It Started with a Puppy by Christy Jeffries: Elise Mackenzie is a 25-year-old woman who lived 
with her aunt Regina when her dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and had to moved him to assisted living. He dies, and Elise continues living with Regina, who always reminds her how grateful Elise should be for living with her, with her fixing the messes her aunt used to leave behind as she moves on to her next project.
Years later, Regina (Spring Forest’s most notorious socialite) misteriosly disappears with the money raised for a local fundraiser and hasn’t been heard from since. That’s when Elise decides to move out and finds a job while she does voluntary work for Furever Paws to prove herself she can be on her own.
Enter Harris Vega, her hot new landlord, who encourages her to expands her horizons as his new interior designer while their feelings towards each other grows with every moment they spend together. Then, the truth about Regina comes out and everything changes for Elise in every sense of the word. Will that affects them for good, or bad?
As a very shy girl, Elise always avoids being the center of attention but, as she takes control of her life and steps up organizing the Furever Paws fundraiser (yup, the same fundraiser her aunt steals money from) while she works with Harris, she blossoms and her confidence builds up. Harris, on his part, is totally opposite to Elise: a local contractor and house-flipper with a huge personality, charming, very confident, a bit impulsive and yes, a flirt. Yet he sees great potential in Elise and what she could be capable of doing if she comes out of her shell.
They may be different, but that’s the reason they work as a couple. This is a slow burn romance full of emotion and, I have to say it, surprisingly pure. The way I-always-go-after-what-I-want Harris woos Elise, being carefully slow not to scare her is simply adorable. At the same time, their time apart at the climax of the story is so sad it hurts and demonstrates how Elise and Harris love each other.
Since part of the story flows around Regina and her unexpected/mysterious disappearance, this character has the biggest impact in Elise’s actions, draining her new found confidence at some point. As the controlling, manipulative woman she is, Regina thinks everything turns around her. But Elise, with all the new information she discovers, finally sees who she is and what she wants, not allowing Regina to gaslight her anymore.
This is a book that has very funny moments, a lot of animals of all kinds (but no puppy until nearly the end, in which I don’t understand the book’s title) and nice scenes. A well developed story—especially in the way Ms. Jeffries brings unexpected twists to the plot— but a slow rhythm in the first 6 chapters, a loose end left in the air and no epilogue that was NEEDED to see how Elise and Harris evolve together.
Book Info:
Publication: July 26, 2022 | Harlequin Special Edition | Furever Yours #12
The matchmaker wore a collar…
Elise Mackenzie is committed to making the Furever Paws fundraiser a huge success. She’s even roped in her landlord and new boss, Harris Vega, for help. But spending so much time with Harris, especially around an adorable puppy named Pancake, is giving the usually shy Elise ideas she shouldn’t be having. Could a man like Harris really think twice about a woman more comfortable with flour on her face than lipstick?
From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.
Furever Yours
Book 1: A New Leash on Love by Melissa Senate
Book 2: How to Rescue a Family by Teri Wilson
Book 3: Not Just the Girl Next Door by Stacy Connelly
Book 4: The Nanny Clause by Karen Rose Smith
Book 5: The City Girl’s Homecoming by Kathy Douglass
Book 6: It Started with a Pregnancy by Christy Jeffries
Book 7: Home is Where the Hound Is by Melissa Senate
Book 8: More Than a Temporary Family by Marie Ferrarella
Book 9: The Bookshop Rescue by Rochelle Alers
Book 10: Love off the Leash by Tara Taylor Quinn
Book 11: A Double Dose of Happiness by Teri Wilson
Book 12: It Started with a Puppy by Christy Jeffries
