Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately I wasn't blown away by Izzy and Sarah's story. I was unimpressed with izzys awkward and unprofessional demeanor in the beginning. she comes off more as a child than an adult. Sarah is initially unconvinced of her ability to handle Chase but as the story progresses Izzy does get better. I just wasn't sold on the romance. Neither character really moved me. Seemed like a lot superficial writing, we never really dived deep into each character.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Perfect Partners is the first book I have read from Maggie Cummings, but it won't be the last. Her writing style is wonderful, allowing characters to develop over time without having you learn everything from the start. Her building of the relationship between the main characters Izzy and Sara was great, a slow build that had me wanting more and more until they finally were together.

It is a sweet story of a police officer, Izzy, who has been given an opportunity to take part in the K-9 training course that Sara is a lead instructor of. Sparks are evident from their first meeting and build as the training goes on. Sara resists her feelings because she has lost so much in her life and if she were part of a relationship with a cop, there would be the risk of losing her too. Over time, her feelings can't be stopped and the two come together and their relationship develops. I won't go into further points in the story so readers can get the full enjoyment of the story themselves.

This is an enjoyable story and one I would recommend highly.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I have read a couple of books by Cummings before and really enjoyed them, but for some reason could not get into this book. I loved Chase and the K-9 training that took place. Though I did not understand the obstacles that Sara put forth, she seemed to contradict herself at every turn. These unrealistic barriers caused the book to slow down for me and for me to look deeper at the characters and their lack of connection that seemed forced. It was an ok read, but I will probably not be rereading it anytime soon.

Well written. I liked the MC's and the dog.

3.5
Rep: lesbian MC, lesbian Cuban-American MC, lesbian side characters

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from the publisher and NetGalley.

This novel was captivating from the first chapter. I was easily drawn in by the words and the way the author has written it. It was quick and easy to read, the pacing was great for a shorter novel. In short, I enjoyed this novel a lot. I loved that it was based around a K9 training program. It was amazing, it was cute, I loved it (then again I am a dog lover). Not to mention the big excitement towards the end where we see this training being played out; although, I would've liked a little more action in this regard.

The characters were pretty great; both likeable, both with backgrounds which are completely opposite. Having not read a lot of books including cop characters, I was expecting to not enjoy it as much because I couldn't immediately relate to the characters; however, I was surprised. Character development wasn't as deep as I would've liked, but for a short story it was pretty good. Also, not to mention the dogs in the story; they were super adorable and lovable, even without explicit detail.

I did like the romance aspect of the novel. The couple seemed to be a great match, there wasn't any instance where I didn't think they'd be a good couple. It was slow going and then faced paced towards the end which was a little frustrating, but again, for a shorter story this is expected. I did find myself cheering on these characters to get together.

All in all, this was a great quick read, not too heavy on the romance, but enough to get you saying 'aw'. I loved it and I can't wait to read more of Maggie Cumming's work.

I admit I chose to read this book because of the GSD on the cover. A lesbian romance featuring a German Shepherd? Bring it on. I enjoyed learning about K-9 bomb detection work and all that goes into the training of bomb sniffing dogs and their human partners. Chase the dog was a highlight for me in this read. I struggled to enjoy the dynamics of the relationship between his handler and her trainer.

Early on I enjoyed the light flirting between Sara and Isabella.It’s easy to see they are attracted to one other even with Sara laying down her ground rules at the outset. She doesn’t date students and she doesn’t date cops. Izzy’s enthusiastic approach to her new career as a dog handler matches her enthusiastic pursuit of Sara. She won’t take no for an answer. Rather than respect Sara’s efforts to keep their distance, Izzy turns into a lovestruck teenager and a jealous lover. Some readers might find Sara weak and indecisive and that Izzy has every right to worry about Sara’s past relationship with Nicole. I found Izzy to be controlling. When the green-eyed monster raises its ugly head Izzy comes across as an immature and petulant child challenging and questioning Sara at every turn.

Their declarations of love felt hollow to me. Yes, my personal triggers might have influenced my opinion of this romance. It is what it is.

2.5 stars

ARC received with thanks from publisher via Net Galley for review.

*arc received through netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Perfect Partners is an absolutely adorable romance that I devoured in just over a day. The plot was refreshingly new and therefore kept me hooked from the very first page, normally with romances that split perspective I have a clear favourite right from the start but not this time. Sara and Izzy were both so wonderfully interesting, different enough that it was clear who we were with instantly but with so many similarities in their attitudes that I didn't need any time at all before I was head over heels in love with them, and rooting whole heartedly for their relationship to get through all the sticky patches (which were all realistically done and didn't once verge towards a 'just here for drama'' effect.)

Ultimately this book was a wonderful read, I loved every page and I've already planned a re-read of it very soon!

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read two previous Cummings stories, one was [b:Totally Worth It|25159209|Totally Worth It (Bay West Social, #1)|Maggie Cummings|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444747485s/25159209.jpg|44862772], which I didn’t like and the other was [b:Against All Odds|41135613|Against All Odds|Kris Bryant|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1534176271s/41135613.jpg|64281050], which was co-written with Kris Bryant and M Ullrich, which I did enjoy, so I decided to give another full novel by Cummings a go and chose this one because it wasn’t part of the Worth It verse.

This is fairly straight forward read, and I liked it without loving it. Sara is a K9 trainer and Izzy is an NYPD officer doing K9 training. Both characters are interesting, but Izzy is the clear winner here, she’s sweet, funny, kind, and smart. Sara is supposed to be smart but proved to be otherwise due to her ridiculous unawareness of her weird (and co-dependent) relationship with her ex. This is despite Izzy repeatedly calling Sara out on this.

Sara’s reluctance to date Izzy because she’s a cop, even while totally leading her on all the time also got old, and that doesn’t improve until the 50% mark, and then gets swapped for ‘but what if something happens to you?’, so that was fun. Her reluctance to acknowledge her relationship with Izzy was also annoying. All in all, Sara’s a bit of a drag.

Sara’s backstory also didn’t make much sense, they establish that she has a second family that she’s close to, but she doesn’t spend holidays with them? I found that weird. Izzy’s relationship with her family was sweet though.

The two are cute when flirting/spending time together that doesn’t involve these issues, but there wasn’t enough of that for me. The requisite drama was also telegraphed, albeit over quickly, it would have made more sense if Nicole (Sara’s ex) had actually appeared in the book before this event instead of just being mentioned 6000 times.

Chase (K9 dog) is a superstar, and any scenes with him were fun, unfortunately I liked him more than Sara, which didn’t help.

I did enjoy this more than my first try of Cumming’s work, and would read another by her depending on the topic. 3 stars.

If you are looking for a quick, fun read then this is the book for you.

Isabel Marquez arrives bright eyed and excited to become a K-9 officer. She’s determined to do her absolute best and prove that favors weren’t all that got her into this position. Sara Wright trains the officers and dogs for the real world and all the risks that come with being a K-9 officer. She doesn’t want to get involved with another cop, but it’s hard to resist Isabel especially once Chase picks her as his officer. There is no other way to explain the bond between Isabel and Chase but it was moving seeing the two get to know each other and learn to work together.

What I really enjoyed about this book with the romance. It wasn’t too spicy and it fit Sara and Isabel. Their relationship was gentle, kind and well thought out. I liked the realistic sex scenes (that felt odd admitting to) but it wasn’t like last few books where I needed to skip a few pages. The way they touched each other was intentional and done with care. I like a soft, subtle romance scene. That’s what you got with this book.

There was a little drama with Sara’s previous girlfriend, but it wasn’t too angsty. It kept the story moving and helped us learn more about Sara’s past and why she does what she does. Family was also an important aspect in this novel. While we didn’t get huge family scenes, the ones we did get were enjoyable and felt exactly how you would feel meeting your significant other’s family.

This was a cozy romance with a touch a spice.