It’s that time of year everything turns festive and today saw a swathe of Christmas themed chick lit released. I do like to read one or two of these during the holiday season to help get me in the mood, and one about dogs seemed right up my street.

Who needs men when you have mutts?

Newly single Charlie doesn’t like most things about Christmas. When a gas leak forces her out of her London flat, she’s packed off to stay with her cousin in rural Devon. When her cousin gets the opportunity for a romantic trip to Lapland, Charlie steps in to look after the dogs at her up-market dog care centre.

Another thing, Charlie doesn’t actually like dogs, and I found her attitude to them at the start a bit irritating. However, with it being Christmas, she soon mellows, both to the dogs in her care and the people around her. There are a couple of attractive men, one an engaged Great Dane owner and the other a grumpy vet, and the romantic element is predictable but that’s fine for this kind of book.

There are misunderstandings and several near disasters that Charlie must avert. She has a very pregnant Beagle and a constipated Poodle to care for, not to mention the two wolf-like Malamutes who pester her to go out in a sulky. It was a quick read with a few laughs and I came to quite like the various characters by the end. The dogs are always the best ones though.

In the end I decided that London’s something of a chimera. It’s what we project onto it. And often, the picture in our head doesn’t quite come together.

Not Just for Christmas was previously published as Mutts and Mistletoe and has been released under the new title by Orion. The ebook is available now and the paperback will be out on 29th November 2018. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement. My reviews are my honest opinion and are not biased for the purpose of personal gain.