more likable. I definitely related to Holly as I work in the corporate field and have been similarly screwed over by a coworker. Unfortunately so common! UGH
The story was so different than any of the recent rom coms that I have read. So refreshing!! The idea of getting on a dating app to find calendar models is hilarious and totally out of the box.
I really enjoyed this listen and would love to read or listen to more from Anna E. Collins!

Gave me all the romantic, lighthearted, cozy feels I wanted for a summer romance! I couldn't put this down and definitely recommend it! It was such a fun read you'll fly in this!

Thanks to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the advance listener copy!

I really liked this book! The narrator was great and did a good job with both the male and female voices, which made it easy to listen to.

The story was fun and well written. I enjoyed the connection between Holly and Jonathan. They clearly liked each other but were trying not to act on it, which kept the tension going in a good way.

Holly was a little frustrating at times because she couldn’t make up her mind, and Jonathan was a bit closed off at times. Both Holly and Jonathan had personal issues they needed to deal with, and I liked how they worked through them by the end.

The book is told only from Holly’s point of view. I think it would have been even better if we got to hear Jonathan’s thoughts too. Still, it was a sweet and enjoyable romance. I’d read more from this author!

I had such high hopes for this story! In terms of the content and the book itself, it just fell flat for me. The characters were a little immature at times, and the rivalry didn’t seem like such. The playful banter definitely saved the story from being a complete failure for me.

Now onto the narration… in my opinion, a duet narration would’ve helped this book. However, the narrator did a great job with the delivery.

This one started off strong, but somewhere around the halfway point, it began to lose momentum for me. It’s a contemporary romance featuring a grumpy-sunshine dynamic, told from a single POV, with an FMC in her 30s...elements I usually enjoy.

Around the halfway mark, the pacing started to slow, and I found myself losing steam. Holly had potential as a main character, but her level of immaturity didn’t quite make sense for where she was in life, and it ended up driving an unnecessary third-act breakup that felt more frustrating than emotional.

I also struggled to fully invest in her career journey. It didn’t seem like she was all that passionate about the job she was pursuing. It felt more like she was running from her old one, which made it hard for me to root for her success. I didn't really care if she won the competition or not because she didn't seem like she was that into the message of the company. She just wanted to go to Scotland.

That said, the audiobook performance was a highlight. The narrator gave a great performance overall, and I especially loved the voice she used for Jonathan- gruff, distinct, and totally on-brand for the grumpy love interest. 3/5 stars

A mixed read for me, but there were definitely some bright spots.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ALC & ARC in exchange for an honest review!

ALC Review: Finding Mr. July by Anna E Collins
Pub Date: July 1
Narrator: Lauren Ezzo

Wow I loved this book!! This is my first book by the author and I definitely need to check out her other books. I feel like I've been in a bit of a rut just reading authors that I know and not always taking chances on new to me authors. I am super super glad I checked this one out as I had a great time and didn't want to stop listening!

? Who is a new to you author that you've discovered recently?

Finding Mr. July follows Holly who is changing careers in her 30s and is now an intern at a nonprofit. She and the other interns are competing for a chance to head up their new office in Glasgow Scotland and she has to come up with a fundraising idea that will raise the most money. And of course, she gets paired with the office's most grumpy photographer who thinks her idea of a tasteful calendar featuring hot men and their dogs is silly. But Jonathan begrudgingly helps her and the more time they spend together, the more Holly realizes that his grumpy exterior is really hiding a much softer guy underneath

I loved the balance this book had between the overarching plot and the romance and how the two affected each other. Holly's task to find 12 hot guys with dogs starts to feel a little chaotic and zaney at times but it just fit with the overall romcom vibes. The chemistry between Holly and Jonathan was really delicious and I was ready for those fireworks when they finally did get together!

I really enjoyed the narration by Lauren Ezzo - I don't think I've listened to her before but I certainly would again! I thought her performance was great and it absolutely made me want to keep listening!

Read this for:
- Workplace Romance
- Grumpy/Sunshine
- Lots of cute dogs
- Slow-ish burn
- Starting Over
- Single POV

Thank you to @hachetteaudio for the ALC and @readforeverpub for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Workplace romance about two individuals who have never gotten along. When one of them has to finish a project for an internship the pair are forced together to achieve the same goal. The project includes hot men and puppies for a calendar fundraiser and I was here for it! But overall I just found the characters to be flat and this novel didn't capture my attention. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it.

Finding Mr. July by Anna E. Collins is an enemies-to-lovers, workplace romance that was an absolute delight! Narration was done by Lauren Ezzo who helped bring the story to life with an amazing performance. Holly is working as an intern and competing in her nonprofits fundraising competition, hoping to win and earn a full-time job in Scotland. Jonathan is the office grump who ends up partnering with Holly to create her contribution, a calendar with attractive men and adorable dogs! The banter and chemistry between main characters was fantastic. It felt like the progression of the chemistry and relationship was realistic and the supporting characters added to the charm of the story. I also loved how the author described the different settings for the photo shoots, they felt magical and I could imagine all of the beautiful details.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and the author for this ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute rom com and I enjoyed it. I wasn't super crazy about the narrator. Thought it would have been better as a dual narrator book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook by this author. I have read other books by her, and this one is just as cure and lovable as the others. I love a good broody MMC, and Jonathan was perfect (while also being so warm on the inside). Holly was an enjoyable FMC, but I honestly didn't love her. I felt she was slightly immature, so I knocked off a star for that. Overall, I enjoyed the book.

Finding Mr. July is a fun, feel-good rom-com filled with opposites-attract charm, forced proximity tension, and an adorably chaotic pack of dogs! When intern Holly King enters a high-stakes nonprofit fundraising competition, she pitches the ultimate calendar idea: hot, outdoorsy guys posing with rescue pups. The catch? She has to work closely with the office grump, talented (and swoon-worthy) photographer Jonathan Summers.

Their work relationship gets off to a steamy start, and sparks continue to fly as they scramble to photograph twelve months’ worth of hunky dog lovers in just a few short weeks. With Holly’s dream job on the line and her heart unexpectedly tangled up in something more, she’ll have to decide what matters most.

I listened to this one on audio as well, and the narrator did a great job bringing the banter, heat, and humor to life, making the workplace tension and puppy chaos even more fun. With open-door spice and canine cuteness, Finding Mr. July is out now and perfect for fans of flirty, puppy-filled workplace romances!

Men with dogs can i say more?! I thought this was adorable. I listened to the audiobook and had a blast. I was laughing with them. I love some good banter and this had it! Such a great book to start my summer reading goals off with!