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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
3 stars
I was a little mistaken when I first picked out this book, I thought it was going to be a Pride and Prejudice modern day retelling with cute puppies. Pride and Puppies is the 4th book in a romance series, set in the small Vermont town of Pine Hollow. Each book has a different main focus, but they all have dogs adopted from a local shelter. Pride and Puppies is a friends-to-lovers romance, with not quite a miscommunication trope, but a lack of real communication between the main characters: Charlotte and George. These two work together at a retirement home, both in the medical field. George has been crushing pretty hard on Charlotte, but she’s been searching for a Darcy, and finds “the Darcys” she’s been dating in the real modern world to be not great boyfriends, and puts herself into a “no boys” mode and adopts a puppy to refocus her love.
I had trouble liking Charlotte. She’s self-absorbed, and vacillates between this bouncy extrovert to moody depressive persona. Both Charlotte and George seem to have the same problem, they lack any kind of real self-esteem, and that in turn affects how they handle building this relationship. I know I’m new to romance, but I found the constant back and forth wishy-washiness to be frustrating—and not in a good way.
The story itself was fine. I liked it well enough, but I don’t think I want to revisit Pine Hollow anytime soon.
I was a little mistaken when I first picked out this book, I thought it was going to be a Pride and Prejudice modern day retelling with cute puppies. Pride and Puppies is the 4th book in a romance series, set in the small Vermont town of Pine Hollow. Each book has a different main focus, but they all have dogs adopted from a local shelter. Pride and Puppies is a friends-to-lovers romance, with not quite a miscommunication trope, but a lack of real communication between the main characters: Charlotte and George. These two work together at a retirement home, both in the medical field. George has been crushing pretty hard on Charlotte, but she’s been searching for a Darcy, and finds “the Darcys” she’s been dating in the real modern world to be not great boyfriends, and puts herself into a “no boys” mode and adopts a puppy to refocus her love.
I had trouble liking Charlotte. She’s self-absorbed, and vacillates between this bouncy extrovert to moody depressive persona. Both Charlotte and George seem to have the same problem, they lack any kind of real self-esteem, and that in turn affects how they handle building this relationship. I know I’m new to romance, but I found the constant back and forth wishy-washiness to be frustrating—and not in a good way.
The story itself was fine. I liked it well enough, but I don’t think I want to revisit Pine Hollow anytime soon.
3.75 stars round up to 4
This was a super cute romcom with, as you can imagine, puppies! Honestly I was sold right away when I saw this title and it was pretty much what I expected.
Charlotte has not have luck in love and she has a string of failed relationships with guys that she thought it would be The One but turns out were not. She was always "too much": too clingy, too energetic, too in love. So she swears off men and decides to get a dog. Meanwhile her co-worker and neighbor who also has a dog (a BMD no less!!!) is in love with her since he saw her and will do his best to win her over.
This was super cute I love the dual POV and all the pinning he has for her. At first I thought Charlotte was a bit too insecure, but her issues with previous boyfriends and her relationship with her deceased mother made me look past that - specially the overanalyzing part.. who doesn't do that??
I liked that they actually sit and expose their issues and concerns to one another instead of going to a third act break up! Additionally, if you like small town romance, quicky town like Stars Hollows you will like this book as well!
Overall is a quick and easy read that hooked me right away with it
This was a super cute romcom with, as you can imagine, puppies! Honestly I was sold right away when I saw this title and it was pretty much what I expected.
Charlotte has not have luck in love and she has a string of failed relationships with guys that she thought it would be The One but turns out were not. She was always "too much": too clingy, too energetic, too in love. So she swears off men and decides to get a dog. Meanwhile her co-worker and neighbor who also has a dog (a BMD no less!!!) is in love with her since he saw her and will do his best to win her over.
This was super cute I love the dual POV and all the pinning he has for her. At first I thought Charlotte was a bit too insecure, but her issues with previous boyfriends and her relationship with her deceased mother made me look past that - specially the overanalyzing part.. who doesn't do that??
I liked that they actually sit and expose their issues and concerns to one another instead of going to a third act break up! Additionally, if you like small town romance, quicky town like Stars Hollows you will like this book as well!
Overall is a quick and easy read that hooked me right away with it
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this book was really cute. I'm going to be honest there is nothing new in this book. It's your basic paint by numbers romance but it's cute and fun. I had a good time reading it and if you enjoy that kind of romance this is definitely for you.
Charlotte is searching for her own Mr. Darcy, but discovers that most aloof, arrogant, entitled men don't really have a heart of gold underneath. After her latest breakup, she decides to swear off men for six months and get a puppy instead. Neighbor George—who's secretly had a crush on her ever since they met—helps her adjust to dog ownership. But just when she realizes he might be her perfect Mr. Knightley, she learns he's planning to move back to his hometown, two thousand miles away. Has she lost her chance at true love?
This is an adorable, entertaining book with likeable characters and a strong sense of family. Charlotte and George are perfect for each other. It's pretty clear from the beginning that Charlotte is more Emma Woodhouse than Elizabeth Bennet—it just takes her a while to realize that. The Austenesque aspects of the novel are fun rather than trite.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
This is an adorable, entertaining book with likeable characters and a strong sense of family. Charlotte and George are perfect for each other. It's pretty clear from the beginning that Charlotte is more Emma Woodhouse than Elizabeth Bennet—it just takes her a while to realize that. The Austenesque aspects of the novel are fun rather than trite.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
My thanks goes to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing/Forever for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Genre: Romcom
Heat Level: Low spice (closed door)
Trope: Friends to Lovers
I needed something light and funny! Whew—this fit the bill in every way. I even laughed aloud. And I had to reread some lines because they tickled me so much.
Charlotte has abominable taste in men. Yes—like many other women—Mr. Darcy has ruined her for ever finding the right man. So she, with much enthusiasm, declares it is time for her to give up men. Permanently. Forever.
Then there's George. He's not the leading man—in fact women run away from him when they find the ONE. But this time, he's going to change. Maybe. Maybe not. Charlotte has shut him down! But at least they can be friends.
The one thing that I had to navigate was Charlotte's friends and her sisters—I read fast, but I got a tad confused for a moment. Especially when "Bailey" was a women—that sounded like an androgynous name and I didn't realize Charlotte's sister was marrying a woman. There are also the other townsfolk and mature people at the fancy condos.
The dogs in this book are loved and the people do all the goofy things we do with our pets. They also provided opportunities for close proximity. Our lead characters both had reasons to doubt the other's intentions—and it worked very well. I felt like they had great chemistry because of their friendship.
This was such a fun read. Now I need to check out if this author has written more romcoms, because I'm in!
It's a YES—recommended especially if you need a break from anything. It's lighthearted and funny!
Happy reading!
Genre: Romcom
Heat Level: Low spice (closed door)
Trope: Friends to Lovers
I needed something light and funny! Whew—this fit the bill in every way. I even laughed aloud. And I had to reread some lines because they tickled me so much.
Charlotte has abominable taste in men. Yes—like many other women—Mr. Darcy has ruined her for ever finding the right man. So she, with much enthusiasm, declares it is time for her to give up men. Permanently. Forever.
Then there's George. He's not the leading man—in fact women run away from him when they find the ONE. But this time, he's going to change. Maybe. Maybe not. Charlotte has shut him down! But at least they can be friends.
The one thing that I had to navigate was Charlotte's friends and her sisters—I read fast, but I got a tad confused for a moment. Especially when "Bailey" was a women—that sounded like an androgynous name and I didn't realize Charlotte's sister was marrying a woman. There are also the other townsfolk and mature people at the fancy condos.
The dogs in this book are loved and the people do all the goofy things we do with our pets. They also provided opportunities for close proximity. Our lead characters both had reasons to doubt the other's intentions—and it worked very well. I felt like they had great chemistry because of their friendship.
This was such a fun read. Now I need to check out if this author has written more romcoms, because I'm in!
It's a YES—recommended especially if you need a break from anything. It's lighthearted and funny!
Happy reading!
Had me interested until the last 15% of the book.
I don't understand how two people in their late 20s/early 30s can't just sit down and have tough conversations. And then an engagement less than three months after becoming "official." I'm sorry. This man was going to run off to Colorado for a new job and to be closer to family and ended up asking the girl who continuously tried setting him up with every other woman in their small town to marry him?
Charlotte never grew up. She continued to be self sabotaging and at 28/29 years old she needs to mind her own business and stop meddling in other people's lives.
George is infatuated. Nothing about this screamed love.
I don't understand how two people in their late 20s/early 30s can't just sit down and have tough conversations. And then an engagement less than three months after becoming "official." I'm sorry. This man was going to run off to Colorado for a new job and to be closer to family and ended up asking the girl who continuously tried setting him up with every other woman in their small town to marry him?
Charlotte never grew up. She continued to be self sabotaging and at 28/29 years old she needs to mind her own business and stop meddling in other people's lives.
George is infatuated. Nothing about this screamed love.
After this book caught my eye at the library I had to get it only to figure out it’s the 4th book in a series but is able to be read as a stand alone. Although I didn’t give this book 5 stars it is still good enough I would like to read the rest of the series. It was your typical rom com style book. I love the dog parts of it. This is Charlotte and George’s story. George moved to Vermont after falling in love with the small town. He had crushed on one of his co workers Charlotte for a long time but she always had a boyfriend. When she got out of her last relationship she announced to him she was making a puppy pact and would no longer be dating. George respected this and didn’t ask her out on a date. His lease was coming up soon and he began to consider moving back home to where his sisters and family is in Colorado. Charlotte goes to the puppy rescue and finds the sweetest puppy who won’t be ready to come home for a month, her sister isn’t as excited about it as she is so she confides in George who has a Bernese mountain dog, duke. He is happy for her and she tells him she needs to know everything there is about being a dog owner so that she can be the best. Charlotte goes hiking by herself and sprains her ankle and had no phone service so she limped out of the woods and drove home. When she got there, George saw her limping across the parking lot and ran to the rescue. He carried her into his house and examined her foot. He’s a physical therapy doctor, he kept it iced. Charlotte doesn’t like being alone and asked if he’d like to binge some shows with her. George and Charlotte began spending a lot of time together. George asked Charlotte on a date in the middle of one of her rants but she thought he was joking and brushed it off because she didn’t want to lose their friendship it was too important to her. George’s sisters we’re frustrated because he was spending all this time playing house with Charlotte when she didn’t want him. Charlotte brought home her puppy Bingley and him and duke became instant buddies. Charlottes first day bringing bingley home she forgot poop bags and George picked up his poop for her. They hung out that day too. They began taking the dogs places together. Charlotte could slowly find herself finding George attractive but she swore to the puppy pact. She knew she was overwhelming and too much and she couldn’t stand to lose George. When Charlotte was trying to play matchmaker for George she realized how much she didn’t want to set him up with anyone else and lose him but she wanted him to stay in Vermont. She has volunteered him to help with the talent show which in turn had him a little in over his head but with a push from Charlotte he ended up putting a band together. There was a guy from their facility who said he played guitar but he needed drums and a singer. George played bass, he got Mac from the inn to sing and Harold the old man found his friend Bob to play drums. George was finally starting to find a place in Vermont when his boss told him they would only be able to offer him a part time position even though they would love to hire him and he began to see that as more of a reason to move back home, especially if Charlotte would never open up to him. He does weekly book club meetings with his sisters and he had began to notice something off with Bekah, he called her one day to discuss Charlotte and she told him she thought that her husband was cheating on her. She hacked his phone and he had messages with his ex. George told her she needed to confront him but he offered to come home to be there for her. At first she wanted that but then she told him she couldn’t ask him to do that. George began applying to jobs in both Denver and Vermont. Charlotte and George had became busy with their own schedules and she began to realize how much she missed George and his company. Charlottes father announced he was seeing someone and when she went to thr bbq to meet him, George went as moral support. Her whole family was happy to see him and thought she had finally broke her puppy pact and opened her eyes. Charlotte realized George was going to leave her so she set out to set him up so he would fall in love and stay. She tried at her sisters birthday party and George got upset with her for the first time ever and basically called her out on the fact he didn’t want set up he wanted her. They didn’t talk for days and Charlotte opened her eyes and realized that she wanted him too. She showed up dressed up to his house which had George worried but then she confessed to him about how her fears were of losing him but he makes her happy and she’d like to keep being happy. So on the day of their first kiss they also had sex for the first time and a sleepover. Charlotte was falling fast for George and the happiness he provided her. She wasn’t sure she was ready to show the town her relationship yet but then she invited George to the movie at the park to be their debut as a couple. She couldn’t decide where to sit and decided by vivian who is one of the women from their work. George saw this as her picking a chaperone and not wanting to come out to the town so he started inviting other people to sit with them and distanced from Charlotte. She began to overthink and worry that George wasn’t ready to tell the town about them yet. He walked into her confiding to her friend about it and she confessed to him. He told her he thought she wasn’t ready so they kissed at the park so everyone would know. As George was on his way to get the car, Charlotte ran into their boss who said she was happy to see someone else was trying to keep George in town she was beginning to get worried that they lost him, she’d been getting calls of businesses in Denver asked for her reference. Charlottes stomach dropped she tried to pretend like everything was okay but George could sense it. He told her he had applied that he was keeping his options open. She told him she understood. George had a trip to visit his sisters and a job interview in Denver and Charlotte would be watching duke. She realized she was going to lose him and needed to tell him how she felt. She was going to tell him she loved him. As she walked over towards his place she noticed he was on the phone, getting a job offer in Denver. When he got off the phone he told her it was a really good offer but he needed time to think and consider things and them. She told him not to put her happiness above his that even though she wanted him to stay, she didn’t want him to do it just because she wanted. She had noticed how nice George was and she always worried he was too nice and that he would get tired of her and leave. George’s fear was that he wasn’t her lightning love or her type and she would get bored of him or find her lightning and leave. George told her he wanted to consider her happiness because he loves her and she told him she loves him too. It wasn’t how she imagined it happening, a fight. He went to band practice and then he got on his plane. Bekah had talked to her husband and he confessed he had been talking to this girl for years and would have left Bekah on the altar but this girl wouldn’t do it. He said they had never met in person because he knew he wouldn’t be able to resists her so they both just talk behind their spouses backs. When Ben gets back Charlotte isn’t home but her friend tells him to go to the inn. When he gets there ge knows what room to go into. He got there early so Charlotte wasn’t fully ready for him. While he was gone she had found the Jane Austen book he had given her he had annotated and it was like a confession of his love to her. He had given it to her on the anniversary of the day that her mom died but she hasn’t picked up the copy from him yet. So she transformed the room at the inn into a quote of Jane Austen from all her books. And then she read him her feelings. Of how she believed Jane was true love but she realized what they had was and that she loved him and wanted to stay and even though he hadn’t asked she would go with him if hr chose to go home. He told her he had realized this was his home. And he wasn’t going anywhere. When George had had a bad day when he first arrived Charlotte took him mini golfing and he had the best time so to celebrate his 2 years in Vermont they went mini golfing. On the last hole Charlotte was enraged that her ball kept bouncing out and George told her to check it. Inside was a velvet box and when she turned around George was on one knee. He had gotten her a beautiful vintage ring. They were getting married!!! Charlotte found someone better than any Jane Austen book. The title for this book was perfect. Charlottes mother had loved Jane Austen and she always invisioned having a love like that but all her loves were wanna be Darcy’s, duds. Bingley is also named after a Jane Austen book. When George discovered she loved Jane Austen his families book club read all her books. He would quote her Austen and he annotated that book for her. Went to the annual tea party that her sisters throw for her mothers anniversary. George was better than she could have ever imagined. This was a super sweet love story about friends to lovers and puppies of course! Not dirty or dark like the rabbit hole I’ve fallen down but I think I’ll definitely try to read the rest of the series of pine hollow to see who else I can read about.
Pride & Puppies was inescapably charming and captivating from the first few lines. I started it while at the airport waiting for a delayed flight and devoured the first ten chapters without even noticing the time—I’m so grateful they loudly announce when boarding begins! Seven days later I was reading the last few lines.
It’s a very sweet and light story that quickly became the highlight of my nights (generally I only have time to read when I go to bed). The writing is solid. George, Charles, and the entire cast of characters is easy to love. Communication problems abound between the two as their hangups and imperfections threaten their HEA, but my frustrations never led me to lose hope.
My favorite moment that made me laugh out loud? “I hate my job,” Kendall said without missing a beat. “Are we just saying obvious things now?”
Lastly, a plea that Magda and Mac are the next protagonists in the Pine Hollow series. I NEED their love story. I could feel it living amidst the lines.
It’s a very sweet and light story that quickly became the highlight of my nights (generally I only have time to read when I go to bed). The writing is solid. George, Charles, and the entire cast of characters is easy to love. Communication problems abound between the two as their hangups and imperfections threaten their HEA, but my frustrations never led me to lose hope.
My favorite moment that made me laugh out loud? “I hate my job,” Kendall said without missing a beat. “Are we just saying obvious things now?”
Lastly, a plea that Magda and Mac are the next protagonists in the Pine Hollow series. I NEED their love story. I could feel it living amidst the lines.
I’m a huge Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen fan so I was incredibly excited to read this.
This book was delightful to read and George was such a cinnamon roll of a main character!! The small town was charming, I loved all the puppies, and all the characters were complex and funny!
Both main characters were great even though there were some moments I wanted to smack a little sense into Charlotte. She had the best of intentions but talk about not seeing what is right in front of you.
Overall this was a fun read and I would recommend it to ant Austen fan!
This book was delightful to read and George was such a cinnamon roll of a main character!! The small town was charming, I loved all the puppies, and all the characters were complex and funny!
Both main characters were great even though there were some moments I wanted to smack a little sense into Charlotte. She had the best of intentions but talk about not seeing what is right in front of you.
Overall this was a fun read and I would recommend it to ant Austen fan!