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h_ritter's review against another edition
I got 7 minutes and 30 seconds in before I got really annoyed hearing the story in third person and three sentences in a row with the person’s first name being the start of the sentence.
theinbetween87's review against another edition
4.0
Such a cute story. A fun and light-hearted rom-com.
jackie_of_all_books's review against another edition
3.0
Carly and Max
Based in Austin texas
This would be more of a 3.5 star book but I don’t have that option and I’m trying to be stingier on my ratings.
Carly recently lost her job at the firm and her friend tried to convince her to move to nyc for a fresh start. She’s trying to freelance and when she gets home she realizes the basset hound in her house is not her basset hound, Baxter. She never wanted a dog but her mom got her sisters kids a dog and when they didn’t want it she felt bad and took it. But now the dog in her house is eating her throw pillows and on her couch. She gets a message from her friend not to be late to the photo shoot and she realizes it’s Tuesday, photoshoot day and dog Walker day. So her dog Walker messed up. So she takes this dog with her to the shoot. She gets ordered to go get burgers and when she comes back the shoot is done and this strange basset hound is in all of the photos. This dog doesn’t have any contacts on it and her dog Walker won’t pick up the phone. Meanwhile max realizes the dog in his home is not Hazel. But I don’t know if he just doesn’t check for tags? But he takes the dog to class with him in homes his dog Walker will call to fix the mistake. He was banking on his dog Walker staying this weekend with hazel so he can take his brother Jamie who is autistic to a dog show and give his dad a break as his care taker. We got a little backstory on Jamie and max. That Jamie bonded with dogs and got a job cleaning pens and walking dogs and loved it and they realized he was able to touch and interact with dogs. So max started doing trials at school with foster dogs to show the interaction between dogs and people on the spectrum. Max is worried he won’t be able to find anyone to watch this dog and without proper papers he can’t board a random dog. His dad isn’t much help but he knows he has to find someone because Jamie has been looking forward to this dog show for weeks. He tries calling everyone and he’s at his last hope of calling Elena. We know she’s who he slept with the night he didn’t realize Baxter wasn’t Hazel. And then they realized they’re both up for tenure this year and have a lot of work to do so while this was fun, that’s that. But before he can do that a women is at his door in a pants suit and then Baxter sees her and comes out and she tells him he’s her dog and that Bubbles (hazel) is at a photoshoot. And she found out their dog Walker was arrested for selling weed and his friend Kai mixed their dogs up. She wants to take Baxter now but he tells her a dog for a dog. And while she’s gone he starts to wonder if maybe she would watch Hazel while he takes Jamie to the dog show. Hazel has been popular at her photoshoots. Victor is the fashion kid she wears his clothes and gets made fun of for. And then while her photographer friend Phil was watching Hazel she got to be a bridesmaid and wear a tutu with a bridal shoot. When she brings back Hazel, Baxter comes running out and she’s never seen him play the way he does with Hazel. He seems so happy. So max mans up and asks her if she’ll watch Hazel. At first she thinks he’s out of his mind but he explains the situation with Jamie and his dad so she agrees. Hazel and Baxter cause all sorts of mayhem and she sends max pictures of it but he doesn’t seem to care which upsets her. And when she FaceTimes him she wonders if he lied and is actually entertaining a women. When he comes to pick Hazel up she confronts him and he shows her proof he had taken his brother. And then she had to ask for his help getting out of a skirt. It’s one of Victor Allen’s, her clients. He decided he didn’t want to do the red line anymore which was his finale and she already had couture lined up to interview him so she thought she would wear the outfit and just subtlety hint at the red line. And then she got stuck in it and now has to ask for Maxs help. She also got told by her land lord that her rent is going up and she hasn’t gotten any calls back for the jobs in New York so that she can go be with her friend naomi. Max helps her undo the skirt. He also tells her he’s a neuroscientist and she ends up looking him up. Baxter is depressed and she texts max and asks if he has any solutions and he suggests a play date between Hazel and Baxter and they both find themselves excited for it. Meanwhile we know Carley’s mom has been dating since her divorce. And Carley thinks her mom tells her a little too much. They meet for a play date at the park and have a really good time and then end up scheduling a second play date for the dogs. After this Max kisses Carley. Max goes to his dads and his dad confessed that he’s seeing someone and taking her to a musical. Omg omg is he gonna be dating Carley’s mom!!! Jamie is in distress over something so Max offers to take him home for the night and max ends up staying up all night texting with Carley. Carley stops by to see her mom because her sister mia was freaking out and her mom confesses she thinks she’s going to marry the man she’s seeing. Carley has a break down that everyone but her is having sex and max volunteers and they end up having sex and she can’t wait to see him again and her mom tells her the next day she can meet her boyfriend. Max had stopped by his dads place and discovered a women named evelyn there and Jamie seemed to know him and now his dad is willing to talk about putting Jamie in a home with other people on the spectrum. And then he goes to answer the door for Evelyn’s daughter and discovers that it’s Carley. CALLED IT. She freaks out and he swears he didn’t know, which he didn’t. And she doesn’t know what they should do but he doesn’t want them to freak out Jamie. So they do tell the truth that they know each other from the mix up with Baxter and hazel but don’t say that they’ve also decided to pursue a relationship. The marriage topic gets brought up and Carley and max are both uncomfy by it. And his dad says they aren’t in a hurry it’s just been discussed. Carley leaves and hears a knock at her door and discovers it to be max and they end up having sex again and she asks him what that was and he tells her it was love. Damn that was fast. Carley had stopped by to see her dad about a loan to be able to afford her new rent when he told her it wasn’t a good time and she realized it’s because his very young girlfriend was there. She calls him at a later date and he tells her she can help him sell time shares but he’s not just handing out money. They have a big family dinner between Max and Carley’s family where Carley’s sister mia announces being pregnant with her 4th child and then their parents announce planning to get married next weekend. Carley and max are both in shock at how soon that is. Max wants to know what their plan with Jamie is. Carley asks her mom if she can live in the house while she gets her feet on the ground and her mom tells her now isn’t a good time but that would be fine. Meanwhile Victor Allen her fashion designer has been throwing a million wrenches in her plans. He wouldn’t get off Instagram and was getting severe depression from the trolls talking bad about him so he had cut up all his good designs and started designing things that looked awful. He was canceling on her photo shoots and ruining her interviews. Carley was doing so much work for Victor and he kept sabotaging her. Max was also in a crunch because his interview for tenure was coming up. He was convinced elena would get it but his friend thought max really stood a good chance. Their parents run off to get married in Vegas, Carley asks max to watch Baxter while she goes to New York for a photoshoot with Victor. She finally got Inspo out of Victor and he got 7 pieces ready. But then he didn’t show up in New York when he was supposed to and told her he was scared and she told him he needed to grow up and realize the opportunities he has and get there. So the next day he showed up and they rocked the event and then the women she’s been working with offers her her dream job in New York. She goes home to max and tells him and he seems discouraged and she tells him he can come to New York and he tells her he was put up for tenure and she’s so happy for him but they’re both going in different directions. She asks him if he can watch Baxter in the mean time and he says of course. She goes to New Jersey and gets a dinky apartment and has an hour commute to work. She hasn’t decided if she likes her job but she misses Baxter and max. And then max calls to let her know that in less than 2 weeks their parents are already getting divorced that Carley’s mom and dad got back together which Mia had suspected would happen. Maxs dad was pissed at first but he bounced back. Jamie is living in a group home with 6 other adults and his black lab Duke and another adult there has a collie. We know Jamie likes to paint and Carley has always saw his talent and so I always suspected she would end up wanting to be his publicist. And on one of Carley and Maxs dates she took the number of the singer and I suspected she would snag her too. So a few months later. Max sees a girl on a park bench and realizes it’s Carley and she tells him she’s back but needs his help. She tells him she has the girl suzanna, and she’s also helping Victor Allen. She’s going to live in her dads house until he sells it and she’s extremely broke. And then at the end they’re at one of suzannas shows and she discusses how Jamie’s paintings are selling and max got tenure and Baxter and Hazel are happy. It was a cute story and I enjoyed it as an audio book. But it definitely wasn’t a favorite. It just seemed like max and Carley fell in love so quick and we’re rushed and then their parents was a predictable thing and then her becoming the publicist for Jamie and suzanna was all very predictable. I’m still going to listen to the second book and it was good background noise but there just wasn’t much in this book that was special and stuck with me. Although I do like the representation of Jamie in this book and getting to see someone on the spectrum and their reaction to different situations. You lucky dog is a good title because she had called Baxter a lucky dog for getting to stay with max and Hazel but then she referred to herself as a lucky dog for how she ended up with max in the end and how all of this started by their dog Walker selling weed and his friend putting the wrong dog in their houses. So I think that part of the story was cute though.
Based in Austin texas
This would be more of a 3.5 star book but I don’t have that option and I’m trying to be stingier on my ratings.
Carly recently lost her job at the firm and her friend tried to convince her to move to nyc for a fresh start. She’s trying to freelance and when she gets home she realizes the basset hound in her house is not her basset hound, Baxter. She never wanted a dog but her mom got her sisters kids a dog and when they didn’t want it she felt bad and took it. But now the dog in her house is eating her throw pillows and on her couch. She gets a message from her friend not to be late to the photo shoot and she realizes it’s Tuesday, photoshoot day and dog Walker day. So her dog Walker messed up. So she takes this dog with her to the shoot. She gets ordered to go get burgers and when she comes back the shoot is done and this strange basset hound is in all of the photos. This dog doesn’t have any contacts on it and her dog Walker won’t pick up the phone. Meanwhile max realizes the dog in his home is not Hazel. But I don’t know if he just doesn’t check for tags? But he takes the dog to class with him in homes his dog Walker will call to fix the mistake. He was banking on his dog Walker staying this weekend with hazel so he can take his brother Jamie who is autistic to a dog show and give his dad a break as his care taker. We got a little backstory on Jamie and max. That Jamie bonded with dogs and got a job cleaning pens and walking dogs and loved it and they realized he was able to touch and interact with dogs. So max started doing trials at school with foster dogs to show the interaction between dogs and people on the spectrum. Max is worried he won’t be able to find anyone to watch this dog and without proper papers he can’t board a random dog. His dad isn’t much help but he knows he has to find someone because Jamie has been looking forward to this dog show for weeks. He tries calling everyone and he’s at his last hope of calling Elena. We know she’s who he slept with the night he didn’t realize Baxter wasn’t Hazel. And then they realized they’re both up for tenure this year and have a lot of work to do so while this was fun, that’s that. But before he can do that a women is at his door in a pants suit and then Baxter sees her and comes out and she tells him he’s her dog and that Bubbles (hazel) is at a photoshoot. And she found out their dog Walker was arrested for selling weed and his friend Kai mixed their dogs up. She wants to take Baxter now but he tells her a dog for a dog. And while she’s gone he starts to wonder if maybe she would watch Hazel while he takes Jamie to the dog show. Hazel has been popular at her photoshoots. Victor is the fashion kid she wears his clothes and gets made fun of for. And then while her photographer friend Phil was watching Hazel she got to be a bridesmaid and wear a tutu with a bridal shoot. When she brings back Hazel, Baxter comes running out and she’s never seen him play the way he does with Hazel. He seems so happy. So max mans up and asks her if she’ll watch Hazel. At first she thinks he’s out of his mind but he explains the situation with Jamie and his dad so she agrees. Hazel and Baxter cause all sorts of mayhem and she sends max pictures of it but he doesn’t seem to care which upsets her. And when she FaceTimes him she wonders if he lied and is actually entertaining a women. When he comes to pick Hazel up she confronts him and he shows her proof he had taken his brother. And then she had to ask for his help getting out of a skirt. It’s one of Victor Allen’s, her clients. He decided he didn’t want to do the red line anymore which was his finale and she already had couture lined up to interview him so she thought she would wear the outfit and just subtlety hint at the red line. And then she got stuck in it and now has to ask for Maxs help. She also got told by her land lord that her rent is going up and she hasn’t gotten any calls back for the jobs in New York so that she can go be with her friend naomi. Max helps her undo the skirt. He also tells her he’s a neuroscientist and she ends up looking him up. Baxter is depressed and she texts max and asks if he has any solutions and he suggests a play date between Hazel and Baxter and they both find themselves excited for it. Meanwhile we know Carley’s mom has been dating since her divorce. And Carley thinks her mom tells her a little too much. They meet for a play date at the park and have a really good time and then end up scheduling a second play date for the dogs. After this Max kisses Carley. Max goes to his dads and his dad confessed that he’s seeing someone and taking her to a musical. Omg omg is he gonna be dating Carley’s mom!!! Jamie is in distress over something so Max offers to take him home for the night and max ends up staying up all night texting with Carley. Carley stops by to see her mom because her sister mia was freaking out and her mom confesses she thinks she’s going to marry the man she’s seeing. Carley has a break down that everyone but her is having sex and max volunteers and they end up having sex and she can’t wait to see him again and her mom tells her the next day she can meet her boyfriend. Max had stopped by his dads place and discovered a women named evelyn there and Jamie seemed to know him and now his dad is willing to talk about putting Jamie in a home with other people on the spectrum. And then he goes to answer the door for Evelyn’s daughter and discovers that it’s Carley. CALLED IT. She freaks out and he swears he didn’t know, which he didn’t. And she doesn’t know what they should do but he doesn’t want them to freak out Jamie. So they do tell the truth that they know each other from the mix up with Baxter and hazel but don’t say that they’ve also decided to pursue a relationship. The marriage topic gets brought up and Carley and max are both uncomfy by it. And his dad says they aren’t in a hurry it’s just been discussed. Carley leaves and hears a knock at her door and discovers it to be max and they end up having sex again and she asks him what that was and he tells her it was love. Damn that was fast. Carley had stopped by to see her dad about a loan to be able to afford her new rent when he told her it wasn’t a good time and she realized it’s because his very young girlfriend was there. She calls him at a later date and he tells her she can help him sell time shares but he’s not just handing out money. They have a big family dinner between Max and Carley’s family where Carley’s sister mia announces being pregnant with her 4th child and then their parents announce planning to get married next weekend. Carley and max are both in shock at how soon that is. Max wants to know what their plan with Jamie is. Carley asks her mom if she can live in the house while she gets her feet on the ground and her mom tells her now isn’t a good time but that would be fine. Meanwhile Victor Allen her fashion designer has been throwing a million wrenches in her plans. He wouldn’t get off Instagram and was getting severe depression from the trolls talking bad about him so he had cut up all his good designs and started designing things that looked awful. He was canceling on her photo shoots and ruining her interviews. Carley was doing so much work for Victor and he kept sabotaging her. Max was also in a crunch because his interview for tenure was coming up. He was convinced elena would get it but his friend thought max really stood a good chance. Their parents run off to get married in Vegas, Carley asks max to watch Baxter while she goes to New York for a photoshoot with Victor. She finally got Inspo out of Victor and he got 7 pieces ready. But then he didn’t show up in New York when he was supposed to and told her he was scared and she told him he needed to grow up and realize the opportunities he has and get there. So the next day he showed up and they rocked the event and then the women she’s been working with offers her her dream job in New York. She goes home to max and tells him and he seems discouraged and she tells him he can come to New York and he tells her he was put up for tenure and she’s so happy for him but they’re both going in different directions. She asks him if he can watch Baxter in the mean time and he says of course. She goes to New Jersey and gets a dinky apartment and has an hour commute to work. She hasn’t decided if she likes her job but she misses Baxter and max. And then max calls to let her know that in less than 2 weeks their parents are already getting divorced that Carley’s mom and dad got back together which Mia had suspected would happen. Maxs dad was pissed at first but he bounced back. Jamie is living in a group home with 6 other adults and his black lab Duke and another adult there has a collie. We know Jamie likes to paint and Carley has always saw his talent and so I always suspected she would end up wanting to be his publicist. And on one of Carley and Maxs dates she took the number of the singer and I suspected she would snag her too. So a few months later. Max sees a girl on a park bench and realizes it’s Carley and she tells him she’s back but needs his help. She tells him she has the girl suzanna, and she’s also helping Victor Allen. She’s going to live in her dads house until he sells it and she’s extremely broke. And then at the end they’re at one of suzannas shows and she discusses how Jamie’s paintings are selling and max got tenure and Baxter and Hazel are happy. It was a cute story and I enjoyed it as an audio book. But it definitely wasn’t a favorite. It just seemed like max and Carley fell in love so quick and we’re rushed and then their parents was a predictable thing and then her becoming the publicist for Jamie and suzanna was all very predictable. I’m still going to listen to the second book and it was good background noise but there just wasn’t much in this book that was special and stuck with me. Although I do like the representation of Jamie in this book and getting to see someone on the spectrum and their reaction to different situations. You lucky dog is a good title because she had called Baxter a lucky dog for getting to stay with max and Hazel but then she referred to herself as a lucky dog for how she ended up with max in the end and how all of this started by their dog Walker selling weed and his friend putting the wrong dog in their houses. So I think that part of the story was cute though.
romancejunkie1025's review against another edition
3.0
3.75 stars. Well that was ummmm… interesting to say the least. This story was one that I really found hard to say I liked it per se, but it was definitely compelling enough that I also found it nearly impossible to put down. I am a huge fan of the historical writing of Ms. Julia London, but I always find it much harder to get into her contemporary stories, though I am not sure why as they are always written well and interesting, but this story was one where I didn’t much care for the female lead and also didn’t much feel the emotional or romantic connection between the characters until nearly the end of the story. Carly has been kicked a lot lately and she is beyond down, but when she arrives home from the mother of long days to find that the dog walker has mixed up her basset hound with another much different dog, she doesn’t realize how much it will change her life. Conversely Max Sheffington doesn’t realize the issue with his own beloved basset immediately but once he does, he is livid and confused, but determined to care for the animal until his own sweet Hazel comes back to him. When Carly and Max’s worlds collide as they attempt to trade back their dogs, they strike up a strange and reluctant friendship, though neither truly understands one another. Carly’s life continues to unravel in the strangest ways and Max has his own issues, but leaning on one another for emotional support they are able to build a believable friendship, but soon it becomes something more and they find themselves depending on the other and dating. Then the shit just hits the fan and their lives go off the rails, making them wonder if they even have a chance at a future relationship. So I have to admit I still don’t actually like Carly, despite her becoming a little bit more likeable in the end of the story. She is opinionated, but the opinions are not her own, controlling in the weirdest ways, and strict about the dumbest things. Maybe it was just something about the way she behaved with the dogs in the beginning or the way she let people walk on her too much, but she seems like a characters that would not be someone I can be friends with, and that has always been how I rate characters. She did slowly learn to stand up for herself, make herself heard and let others’ shit not affect her so much so that she could deal with her own shit. Don’t get me wrong, we all have those times where the world just seems to be conspiring against us, but there was so much whining and not enough proactive doing from her, that I found myself not a fan. And compounding bad decisions with more just because she felt she needed to do something was just not cool when it left so many people including herself unhappy. Max was a weird guy to get to know, very much in his head most of the time, but he was overall a decent guy and one of those people that just seemed to move along in life letting things happen around him and not dealing with the hard stuff until he was forced to. At the same time he handles catastrophe much better and knows what he wants out of life and goes for it in a way that made me like him much more, despite his confusion over why he was actually attracted to the strange and outrageous Carly. I loved both the Bassets in the story and they were obviously both perfect for their masters and the perfect outlet for them to come together again and again, giving them a high rating for sidekick characters in my book. While the laughter and weirdness of the relationship between Carly and Max kept things interesting, it was hard to truly point out passion or emotional connection unless they were directly pointing it out themselves. There were a few really great moments as they comforted one another through hard times, but other than that, everything seemed very superficial until the end. I also just have to put out there that I hated Carly’s entire family and hope that she is able to leave them to live their own lives for the most part as they were dragging her down through 90% of this story. If you are into quirky, compelling and interesting rom-com meet-cute stories this one will hit every button, though there was plenty of serious and dark moments, but in the end there wasn’t a lot of sensuality if you’re looking for those types of moments. I look forward greatly to the next London release in her historical series and will guarantee it will be amazing, but I continue to feel her contemporaries just aren’t my cup of tea, sadly.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up.
This was a fun, dual perspective, closed door romance between Carly, a PR specialist and Max, a tenure track Neuroscientist. The two meet when their dog walker swaps their basset hounds by mistake. Using their dogs as an excuse to meet up, they go on a series of hang outs before finally giving in to their mutual attraction.
Unbeknownst to Max and Carly their parents are also dating, leading to some awkward family dynamics. I really enjoyed these characters and their dysfunctional families. Max's brother is on the autism spectrum and it was nice to see more of that representation in fiction. My only critique was that I would have liked more of an open door romance as opposed to fade to black but the MCs definitely have steamy chemistry. Great on audio narrated by Courtney Patterson.
This was a fun, dual perspective, closed door romance between Carly, a PR specialist and Max, a tenure track Neuroscientist. The two meet when their dog walker swaps their basset hounds by mistake. Using their dogs as an excuse to meet up, they go on a series of hang outs before finally giving in to their mutual attraction.
Unbeknownst to Max and Carly their parents are also dating, leading to some awkward family dynamics. I really enjoyed these characters and their dysfunctional families. Max's brother is on the autism spectrum and it was nice to see more of that representation in fiction. My only critique was that I would have liked more of an open door romance as opposed to fade to black but the MCs definitely have steamy chemistry. Great on audio narrated by Courtney Patterson.
labraden's review against another edition
3.0
When the dog walker hired by Carly Kennedy and Max Sheffington goes to jail, their dogs, Baxter and Hazel, end up getting switched. Carly's investigation into Baxter's whereabouts leads her to Max's door, with Carly's abrupt behavior getting them off to a rough start, but their dogs are so into each other, that they have to make arrangements for them to meet again. As their dogs spend more time together, Carly and Max develop an attraction for one another that turns into something more, but their families and their jobs make it difficult for them to find a way to be together.
You Lucky Dog is a cute story with appealing characters and a plot so crazy, it's a little tough to feel invested in their lives. Much of the narrative revolves around coincidence, and a love story that takes a back seat to all of the absurdity involving the supporting characters. While there are multiple humorous incidents, they tend to overshadow the main characters, leaving their story feeling a bit flat. Overall, You Lucky Dog is lots of fun without a lot of substance. 3 1/2 stars
You Lucky Dog is a cute story with appealing characters and a plot so crazy, it's a little tough to feel invested in their lives. Much of the narrative revolves around coincidence, and a love story that takes a back seat to all of the absurdity involving the supporting characters. While there are multiple humorous incidents, they tend to overshadow the main characters, leaving their story feeling a bit flat. Overall, You Lucky Dog is lots of fun without a lot of substance. 3 1/2 stars
lonzy's review against another edition
4.0
Super cute easy read! Some of it gets a little far fetched.