Pine Hollow, Book 1
From the publisher:
A delightful holiday romance about a small-town single dad and an animal rescue owner as they try to find forever homes for a dozen lovable pups before Christmas.
Pine Hollow has everything Ally Gilmore could wish for in a holiday break: gently falling snow in a charming small town and time with her family. Then she learns some Grinch has pulled the funding for her family’s rescue shelter, and now she has only four weeks to find new homes for a dozen dogs! But when she confronts her Scroogey councilman nemesis, Ally finds he’s far more reasonable — and handsome — than she ever expected.
As the guardian of his dog-obsessed ten-year-old niece, Ben West doesn’t have time to build a cuddly reputation. But he does feel guilty about the shelter closing. So he proposes a truce with Ally, agreeing to help her adopt out the pups. As the two spend more time together, the town’s gossip is spreading faster than Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. And soon Ben is hoping he can convince Ally that Pine Hollow is her home for the holidays. . . and the whole year through.
A Christmas book with puppies? Sign me up! This author was new to me but the title alone sold the book for me. I really liked these characters and the Vermont small town setting.
Ally thinks she is swooping in to help save her grandparents’ home and animal shelter. The town council has a budget crisis and needs to make some quick cuts, the shelter seems like the most painless route to take. Except for the dogs who haven’t found homes yet.
Ben cast the deciding vote on the budget cut, so he is feeling a tiny bit guilty about it, even though logically it was the right thing to do. Ben is the guardian of his niece, and feels the weight of that responsibility. He is also the type to think he can do everything himself, but it is proving to be a lot harder than he thought it would be.
Ben takes his guilt to the shelter and offers to help Ally find homes for all the dogs. He comes up with this great idea of a Christmas-dog promotion and it starts to work fairly quickly. Meanwhile, all that working together has Ben and Ally falling in love, but both are fighting it; Ben, because of the weight of his responsibilities, and Ally, because this is supposed to be a pit stop in her life, not her permanent destination. But happily-ever-afters often come with sacrifice. After a lot of ups and downs, Ben and Ally find theirs. As do the dogs.
I really enjoyed this romantic romp. If you like your Christmas stories with a side of puppies, as I do, this is your book. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
For something fun, take the “Who Is Your Furry Friends Rescue Match” quiz!
10/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
THE TWELVE DOGS OF CHRISTMAS by Lizzie Shane. Forever (September 29, 2020). ISBN 978-1538735879. 368 pages.
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