It Started with a Dog by Julia London @JuliaFLondon @copatter @TantorAudio

the setup…
It’s Christmas Eve and Harper Thompson is desperately trying to get to the megabus that will take her to her parents home in Houston for the holidays. It’s pouring down rain in Austin and she’s smushed into a crowded Lyft van driven by Amal who is direction challenged. The man next to her, Jonah Rogers, is equally uncomfortable and trying to make his flight to Chicago for the holidays. As they both take out their phones to help the hapless driver with directions, his sudden stop causes them to drop them and accidentally mix them up. Unfortunately, they don’t figure this out until they reach their destinations but luckily neither has a security code and they are able to communicate with each other. What ensues is kismet.

the heart of the story…
I loved how the relationship between Harper and Jonah grew, almost organically by phone initially. They shared a similar sense of quirky humor and what had her be open to a phone dialogue was the lock screen photo of Jonah’s dog Truck. Their texting was highly entertaining and you could just feel the growing attraction. Of course, they had to eventually meet up to exchange phones back in Austin and the magic just continued as Harper regularly visited an animal shelter to walk a curmudgeon bulldog named Bob, just another thing she could share with Jonah as he brought Truck along. Everything about them was fun, interesting and fresh. What could go wrong? Well, she’s a business entrepreneur working for an odd duck and her project is Deja Brew, the new coffeehouse being built across the street from Jonah’s family’s coffee shop. He’s taken a sabbatical from his job as an aerospace engineer to try to help save the family business. By the time they figure this out, though, they’re strongly entwined emotionally.

the narration…
It’s not often you come across a narrator who is equally skilled at creating voices for both genders and Patterson has that gift. She’s also a great storyteller and paced this one perfectly. I was highly impressed!

the bottom line…
I was hoping the pooches would have prominent roles here and they absolutely do! Between a delightful romance, adorable dogs (Truck, Bob, Lulu…great names!) and an assortment of unusual secondary characters, this turned out to be one of the best listening experiences. I enjoyed the conflicts as well since Harper and Jonah didn’t bring a lot of angst and silly responses to them. It’s a mature relationship between two talented people who were determined not to lose each other. Hated for this one to end.

Book Info

• Release Date: October 5, 2021
• Series: Lucky Dog #2
• Narrator: Courtney Patterson
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 37 minutes
• Publisher: Tantor Audio

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(Thanks to Tantor Audio for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)