Book Review- House Trained

I finished reading House Trained by Jackie Bouchard last week for a Booksparks Blog Tour.

From Goodreads:

Alex Halstad, a childless-by-choice interior designer and dog mom, is a true perfectionist. But her orderly life turns chaotic when the teenage daughter her husband, Barry, never knew he had shows up on their doorstep...with a baby girl of her own in tow. While Alex’s dog enthusiastically welcomes the new arrivals, Alex struggles with the loss of her steady routine. She desperately needs peace and quiet to get her business back on track before Barry finds out she’s spent most of their savings. Meanwhile, the arrival of the girls stirs up old insecurities, and Alex can’t help but worry that Barry’s ex will make an entrance too. With her tidy life a distant memory, will Alex be able to learn from her dog the true meaning of love and acceptance?

From bestselling author Jackie Bouchard comes a humorous and heartwarming look at how life creates opportunities to love in surprising ways.

I love books about dogs!  And babies!  So of course I was excited to read this!  (the story didn't really revolve around the dog but she was mentioned often).

I liked Alex.  She was a dog-mom and confident in her choice not to have children.  I found myself relating to her in so many ways in her life (although I do want children--just don't have them yet).  I loved the way she embraced her (newly-discovered) step-daughter and her baby.

And I loved Wren.  I feel like most teenage moms are portrayed as rebellious or pitiful but Wren was a great mom and I felt like even though the baby was an accident, she was secure and well-loved.

There was lots of drama in the book--money issues, ex-issues, relationship issues, teenage motherhood, Even a little tragedy at the end.  I'm not sure I would classify it as chick-lit-while it was funny at some points, it's a little heavier than that.  But it was easy to fall into and I look forward to reading more by Jackie Bouchard.

I gave this book a rating of 4/5.

House Trained will be released on October 20, 2015.

*FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review