Review: It Started with a Dog by Julia London

 

Thanks to an accidental phone swap, two adorable rescue pups, and a coffeehouse clash, a holiday flirtation goes to the dogs and hilarity ensues, from New York Times bestselling author Julia London.

All Harper Thompson wants for Christmas is the huge promotion she's worked so hard for--which she should get, as long as her launch of the hip new coffeehouse, Deja Brew, goes according to plan. Jonah Rogers is trying to save his family's coffee shop, Lucky Star, from going out of business, which will be tough with the brand-new Deja Brew opening across the street.

When Jonah and Harper meet for the first time after accidentally swapping phones, their chemistry is as electric as a strand of Christmas lights. He's a tall, handsome, compassionate hunk of engineer, and she's an entrepreneur whose zest for life is very sexy. They love all the same things, like scary movies, greasy food--and most of all, dogs. It's a match made in heaven...until Jonah finds out that Harper's the one about to put him out of business.

Only one coffee shop likely can survive, and a competition of one-upmanship ensues in a battle of the brews. The paws really come out when the local rescue shelter has a fundraiser where local businesses foster dogs, and patrons vote with their dollars for their favorite pup. Harper takes in an adorable old bulldog on behalf of Deja Brew, while Jonah fosters a perky three-legged dachshund for Lucky Star. As the excitement builds for who will be crowned King Mutt and king of the coffee hill, Harper and Jonah must decide if their connection was all steam or if they are the perfect blend.

Source: e-arc provided by Berkley Books in exchange for an honest review

*I read this one for La La in the Library's Dog Days of Summer challenge

After a strange Lyft ride to the airport and an accidental phone swap - Jonah and Harper start exchanging texts until they can return the phones back to each other after the holidays. Jonah and Harper hit it off immediately and can't believe their luck. 

Unfortunately, due to a (reasonable) misunderstanding, they don't know each others true professions and don't realize they are in direct competition with each other as Harper oversees opening the new flagship Deja Brew coffee house right across the street from Jonah's struggling family owned coffee shop.

via GIPHY

The summary makes it sound like they have an all out war but they are pleasantly mature about the whole thing. Sure they have their moments of competition and anger but I thought they handled it quite well and actually supported each other. 

The bigger obstacle to their relationship was Jonah being so (too, one might say) committed to helping his family even if it means giving up on his own dreams. While Harper has had to go it alone for so long that she doesn't see any need to rely or depend on others and it makes her a bit aloof & career driven at times. 

There's a heaping dose of wacky with Harper's new age type boss, LOTS of dogs - Jonah's dog Truck, Harper walks shelter dogs and fosters a cantankerous bulldog named Bob and the local King Mutt contest. 

Jonah's family is a hoot as he tries to drag them into the modern era of coffee shops and they just don't get it. lol 

My minor nitpicks - I didn't love Harper's relationship with her best friend. There was a weird vibe to it. The bff (I can't remember her name - Olivia maybe?) kept trying to push Harper into things that she just didn't like and Harper was judgy and and didn't really listen to the bff either. It was ok but not my favorite part. Not a huge part of the story though. 

I'm horrible reading dog books. I've worked with animals for years and it drives me crazy when they blame dogs for bad behavior like biting or pulling and say there's nothing the can do. But that's most definitely a me thing. Dogs being silly move the plot along so...lol 

😍It Started with a Dog was a super cute, lower angst romance with big You've Got Mail vibes, adorable dogs, dueling coffee shops and couple deserving of their HEA. 🐕🐕