Bea Reviews Sit, Stay, Love by Debbie Burns

Series: Rescue Me #2
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: April 3rd, 2018 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository*  | iBooks* | * affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb, adapted from goodreads:

These dogs aren't the only ones in need of rescue

For devoted no-kill shelter worker Kelsey Sutton, rehabbing a group of rescue dogs is a welcome challenge. Working with a sexy ex-military dog handler who needs some TLC himself? That's a different story.

Kurt Crawford keeps his heart locked away from everyone. Well, everyone except the dogs who need his help...and always have his back. But as Kurt gets to know the compassionate, beautiful woman he's been assigned to work with, he can't help but feel a little puppy love...

Rescue Me Series:

A New Leash on Love (Book 1)
Sit, Stay, Love (Book 2)

My Thoughts:

"Sit, Stay, Love" was a sweet love story, with delightful dogs and a cat that I want to adopt. I enjoyed this one quite a bit and I'm looking forward to more in the series. I'm really hoping that Patrick will be the lead in the next book. He's an interesting character, who happens to be on the autism spectrum but it's presented as just a part of him, like his hair color or his height. To my knowledge, there's a dearth of romantic leads who have autism so I'm rooting for Patrick to be a romantic hero in a future book.

Anyway, back to "Sit, Stay, Love". We met Kelsey in the first book. She is a full-time worker at an animal rescue center but has been feeling restless. When the rescue agrees to house, nurse back to health, and re-train almost 40 dogs rescued from a dog fighting ring, Kelsey takes on the challenge of running it and working with a professional dog handler, Kurt. He's just out of the Army and at loose ends. His dog mentor talks him into taking on the job; he thinks is might be good until he figures out what he wants to do now that he's a civilian.

Sparks fly between Kurt and Kelsey from the first meeting. I loved the slow development of their relationship, their ability to talk things out like adults (for the most part), the ways they helped each other, and their willingness to learn and to admit mistakes. As they worked together they got know each other and they don't hit the sack together until relatively late in the book. Their romance played out subtly, with few dramatic moments. It was sweet, gentle, steamy, and subtle. 

The animal element was not forgotten. The shelter, the rescue of the fighting dogs, the dogs themselves, and the adorably grumpy cat, Mr. Longtail were realistic and important. It was obvious Burns knows her animals and rescue work. They are integral elements of the story, not just window dressing. She managed a good balance between enough information and drowning us in information. I enjoyed the animals and the dog training as much as I did Kurt and Kelsey's romance.

"Sit, Stay, Love" was a sweet story that pulled at my heart, had me rooting for the humans and the animals, and left me smiling.

My review of A New Leash on Love