Ruff and Tumble by Lucy Gilmore is the cutest, sweetest story I have read in a while. Lucy Gilmore always touches 
the heart with her very likable characters and adorable dogs.
Hailey Lincoln is a production assistant for the Puppy Cup. The Puppy Cup is the half-time show during the American Football Club’s Kickoff Cup game. Fifty puppies comprise two teams and “play” a football game against each other. Hailey’s team always seems to win. That’s how she ends up meeting Cole Bennett, star quarterback of her favorite team, the Seattle Lumberjacks. Hailey’s foster dad loved football and was a die-hard Lumberjack fan and that is how Hailey came to love the sport and the Lumberjacks. Hailey still lives in the house she shared with her foster dad. One step inside her house and you’d think you’ve died and gone to Lumberjack heaven. Lumberjack paraphernalia is everywhere. Cole Bennett wants to cash in on Hailey’s Puppy Cup luck to break the “curse” the Lumberjacks play under. They just can’t seem make it to The Kickoff Cup and win. Will Cole’s plan work?
Cole Bennett has been living, breathing football all his life. The members of his family have dedicated themselves to Cole’s football success. Being the best quarterback in football he can possibly be has been Cole’s goal. His record is spectacular. His family is living his success with him. Cole has gotten it in his head that Hailey Lincoln’s winning ways in the Puppy Cup is the secret to breaking the Lumberjack’s Kickoff Cup curse. He never dreamed that his initiative in stepping into Hailey’s office to propose his curse-breaking plan would lead to such a major change in his life. But Hailey Lincoln is so darn cute…
Hailey Lincoln’s love and dedication to fostering dogs and finding them the best “forever” homes is inspiring. I loved the beginning of the book where Hailey and Cole get stuck between floors in her office building’s old elevator where the very pregnant Golden Retriever Hailey is fostering goes into labor. Awesome scene! It just keeps getting better and better from there. The ending chapters were so heartwarming I didn’t want the story to end.
Book Info:
Publication: June 29th 2021 | Sourcebooks Casablanca | N/A
As a production assistant for the Puppy Cup, Hailey Lincoln knows all things puppies and football. So when Seattle Lumberjacks star quarterback Cole Bennett asks for PR help, she agrees. She’s not swayed by Cole’s good looks or stellar career, but by the puppies they can help. Okay, maybe she’s swayed just a tiny bit by his good looks.
Winning at puppy football, however, is only the start. If she really wants to win—the game, the man, and the warm, welcoming family he takes for granted—she needs to pull out all the stops. And Cole, who’s spent his entire life playing a game, has to realize that losing at football isn’t nearly as catastrophic as losing the woman he loves.
