You Lucky Dog

Finished June 4

You Lucky Dog by Julia London

This novel has quite a few interesting characters, some adorable dogs, and a lively romance.The novel opens with a dog walker, with his many dogs in tow getting arrested as he sells drugs to a undercover cop. The result of this is that the friend who returns the dogs to their homes makes a mistake. 

Carla Kennedy is a woman struggling to get her PR business off the ground. She only has two  clients, one of which is a young high maintenance but promising fashion designer, and the other is a deluded woodworker who isn't open to change. Her parents have recently divorced, her sister is a panicky mom to several hard to control children, and she's recently become the owner of a depressed basset hound named Baxter.

Max Sheffington is a university professor and neuroscientist who's been doing research on autism and dogs. He was drawn to the subject because of his younger brother Jamie, who is autistic. Max is up for tenure again this year, and could really use the extra research funding that change in status could bring. He has his own dog, a cheerful and well adjusted basset hound named Hazel. 

Carla finds the dog left at her house more energetic and curious than she is used to, and soon realizes that this is not her dog. She takes it along to her client meeting and the dog ends up in the fashion shoot. 

Max also realizes that the dog left at his home isn't his. He finds it staring into a corner, seemingly uninterested in anything his dog usually does. He works hard to get it interested and tries different foods to get it to eat. Max has a weekend trip planned with his brother and is getting desperate for a dog sitter

When the two finally connect, they realize that their dogs like each other A LOT, and they quickly agree to some meetups for the dogs to play together. Carly also agrees to take both dogs for Max's weekend away. 

As the two get to know each other, and what each other's personal situation is, they find themselves connecting in other ways. 

There is lots of adorable dog stuff happening, as well as interesting pieces of fashion, autistic research, and PR processes. I liked the touches of humour, and the way the two main characters developed over the course of the book. This is an engaging and uplifting read, with some surprises along the way.