Reviews

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Lizzie Shane

bookishlychar's review against another edition

4.0

If you like a holiday romance in a small town this is the book for you! Pine Hollow is the perfect winter town to bring out the holiday season and feelings. You have Ally, who is back in town, to help her grandparents out with their dog shelter. She is feeling a little lost, not sure where "home" is for her. Then she finds out that a Grinch has taken away the shelter funding and they have to find a home for the dogs there, in the middle of the holiday season. The "Grinch" is none other than Ben West. He has adopted a tough personality while caring for his niece and filling in for his sister and brother-in-law who died two years ago. He does feel terrible about the shelter closing, so he offers a truce to Ally in helping her find homes for all the dogs. What they don't expect is for the truce to lead to feelings for both of them.

This story was adorable and got me in the holiday spirit. I loved the two main characters and I thought Ben's niece, Astrid, was a wonderful addition to the story. I thought it was wonderful how Astrid and Ally connected about the loss of their parents and it seemed to develop a positive relationship apart from Ben and Ally's budding relationship.

Ally was a wonderful character, who seemed to have so much heart. She cared so much about everything in town. I also thought Ben was a character with a heart too, it was just a bit harder to see, as he was so overwhelmed with everything that was going on in his life, and the feeling that he had to do everything.

If you are looking for a cozy holiday read, this is the book for you. It is adorable and such a sweet read!

angiew23's review against another edition

4.0

This is your pretty standard Christmas romance, there is a girl and a guy, they have some kind of small town issue, end up falling in love and then there is some kind of happy ending, usually involving some kind of miracle or problem resolution which for one reason or another did not work at the beginning of the story but now makes perfect sense. In this case, Ally has come to her grandparents' home town to help with photography and keeping up with the day to day business of their animal shelter. Ben is the guardian and uncle of 10 year old Astrid who loves dogs and Christmas spirit. He is also in charge of making budget-related decisions at the town hall. When forced to choose between a community centre roof repair and continued funding for the animal shelter the following year, he goes against what Astrid and Ally would clearly choose and ends funding for the shelter, but promises to help the 12 dogs currently awaiting adoption find their forever homes. When Ally finally gives in to the reality of the impending closure, she considers returning back to the city to piece together the life she left behind, but she is torn by her feelings towards Ben.

I'll be honest, I skimmed the majority of the book. It was exactly what it was supposed to be, but unfortunately when it comes to mass market romance books, that usually means predictable and lacking substance. The animal shelter aspect definitely appealed to me because of my past experience working in one, but the descriptions and events were fairly surface level so even that didn't keep my interest. For a Christmas romance, it checks all the boxes, it is a light read, it has some nice themes and decent character development, but nothing that will make you burn the turkey because you just can't put down your book. Thanks to Forever Publishing for the fun Christmas reads!

hollys_book_nook's review against another edition

4.0

Ally Gilmore has returned to the small town of Pine Hollow for a much needed holiday break. There’s nothing like fresh snow and time with family. But when Ally learns that the town’s own Grinch has pulled the funding for her family’s animal shelter, she now has to find homes for twelve dogs in only four weeks! When Ally confronts her nemesis, Ben West, he proposes a truce and agrees to help her with the shelter. As the two spend more time together, small town gossip spreads like wildfire.

CUTE CUTE CUTE! This book is bursting with holiday magic

jaimejustreadsromance's review against another edition

4.0

A fun & sweet small-town romance that would totally be a hit as a Hallmark Countdown to Christmas movie!!
What's not to love with a holiday romance between the grumpy, small-town councilman and the lovable, new to town heroine who is just trying to save her grandparents legacy from aforementioned town council. Plus there are dogs, lots of dogs!!

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

callie2312's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

_basicbookworm's review against another edition

3.0

In 12 Dogs of Christmas, the town council has cut funding for the animal shelter leaving Ally and her grandparents (who run the shelter) scrambling to save the shelter and find homes for all the dogs. Ben, a council member who feels guilty agrees to help her get the pups adopted. As they spend more time together the town starts gossiping about their relationship.

But for real..puppies + Christmas + romance…what could be better? This is the cutest small town, grump + sunshine holiday romance and I’m going to need Hallmark to turn it into a movie, ASAP. It was so sweet and made my heart so happy to read. And the scenes with Ben and his niece were so beautiful.

I read the 2nd book in the series and loved it so I grabbed a copy of this one. AND book 3 just came out so I’m pumped for more Pine Hollow and puppies.

cmf11's review against another edition

3.0

3.5/5
I picked this up because there were dogs involved. I thought this was a cute Christmasy book. It kind of reminded me of a Hallmark movie. I did enjoy the dog parts and the romance was cute. However, I did feel like the romance was very fast, and the reason they weren’t together was a little dragged out because the love interest was just being annoying. Other than that I liked it.

chrisduhbird's review

It was cute and easy reading, I just got sucked into some other books and didn’t finish it before Christmas.

tracyt223's review against another edition

3.75

This was a cute Christmas story. Like a Hallmark movie, but with 12 dogs. I loved the dog rescue part of it so much. 

arrowflowers's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0