Saturday, June 13, 2020

Review - - Hush, Puppy


Hush, Puppy
by Roxanne St. Claire
The Dogmothers - Book 5
Publisher: South Street Publishing
Release Date: June 12, 2020
Reviewed by PJ
   



John Santorini has his hands full this summer and not just with Maverick, the wild and willful puppy he recently adopted. He's trying to franchise his business, he's got serious staffing issues, and his biggest investor still hasn't committed to financing. But all of those problems fade away when a five year-old girl pounces on his puppy in the park and pronounces him "Mine!" John can handle a kid with a crush on little Mav. But he's not so sure what to do with his instant attraction to her mother, a beautiful young widow who brightens his world the minute she arrives in town.
Summer Jackson has come to Bitter Bark for one reason: to meet a man. But the man she plans to connect with isn't there. Instead, she finds two outrageous grannies who want to marry her off, discovers a colorful extended family that wraps her in love, and crushes hard on a Greek charmer who offers her a place to stay and a job for the season. John may not have been the man Summer intended to meet, but his soul-melting kisses soon have her rethinking all her plans. He's smart, sexy, sweet, and his impossibly adorable puppy is helping her daughter overcome her baffling speech impediment.
It doesn't take long before Summer and John are dreaming of the happy ending they've both been denied. But then the past comes back to wreak havoc on all their lives, and Summer's real reason for coming to town threatens to destroy this budding little family. Will John have to settle for a Summer fling...or do the Dogmothers have the recipe for romance one more time? 

PJ's Thoughts:
This book is everything I wanted, everything I needed. It's sweet, funny, deeply emotional, and so doggone good that it left my heart overflowing with joy. So much so, that as soon as I turned the final page all I wanted to do was go back to the beginning and read it all over again.

St. Claire has a talent for creating fully-developed characters then bringing them to life on the pages of her novels. By the time I finished this book, I felt as if I knew John, Summer, Destiny, and yes, even puppy Maverick. Like the other characters of this series, they have become so real to me that their sorrows are my sorrows, their fears are my fears, their joy is my joy. I'm 100% invested in their lives and their happiness. That is Roxanne St. Claire's gift.

John and Summer are one of my favorite couples in this series. I loved how Summer jumped in to help John at his restaurant over the summer and the friendship that developed between them. Their chemistry is immediately apparent but St. Claire gives them the time to form a solid foundation of friendship before taking their relationship further. Of course, as usual, the matchmaking grannies try to hurry things along. They're such a hoot.

I'm not sure I've ever met a child character in a romance who I've loved as much as Destiny. She stole my heart and, to be honest, the entire book. She made me laugh, made me cry, made my heart overflow with emotion. This is one very special little girl. I love how the author not only made John's relationship with Summer central to this book but also his relationship with Destiny. This is a little girl who has grown up without a daddy and she wants one in her life. Watching her relationship with John blossom was as satisfying as watching the adult relationship he has with her mom. Then there's Destiny's bond with John's puppy, Maverick. One more love story to add to the slate and what a sweet, heart-tugging tale it is.

If you're looking for a feel-good story this summer that makes you laugh, sigh, shed a few tears, and leaves your heart bursting with happiness, Hush, Puppy is the book for you.

You don't have to have read the previous books in the Dogmother and Dogfather series to enjoy Hush, Puppy but once you've met the matchmaking grannies as well as the rest of the Kilcannon, Mahoney, and Santorini clans, prepare to want their stories as well. Truly, I don't think it's possible to read one of these books and not fall in love with the whole darn bunch.


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Tell me what has your heart bursting with joy these days. Is it a book you're reading? A pet? A special child in your life? Maybe it's simply the beauty of flowers in all their blooming glory. Let's share some goodness today. 





One person who comments before 11:00 PM, June 15 will receive a print copy of the Dogfather holiday novella, Bark! the Herald Angels Sing (which also includes the first Dogfather holiday novella, Santa Paws is Coming to Town), signed by the author.  

*Must be 18 or older
*U.S. addresses only


11 comments:

  1. I cannot wait to read it.
    Patoct

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  2. reading certainly helps make me feel better

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  3. I am so bad - in answer to your question, reading makes me happy and am trying to clean up some of tbrs and when I see my granddaughter, it makes my heart sing.
    Patoct

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  4. Joy! I am on a neighborhood website Nextdoor. Recently,people have been trying to cheer one another. We have had a long list of jokes - really terrible jokes - really bad puns. Everyone laughed. We have had people step up to help one another, commiserate with one another, and generally encourage one another.
    When the news is so sad, this kind of support makes my heart sing. And it makes me cry. In a world where the media wants to tell us so much about anger and hatred and disaster, it is wonderful to see people who are doing good.

    And I won a contest - a new kindle and a ton of books. I never win anything. If I bought all the lottery tickets but one, the one I did not buy would win.

    Now this is something that has given me much joy....cause as everyone knows, I am a book addict.

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  5. I've finally got my reading mojo back!! It was a long few months with only a couple of books read....

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  6. Summer on Honeysuckle Ridge by Debbie Mason had me laughing from the very beginning. When it is not raining, we watch some beautiful sunsets from our patio.

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  7. I'm in the middle of this book right now. In fact, my daughters asked us to have a family dinner because it had been so long. So they came over for dinner tonight, along with their hubbies and almost 10 month-old granddaughter. My granddaughter has started calling me ya-ya and my daughter is encouraging her. Thanks for the awesome review PJ!!

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  8. Everything I hear about this series and the previous Dogfather series has put them at the top of my wish list. I like to read series in order and have gotten so far behind, I will never get caught up. I haven't been away from my house since March 11, so obviously I won't be getting any of the books any time soon. My kindle is full, so that isn't an option.

    I have been working hard in my gardens. Volunteer work, travel, and some serious health issues have caused my gardens to be ignored for several years. As a result, the weeds have taken over. Virginia creeper vine, honey suckle, poison ivy, three other vines, Lilies of the Valley, and one terrible weed that spreads by roots have taken over many of the beds. It is taking a lot of hard work to get them cleaned out. These are big flower beds. One is 100 feet long and others are 10x20, 10x30, plus several others almost as big. After over 3 weeks of work, I have some beds weeded and am working on the others. One that was completely overgrown is fully weeded and planted. It gives great satisfaction and joy to see it looking so nice. Others have just been planted, but are not doing much yet. I am almost done with another very over grown bed and hope to get to being able to plant it tomorrow. It too is going to give me great joy to see. All but the 100 foot one should be planted by the end of the week. The 100 foot one is going to take a long time to clean up. I can't wait until they are all done. They are going to be lovely and much easier to keep up. I will thoroughly enjoy sitting on our porch being able to see what all the hard work has resulted in.

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  9. On the weekends, we have been going to the beach and keeping our distance and getting together with my sisterinlaw and her family - they have 2 cousins that my daughter likes to see and also getting together with friends who have kids.
    Natty's Mama - Karen T.

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  10. My granddaughter who lives near me. I babysit her her several days.

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  11. My two granddaughters! One is 18 months old, and the other is 16 months.

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