Review: You Lucky Dog by Julia London

About the Book:

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.

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My Thoughts:

I love the premise and the cover of You Lucky Dog by Julia London. Both are so darn cute! The book is a little bit romantic comedy, a little family drama, and the third-person narrative makes for unique romance fiction.

The main characters, Carly and Max, have a few things in common. They both own basset hounds. They both have difficult family situations. Lastly, they have the same dog walker, who has difficulty staying out of trouble with the law. It’s not hard to see where this is going! The basset hounds get mixed up and returned to the wrong owners, and the fun ensues as owners and dogs deal with the mix up amidst their usual life chaos.

I liked Max, and his devotion to his family is admirable. His struggle to balance his family’s needs and his attempt to secure tenure as a neuroscience professor is stressful. Carly is a publicist with big dreams and too-few clients. Her financial issues and difficult parents are not quite as compelling a story to follow. While I found Max and Carly’s romance and banter to be cute, I didn’t feel much chemistry between these very different people. I did not care for the use of third-person POV in the telling of this story. However, I loved, loved, loved Baxter and Hazel, the mixed up basset hounds; they were the stars of the ~~tail~~ tale.

About the Author: Julia London is the New York Times and USA Today best selling author of more than two dozen romantic fiction novels. She is the author of the popular historical romance series, the Cabot Sisters, including The Trouble with Honor, The Devil Takes a Bride, and The Scoundrel and the Debutante. She is also the author of several contemporary romances, including Homecoming Ranch, Return to Homecoming Ranch, and The Perfect Homecoming.

Julia is the recipient of the RT Bookclub Award for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction.