Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf: Blog Tour: Pupcakes by Annie England Noblin (Review & Giveaway!)

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

Sit! Stay! Speak! author Annie England Noblin’s novel takes one woman starting over, adds an aging pug named Teddy Roosevelt, and proves the power of a well-baked dog treat.

All she wants is a settled-down life.

What she gets is a dog—and a whole new normal . . .

There he stood in the doorway: overweight, depressed and nearly homeless—a pug named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy was Brydie Benson’s latest problem, arriving on top of her messy divorce and sudden move. Brydie needed a place to start over, so this rent-free home seemed a great idea. She just never counted on Teddy, or his owner, the Germantown Retirement Village’s toughest customer, Pauline Neumann.

And because rent-free doesn’t mean bills-free, Brydie gets a night-shift job at a big-box grocery. Whoever guessed there were so many people who wanted baked goods after midnight?

Then, she gets an idea—why not combine her baking skills with her new-found dog knowledge? And so her store Pupcakes is born. Along with a new start comes a possible new love, in the form of Nathan Reid, a local doctor with a sassy Irish Wolfhound named Sasha. And as fall turns to winter, and then to Christmas, Brydie begins to realize that life is a little bit like learning a new recipe for puff pastry—it takes a few tries to get it just right!

Review:

Fun Fact: I LOVE pugs. They're actually my favorite dog breed, and if I'm ever to own a dog one day, it's definitely going to be a pug.

Therefore, when I heard about Pupcakes, and more importantly, saw the ADORABLE cover, I was 100% sold. I needed this holiday book in my life and PRONTO.

The Result? I've read a decent amount of good holiday books so far this season (Chasing Christmas Eve and Holiday Spice), but Pupcakes is by far my favorite so far! Combining a relatable and lovable cast of characters, swoon worthy romance, and most importantly, a fabulous, sleepy, trash loving pup named Teddy Roosevelt, Pupcakes had me 100% hooked! And as much as I needed to know how everything ended, some parts of me couldn't bear to see the story end. And that, my friends, is what I call a fantastic book - a MUST READ!

One of my absolute favorite parts of Pupcakes was the eccentric and warm cast of characters Annie introduced.

Brydie was someone I had an easy time not only liking but relating to. When we are first introduced to Brydie, she's having a tough time. The life she thought was perfect and wonderful? Well, it wasn't as perfect as she thought. Now she's a thirty something, bouncing from house to house, hoping she'll be able to pick up the pieces along the way. However, the moment she moves into Pauline's house, becoming the primary caretaker to little Teddy, Brydie begins to change. She goes from becoming someone who's so so sad and down on her luck to someone who wants to try again, be it in the form of baking, romance, new adventures and/or friendships. I fully enjoyed watching this evolution occur, and what I liked the most about it was how perfectly imperfect Brydie was. Brydie becomes this strong, inventive, and empowering character, but she still screws up - says the wrong thing, does the wrong thing, etc. - and that's what made her journey so so incredibly realistic in my opinion.

In addition to Brydie, I loved Pauline, Teddy's owner. Pauline was such an interesting woman - someone who honestly I could've read a whole book about since I feel like she has some CRAZY stories! What I loved the most about Pauline, however, was how she helped Brydie get her life together, offering her the type of advice she desperately didn't want to hear but NEEDED to hear. Nathan, Brydie's love interest, was also great! It was fun seeing his conflict between being a friend to Brydie was also being a doctor to Pauline. Additionally, the cast of dog lovers in this had me laughing out loud constantly, the scenes at the dog birthday party had to be some of my favorite! I'm so planning to go back and re-read them at some point.

The plot in this was much more than the typical holiday romance, and that's what truly made Pupcakes stand out to me. Rather than just focus on the developing romance between Nathan and Brydie, Pupcakes focuses primarily on finding yourself, especially when life hasn't turned out the way you thought it would. This theme is shown throughout in the book in different facets, be it Brydie's life, Brydie's mother life, Nathan's life, and even Pauline's life. I feel like the stories seen in here are important to see, because who hasn't had something turn out the complete opposite way they thought it should. More importantly, I enjoyed seeing the "rebirth" happen.

Lastly, I thought Annie's writing was great in this! I enjoyed how she divided the book up into three months - October, November, and December - because not only did she incorporate not one but THREE holidays into this but each month was incredibly important to Brydie's progress. Additionally, while this book is told in third person, never once did it bother me - I felt fully connected to the characters as well as the story. Plus, that epilogue?! I was CRYING! Mostly happy tears, though - I promise.

In all, I can't suggest Pupcakes highly enough! If you love hilarious yet touching holiday books, this book is for you! I simply can't wait to read more by Annie!

Grade: A+

Source: eARC provided by publisher for blog tour

Buy Links:

About the Author:

Annie England Noblin lives with her son, husband, and three dogs in the Missouri Ozarks. She graduated with an M.A. in creative writing from Missouri State University and currently teaches English and communications for Arkansas State University in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Her poetry has been featured in such publications as the Red Booth Review and the Moon City Review. She spends her free time playing make-believe, feeding stray cats, and working with animal shelters across the country to save homeless dogs.

Author Links:

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Giveaway:

Thanks to HarperCollins, I have ONE copy of Pupcakes to giveaway!

This giveaway is open to the US and CANADA!

a Rafflecopter giveaway