HUSH, PUPPY (THE DOGMOTHERS #5)

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 an extended and colorful 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 Summer 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 when the past comes back to wreak havoc on all their lives, 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?

Release Date: June 12, 2020

South Street Publishing

The Dogmothers #5

Contemporary Romance

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

Hush, Puppy is the 5th book in The Dogmothers series of books from Roxanne St. Claire. I've adored each and every book in this series to date, but have to say Hush, Puppy is the book I needed in my life right now without realizing it. It is filled with joy, love, hope, romance, laughter, and the sweetest puppy and little girl ever.

Summer Jackson and her daughter Destiny have come to Bitter Bark to adopt her a puppy, and hopefully to reconnect with a friend from Bitter Bark Summer has never met. Their first day in town, they run into John Santorini walking his puppy Maverick, and Destiny falls in love at first sight with Mav. Gramma Finnie and Yiayia have their next matchmaking couple in their sights with John and Summer. Since initially Summer and Destiny are only in town until they find the perfect puppy for Destiny, the Dogmothers need to work fast.

I loved John and Summer as a couple pretty much from the first moment they met. Their chemistry was palpable, and I loved that John seemed to love Destiny every bit as quickly as he did her mother. Destiny is the most precocious child and I loved her spirit and her pure joy for life. She totally has moments of shyness, but when she sings she totally comes out of her shell and has found that she doesn't stutter while singing. The cutest thing ever though was when Mavvie, what Destiny calls Maverick, starts singing with her. I think I had a perma-smile on my face as I read this story.

 

I loved that Summer stepped in to help John out at his restaurant when he needed someone to help run the front of the house for the summer. They had the sweetest flirtiest courtship where they truly did start off as friends, even though they had been attracted to one another from the moment they met. John and Summer as a couple gave me all the happy feels, and I loved every moment of their journey. Even with a few bumps along the way for John and Summer, Hush, Puppy absolutely brought me so much joy, and I really wasn't ready for this story to end.

Roxanne St. Claire gives her readers one of her best stories ever with Hush, Puppy. I really can't overstate the amount of joy I found from this book. I loved seeing John, Summer, Destiny, and Mavvie become their own little family. Hush, Puppy is the perfect romance for readers who love a story filled with joy, laughter, and hope. Roxanne St. Claire knocked it out of the ballpark with this book!

Rating: 5 Stars (A+)