Ten years after leaving the pageant world, Ruby Taylor finds herself back on the scene in a much different role: coaching the dog of a resident of the retirement community where she works for the local dog show.  Wheezy... isn't really pageant material, though, and so Ruby hires a dog trainer to help her.  The thing is, the trainer happens to be the identical twin brother of one of the judges, Spencer, a handsome veterinarian who didn't want to let Wheezy in the show in the first place.  The more time Ruby and Spencer spend together, the more she and Wheezy wear down his defenses, until he's rethinking his standards and she's proving just what a fierce competitor she can be.

This was such a cute premise for a book, with tons of really great characters (Wheezy obviously being at the top of the list).  It's pretty low-angst, and the plot requires a lot of character growth, particularly on Spencer's part, which I love.  It's not just "things happen to people," but rather "things happen and we assess our knee-jerk responses to them."  And the book itself is pretty fun, too!  You can't help but empathize with Wheezy, want to befriend Mrs. Orson, and admire Ruby.

As fun as it was, I didn't totally buy the chemistry between Ruby and Spencer until late in the game.  It seemed just convenient until he really got to know her, even though it was always presented as a more serious feeling.  I was also uncomfortable with a lot of the body talk: I think it could be pretty triggering so it's going behind the block. 

Ruby is a former pageant queen.  She's comfortable with her body, which isn't quite in pageant shape anymore, but is still slim, white, and conforming to Eurocentric beauty standards (which she acknowledges).  Her mother is obsessed with staying underweight, and there's a lot of talk about diet foods and Ruby rejecting them, but Wheezy is also on a diet.  Even though Ruby actively speaks against her mother's prodding to eat calorie-free foods and diet, I think the amount of time this book talks about diet foods and the size of bodies could be triggering

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This was a cute, relatively light read, and fairly low-steam (surprisingly, given their first romantic encounter).  If you love dogs and strong heroines, you'll love this.

Thank you Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC!

CWs:

fatshaming, diet talk, lots of body talk, non-narrative character is on house arrest due to a perceived gambling addiction, prescription medication theft, pet in minor peril (pet is fine), non-narrative characters use legal marijuana, childhood poverty