REVIEW: Four Weddings and a Puppy by Lizzie Shane

Four Weddings and a Puppy by Lizzie Shane Kendall Walsh’s Olympic dreams ended six years ago with her accident while trying out for the Olympics. She returned home to help her father’s struggling ski resort. She wants to expand the resort into a wedding venue, but her father never listens to her suggestions. But when Brody needs a backup plan for his sister’s wedding venue, Mr. Walsh jumps on the opportunity to approve the necessary budget to renovate the old lodge and hires Brody to manage the resort staff. Under pressure to get the old lodge ready for the wedding, Kendall and Brody work together and slowly rekindle their friendship. She understands Brody’s struggles because she feels stuck herself. After her accident not only did she give up on her dreams, but she gave up on anything that could disappoint her. Her life had revolved around competing and winning and she never had a backup plan.

“Skiing wasn’t just what I did. It was who I was – all I was. Effort. Struggle. Fighting for gold. But all of a sudden, I couldn’t figure out why. Why any of it mattered. Why I even wanted it. I didn’t know who I was without skiing…”

Brody James hadn’t seen Kendall since her accident and was surprised to see Kendall working at her family’s ski resort. He hadn’t planned on attending his cousin’s wedding, but he had suddenly realized how empty his life was in the middle of the World Cup event. He didn’t know who he was outside of skiing because he had spent his entire life chasing the win. The wedding was a good cover for him and would keep his family from asking questions he didn’t know the answers to. Sadly, he realizes his family accepts and doesn’t expect him to come to family events anymore. He might be unsure of what he wants in life, but he knows he wants to be there for his sister and help her wedding dreams come true. Working at the resort will give him time to think about his future and he knows Kendall is probably the only one who can understand him. He spent his childhood always following Kendall and now as an adult, he finds himself chasing her again. Can they help each other and find the fun in skiing again?

“So find the middle, all-or-nothing Brody James. Find your balance.”

It takes four weddings and a troublemaking puppy to bring two childhood friends together. Brody and Kendall were all-or-nothing while competing and skiing had become more about winning than having fun. They really understood each other and together they learned how to add fun to their lives again. I love how Brody was able to understand Kendall and her emotions. They made the perfect couple.
Although the first part of the book seemed slow to me, I am so glad I kept reading. This was a wonderful story of two people struggling to find themselves and happiness.
 

Book Info:

Publication: November 21, 2023 | Forever | Pine Hollow #5

When two childhood friends return home after their sports careers don’t go as planned, a puppy just may give them a second chance at happiness together. She’s always been the girl with the plan . . . until the plan crashed big time
Kendall Walsh has exactly one second to save a fancy, five-tiered wedding cake and any possibility of being a wedding planner—not to mention her family’s struggling ski resort. All because of one very cute, very furry, golden menace of a retriever who has a serious thing for butter chiffon icing. Which is exactly when Olympic skier Brody James shows up and saves the day . . . and the cake.
Brody makes Kendall feel about a million indecipherable things. He’s her brother’s bestie. Her first crush. And a ridiculously popular Olympic hero, which only reminds her of her own failed Olympic dreams. What Brody isn’t telling her is that he’s walked away from it all. The fame. The sponsorships. The celebrity girlfriend. Now he and Kendall are both lost somewhere between their past and a future they can’t yet see. But four weddings, one mischievous puppy, and a few steamy kisses later, these two might just realize that they are both exactly where they need to be…with each other.