Lucy Mitchell's The Christmas Dog Sitters is such a cozy, heartfelt read-perfect for curling up with during the holidays. I loved following Rachel's journey as she navigates a tough year filled with loss and change, only to find herself unexpectedly caring for her sister's mischievous spaniel and her spirited Grandpa Eric in a charming village. Between wrangling these two and facing the chaos of the holidays, she crosses paths with Ben, a kindhearted single dad with his own story of heartbreak. The book beautifully blends humor, warmth, and emotional depth, with just the right touch of festive magic to make it a truly uplifting story. If you enjoy tales of second chances and love amidst the chaos of family, dogs, and snowstorms, this one is a delight!

This was a cute little christmas read. We meet Rachel who agrees to look after her sister's dog over Christmas. Rachel's had a bit of a tough time and she thinks a change of scenery would do her good. However the dog is a nightmare and she finds her sister's husband has left a list of rules as long as her arm. She also finds her grandad being left with her as well whilst her mum and aunt live it up abroad for Christmas. Rachel just gets on with everything in her own way, and finds herself becoming friends with Ben, who is renovating her sister's kitchen!

I enjoyed this book! It was easy to read and the storyline was uncomplicated, although there was a little bit of mystery as to what was going on in the West Wing of the house! The characters were likeable and they all had their own little story to follow as well as Rachel's main story. It wasn't as romantic as I thought it would be, but it was lovely to watch Rachel's friendship with Ben unfold. The star of the show though had to be Humphrey the dog who hot-footed it out of the door at every given opportunity! Set just before and over Christmas, so was wonderfully festive! Would recommend for a light-hearted Christmas read!

I ended up sitting and reading this in one sitting so it's safe to say I had such a fun time with this one. Whilst the story was focused more on womens fiction than the romance itself, the build up to the romance was very sweet and a great contribution to what already was such a delightful read. I really enjoyed our leading lady Rachel, life definitely wasn't on her side, however it was lovely to see her overcome such strong grief and channel that into living a better life for herself. Her family were definitely a bunch to boil your blood, but her Grandpa was a sweetheart and it was fun seeing how try to relive his younger days. I would highly recommend this one, although there are some triggering topics, e.g. grief and toxic family members, this still remained the heart-warming read we all crave during Christmas.

Although this book had romantic elements i wouldnt fully say its a romance more of a family based woman’s fiction book - nevertheless an absolutely fantastic and heartwarming read perfect for Christmas

Absolutely adorable holiday read! Perfect for the dog loving, hallmark movie watching readers! So sweet!

This is told in the single POV, and it embraced the topics of grief, healing, and second chances!

Rating: 3 stars!

A heartfelt Christmas romance book? Whats not to love? Except that wasnt what this really was.. I felt like I finished the book knowing more about the family dog and weird husband then I did about the "budding romance" in the book. All the components for a 5 star were there, but it just felt flat to me.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloodhound Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy Mitchell is a long time favourite of mine, so of course I was overjoyed to be accepted for an arc of this book, and I can wholeheartedly tell you it did not disappoint!
An array of delightful characters, a heart warming storyline that you simply want to lose yourself within.... its a gorgeous, cosy festive read that I will be recommending highly!

This was a really cute Christmas book. It's sweet and clean and Hallmark-like. I liked the characters and relationships - the family ones were more important than the romantic one, which was refreshing. The extended family was entertainingly realistic. And there was a dog, always a plus.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

The Christmas Dog Sitters
By Lucy Mitchell
Narrated by Charlie Albers
4 ⭐️

This is a cute Christmas romance. It is very sweet and held my attention well. There are themes of grief, starting over, the power of kindness, family dynamics - both positive and negative, and spice free romance.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lucy Mitchell, and Bloodhound Books for this eARC.

The Christmas Dog Sitters is a heartwarming and charming love story that is sure to get you into the Christmas spirit.

I love charming Christmas romances. They give me so much joy and happiness and make me believe anything is possible during the holiday season. This book was so wonderful. The story is bursting with warmth, and I loved how real all the characters felt. I will be adding this story to my yearly Christmas reading list.

Lucy hooks her readers in with a pretty emotional first two chapters. The universe seems to have it in for Rachel. Her ex-boyfriend, who was cheating on her, just got engaged, she lost her job, and her best friend and roommate Olivia passed away in a tragic accident. We briefly met Olivia in the prologue, and I instantly fell in love with her character. She had one of those personalities you cannot help but be drawn to. I was blown away by the fact that I was so devasted by the death of a character, especially one that I had only known for a couple of pages. That just shows you how great of a job Lucy did at creating characters that you can connect with. Rachel feels like she has hit rock bottom in her life. When her sister asks her to watch her dog, Humphrey, at her and her husband’s big fancy house in the countryside, Rachel figures a relaxing holiday in the countryside will do her some good. However, what was supposed to be a relaxing holiday turned into a crazy few weeks. Rachel finds herself taking care of her grandpa, who is determined to have an adventurous Christmas. Humphrey is determined to keep on running away from the manor, and Rachel finds herself agreeing to cook dinner for the entire town. I love a story that is bursting with fun, chaotic energy. All the unpredictable antics make for an entertaining read.

All the characters in this book are absolutely fantastic, and you cannot help but fall in love with them. All the characters felt real and possessed so much depth. I felt just as invested in their side stories and loved getting to spend time with them. I loved Rachel’s grandpa! His relationship with Rachel was heartwarming, and they had so many beautiful moments. Humphrey was delightfully fun and caused so much mischief. You cannot help but wonder what he would do next. Everything and everyone worked so beautifully together. Kindness and warmth really does fill every page in this book. There are so many wonderful themes woven throughout this story. You have grief, found family, complicated family dynamics, finding love, and starting over. Rachel’s journey to getting over the death of Olivia was so beautifully done. Rachel finds a journey that Olivia had written about her own journey at getting over grief. As Rachel reads this journey, she follows Olivia’s journey and, in the process, starts to heal. It definitely brought a tear to my eye a time or two.

The romance in this book was sweet and everything I hoped it would be. Rachel and Ben do not get off on the right foot. Their snarky banter just tickled me pink, and I found myself turning the page to see when they would meet on the page again. That snarky banter quickly turns into a friendship and then eventually something more. I loved how there seemed to be this whole fated-to-meet vibe between Ben and Rachel. Ben was the blind date Olivia was trying to set Rachel up with. This is a charming closed-door romance, which is the way I like my Christmas romances. I liked the chemistry between these two characters and was curious to see how these two characters would get their HEA.

The Christmas Dog Sitters is sure to warm your heart for the Christmas season.

I enjoyed this book which had a cosy, fluffy feel to it, although the story was a bit far-fetched.
Enjoyable and easy-reading.

Rachel is going through a pretty rough time. Her last relationship had cheated on her, she’s been made redundant, her flat is falling apart. Rachel’s also struggling with the loss of her best friend (/roomate). Rachel’s been tricked into dog & grandpa sitting over the Christmas holidays for her sister at her house while it’s also being renovated by builders. Her meddling family and a cheeky dog keep her on her toes.

🐶 Builder MMC
🐶Finding herself FMC
🐶 A heart warming grandpa/ granddaughter duo
🐶 An adorable mischievous brown spaniel
🐶 Meddling family
🐶 Clean romance
🐶 Found family
Thank you to Bloodhound books &Netgallery for the ARC!

It took a little while to really appreciate the story. The characters were crazy, kind hearted and often a little sad. It really was an uplifting Christmas read, which I really enjoyed.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the book. This was a very cute Christmas story. I enjoyed all the characters, and if you are looking for a good fast Christmas read, you will like this book. It is a little bit far-fetched, but for being a Christmas romcom, it was very cute and enjoyable.

Ok how cute is this cover?! I think we all love a christmas romance but add the dog bit, I was sold. However, I didnt end up being sold on the actual story itself. To each their own!

I’ve put off writing this review for weeks because I really don’t know what I thought of The Christmas Dog Sitters. I finished the book, which is a good sign, but I didn’t love it.

It took such a long time for this story to really get going. The first chapter is really fun and I loved the dynamic between the characters, but then one of them dies and it’s all a bit depressing. A lot of this book focuses on death and grief and I really wasn’t expecting that. Especially as this is marketed as a romance and there isn’t a lot of romance.

Speaking of romance. The relationship between Rachel and Ben was not done well. You could see the author was trying to make it an ‘enemies to lovers’ as Ben would often say mean things about Rachel to begin with but there wasn’t any development with this. They went from being a little harsh to each other to suddenly having a romantic relationship that I honestly can’t remember anything about.

Rachel’s constant jumping to conclusions was quite annoying. Why did she trust the opinions of strangers when it came to Ben rather than just asking him? She already knew these women didn’t like her because of her sister, so why would you trust anything they say? It just caused unnecessary drama in a book that already dealt with multiple serious topics.

Christmas is barely even an afterthought in this book. The only festive thing that happens is Christmas day itself and even then it doesn’t feel different to any other day that happens during the book. The Christmas Dog Sitters could have been set at any time of the year and it wouldn’t have been a different story.

It’s a shame that the flawed parts of books are the most memorable as there were definitely parts of this book I enjoyed but they are being overshadowed by the parts I didn’t. I did really like some of the characters and the story was very sweet but there were too many storylines happening at once so none of them really shone through.

This wasn’t the holiday romance that I was expecting 🥲 the beginning felt so slow getting to know the characters and their trauma. Why did so many people have to die??? I feel like the cover had me expecting a sweet romance with doggies involved but I didn’t get that with this one.

Lovely festive story, dogs and Christmas what's not too love, thrown in a bit of romance and you have a great read. Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy

As a huge fan of Christmas and holiday romance, I couldn’t resist diving into "The Christmas Dog Sitters" by Lucy Mitchell! This charming story captures the essence of the festive season while blending adorable pets with heartwarming romance.

The plot centres around a group of friends who start a dog-sitting business during the holidays. Their adventures are filled with laughter, unexpected challenges, and, of course, a sprinkle of romance.

The characters are relatable, interactions between them, and the dogs, are too cute.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in return for my honest review.

I am here for it, for it all. The dog, the romance, the holiday setting. The story of things turning around in ways you don't expect. I needed to read this one this week. Thanks for the opportunity to do so!