Hot Under the Collar (The Dogmothers #1)
by Roxanne St. Claire
Blurb:
Cassie
has spent years putting family first, even moving to Bitter Bark when her
mother falls in love with the local veterinarian. Having a huge new extended
“family” is fun, especially when one smokeshow of a firefighter attends the
gatherings, but Cassie has no plans to remain in this small town. She’s ready
to pursue her big city dreams. But when Braden asks for an assist for his
precious pup, Cassie agrees to help him set up a town-wide scavenger hunt. It
isn’t exactly a hardship to be around those blue eyes and brawny shoulders,
especially since they both agree everything – even the undeniable sparks that
crackle between them – is temporary.
But
when temporary gets complicated by feelings that might lead to forever, Braden
and Cassie start to question the direction they’re headed. Should they follow
their dreams…or their hearts? It’ll take a dog with a bad nose and a sweet
soul, two particularly meddlesome grandmas, and some help from the clan that
loves them to make sure Cassie and Braden follow the clues and find their way
to each other’s arms.
Themes: Contemporary
Rating: 4.75 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
When
the Dogfather began his quest to find love for all six of his children he never
imagined he would end that quest by finding love again after the loss of his
beloved wife, and he certainly never imagined the way his family would expand.
Now that he is happily settled into his new life, with Katie and her children
not-quite-but-almost seamlessly integrated into his family, Daniel has hung up
his mantel as the Dogfather. But when
Katie’s former mother-in-law returns and teams up with Gramma Finnie, the love
is once again in the air—the Dogmothers are on the Case—and Cassie and Braden
are their first victims, I mean project. This series is filled with so much love,
laughter, sweetness, and sadness that sometimes I wish I could get ahold of
Roxanne and remind her that her skill as a writer is just a little too
good. I loved every second of this
story, even when I was crying unstoppably and I am dying to see what comes next
for this amazing family. Never to be
forgotten are the amazing dogs that make these stories just that much more fun
and interesting, because while some might say that dogs don’t make life, to me
they make life worth living. Magic is in the air in this little town and he
torch has been passed to the Dogmothers in a big way!
Cassie
and Braden have been circling each other for months, ever since their first
meeting, because they both know that the chemistry between them is not only
undeniable, but it’s stronger than anything they have ever experienced
before. But each of them has their
reasons for refusing to give in to their need for the other. Braden lost his father to the job at a young
age, and while it didn’t stop him from following in his footsteps
professionally, he has refused to begin a life with a woman or build a family
for the fear of one day leaving them behind like his father did. Cassie knows she is leaving, as soon as she
possibly can, to begin her life of big city dreams and ambitions, and she doesn’t
want to begin something with Braden because she knows he will give her the one
reason that would make her stay. When the Dogmothers begin interfering in their
lives, Cassie decides to convince Braden to help her trick them while also
helping him with a project he desperately needs to make his own dreams come true.
Soon they are unable to deny their
desires and the emotions they have both hidden from are too much to resist, but
when tragedy strikes they must decide if their love for one another is worth
fighting through their fears and finding the happiness they could have
together.
I
LOVED getting to know these two characters more and finally finding out why
they have been resisting one another for so long; readers of the Dogfather
series saw that chemistry from the first moment they met in the previous novel
and were just waiting for the fire to burn, but couldn’t figure out why they
resisted so hard. Braden is the perfect guy to be honest… he’s a firefighter,
so that pretty much shows right off that he is brave, loyal, strong, and
dedicated. You can see from the way he
is with his dog(s) that is the also sweet, loving, and willing to work his butt
off for those he loves, and of course all of those qualities combined with his physical
hotness make him sexy beyond measure.
The way he works to make sure that he gives those he loves what they
need makes me love him all the more, even when I wanted to slap him upside the
head for his asinine belief that he could never commit to a woman because of the
loss of his father. Cassie herself has
her issues that made me want to yell at her for being an idiot more than once.
While Cassie is certainly a smart woman, filled with ambition and the drive to
make a name for herself, she never really sees the impact that she could make
if she stopped looking forward and instead looked around at the present for
opportunities. Seeing her with her
family certainly left me in stitches more often than not, but when it counted
she rallied around those she loved and showed them that she would be there for
them no matter what, just as they always had been for her. In the end, I came to really love Cassie,
mainly because Jelly Bean did (wink wink) and the judge of any great person is
a great dog.
The
first foray into matchmaking for the Dogmothers was rocky and filled with
drama, but in the end Gramma Finnie and YiaYia came through for Cassie and
Braden. I enjoyed every second of these
two crazy old broads working together to bring their grandkids together for the
kind of love they themselves had with their husbands. Cassie and Braden were
both interesting characters with hang-ups they had to work through in order to
earn the right to embrace a love that would bring them both the happiness thy
needed to make themselves whole for the rest of their lives. Braden was a strong and sexy man with the
dedication to his work and his family that is the type of man I have been
looking for all my life and I loved seeing him find his way into Cassie’s
heart. Cassie herself had to find a way
to look inward to find what she really needed out of life, but once she did she
discovered that sometimes what we need is right in front of us all along. Once Cassie let go of that and embraced a new
dream, the love she showered on her man and his dog(s) made me love her all the
more as a character and as the love of Braden’s life. The passion and heat
between these two burns the pages up, even when they were resisting one
another, but once they gave in and began embracing their desires there was no
way to put this book down. I enjoyed
very much seeing these two working together to get past their fears and the
troubles in their lives to find a path to their happiness and I look forward to
seeing them in future novels. I am dying
to see what drama these Dogmothers cook up as they continue to pair off their grandchildren
and work to bring them love. If you love a good romance, wrapped around family,
small town drama, and the fun and mischief that come from being a dog owner then
you can’t go wrong with this series. Keep the magic coming Roxanne and I promise
I will keep spreading the word about your magic.
*eARC provided by author for the
purpose of an honest and unbiased review.
No compensation was provided.
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