Cute, Teddy and Brydie make a cute couple. ( )

Pupcakes by Annie England Noblin is a charming novel about new beginnings and coming to terms with a painful past.

Brydie Benson was blindsided by her divorce and she is starting over in Memphis, TN where her best friend Elliot Jones lives. Brydie is struggling to let go of the future she expected to have with her ex and with a little nudging from Elliott, she finally manages to become more engaged in life. Her progress in moving on does not really begin until she moves into a house where she receives free rent in exchange for taking care of home owner Pauline Neumann's laconic but lovable pug, Teddy Roosevelt.  When she and Teddy visit the local dog park, Brydie is surprised by her interest in another dog lover, Nathan Reid. After their rather memorable first meeting, she hopes to avoid him for the foreseeable future but as luck would have, she runs into him when she goes to the nursing home where she and Teddy are visiting Pauline. When their paths continue to cross, Brydie reluctantly agrees to go on a date with him, but will her unresolved issues from her divorce derail their chance at happiness?

Brydie is a bit of a contradiction due to the vast difference in her behavior personally and professionally.  In her personal life, she is an avoider who ignores problems and she runs away from confrontation instead of dealing with it head on. She and her mother have a somewhat troubled relationship which has worsened in the years since her father passed away.

In sharp contrast to her personal life,  Brydie is quite confident when it comes to her chosen career as a baker.  Before she and her ex divorced and sold their bakery, she had a strong work ethic and put in long hours to ensure their business thrived. Since their divorce, she has avoided anything  do with baking. However, her new job renews her zeal for baking but instead of creating delicious desserts, Brydie now focuses on making dog treats.

Brydie's relationship with Nathan moves in fits and starts as she overreacts and runs away at the slightest provocation. She is aware that she is deliberately sabotaging their slow moving romance but she finds it difficult to risk her heart again. When everything is  going well between them, she and Nathan are a well-matched couple who have a surprising amount of interests in common despite their very different careers. When trouble arises, Brydie continues her frustrating pattern of running away then avoiding any contact with Nathan. While her fears are understandable, Brydie's continual overreaction to minor difficulties becomes extremely irritating.

Brydie's friendship with Pauline is absolutely heartwarming and the older woman remains quite feisty despite her failing health. With a wealth of experience and more than a few regrets about some areas of her life, Pauline offers  sage advice to her young friend, but will Brydie be open to the her well-meaning suggestions?

Featuring an adorable pup, a thought-provoking storyline and a colorful cast of eclectic characters, Pupcakes is an uplifting journey of healing.  Despite the sometimes uneven pacing of the storyline and Brydie's tendency to self-sabotage when she feels threatened, this latest novel by Annie England Noblin is an enjoyable tale that fans of the genre are sure to love!
( )

Brydie’s life is in a state of upheaval. She is divorced, she doesn’t have a place to live, has no money in the bank and has no job. Her best friend recommends Brydie to be a house sitter/ dog watcher.

She moves into the home of an elderly lady (Pauline) in a nursing home. She soon becomes surprisingly attached to Pauline’s dog Teddy Roosevelt, Pauline herself and she finds a new job in a bakery department.

She starts forming new attachments to friends and a new love interest. She also stumbles along a new hobby of baking cookies for dogs.

The book description and the cover itself just suggest 100% cuteness. I liked that there was more substance to the plot than you might expect.

Enjoyable, cute, heartwarming story with likable characters.
It’s good to read during the holidays but it would hold up anytime. ( )

When Byrdie finds her husband sleeping with the hired help, she loses both her marriage and her bakery business. She leaves town and moves in with her best friend Elliot for awhile. Elliot's in real estate and connects Byrdie with a house-sitting opportunity that just happens to come with a pug named Teddy Roosevelt.
They get off to an uneasy start, but things improve as the two get to know each other and as Byrdie starts baking dog treats!

Friendship, romance, dog parks and baked goods - all in one book... with recipes in the back.

True confession - I'm a pug lover so how could I not enjoy a book with this cover? ( )

This book was a pleasant surprise. If you are a fan of the late, great Maeve Binchy, you might want to give this book a try. Yes, it plays in the US and not in England, but the writing style was very nice and even though it has a very predictable end I still enjoyed reading it all the way to the last line. Having a cute, elderly Pug as a "main character" surely helped, too! ( )