Unfortunately I no longer have access to this earc due to changing my kindle. But if I get to it in future, I'll come back and review.

A lovely Christmas book for all dog lovers out there. Ally Gilmore visits her grandparents, who run a rescue centre in their small town, and when she finds the council are closing it down, she decides to take on the council including the local grump Ben West. Feeling guilty, Ben offers to help find the dogs their new forever homes, which means the dogs get in on the act at the council Christmas events. Ben and Ally start to form a friendship and we find out more about Ben's back story and that is not such a grump after all. You'll get to know all 12 dogs and you're in for a cosy, heartwarming read. The first book I've read by Lizzie Shane and loved it, so I'm glad this is the first book of 4 in the Pine Hollow series

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Lizzie Shane


Allie is fighting to get rescue funding from the Scrooge of a Council for her animal shelter.

A lovely heart warming read. A budding romance with the nice guy from the council and lots of dogs what is not to love for Christmas! Lovely easy curl on the sofa cute read.

OK, confession time....I only chose to read this book because ..
A) the delightful cover
B) the title
Yes, I am that shallow that I choose my books by titles and covers other than what the book is about, but anything to do with dogs and Christmas and I want to read it, so this had my name written all over it and it didn't disappoint.
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas is utterly charming, it has everything you would ever look for in a Christmas book; a very cute couple - equally cute dogs and a refreshing feel-good and utterlyly heartwarming story.
I've not read anything by this author before, I thoroughly enjoyed her charming and light-hearted writing and will certainly be seeking out more from her in the future.
This book will appeal to so many readers, it's a very easy book to read and perfect for curling up with the dog at my feet.....plus whats better then Christmas cheer even in summer?

Despite not really getting along with american fiction on the whole I really loved this book! Cant wait to read the rest of the Pine Hollow series! My full review will be on Books and Bargains youtube channel, December 2021 wrap up

This book is wonderful! not only very very magically Christmassy but full of dogs!
Ally is amazing, so determined, and her attempts to reinstate the rescue funding bring her into confrontation with Scrooge of The Council!
Really cute, warm read, very enjoyable.

This was a gorgeous, heart warming festive read that I just couldn't put down.
The characters were so likeable and had realistic personalities, and the romance that blossomed throughout this beautiful story made my heart so happy.
Then of course there is the added bonus of dogs which just takes my love of this story to even dizzier heights.
The storyline is perfection, and the authors way with words made me feel well and truly immersed in the wonderful world she has created in this book.
I adored this book and would recommend it to anyone and everyone who enjoys a feel good romance.

A very cute Christmas romance – set in a fictional town in the USA, with vibes of Gilmore Girls and Parks and Rec. She’s a fashion photographer who normally lives in New York, come to stay with her grandparents who run a dog shelter. He’s one of the local councilmen, reluctant parent to his orphaned niece, and he’s just had to cut the funding for the dog shelter. They unite to try to find homes for the shelter’s remaining dogs before Christmas. It’s a really sweet romance which takes a long time to develop and involves the whole community having to come together to push them towards each other – plus, the dogs are a lovely, colourful bunch of characters all on their own!

This was the absolute sweetest book, with the most gorgeous of characters and romance! Any book including dogs is always going to be a five star read, right? Absolutely!

This was one of my favourite Christmas reads, Ally has escaped to Pine Hollows from her high pressure job just to find out the the family run dog rescue centre is losing its city funding. This leads her to confront the city council man who appears less then enthusiastic about the situation. Ben is the guardian of his dog crazy 10 year old niece . Sweet romance, Christmas cheer and obviously amazing dogs, I can’t wait to read more of the series. I would recommend anyone to read this beautiful book.

A really enjoyable read, i enjoyed reading the developing story. this book will be great for people who love books buy Bella Osborne and sheila Norton

I love a good Christmas themed book, that has a HEA. I did wonder at one point if there was actually going to be a HEA. I’m so glad that it did and that all of the dogs also found their fur-ever homes. There were some really funny parts to this book that had me laughing out loud. It was also quite touching at times too. If you want a feel good Christmas read then read this.

Ally Gilmore has gone to stay with her grandparents in Pine Hollow for the Christmas break, and to help out with their dog shelter. As her grandmother is still recovering from surgery to her arm.

Ally isn’t there for very long when she finds out the council man Ben West has cut all of the shelters funding. Leaving Ally four weeks to find homes for all of the dogs at the shelter, not including any that might turn up during this time.

Ben West is a reluctant council man. He is known to everyone in the town as the Grinch. As he is the person everyone goes to for funding different town projects. More than not he has to decline everyone as the council budget gets smaller each year.

Ben is only doing this job to fulfill his late brother in laws commitment to doing this job. When his sister and brother in law passed away he became the guardian of his ten year old niece who is obsessed with dogs. But suddenly becoming a single parent over night with no idea as to what he should be doing is making him feel as though he is failing at everything.

Ally goes and confronts this Grinch of a council man. Only to find out that the man isn’t anything like she had been told. He is far more reasonable than anyone led her to believe and he was very hansom to boot.

Ben feels so bad about cutting the funding he offers to help Ally find all of the dogs homes. He comes up with different ideas to help, the first one is by offering to put photos and little stories about each dog in to the local council news letter. He also names the article “The twelve dogs of Christmas” to try and get peoples interest in the dogs and the shelter.

Every time Ally turns around Ben and his niece are always there doing what they can to help with all of the events they have planned for the dogs. Along with Ally’s friends doing all they can to help.

Ally and Ben are spending more and more time together. It’s obvious that they are attracted to one another and the tongs of the town start to wag. But Ally keeps insisting that once she has found homes for all of the dogs, she’ll be going back to her old life! What can Ben do in this short time to make her realise that this is where she is meant to be, with him, his niece and the dog shelter in Pine Hollow?

This Christmas read is a dog lovers dream!

When Ally Gilmore returns to visit her grandparents rescue shelter she finds that the essential small town rescue is due to be closed by the council. Not willing to take this news lying down she approaches the grumpy counsellor responsible for the decision to give him a piece of her mind.

Ben West feels he is failing at everything. His job at the council means he has to make undesirable decisions and he has a reputation as the local Grinch. At home, he suddenly gained guardianship for his niece after the death of his sister and his parenting experience is absolutely zero. Ben desperately wants to do his best for his niece, but he is way out of his depth.

A plan is devised by the harrassed councillor and animal loving photographer. The Twelve Dogs of Christmas comes into place and Ben and Ally promise to get the twelve remaining dogs into their forever homes by Christmas Day.They devise community events to get the homeless dogs noticed, but tongues are wagging about a romance between the two of them…. are the rumours true?

I loved how real the writing was in this engaging read. It not only features a rescue shelter but also the individual dogs and their different requirements to get that perfect forever home.The author shows that some rescue dogs are elderly, have medical needs or may need a consistent training programme, which is an honest portrayal of the rescue world.

The romance between Ally and Ben added a real ‘Will they, Won’t they?’ element which kept me enthralled…because these two were made for each other!

All the Christmas features bring the story to life and add festive sparkle. It’s uplifting and heartwarming with multi layered characters and of course, some adorable pooches!

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Lizzie Shane was a great book to get you into the Christmas spirit. Ally has come to help her grandparents at the local animal shelter and needs to find homes for all the dogs before it closes down. A great read that left me with a lovely Christmas cheer.

I loved this book from the beginning, it had everything you would want in a Christmas novel. I would definitely recommend this to friends and family.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for a review.
I will put this review on Amazon too.

I knew I would love this book within the first chapter!
It's such a perfect, Christmas feel good book, and throw in the added measure of a dog shelter and we were always going to be onto a winner.
Very likeable characters , and even though the storyline was a little predictable like I find most Christmas books, I still enjoyed it all the same.
If anyone is into this genre of books I highly recommend it - you will not be disappointed.
5 🌟

Pine Hollow, a small town in Vermont described from the onset as like Mary Poppins, perfect in every way...

Enter Ally, a fancy pants photographer, fresh in from New York, who comes to town and quite literally crashes into Ben’s life. Ben, aka Scrooge, is the local town counsellor, guardian to his late sister’s daughter Astrid and general “dog’s body” who notoriously takes on far too much, rather than admit he can’t cope.

At the heart of the story is the Furry Friends shelter. Meet the motley crew and join in the race to find forever homes for these adorable dogs before the town funding is stopped. Who cast the deciding vote to stop funding? None other than Ben! Racked with guilt and constant nagging from dog obsessed Astrid to prove she can be responsible enough to look after a dog of her own, Ben does whatever he can to help the dogs and Ally who’s grandmother owns the shelter.

With characters such as the Dachshunds Fred and Ginger, a Papillon JoJo, Chihuahua Peanut, the one eyed Jack Russell Trapper, and the aptly festive named drooling Partridge! Maybe it won’t just be the doggies that Ben inadvertently grows fond of...

A classic will they, won’t they ensues. With fur babies, a dusting of snow and Christmas cheer, this story turns into a magical Christmas romance adventure.

“Real life happened when you stopped trying to control everything and took a leap. Like getting a dog.”

Thoroughly delightful read with plenty of warmth to get you in the festive spirit. This really is the “pawfect” (sorry 😂) Christmas present or treat to yourself.

When Ally grandmother injuries herself she returns to the small tower of Pine Hallow to spend Christmas. There she plans to take care of her grandma and help her grandparents run their dog shelter. However, she is distraught to learn the local council are withdrawing funding for the shelter which will result in its closure. Tasked with finding homes for the twelve dogs before Christmas she confronts notoriously grumpy councilman Ben. However, she’s surprised to learn Ben is not only guardian to his delightful 10-year-old niece Astrid but is actually quite nice. He offers to help her find homes for the remaining dogs. As they spend more time together, they are undeniably drawn to each other, but Ben is determined that he doesn’t have room in his life for romance. Whilst Ally knows her time in Pine Hollow will soon come to an end. A dog isn’t just for the holidays but will Ally and Ben find the same could be said for romance.

I don’t think this book could have been anymore perfect for me if I had given the author a list of my perfect Christmas book tropes and she had written a book based on it. It has so many elements that I just love in Christmas books. Small town, dogs, snow with people being snowed in, Christmas shows and festive events, a community coming together, lots of romance and friendship. It just hit the mark in so many ways.
One of my favourite parts of this book and probably the thing that drew me to it most was the dogs! I, like many people love dogs, I have two of my own, so this was such a draw. We met a whole host of dogs; they have all been given over to the shelter so many of them have quirks that meant finding their human may be a little harder. My particular favourites were Harry, an escape artist and faithful friends Fred and Ginger who needed to be adopted together. My two dogs had to be adopted as a pair, so the little companions really tugged at my heart.

This book also had an amazing cast of Characters. Ally, our main character was lovely. Unfortunately, her parents had passed away so her only relatives were her grandparents. Books where characters have strong relationships with their grandparents always connect with me as I was raised by my grandparents. I also loved how Ally found her place in Pine Hollow. Until coming there she’d always been a little lost and i thought it was great how this small town worked its magic on her. We also had Ben, who had a bit of reputation as the council’s scrooge as it was often down to him to make the tough decisions no one else wanted to. However, Ally quickly discovers he isn’t as bad as he appears when he offered to help her find homes for all of the dogs. He uses his council connections to get the dogs featured in the towns Christmas shows and newsletter. Ally grew to get to know him and see the side that others rarely did. Astrid and her friend Kimber were adorable and their dedication to volunteering at the shelter was so sweet. When Bens parents are introduced, they were also nice characters and were especially friendly towards Ally. Essentially every character in this book was so adorable. It had the perfect cast!

The atmosphere created in this story was incredible. I feel this book was crying out to be made into a Hallmark movie, it would just be the perfect fit. The town of Pine Hollow emitted such a cosy Christmas atmosphere. It was a small town where everyone knew everyone which I always find quite entertaining. Its jam packed with Christmas events, there were parades, school shows and Christmas fairs. I love books that feature Christmas events that make you feel festive and involve the whole town coming together. In this book these particular events came with the added ingredient of dogs making them all the better. Despite the small town being a hive of gossip the people who lived there come together when needed. When Ally and her grandparents became snowed in (another extremely cosy event in itself) the town came together to help. The scenes at Ally’s grandparents’ house were some of my favourites. I could feel the warmth of the house coming through the pages! It was one of the cosiest Christmas books I have read in a long time.

Now, lets discuss the romance because we know that’s at the heart of this story. Ally and Ben got off to a shaky start when she quite literally bumped into him in town. She then discovered he was part of the reason the funding for the dog shelter was withdrawn. However, he surprised her with his offer to help rehome the dogs. This led to them inevitably spending time together and the eventual development of feelings. We saw them doing the cutest and most festive things like photographing the dogs for the newsletter and baking brownies. Ally just seemed to bring out the best in Ben and they made a great team. Of course, the path to love never does run smoothly and they faced some problems along the way. This was my only slight critique of this book, because at times it felt the reiteration as to why they couldn’t be together was a little repetitive. I could have merrily bumped their heads together to make them realise their reservations were unfounded. Bens reluctance stemmed from his desire to do the best by Astrid and he didn’t believe he could do that whilst having a girlfriend. Luckily there are lots of people around to steer them in the right direction. I feel Ben grew a lot in this story as a whole and learns a lot about himself whilst Ally finds her new home and they really help each other with this.

I really cannot recommend this book enough. It needs to be made into a Hallmark movie and every lover of romance and dogs need to read it. Its so cosy, so Christmassy, so filled with love and togetherness that i defy anyone to read it and not melt. It’s a definite favourite of the year and the Christmas books I still have to read will have to amazing to beat this one.

Thank you to the publisher Headline Eternal and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by Lizzie Shane
NOVEMBER 7, 2020 ~ EATWELLAE ~ EDIT
Well, this book got off to a great start, on two accounts:

Lickability – oops, I mean likeability of the main character, Ben. I mean, who can resist a good looking single Dad. (Maybe it should be lickability!) As such Ben just seems a lovely chap, trying to do the best by his niece, after her parents tragically died.
Dogs. Who can resist a shaggy dog tale (excuse the pun) – not me that’s for sure.
Ally, the main female character seems almost too lovely – selflessly putting her life on hold to help her elderly grandparents with both their ailing dog sanctuary and their ailing selves.

In order to try and home the dogs in the sanctuary, Ben (wearing his city council hat) agrees to help create a regular weekly newsletter, each one extolling the virtues of a sanctuary resident, in order to try and rehom them before Christmas.

The first newsletter star is Partridge, the sanctuary’s longest serving resident, and the ultimate underdog; a not so pretty, drooling bulldog, who must surely pull on the toughest heartstrings!

So, two unrelated singletons, both putting their lives on hold for family reasons……and an underdog.

Thus the scene was set fairly quickly for an enjoyable read, illustrated beautifully by the fact that I’m lying in bed at 3am, reading and review writing, when I should be getting some Zs; still, I have always said that sleep is for wimps!

The big questions on my mind, are:

a) Whether or not Ben ultimately ends up with the girl, the dog or both?

b) Whether or not tongues are involved– canine or otherwise.

I would tell you, but then who knows what I might feel compelled to do….

A lovely feel good festive read! Perfect for this time of year!
Friendship,snow,romance, and adorable dogs all come together in this book to make a heartwarming, cheery read full of Christmas spirit!
Ally has come home to pine hollow to help her grandparents out at their dog shelter,Ben a local councillor has decided to stop funding the dog shelter in order to repair the community centre roof! What ensues is an on off battle between Ally and Ben, however thus is hindered by the chemistry between them and several misunderstandings! Both of them have suffered in the past which makes forming relationships even harder but with the help of 12 adorable dogs and Ben’s neice Astrid and not forgetting the whole community of pine hollow , feisty Ally and Scrooge Ben finally realise what they have between them! Would love to see a sequel.
Thank you net galley for this early read.