I always hate giving a bad review. I don’t write myself but I still appreciate the work involved in telling a story for others to read. Having said that I read this new book by Ms Cummings and afterwards I could honestly say the story was lacking. I didn’t care for the characters, Sara and Isabel. The plot left me wondering why Ms Cummings bothered because nothing stood out from every other story told about characters that have a age difference along with lots of baggage from their past relationships. But if you are just looking for something to read while trying to kill time this will do the job. I guess after reading and enjoying Ms Cummings “Baywest Social” books I expected more. Hoping her next offering will be a bit better.
ARC via NetGalley

** spoiler alert ** I admit I chose to read this book because of the GSD on the cover. A lesbian romance featuring a German Shepherd? Bring it on. I enjoyed learning about K-9 bomb detection work and all that goes into the training of bomb sniffing dogs and their human partners. Chase the dog was a highlight for me in this read. I struggled to enjoy the dynamics of the relationship between his handler and her trainer.

Early on I enjoyed the light flirting between Sara and Isabella.It’s easy to see they are attracted to one other even with Sara laying down her ground rules at the outset. She doesn’t date students and she doesn’t date cops. Izzy’s enthusiastic approach to her new career as a dog handler matches her enthusiastic pursuit of Sara. She won’t take no for an answer. Rather than respect Sara’s efforts to keep their distance, Izzy turns into a lovestruck teenager and a jealous lover. Some readers might find Sara weak and indecisive and that Izzy has every right to worry about Sara’s past relationship with Nicole. I found Izzy to be controlling. When the green-eyed monster raises its ugly head Izzy comes across as an immature and petulant child challenging and questioning Sara at every turn.

Their declarations of love felt hollow to me. Yes, my personal triggers might have influenced my opinion of this romance. It is what it is.

2.5 stars

ARC received with thanks from publisher via Net Galley for review.

I absolutely adored Maggie Cummings's Bay West trilogy, and Against All Odds is in my all-time top 10, so I was anxiously awaiting Perfect Partners.. And I was not disappointed at all! I loved everything about this book: the police angle, the precious dogs, the smoking hot chemistry between Sara and Izzy, the conflict with Sara's ex Nicole. I loved Maggie's word choices and sentence structure - it's just so easy to read and this one was impossible to put down.

Perfect Partners by Maggie Cummings

Laura Wright is a well-reknowned dog trainer specializing in working with dogs that will become K-9 partners to military, police and government personnel. The meet-cute between Laura and Isabel Marquez “Izzy” was a delight that put a smile on my face. Chase, Izzy’s K-9 partner was wonderful and a joy to learn more about. I loved the interactions between the two as they got to know one another, overcame some of Laura’s issues and became closer. I also liked the idea of “the other woman” and how that played out. I did scratch my head wondering how Laura could be so clueless but...ah well. I would actually like to see a book for both Nicole and perhaps the traffic controller that asked Izzy out.

So…

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Did I find the characters believable? Yes
Would I read another book by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

I did not finish this book. I really tried, I can finish most books in a couple of days. I have been reading this one for at least a week and it is just not clicking. I don’t now what it is, but the story feels flat and the characters are uninspired. I am really bored with this book and just can’t force myself to finish it.

Love love love Chase.. You will not be disappointed with this book. The perfect love story where I'm glad rules were meant to be broken. The bond between the k9 and the handler was outstanding.

3.5 Stars. This book was cute, It was about Sara Wright, a K-9 trainer who meets Isabel Marquez, an NYC police officer who is going through the training program, When they first meet, Sara and Isabel are drawn to each other. Isabel had gotten into the program on mysterious circumstances, as she was not on the roster until a couple days before. Sara has made a vow to keep away from cops, as she has dated agents before and they had done nothing but hurt her. Isabel keeps trying to get Sara's attention and they start to spend time out of class together. Isabel is perfect for Sara and Sara knows it. They just can't stay away.

This book is good and cute. The tension is good between the two characters, although it ends a little soon for my taste. There is some drama with Sara's ex-gf, who I mostly just feel bad for. She is very much still in love with Sara and it is obvious from the beginning and Sara just seems so obvious to it. She is never evil or mean, so there were some points where I was rooting for her a little. I could not help it, she was not a bad person. I would recommend this book if you like a solid sweet novel.

Two truly likeable MCs, Sara and Izzy, with good chemistry and some (unnecessary) waiting and slow burn make for quite a pleasant read.

Sara Wright is a dog trainer and the best trainer in the country for K-9 handlers. Isabel (Izzy) Marquez is an enthusiastic newbie in the training centre. Despite immediate attraction between the two, Sara wants to keep it in friendzone because she doesn’t want to date someone in the police force. But their individual sunniness, enthusiasm, good humour and energy doesn’t quite let things go as per Sara’s intent.

The interaction between Sara and Izzy is sweet and the dialogues quite entertaining. Their chemistry is believable. The way the two girls are described physically draws excellent pen pictures and allows us to ‘see’ them. The short scenes with Izzy and her siblings are awfully cute.

This is an easy, breezy read. And yes, great cover!

It’s impossible for me to turn away a book with cops, and this one made it even sweeter with K-9 training and some sweet pups. Sara and Isabel lead vastly different lives but somehow they just fit together like a puzzle that was only waiting for the right moment to come together. The slow burn of their romance was supported by the sweet friendship they build together. An enjoyable read to get lost in for a few hours of bliss.

This is the first book that I read by Maggie Cummings and I was pleasantly surprised by this slow burn romance. The author did a great job with creating complex, rich characters, educating the reader about the K-9 program, and developing the chemistry between Izzy and Sara. As a dog lover I could relate to this book and the trust that the characters placed in their animals.

I received an ARX via NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books and in exchange for an honest review.

I think it's a universal rule that books with dogs in it are by default already better than a book without. Sara is a police dog trainer who has strict no dating cops rule. Isabel is a NY patrol officer who attends the dog training program to get a K-9 partner.

It's a slow burn romance with the two getting to know each other and with Sara still with unresolved feelings from her past. I read this one in one sitting, the story flows well.

This novel was captivating from the first chapter. I was easily drawn in by the words and the way the author has written it. It was quick and easy to read, the pacing was great for a shorter novel. In short, I enjoyed this novel a lot. I loved that it was based around a K9 training program. It was amazing, it was cute, I loved it (then again I am a dog lover). Not to mention the big excitement towards the end where we see this training being played out; although, I would've liked a little more action in this regard.

The characters were pretty great; both likeable, both with backgrounds which are completely opposite. Having not read a lot of books including cop characters, I was expecting to not enjoy it as much because I couldn't immediately relate to the characters; however, I was surprised. Character development wasn't as deep as I would've liked, but for a short story it was pretty good. Also, not to mention the dogs in the story; they were super adorable and lovable, even without explicit detail.

I did like the romance aspect of the novel. The couple seemed to be a great match, there wasn't any instance where I didn't think they'd be a good couple. It was slow going and then faced paced towards the end which was a little frustrating, but again, for a shorter story this is expected. I did find myself cheering on these characters to get together.

All in all, this was a great quick read, not too heavy on the romance, but enough to get you saying 'aw'. I loved it and I can't wait to read more of Maggie Cumming's work.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read two previous Cummings stories, one was Totally Worth It, which I didn’t like and the other was Against All Odds, which was co-written with Kris Bryant and M Ullrich, which I did enjoy, so I decided to give another full novel by Cummings a go and chose this one because it wasn’t part of the Worth It verse.

This is fairly straight forward read, and I liked it without loving it. Sara is a K9 trainer and Izzy is an NYPD officer doing K9 training. Both characters are interesting, but Izzy is the clear winner here, she’s sweet, funny, kind, and smart. Sara is supposed to be smart but proved to be otherwise due to her ridiculous unawareness of her weird (and co-dependent) relationship with her ex. This is despite Izzy repeatedly calling Sara out on this.

Sara’s reluctance to date Izzy because she’s a cop, even while totally leading her on all the time also got old, and that doesn’t improve until the 50% mark, and then gets swapped for ‘but what if something happens to you?’, so that was fun. Her reluctance to acknowledge her relationship with Izzy was also annoying. All in all, Sara’s a bit of a drag.

Sara’s backstory also didn’t make much sense, they establish that she has a second family that she’s close to, but she doesn’t spend holidays with them? I found that weird. Izzy’s relationship with her family was sweet though.

The two are cute when flirting/spending time together that doesn’t involve these issues, but there wasn’t enough of that for me. The requisite drama was also telegraphed, albeit over quickly, it would have made more sense if Nicole (Sara’s ex) had actually appeared in the book before this event instead of just being mentioned 6000 times.

Chase (K9 dog) is a superstar though, unfortunately I liked him more than Sara, which didn’t help. I did enjoy this more than my first try of Cumming’s work, and would read another by her depending on the topic. 3 stars.

Perfect Partners by Maggie Cummings is a contemporary romance that tells the tale of Sara Wright, an elite police dog trainer and her student Isabel (Izzy) Marquez, one of Sara’s students. Izzy is currently a NYPD officer training to be in the K-9 unit. There are sparks when the two meet, but Sara has this rule about never dating anyone in service. The story follows the two as Izzy trains with her dog Chase, and the two go from teacher and student to friends and finally much more.

I liked this lovely story, but felt that there was something missing in the tale. The story is told in the third person POV through Izzy and sometimes Sara, but there was a part in the middle where we mostly see only Izzy’s POV, and I kept wishing I could have looked into Sarah’s mind to figure out why she was acting the way she was. I didn’t feel as connected with Sara as I did with Izzy because of this. I did enjoy the romance between the two. I liked the progression from teacher/student to friends and then lovers. The angst was about right for the storyline. Honestly, the best part for me was Chase, Izzy’s canine partner. I loved learning about how the dogs and their partners are trained and certified.

If you like friends to lovers romances, you will enjoy this book. If you are a fan of books about dogs, you will love this book. I enjoyed it, and I fit into both categories.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Rainbow Reflections:
https://rainbowreflections.home.blog/

Sara is a dog trainer at a Federal Facility located outside of NYC. She has been doing this job since she was 19 years old and loves it. A week before training is set to start on the next group of dog handlers Isabel Marquez comes to the facility to start her paperwork. Sara knows all the trainees and is thrown for a loop because she knows Isabel is not on the list. Sara is however attracted to Isabel as Isabel is attracted to Sara. There is only one problem. Sara doesn't date police officers and she sorta really is hung up on a previous relationship.

So the start of this book was really good for me. At about 60% it dragged some and then picked up some towards the end. Overall, I thought this was a decent read but I did have a few problems. 1. Readers are given a good description of Isabel and even supporting character Nicole, but I still don't know much about Sara (besides she is taller than Isabel). I do like a description of both characters and just had a hard time picturing Sara in my mind. 2. Isabel sorta bugged me with her possessiveness. She really wasn't in a relationship with Sara, but was super jealous of Nicole. Don't get me wrong, I think some of her worry was valid, it just seemed weird how it was put together in the book. 3. At some point the book lost steam for a little while. It was missing something and can't really put my finger on it.

So what did I like, I like the chemistry between the characters. I liked how they interacted with each other and got to know one another. The sex scenes were hot too and I like how they seemed normal with the amount of sex they had. Sometimes I am bothered when the first time sex is great, but then it goes all night like no one is tired. Sara and Isabel seemed real to me.

I rate this one 3.25 stars.

A very, very warm but slow burn romance. The characters are rich and very likeable. The dialog is clever and natural. The interaction with the dogs will interest any dog lover but the training information was kept at a minimum. But just enough to set the scenes. Overall a feel good story.

Aside from the typical "they feel something for each other the moment they see each other" stereotype, this was a great book.

The characters were believable. The minor characters were well fleshed out. The angst, while not minimal as I prefer, was not overly done. Everything anyone did made sense. I like that Izzie tells Sara how she got to K-9 training, since it was a huge deal. And I like Sara's response.

This is the first book I've read by Maggie Cummings. But I cannot imagine it will be the last.

I ARC received via NetGalley and in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I read from this author and I have to say this was a good read.

Sara Wright is a K-9 trainer and Isabel Marquez is a cop.

When they first meet there is chemistry but Sara doesn't want to go there because of previous relationship with a cop. Isabel is instantly into her but is sad that they can't be anything ,but she decide settle for friendship as they grow closer they realize being friends is harder than it looks when they both know they want more.

I like the relationship between Isabel and Chase and learner how to trained dogs in various situation. There were some problems with Sara ex Nicole wanted to get back together because they remain friends and hook up over the years but they never really talk about their relationship being more or not.

I did like Isabel siblings and Sara adopted family her boss John it was sad about how her mother died but she had great support system to help her through it.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

This is the first book (Solo) by this author that I have read (I read the one she co-wrote with Megan & Kris). What a fantastic read. I was hooked from the beginning right to the end. I read it all in the one day.
Sara Wright is a Dog Trainer and Isabel Marquez is a cop. When both of them meet for the first time there is chemistry straight away. Sara has sworn off dating cops after what happened in a previous relationship but you can tell she is attracted to Izzy and only hiding how she feels.

Izzy is instantly attracted to Sara and is disappointed when she refuses to go out on a date with her but they still remain friends and as the book progresses it is hard for the friendship not to turn into something more. I really liked these two from the beginning and I loved Chase (the dog). There was also a great bunch of secondary characters.

I enjoyed the storyline although there could have been a little more added about Sara and the training of the dogs but other than that, I cannot fault the book. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

3.25 Stars. I thought this was a nice story, I just wasn’t blown away by it. It was quick easy read. It had a good pace and I was never bored. I guess my problem was the story didn’t feel deep enough for me. Things were a bit on the surface and I didn’t feel that really strong connection to the story or the characters.

The characters themselves were pretty likeable; one had a family background that was really sad. However, they both felt a little shallow (meaning character development) to me, just not enough depth for me to really care strongly about them. Although, I must admit the dog was pretty adorable, and I think I got more attached to him than the mains.

The romance was average. There was a little chemistry and I did believe in them as a potential couple. I would not call this insta love but it was a little fast for my personal tastes. The sex scenes didn’t blow me away but they were decent.

There is some angst but it was pretty light for a romance. This was mostly a feel good story. The K9 training was interesting, and there was one tiny bit of baby excitement that I think was a bit of a missed opportunity. A little more danger could have been added to make the book pop a little.

I think dog lovers and people looking for a romance with only a little angst might enjoy this. It was a perfectly nice read just not quite what I was hoping for.