You Lucky Dog by Julia London – a Review

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Description:
An accidental dog swap unleashes an unexpected love match in this new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Julia London.

Carly Kennedy’s life is in a spiral. She is drowning in work, her divorced parents are going through their midlife crises, and somehow Carly’s sister convinces her to foster Baxter–a basset hound rescue with a bad case of the blues. When Carly comes home late from work one day to discover that the dog walker has accidentally switched out Baxter for another perkier, friendlier basset hound, she has reached the end of her leash.

When Max Sheffington finds a depressed male basset hound in place of his cheerful Hazel, he is bewildered. But when cute, fiery Carly arrives on his doorstep, he is intrigued. He was expecting the dog walker, not a pretty woman with firm ideas about dog discipline. And Carly was not expecting a handsome, bespectacled man to be feeding her dog mac and cheese. Baxter is besotted with Hazel, and Carly realizes she may have found the key to her puppy’s happiness. For his sake, she starts to spend more time with Hazel and Max, until she begins to understand the appeal of falling for your polar opposite.

Review:

You Lucky Dog by Julia London is a standalone novel that is a romantic comedy.  I have read a number of books by London, and this one was a bit different.   Carly Kennedy, our heroine, is a publicist for a fashion designer and other cliets.  Carly has a basset hound dog named Baxter, who always seems depressed, and when she comes home late one evening, she notices that Baxter was acting strange.  She realizes that the dog walker brought in the wrong dog, and now Carly has to find who has Baxter.

Max Sheffington, our hero, is a scientist, who owns a basset hound dog named Hazel, and when he comes home, he sees his dog is not acting like her rambunctious self.  With the dog walker in jail, Carly manages to find Max’s address and goes to get her dog.  What she didn’t expect was a handsome hunk opening the door, and Baxter running out to greet Hazel, his beloved.  Now we know why Baxter was always depressed, as Hazel was his love.

In a short period, Max and Carly become friends sharing time with the dogs being together, and a slow build romance starts.  But each has their own issues, with Carly’s clients being disasters, and her career in jeopardy, she is desperate to find a job that pays well.  Carly also has issues with her divorced parents, and her mom claiming she has met a wonderful man. 

Max is worried as he is up for tenure at the university, and feels his chances are slim, since another woman seems to have a better shot.  At the same time, Max’s autistic brother, Jaime depends on his father, with both knowing he will need to eventually find a group home for him. 

Things totally change when both families are brought together, as Max’s dad and Carly’s mom are in love.  The family part of story becomes a bit crazy, and funny at times, but also a bit annoying, as it was kind of a hit miss with them.  I did love Max and Carly together, as they made a great couple, and most of all I loved loved Hazel and Baxter together.  That was the best part of this story.  lol

As cute and adorable this was at times, I wasn’t crazy about the designer, especially when he continued to ruin all of Carly’s plans.  The chemistry between Carly and Max was great, and I enjoyed their time with the dogs, as we rooted hard for them to stay together.   A lot happened in the last ¼ of the book, that changes things for Max, Carly and their family.  Will Max and Carly find a way to stay together? You will need to read the book to find out.  You Lucky Dog was a cute lighthearted read.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher