Expected publication date: January 28, 2020
A poodle, a black lab and a Chihuahua walk into a dog park…
All Caleb Donovan has to do to redeem his family name is take a rundown Miami Beach apartment building and turn it into luxury condos. Easy, right?
Unfortunately, that would also turn the local dog park into a parking lot and the neighbors aren’t having it. Caleb is faced with outright revolt, led by smart, beautiful building manager Riley Carson and her poodle, LouLou.
For Caleb, this project should have been a slam dunk. But even more challenging than the neighborhood resistance is the mutual attraction between him and Riley. It would be so much easier just to stay enemies.
Can Riley and her canine sidekick convince Caleb that what’s best for business isn’t always best for the heart?
I should be honest up front-I am totally a cat person and not a dog person. That said, I’m always up to read a romance that has an animal on the cover though the overwhelming majority are canines (except for cozy mysteries which aren’t my cup of tea.) That was definitely the initial draw behind this debut novel by author Mara Wells, but as soon as I read the description with the enemies to lovers theme which is one of my favorites, though I think this one is better termed as frenemies to lovers!
Riley Carson became the manager/handywoman for her Grams’s apartment building after the loss of her previous job; she had worked for one of the Donovan family’s hotels but lost her job when the CEO went to prison and the properties were sold off. While her new job is nowhere near as exciting, it allows her to live in a place she loves with the people she considers her extended family since she had moved into the Dorothy as a child as her mom’s job on cruise ships kept her away for extended periods of time. Along with her rescue poodle LouLou she spends her days among the people she loves most in the world, trying to keep the Dorothy from falling to pieces or out in the empty lot that serves as the neighborhood dog park.
Her world is rocked however when Caleb Donovan shows up and announces that he is going to take over the Dorothy and oversee renovating it into high end condos in an attempt to rebuild business after his father’s fall from grace. His grandfather has promised him the property as long as he can rope his two estranged brothers into the plan, and his first goal is to fire the manager who he blames for the unkempt and rundown building. Needless to say this is not your typical meet-cute situation and while they share an instant attraction, their disagreements are a delightful fuel for their road to romance! Toss in meddling residents and neighbors, adorable animals and you are in for a fun read with a lot of heart!
Overall I enjoyed the read and would recommend it to other readers who want a fast and fun story. I would have liked more depth into the strained relationship between Caleb and his brothers, but fortunately they have their own books coming so I will definitely be on the lookout for them! (Especially Knox-the mysterious military man who is definitely my type of book boyfriend!)
Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read this early!