PRE BOOK BIRTHDAY BUZZ: Puppy Christmas by Lucy Gilmore - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!

Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're spreading a little PRE BOOK BIRTHDAY BUZZ about the latest addition to the Service Puppies series by Lucy Gilmore, COMING SOON via Sourcebooks Casablanca!  Now, this far there will be TWO books in the series, and no, I've not read the first one, but BOY OH BOY do I plan on remedying that!  So, without further ado, get yourself in a holiday frame of mind because Christmas is coming early this year as we shine the book spotlight on today's book of choice...

Puppy Christmas

Service Puppies, Book 2

by

Lucy Gilmore

9781492671688

Sourcebooks Casablanca

About the book...

These adorable service puppies
are matchmakers in the making…

Lila Vasquez might not be the “fun one” at Puppy Promise—the service puppy training school she runs with her sisters—but she can always be counted on to get things done. So when her latest client shows an interest in princess gowns over power suits, Lila puts aside her scruples, straps on the glittery heels, and gets to work.

 If only the adorable six-year-old’s father wasn’t such an appealing Prince Charming.

 Ford’s whole life revolves around his daughter…until he meets Lila. Smart, capable, and amazing at helping Emily gain confidence with her new service puppy at her side, Lila is everything he ever wanted—but she’s way out of his league. Good thing Emily and her new pup are up to the matchmaking task. This Christmas, it’s all hands (and paws) on deck!


AMAZON | B&N | INDIEBOUND | APPLE

KOBO |WALMART | BAM





Service Puppies Series:
🐾        Puppy Love (Book 1)        🐾
🐾     Puppy Christmas (Book 2)     🐾
🐾         Puppy Kisses (Book 3)         🐾

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My thoughts....

This book was SO GOOD!

Seriously, I was a little wary at first, only because of the Christmas theming/title...hey, it's ONLY SEPTEMBER; I wasn't sure I was ready for a "holiday" read yet...but once things got started, I was SO GLAD Christmas came early.

Lila is a CHAMPION, and I mean that in the BEST ways possible.  She's had a hard time of things, and sometimes she gave those hard times to herself by taking on so much all by her lonesome,  but she's SO on point, can handle SO much, and is unbelievably better at SO many things in life AND love that she doesn't even understand.  The moment we met her in her moment of feeling lost in a crowded room (think wearing a not-typical outfit of pink ballroom gown style tulle - but honestly, it sounds SO pretty!), see her try to escape elegantly only to be ensnared by the tears and sniffles of a 6 year old, watch her pretend to be a princess all for the sake of that same said child, and fall unexpectedly under the spell of her very own potential Prince Charming (this time without the abnormally white teeth)...I...was...sold.  The self reflection she experiences, the shame filled hurts she shares, the heart she reveals to the right audience (finally!), and the love that is shared with her tenfold, were enough to make this reader's heart toasty warm...and we haven't even talked about Ford!  *sigh*

Ford Ford...yes, that's his name, not a typo...is the complete package; he just doesn't know it...which by the way, is totally endearing!  He's got the looks, the brains, the smarts, and the HEART to puddle any woman's inhibitions at her feet, but guess what?   He uses his "powers" for GOOD...well, mostly.  Okay, so he flirts A LOT, but it's good natured and reciprocated fun, not over the top, back-the-heck-off-mister kind of stuff...and he's totally dedicated to the "little lady" in his life.  He doesn't pull out the "big guns" until a certain Vasquez sister knocks him off his feet, and even then between misunderstandings, miscommunications, and curious conversations about tater tots (LMAO!), it doesn't hit its mark for quite some time.  When it does though...ZING!  Ahem, let's just chalk this one up to adult audiences for a scene or two.  Anywho...

Aside from our leading lady and leading man, we've got a smaller duo that take center stage...Emily and Jeeves!  Okay, so Emily is the DARLING little girl that holds Ford's heart in her hands, and Jeeves is her new service pup in training, who actually has three part name that ends in "the third" (much like one of my own pups!) that is much bigger than his own growing furry body, but he wears it well. The way Emily carries her little self, takes on the big girl responsibilities that come with not only owning a pet, but TRAINING her very own service pupper, and tackles the big people problems she sees coming (a little naughty, but so cute!), she's not easy to forget. Being a pupper parent myself, Jeeves was a furry little gem not to get lost in the mix.  It was great to see him conquer the obstacles stacked before him and become an intricate part of this little family.

All in all, a FABULOUS read that will have you gladly unburying the holiday decorations a few months early!  Whether you've read the first book in the series or not, this one totally stands on its own two (or is it four?) feet...although, I can't say that I won't be seeking out the first one because yeah...I totally will be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~ EXCERPT ~~~

“We’re going to the symphony. We’re visiting art galleries and sipping overpriced white wine. Oh, I’ve got it! You’re taking me to the fanciest store in the city and buying me a new dress. I’ll be like Pretty Woman, except you won’t have to pay me for s-e-x later.”

Ford cast a sidelong look at Lila. She’d caught her lower lip between her teeth, but she didn’t look up from the phone in her lap.

“I like to make the first one free to get the ladies hooked,” he explained. “Then I ratchet up the price accordingly.”

That didn’t get her to take the bait, either. “Turn right at the next intersection,” she instructed him. “Parking should be in the big lot on the right. And for the record, I don’t think that’s a very good way to run your gigolo business. Why would the cow pay for milk after the fact?”

“The cow isn’t the one paying for the milk. The cow is the one providing it.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “And here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.”

That got her to glance up, her gaze sharp. “I never said that.”

“No, you didn’t,” he agreed cheerfully as he pulled his minivan into the last of a row of cars. “But that doesn’t make it any less true.”

She had no response to this, which was just as well since they’d arrived at their mystery destination. He had no idea where they were or why, but he didn’t care. The fact that he was on an actual date with Lila was enough.

It wasn’t just any date, either. He’d had to lift nary a finger to make it happen. Apparently, Lila took her role as invitee very seriously. From dropping Emily off at her mom’s house to planning the evening from start to finish, she’d handled everything on her own. All Ford had to do was doll himself up and wait to be whisked away for an evening of romantic bliss.

It was a new experience for him—and a delightful one. Lila was wooing him. Lila was wooing him hard.

He, too, was hard just thinking about it.

Although that wasn’t really fair. He’d been in the same state of agonized anticipation for days. No number of cold showers or hot showers or short, frantic showers with his cock in his hand had helped. Nor had Lila’s constant presence in his home. How she managed to sit with his daughter and Jeeves, cool and collected as she went through the steps of puppy training, was a mystery.

“Here. We’re going to need this.” Lila reached into the pocket of the white wool coat she wore and handed him a flask. “It’s like fifteen degrees outside. It’s straight bourbon, in case you’re wondering.”

“You remembered,” he said as he accepted the flask and took a long pull. “My vice of choice.”

It wasn’t the cheap stuff, either. The woodsy-sweet taste coated his tongue and throat, the warm burn making him feel almost giddy.

“I have my occasional value,” she admitted. “Remembering things in painstaking detail doesn’t make me a very endearing person, but it does make me a useful one.”

He opened his mouth to argue, to tell her that her value lay primarily in her ability to make him feel relaxed and happy and like a hot-blooded man again, but he didn’t have a chance to get the words out before she pulled a white knit cap over her head and secured her gloves onto her hands.

Lila was a stunning woman almost all the time, her poise and grace so ingrained that he doubted she was aware of them, but there was something about the way the cap framed her face that almost undid him. She looked absurdly youthful, her cheeks flushed from the bourbon and the cold and—he hoped—the company.

Unable to help himself, he leaned across the console and dropped a kiss onto her slightly parted lips. Surprise rendered her delightfully malleable, her mouth giving way to his for a full ten seconds before she realized what was happening and kissed him back. That was delightful, too, but for entirely different reasons—most of which had to do with the fact that she wasn’t about to let him have his wicked way with her without giving him his own back again. In fact, that was a thing she’d done since the day they’d first met. He could, on occasion, catch her off guard, but it rarely lasted for long.

She proved it by deepening the kiss. The assault of her tongue and the warm press of her mouth against his invoked every sense he had—taste and smell and glorious touch. She even released a soft moan into his mouth that made his head whir with possibilities.

And then she ended it as quickly as it began.

“Let’s skip the date,” he said before he’d even managed to open his eyes again. “I don’t care if we’re flying to the Eiffel Tower on a private jet run entirely on champagne. Let’s stay in this van and make out instead.”

She didn’t move. “You don’t want to see what I have planned?”

He’d opened his eyes by this time, but the parking lot lighting was dim, and what little vision he did have was obscured by the stars dazzling his vision. Actual g-o-d-d-a-m-n stars.

***

Excerpted from Puppy Christmas by Lucy Gilmore. © 2019 by Lucy Gilmore. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the author...

 Lucy Gilmore is a contemporary romance author with a love of puppies, rainbows, and happily ever afters. She began her reading (and writing) career as an English literature major and ended as a die-hard fan of romance in all forms. When she’s not rolling around with her two Akitas, she can be found hiking, biking, or with her nose buried in a book. Visit her online at http://lucygilmore.com. She lives in the Spokane, WA area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special thanks to the Sourcebooks Casablanca team for the ebook for review. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, the series, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title celebrates its BOOK BIRTHDAY September 24th, 2019, so mark your calendar or pre order it at your favorite online retailer. Be sure to check out the rest of the sites participating in the tour traversing the blogosphere as we speak for more bookish fun!

Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!