Review: Four Weddings and a Puppy

Lizzie Shane has become a go-to author for me when I need a sweet, entertaining, gosh-darn-lovely romance. I fell in love with the town and characters she created back in 2020 with The Twelve Dogs of Christmas and I’ve enjoyed every subsequent novel since. I read Four Weddings and a Puppy at the perfect time and had a great time reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones in this latest Pine Hollow novel.

Here’s the book’s description:

When two childhood friends return home after their sports careers don't go as planned, a puppy just may give them a second chance at happiness together. She’s always been the girl with the plan . . . until the plan crashed big time
Kendall Walsh has exactly one second to save a fancy, five-tiered wedding cake and any possibility of being a wedding planner—not to mention her family’s struggling ski resort. All because of one very cute, very furry, golden menace of a retriever who has a serious thing for butter chiffon icing. Which is exactly when Olympic skier Brody James shows up and saves the day . . . and the cake.
Brody makes Kendall feel about a million indecipherable things. He’s her brother’s bestie. Her first crush. And a ridiculously popular Olympic hero, which only reminds her of her own failed Olympic dreams. What Brody isn’t telling her is that he’s walked away from it all. The fame. The sponsorships. The celebrity girlfriend. Now he and Kendall are both lost somewhere between their past and a future they can’t yet see. But four weddings, one mischievous puppy, and a few steamy kisses later, these two might just realize that they are both exactly where they need to be…with each other.

I’ll be honest (as usual), if you’re looking for a super well-crafted, thought-provoking romance novel and/or want some steam, this series is not for you. But I firmly believe there are different types of books (and romance books in particular) for a reason and sometimes you want the cupcake version of a book and there is NO shame in choosing the cupcake over the carrot.

I loved Brody and Kendall as a couple. They created a partnership first, flirting a little, but they were both so inside their heads and trying to figure out What’s Next that romance didn’t quite have the space it needed to start. Not until they worked through some of their own personal demons. But the beauty of the story was they each helped the other work through those demons, too. It felt like such a realistic portrayal of what it’s like to have someone solidly on your side when you’re figuring out some of the hard choices. Knowing they had built a foundation meant rooting for them romantically was really easy!

As I said, Kendall and Brody both had some hard stuff to figure out. Kendall needed to work out if she could, in fact, walk away from the family business and deal with the trauma from her skiing accident once and for all. Brody had walked away from competitive skiing with no real plan and couldn’t figure out how to balance his life. I respected their problems but I think this is where Shane lost me, just a little bit. I can’t put my finger on why, either, which is frustrating. Maybe it’s just that it seemed like they were both hiding from the truth and seemed stuck for too much of the story. I get that happens in life but being “stuck” isn’t really something you want in a novel.

One thing I see as a pro in this series is you really don’t have to read every previous book to enjoy the latest. Each one features a different couple and they’re all somewhat connected, either by friendship or by blood relation, but it’s the town that holds it all together. And the puppies that always show up! So, what I’m saying is, if you want a brand new romance to read right now but haven’t read the rest of the Pine Hollow series, rest assured, you can pick this one up with no problem or confusion.

I had such a great time reading Lizzie Shane’s latest romance, Four Weddings and a Puppy. I highly recommend picking this one (and the others in the series) up if you want a sweet romance that will leave you with a smile and a full heart (and perhaps a longing for a puppy of your own!).

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Forever, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*