This is actually more like a four star read, however, my pet loving heart couldn’t quite get past how the heroine handled her missing dog situation.

The setting is super picturesque, perfect for summer reading. I loved how Kayla is so determined and bursting with ideas for her ice cream shop and she doesn’t let the hero make her second guess herself. The nostalgia of their past summers was woven seamlessly into the present and the Alzheimer’s story thread, it’s thoughtful, it’s realistically heartbreaking, and David’s speech about his mom to her caregiver was achingly beautiful.

I should have loved this book. I mostly did.

It’s just that the dog went missing. And at first I was like well, okay, Kayla does have her own medical emergency so they should rush away to deal with that, only more than a half hour later she still hadn’t actually gotten medical treatment instead they sat there arguing about the past yet they didn’t have “time” to look for a tiny scared dog? Kayla, aside from one instant in the dark of night that seemed to be more about spending time with David, in fact, never makes time to search for the dog, she makes ice cream, she flirts, she swims, but she does not look for the dog. She even at one point is gazing out the window and thinks to herself that she’s more interested in seeing David out there than spotting her missing dog!

If my dog, a very much loved family member went missing, I would be in pieces. I would be far too busy sobbing and searching to invite a former crush to lick ice cream off my finger. I mean, maybe it’s a silly reason to knock a star off my rating, but I just kept thinking how unreal it seemed and kind of appalling that Kayla (who I otherwise liked) wasn’t as concerned for her dog as I was, that she wasn’t making the slightest effort to find him.

I liked nearly every scene in this book I just couldn’t thoroughly enjoy some of them because I was thinking about the dog while the heroine wasn’t. This one is probably best for non-pet lovers or at least those more like Kayla and David who are able to put the dog’s whereabouts out of their minds. ( )